Outcome BGD_D_1.2

By 2026, ecosystems are healthier, and all people, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalized in both rural and urban settings, benefit from and contribute to, in a gender responsive manner, a cleaner environment, an enriched natural resource base, low carbon development, and are more resilient to climate change, shocks and disasters

Some progress was made on this outcome in 2024 - an unprecedent year for Bangladesh as the country was ravaged by four devastating climate-related disasters. In this challenging context, women-led organizations (WLOs) demonstrated enhanced leadership in advancing gender-responsive climate actions and disaster risk reduction. This was evidenced by their substantive contributions to humanitarian mechanisms and processes, as well as through direct action in their communities- driving innovations and community-based solutions, with support from UN Women. Data and analysis generated with support from local WLOs informed the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in 2024. Several recommendations from a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) conducted post Cyclone Remal were included in the HRP. This included provisions for psychological first aid, support for referral for high-risk pregnant women and sick children, neo-natal and post-natal services and facilities, mobile health camps for sexual and reproductive health services, and cash support for women. UN Women facilitated this process as co-chair of the national Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) working group led by the Department of Women’s Affairs (DWA). Two local WLOs – that serve as the GiHA chapter leads from Khulna and Satkhira - Association for Social Development & Distressed Welfare (ASDDW) and Bindu Nari Unnayan Shongothon respectively - played a critical role in providing real-time information and data from local government offices for the RGA – developed within seven days of the Cyclone. The Adaptation Report of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), negotiated at the COP29, highlighted the work of UN Women and its partners in Bangladesh as a ‘best practice’ on gender-responsive climate adaptation plans and programming. The Report referenced a Training of Trainers organized by UNFCCC at the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Expo in April 2024, wherein the participatory approach followed by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) to update the Bangladesh Climate Change and Gender Action Plan (CCGAP), with technical support from UN Women, was presented. Further, the leadership of WLOs in promoting community-driven climate adaptation initiatives was recognized at the international level. Lipika Boiragi, the Executive Director of ASDDW, showcased an innovative solar-powered irrigation pump project run by women in her community – at a short talk titled, "Women’s Leadership in Locally Led Adaptation" at the NAP Expo. By sharing experiences from Khulna, one of the coastal districts worst affected by climate change, Lipika drew attention of climate professionals and policymakers to climate solutions propelled by women in Bangladesh to counter the adverse impacts of climate change - in this case the increasing salinity in the coastal belt of the country. Another WLO from Kurigram - AFAD (the co-chair of the GiHA Chapter) mobilized local stakeholders to develop a winterization plan. Through this initiative, AFAD bolstered the community’s preparedness to protect the most vulnerable groups (women, children and elderly) from the impact of the cold wave that gripped Northern Bangladesh. Both ASDDW and AFAD are part of a larger network of WLOs, supported by UN Women since 2018 through various capacity development, accompaniment support, and networking initiatives. Voices of women leaders were amplified through two key platforms in 2024. At a pre-budget consultation organized by UN Women at the request of MOEFCC. Ten women leaders from the five most climate-vulnerable districts advocated for potential investment areas in gender-responsive climate actions. Leveraging the opportunity presented by the presence of senior policymakers, the women leaders approached the Minister and Secretary, ensuring their voices resonated effectively within this national-level forum and captured the attention of policymakers. A policy brief with key recommendations from the consultation was developed and disseminated by UN Women. In the last quarter, a national Women’s Climate Action Network (WCAN) was established with 100 WLOs from the five most climate-vulnerable districts with support from UN Women and its partner Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). The network seeks to build solidarity amongst WLOs working on the frontlines, and leverage their collective voice, actions and leadership for climate justice. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. However, 2024 presented a new set of challenges for WLOs in the aftermath of the civil unrest. Several local partners reported facing attacks, including damage to their office and property. In a context of increasing backlash against women’s rights, a stronger focus on safety and security of grass roots CSOs is critical-including strengthening overall risk assessment capacities as well as providing targeted support to ensure effective security measures are in place.

By 2026, ecosystems are healthier, and all people, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalized in both rural and urban settings, benefit from and contribute to, in a gender responsive manner, a cleaner environment, an enriched natural resource base, low carbon development, and are more resilient to climate change, shocks and disasters

There has been significant progress on this outcome in the reporting period. The updated draft of the Climate Change Gender Action Plan (CCGAP) was approved by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2023. Aligned to the Government of Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2023-2050, the CCGAP will serve as a key instrument to enhance the resilience capacity of women and the most vulnerable groups to climate change, shocks and disasters. Recognizing the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change, the CCGAP identifies six priority areas for gender-responsive climate actions. It aims to strengthen women’s equitable access to resources; build their capacity for climate-resilient alternative livelihoods; and promote engagement in agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and other Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) related interventions. Its close alignment with the NAP will also ensure that other key ministries and departments deliver on their gender targets for climate adaptation. The review and update of the CCGAP, which was first developed in 2013, was enabled with UN Women’s technical and financial support to MoEFCC. The process was co-led by the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT), a statutory body that funds to undertake climate action. Previously under the Regional EmPower Programme, UN Women in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) developed the State of Gender Equality and Climate Change Report (2022) that served as an important evidence base for the revision of the CCGAP. The extensive process of consultations undertaken to update the CCGAP reflects MoEFCC's commitment to ensure diverse perspectives inform the design of the Action Plan, including women facing multiple vulnerabilities. This enhanced understanding and sensitivity to gender issues at the institutional level is a result of sustained technical and capacity development support provided by UN Women and its partners. In 2023, UN Women facilitated the participation of key officials from MoEFCC on gender mainstreaming in climate change, at a regional workshop. A high-level field visit to observe women-led local adaptation models in Khulna, resulted in a specific request from the Secretary, MoEFCC to undertake a study in the Southwest coastal districts, to assess the extent to which women have benefitted from climate investments. UN Women also developed a ‘Gender Guideline’ for BCCT. This tool was approved by the BCCT Board in 2023 and will enable BCCT officials to assess the gender responsiveness of projects requested by different government departments, prior to funding them. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. In 2024, BCO will support MoEFCC a detailed, costed to monitor the implementation of the CCGAP. A key lesson learnt was the importance of creating spaces for direct engagement and self-representation of women leaders, especially at the inter-governmental level and investing in building capacities of women to influence policy makers engaging in inter-governmental processes. UN Women is committed to supporting the next generation of women leaders from diverse groups, fostering networking power, to engage and influence in more technical forums that remain primarily gender-blind, such as climate change negotiations.

By 2026, ecosystems are healthier, and all people, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalized in both rural and urban settings, benefit from and contribute to, in a gender responsive manner, a cleaner environment, an enriched natural resource base, low carbon development, and are more resilient to climate change, shocks and disasters

UN Women’s contribution to the climate change and disaster resilience aspect of this United Nations Cooperation Framework outcome is on track. Bangladesh, the ninth most disaster-prone country (World Risk Report 2022), is recognized for its remarkable progress in improving the lives of women and girls. Though women’s mortality rate from disasters has reduced drastically in the last 20 years, the disaster management architecture and system did not cater to women’s needs and priorities during and after disasters due to the systemic gender inequalities. However, since the first-ever gender-responsive Standing Orders on Disaster (2019) and National Plan for Disaster Management (2021-2025), a momentum to advance gender equality in disaster management has begun. Most vulnerable and marginalized groups, which include women and girls, are now better prepared in terms of knowledge and financial resources to prevent, cope with, and adapt to climatic odds and disaster risks. In 2022, efforts have been reinforced by the Government of Bangladesh, development partners (local, national and international) and community people to engage all members of communities in disaster risk reduction at all levels in order to benefit from the disaster and climate-related policies and programmes regardless of sex and age. Joining these efforts and building on past interventions, UN Women has been able to further the cause of gender mainstreaming resilience, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction agenda of the country through policy advice and technical consultations, policy advocacy, and direct support to the most at-risk women. The gender-responsive resilience agenda is advancing as evidenced by the updated final draft of Climate Change Gender Action Plan of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the final draft of Revised Disaster Risk Management Strategy of the Department of Women Affairs (DWA), and the draft gender guidelines for Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT), all of which UN Women has provided technical advisory support. It has been observed while working closely with the duty bearers (local and national level government officials, public representatives) that their mindset has been positively shifted on gender equality issues at scale e.g. recognition of the importance of the issue, taking special measures to address the issue, allocating more resources to change the lives of women and girls which would eventually create enabling environment for women and girls to lead and influence disaster risk reduction and climate change actions in coming days. With UN Women’s support, the most vulnerable women and girls from the north and the north-eastern parts of Bangladesh now have improved capacity to respond to and recover from floods occurring in that area with varied intensity almost every year and benefit from the coordinated humanitarian response. Some 11,117 women and girls from Jamalpur, Kurigram, Netrokona, Sunamganj, and Sylhet, the most flood-affected districts, were supported and reached through 16 multi-purpose women’s shelters (MPWS) constructed by Christian Aid with support from UN Women. The MPWSs provided interim shelter with bathing space and a safe drinking water source while also enhancing their flood preparedness knowledge and skills. In addition, 760 women from Kurigram and Jamalpur Districts, who were most affected by the flash flood in June 2022, received BDT 4,500 each to recover from the devastating impacts of the flood. Started in late 2022, the handover of the MPWSs to the local government will be completed in early 2023. The local government will continue offering diverse services to women and girls through theses shelters even after the emergency response project is over, for instance, awareness-raising sessions for community members are being continued by the local government and NGOs in the aftermath of the flood disaster. UNICEF and FAO have also indicated interest to support these shelters through their ongoing programmes with the local government. In the reporting year, UN Women continued to strengthen government machinery to fulfill their gender commitments in the country’s humanitarian coordination mechanism. The gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group, co-chaired by the Department of Women Affairs and UN Women, made further strides to strengthen multi-stakeholder and multi-level coordination to address gender priorities. This has been pursued by engaging the grass-roots women-led organizations to reinforce government and non-government organizations’ collaboration in humanitarian actions; creating a pool of gender experts within the humanitarian community; producing post-disaster gender analysis; and strategizing with other cluster and working groups in practicing the leave no one behind principles. The Theory of Change that if an enabling environment which advances women’s leadership and resilience to national disasters and crisis exists, women and girls will be empowered to exercise their rights across the humanitarian-development continuum remains valid for this Outcome.