Cancun, Mexico- This weekend the WEDO team arrived in Cancun, Mexico for the COP16 UNFCCC meeting. WEDO staff members Cate Owren, Sandra Freitas, Natalia Kostus, and Andrea Quesada who arrived in Mexico City earlier in the week to participate in the International Forum on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction were joined by Rachel Harris, Bridget Burns, and intern Miriam Ott to engage in a range of activities and events coordinated by WEDO on behalf of the GGCA (Global Gender and Climate Alliance) and the Women and Gender Consitutency under the UNFCCC.

WEDO’s first activity was to participate in an updating session for Delegates as part of the GGCA, led by IUCN and Senior Global Gender Advisor Lorena Aguilar, on “Developing Gender-sensitive National Implementation Policies”. Panelists spoke on the importance of understanding women’s role as agents of change in mitigating and adapting to climate change. In addition, national and regional case studies of gender-sensitive national implementation policies were presented by Mozambique, Jordan, and Central America. WEDO’s Cate Owren gave an overview of the status of the women and gender references in the current negotiating texts.

Since the creation of the GGCA, this meeting was the 11th of its kind, updating delegates on the status of gender in the negotiations and at the national level, and more delegations than ever were present during the event.

For Sunday, WEDO, on behalf of the GGCA, will administer two of our main activities at the UNFCCC negotiations: coordinating the GGCA Advocacy Team and the Women Delegates Fund (WDF). The Advocacy team will have their first coordination meeting to strategize on advocacy for the week while the women delegates sponsored by the WDF will participate in an afternoon training session on negotiation skills.

For more information about the advocacy team contact rachel_at_wedo.org

For more information about the Women Delegates Fund contact bridget_at_wedo.org