Mexico's gender mainstreaming initiative is approved at COP3 of the Escazú Agreement

Mexico's gender mainstreaming initiative is approved at COP3 of the Escazú Agreement

• Including gender mainstreaming in the Agreement will lead to actions that create a safe environment for the defense of human rights in environmental matters and prevent discrimination and gender-based violence against women defenders.
  

As part of its feminist foreign policy, Mexico promoted the adoption of gender mainstreaming in the implementation of the Escazú Agreement at the third Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the Agreement, held April 22-24 in Santiago, Chile.

The decision on gender mainstreaming integrates this perspective into actions to create a safe and enabling environment for the defense of human rights in environmental matters, and to prevent discrimination and gender-based violence against women defenders, while continuing to establish synergies and partnerships with all stakeholders in the field.

The adoption of Mexico's initiative is a milestone that highlights the key role played by women in environmental protection and their contribution to sustainable development.

At the inauguration, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Joel Hernández García highlighted the importance of the Escazú Agreement and its implementation to ensure the rights of human rights defenders. He stressed that the Agreement encourages full cooperation between States on access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making processes and access to justice.

At COP3, Dominica's forthcoming inclusion into the Escazú Agreement was announced and an Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters was adopted for the region by consensus. The action plan motivates Mexico and the States Parties to advance towards full and effective implementation of the Agreement, with the corresponding roadmaps according to the States' national priorities, while promoting the inclusion of indigenous women.

UN Women, together with other UN programs, funds and agencies, will assist the States Parties to develop their strategies and include a gender perspective in their work.

Two events were held at the conclusion of COP3 that highlighted Mexico's leadership: The first was a dialogue on "Building together: International cooperation for implementation of the Escazu Agreement," which highlighted the importance of collaborating with international agencies to achieve the goals of the agenda. The event was supported by the UN development and environment programs, its High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the governments of Uruguay and Chile, together with Mexico.

Finally, Mexico, Antigua and Barbuda, Chile and Colombia participated in a discussion on "The fundamental role of women and the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in the implementation of the Escazú Agreement," to highlight the need to incorporate gender methodology and mechanisms into implementation of the agreement, and the importance of statistical data to make visible the existing problems related to gender gaps and inequality. UN Women, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and ECLAC participated in the discussion and agreed to seek synergies with all stakeholders to create safe and enabling environments to combat gender-based violence.

The Escazú Agreement aims to guarantee full and effective implementation of the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making processes and access to justice in Latin America and the Caribbean, in order to promote sustainable development and a healthy environment.