In this publication, the GEF Small Grants Programme, implemented by UNDP, features women as environmental stewards in case studies about biodiversity conservation, climate change, land degradation, international waters and chemicals and waste management.
These examples show action from the ground up and demonstrate the importance of investing in women’s leadership and technical skills for improved environmental benefits and sustainable development, while challenging traditional gender norms that often prevent women from taking leadership roles or from having access and control over the natural resources they help preserve.
The thirteen examples of women led projects included in this publication provide evidence that investing in women pays off not just in producing global environmental benefits and sustainable development, but also by improving the wellbeing and sustainable practices of the communities they live in.
Authors and Publishers
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided $14.5 billion in grants and mobilized $75.4 billion in additional financing for almost 4,000 projects. The GEF has become an international partnership of 183 countries, international institutions, civil society organizations, and private sector to address global environmental issues.
UNDP works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.