Making Progress toward a Gender-Sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund: Recommendations for the 5th Meeting of the GCF Board

As the Board of the Green Climate Fund meets in Paris from October 7-10 week with a long agenda and the urgency to move ahead with far-reaching decisions, it is crucial that the mandate of the Governing Instrument's for the GCF to follow "a gender-sensitive approach" is considered in the context of the policies awaiting the Board's approval. A policy brief by the Heinrich Böll Foundation North America and the climate finance working group of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance lays out how the mandate for a gender-sensitive approach can be considered in the policies under the Business Model Framework for consideration and decision in Paris, as well as in other relevant decisions, for example on the structure and initial staffing of the Secretariat, with respect to readiness and preparatory support, and in the composition of Board committees and panels.
In Paris, gender issues will be under discussion under "Any other business" at the end of the agenda of Paris Board meeting. Paris will be an important turning point to ensure that the language in the GCF Governing Instrument remains more than pure rhetoric, but is followed up with concrete action. A focused gender decision is needed that would lay out a clear path for ensuring a gender-sensitive approach to GCF funding.  If gender considerations are to be integrated into Fund policies as they are developed -- and not retroactively in a piecemeal fashion as has happened with other existing climate funds --, the GCF Secretariat must be tasked to develop a paper on concrete next steps for Board consideration and approval at the first GCF Board meeting in 2014 such as developing a draft gender mainstreaming policy and an action plan to implement which has to be integrated into the Board's workplan for 2014.