- UNCCD
- Actions
- Gender Action Plan
Gender Action Plan

Why is gender mainstreaming important for UNCCD ?
Widespread land degradation threatens food production, water availability, biodiversity and energy security. When land is degraded and usable land becomes scarce, women are uniquely and differentially affected due to their substantial role in agriculture and food production, their reliance on forests, their greater vulnerability to poverty, and their typically weaker legal protection and social status.
The fact that almost a third of women’s employment globally is in agriculture and that women are at the frontline, struggling to salvage the large area of agricultural land already affected by degradation makes women and girls the most natural allies in implementing UNCCD. Building effective responses to combat desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) requires an understanding of how gender inequality affects multiple issues:
- Access to, and control of, resources and knowledge
- Institutional structures
- Social, cultural and formal networks
- Decision-making processes
Therefore, women’s input, knowledge and guidance are indispensable to any productive, sustainable efforts to avoid, reduce and reverse degraded land as mandated under the UNCCD. When women are empowered, entire families benefit, and these benefits often have an effect on future generations.
Gender Action Plan
UNCCD parties are committed to improving the quality of life for women worldwide. The UNCCD Gender Action Plan represents a landmark opportunity to transform gender equality and human rights into action. Its overall goal is to support and enhance the implementation of the gender-related decisions and mandates adopted in the UNCCD process.
Follow-up on policy frameworks and thematic issues: Gender
- An overview on the progress made in support UNCCD Country parties in rolling out the UNCCD Gender Action Plan can be found here
- UNCCD Gender Caucus 2019 summary report can be found here
- The Gender Action Plan as a mechanism for improving the living conditions of affected populations: first experiences and the way forward can be found here
Resources to implement UNCCD Gender Action Plan
The Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, the UNCCD secretariat and its partners join forces to support UNCCD country parties in implementing the UNCCD Gender Action Plan and provide a wealth of support materials: