Gender Issues in Natural Resource Management

It was the first course of its kind to be offered as a collaborative venture between the Caribean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and CAFRA. The theme of the four-day regional workshop was Integrating Gender Issues in Paricipatory and Collaborative Natural Resource Management. It was held from November 15-18, 1999, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The main objective of the workshop was to introduce natural resource managers to tools and methods for gender analysis and planning. This would help them improve the efficiency and effectiveness of collaborative and participatory resource management interventions.

The workshop attracted 18 resource management professionals from government agencies, NGOs and academic institutions. They came from Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Carol James, Senior Adviser, UNDP, was the keynote speaker while the course facilitators were Cecilia Babb, Senior Programme Officer, CPDC and CAFRA member and CANARI Communication Coordinator, Nicole Brown. Other Presenters were drawn from the Centre for Gender and Development Studies and the Development of Sociology, UWI as well as the Makusi Reserach Unit and the Iwokrama Forest Programme, Guyana.

Underpinning the planning of the course was an acknowledgement of the different ways in which women and men use natural resources, their access to althernatives and the "various social, cultural and economic factors that affect the ability of women and men to participate in resource management initiatives."

As with most regional workshops, this one provided yet another invaluable opportunity for networking; concepts were clarified and participants were introduced to specific tools and methods. However, they wished for a longer workshop and a field trip. Funding for the workshop came from the Commonwealth Foundation, CIDA’s Canada Caribbean Gender Equity Fund, CANARI and participants’ organisations.

CANARI plans to take the outcomes of this workshop a step further with the hosting of a seminar in April 2000. This seminar will examine Caribbean experiences in stakeholder approaches and develop methods for stakeholder analysis. Gender analysis and planning will be among the tools considered during this seminar.