December 19, 2011
As the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 17) wrapped up in Durban, South Africa, Women’s Media Center featured an article about the role women can and should play at the policy level when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change worldwide.
Included in the piece is IFP Alumna
Abidah Setyowati, who works with women from forest-dependent communities in Aceh, Indonesia -- where Abidah is from -- to ensure that their voices are heard during climate change negotiations.
After earning a master’s in geology from the University of Hawaii with support from a Ford IFP Fellowship, Abidah won a prestigious UNDP grant for her doctoral research on the efficacy of
REDD+, a UN-led partnership initiative designed to reduce greenhouse emissions caused by deforestation and forest degredation in developing countries.
Abidah is a core associate of
WOCAN (Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management), a women-led global network of over 800 members in 93 countries.
The policy brief that Abidah prepared for WOCAN, ‘How Bringing Gender Perspectives into REDD+ Policies Could Enhance Effectiveness and Empowerment’, was launched in Durban.
Also featured in the article is IFP Executive Director Joan Dassin, who draws the connection between higher education and women’s empowerment. “IFP has seen that developing more inclusive higher education policies not only empowers women but can lead to a real, measurable impact,” says Dassin. “This has tremendous implications for a wide variety of sectors.”
Click
HERE to read the article on the Women’s Media Center website.