How does a network of Colombian interethnic women foster resilience to climate change and contribute to gender equality?

Abstract

Despite the growing demand for improved intersectional integration of gender in agricultural policies (McDougall et al., 2022), the integration of gender and intersectionality (G&I) considerations into climate change (CC) policy cycles in Latin America has been overlooked. Climate and gender policies are generally formulated with a top-down approach without integrating the knowledge, perceptions and demands of women and men (Howland et al., 2021) and do not address the structural causes of gender inequalities, leading to inadequate policy formulation.

Colombia is a particularly interesting case, considering that in 2016 the country’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed the Peace Accords (PA), a landmark agreement to end the internal conflict. The PA included comprehensive rural reform for agricultural development, environment, and G&I objectives. In addition, the historic shift to a leftist government has led to putting women and other historically marginalized social groups at the center of politics. Governmental and non-governmental actors are involved in the implementation of PA and CC policy, which could lead to fragmentation at different levels and lack of coherence between policy discourse and policy implementation.