Anna Pala Sverrisdottir, Iceland’s Director of International and Security Affairs (third from left) and Mozambique’s Deputy Minister of the Environment Ana Chichava (2nd from right) participate in the Tuesday morning panel launching the first-ever
Environment and Gender Index.
Iceland's Director of International and Security Affairs Anna Pala Sverrisdottir glowed in the spotlight Tuesday morning as the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced her country ranked number one out of 72 countries in the first-ever
Environment and Gender Index (EGI).
The Index, which also gave top honors to Norway and the Netherlands (while delegating the United States to 14th place), scores the effectiveness of nations in incorporating gender equity and the empowerment of women into their country's policies.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and Mauritania were the lowest on the Index.
Yet perhaps Mozambique's Deputy Minister of the Environment Ana Chichava delivered the most inspirational talk of the morning, detailing the success of her country in incorporating gender specific climate change resilience tools to deal with conditions which establish Mozambique as one of the world's most vulnerable countries as a result of its geography, economy and topography.
Ranked highest on the Index for the number of women delegate representatives at the 2012's CBD COP11, Chicava noted that Mozambique was the first country to establish "a national climate change and gender action plan."
In Mozambique, women operate Ambulance bicycle companies, a vital service in a country where climate change contributes to increasingly severe weather.
Operations on the ground in her country engage women in operating coastal early warning networks; managing the distribution of climate change health kits containing herbs and remedies from native healers; and owning and operating “bicycle ambulances” to handle emergencies during disasters.
According to the 2013 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report, Mozambique ranks as the third best country in Africa in terms of gender equity, behind Lesotho and South Africa.
With a vital agricultural economy, over half of country's residents live along the coast, supported by rain-fed crops and fishing, Mozambique is highly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise and extreme typhoons. Just this January, hundreds of thousands were displaced in the worst flooding since 2000. The country is one of the most vulnerable on the international climate change vulnerability monitor.
A Breakdown on the Index Findings from First-ever Environment and Gender Index Ranks 72 Countries
· Iceland is the top performer in most categories, but scored lower in performance on women in COP delegations, female managers, senior officials, and legislators; and country-reporting on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention to Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
· Poland ranks highest worldwide in ecosystem category, and lowest in livelihood category for OECD countries.
· Costa Rica ranked highest for governance in Latin America and Caribbean region, lowest on women in COP delegations, and lowest for country-reported activities.
· Mongolia was a top performer in Asia region, but low on women in policy-making and protection of property rights.
· Liberia scored in the top tier of access to credit, land, and property (equivalent to same legal rights as men.)
· The USA had the highest performance on percentage of women without anemia, and lower performance – equal to Greece and Bangladesh – on women in policy-making positions.
· Lebanon had the highest percentage of women in COP delegations, and low performance for women as legislators, managers, and senior officials.
· Benin ranks highest in the ecosystem category in Africa, and lowest in gender-based education and assets category worldwide.
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