Coordinating Climate-Resilient Development Conducting Gender Analysis to Inform National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Processes: Reflections from six African countries

This briefing note by the International Institute for Sustainable Development describes the rationale, methodology, and findings of targeted gender analyses conducted in six African countries to inform their National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes. It emphasizes the need to move beyond general statements about women's vulnerability toward a nuanced understanding of gender dynamics to ensure equitable benefits from climate adaptation investments.

• There is a significant gap between the existence of national gender policies and their application within National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes. While all six analyzed countries have legal frameworks for gender equality and identify it as a cross-cutting priority in development plans, these policies are often inaccessible, lack explicit references to climate change, and are not well-known among climate change actors.
• Institutional coordination between gender and climate change priorities is weak. Governments typically treat these as separate policy tracks, with minimal joint activity between thematic focal points within or across ministries. While ministries for gender exist, they are often smaller, younger, and lack the convening power and resources—including qualified personnel—to effectively support gender mainstreaming in the NAP process.
• Gender disparities in access to basic services, such as education and literacy, hinder women's ability to act as agents of change in climate adaptation. For example, in Togo, nearly half of adult females were illiterate in 2015 compared to just over 20% of men, and in Madagascar, men dominated technical and professional training enrolment at 75% in 2014.
• Adaptation strategies must account for the distinct roles men and women play within specific sectors to be inclusive. In Côte d’Ivoire's agricultural sector, women primarily handle subsistence production while men manage commercial crops like cacao; in Benin's fisheries, men typically fish while women handle the smoking and drying of fish for the market.
• Climate-induced migration alters gender dynamics and household responsibilities. In Côte d’Ivoire, the shift in cacao cultivation areas has led to increased migration by men, which increases the burden on women remaining behind. Conversely, research in Ethiopia indicated that as women's responsibilities grew due to male migration, their decision-making power regarding household management also increased.
• Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making roles within climate-vulnerable sectors and the public service. In Madagascar, women held only 6% of decision-making posts from the community to national level, and in Benin, women held only 22% of public service decision-making posts, with representation decreasing at higher hierarchical levels.
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Programme is becoming a primary driver for integrating gender into NAP processes because it requires gender considerations as one of its 10 review criteria for proposals. The GCF allocated up to USD 3 million per country for NAP formulation starting in 2016.

APA

Dekens, J., & Dazé, A. (2019). Coordinating Climate-Resilient Development Conducting Gender Analysis to Inform National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Processes: Reflections from six African countries. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/napgn-en-2019-conducting-gender-analysis-to-inform-nap-processes.pdf

Chicago

Dekens, Julie, and Angie Dazé. Coordinating Climate-Resilient Development Conducting Gender Analysis to Inform National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Processes: Reflections from six African countries. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/napgn-en-2019-conducting-gender-analysis-to-inform-nap-processes.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{dekens2019coordinating, author = {Dekens, Julie and Dazé, Angie}, title = {{Coordinating Climate-Resilient Development Conducting Gender Analysis to Inform National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Processes: Reflections from six African countries}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/napgn-en-2019-conducting-gender-analysis-to-inform-nap-processes.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }