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The document argues that empowering women in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) requires a holistic approach combining economic, social, technical, and political interventions. Key recommendations include literacy and awareness campaigns to challenge traditional norms, technical and leadership training to reduce dependency on men, and the provision of gender-sensitive financial services and equipment. It emphasizes the need for legislative reforms, such as mandatory gender-impact assessments within environmental impact assessments, and the promotion of women-led cooperatives and associations to improve market access and governance.

The Waste Management Flagship Programme seeks USD 1,359,719 in preparatory funds to transition South African municipalities from landfill-based disposal to a circular economy. The programme focuses on five organic waste treatment technologies: open windrow composting, in-vessel composting, decentralized containerized composting, anaerobic digestion (AD), and biomass pre-treatment. The PPF phase will conduct full feasibility studies and Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) for six pilot municipalities—Rustenburg, Emfuleni, uMhlathuze, Msunduzi, Mbombela, and Mangaung—while developing standardized blueprints, procurement documents, and a due diligence framework to scale the model to 24 additional municipalities. The overall programme aims to reduce methane emissions by 572,800 t CO2 eq per annum and create 938 jobs during construction and operation.

The document provides specific wording suggestions to ensure that the Paris Agreement's rights-based vision is reflected in the guidelines for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the Transparency Framework, the Global Stocktake, and Article 6 mechanisms. It emphasizes that these guidelines should promote the integration of human rights, gender equality, and indigenous rights without creating new obligations for Parties or new conditionalities for climate finance.

The 2018 Talanoa Dialogue, facilitated by the Fijian and Polish presidencies, aims to raise climate ambition by taking stock of progress toward the Paris Agreement and informing 2020 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The process uses a non-adversarial, story-based methodology to foster consensus. NHRIs and civil society are encouraged to provide actionable, positive inputs that link climate action to human rights, including gender equality, indigenous peoples' rights, and just transitions. The dialogue consists of preparatory phases (online submissions and in-session dialogues) and a final political phase at COP-24 in Katowice, Poland.

The report examines water security in Burkina Faso's Nouaho sub-basin, finding that climate-exacerbated hazards like water scarcity and flooding disproportionately affect women and girls due to gendered divisions of labour and social norms. While women primarily manage domestic water collection and often lead off-farm income activities, they are largely excluded from community-level decision-making and water association leadership. The document argues that WASH adaptation must move beyond technical infrastructure to address gender discrimination and empower marginalized groups to ensure long-term water security.

The South African Institute of International Affairs argues that BRICS nations must move beyond treating women's issues as a separate silo and instead integrate gender inclusivity into core development goals. The text highlights significant wage gaps in Brazil and South Africa and notes that while South Africa leads the bloc in gender parity rankings, other members lag behind. It specifically calls for gender-sensitive approaches to automation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the inclusion of women in the new BRICS peacekeeping working group to increase the longevity of peace initiatives, and the recognition of women's roles as primary caregivers in the success of vaccine dissemination campaigns.

The document outlines a four-step process for governments to leverage mining investments for national development: aligning with national objectives, taking stock of current capabilities, crafting specific policies, and establishing monitoring mechanisms. It details five types of local content policies: local procurement, direct employment, horizontal linkages (infrastructure and capabilities), downstream beneficiation, and the fostering of national mining firms. The guide emphasizes that policies must be context-specific, gender-equitable, and compliant with international trade and investment laws, while warning that automation may reduce future employment and procurement opportunities.

The document outlines a four-step process for governments to integrate the mining sector into national development plans through local content policies. It categorizes these policies into five main types: local procurement, direct local employment, horizontal linkages (infrastructure and capacity), downstream linkages (product enrichment), and the strengthening of national mining companies. The guide emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all model, as success depends on a country's specific industrial base, skills availability, and business climate. It also addresses cross-cutting challenges, such as the impact of automation on employment and the potential conflicts between local content requirements and international trade and investment laws.

The document evaluates women's empowerment in BRICS countries using World Economic Forum criteria, highlighting significant disparities in political representation, economic opportunity, and health. It argues against treating gender as a standalone issue, suggesting instead that the BRICS Gender and Women’s Forum should mainstream gender perspectives into the bloc's core agendas, including technological disruption, UN-aligned peacekeeping, and vaccine research platforms.

This scoping report examines how global trends—including energy decentralization, affordability, mobile payments, women's entrepreneurship, urbanization, and humanitarian settings—affect gender equality and social inclusion in sustainable energy access, with specific analysis of five countries.

The document highlights the critical but often invisible role of women in Africa's small-scale fisheries, particularly in post-harvest activities. It argues that gender-blind policies and a lack of disaggregated data lead to the exclusion of women from governance and economic benefits. The author recommends context-specific interventions, the collection of gender-disaggregated data, and the promotion of livelihood diversification, such as aquaculture, to improve women's human rights and economic security.

The report examines the systemic marginalization of women in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), where they constitute 30% of the global workforce but are often relegated to low-value, non-digging roles. It identifies key bottlenecks, including lack of access to land, finance, and geological data, as well as cultural taboos and discriminatory legal frameworks. The document argues for gender-mainstreaming in formalization processes, the creation of women-specific financial products, and the strengthening of female miners' associations to improve women's economic independence and influence in the sector.

The OSCE has struggled to implement its 2004 Gender Action Plan due to increased political polarisation, a consensus-based decision-making rule that grants all 57 participating States veto power, and budget constraints. While conservative states and the Holy See have resisted the 'gender' agenda, the document argues that the OSCE's field missions provide a critical opportunity to implement gender-oriented policies on the ground, provided their autonomy is protected from political turmoil.

The statement advocates for a legally binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations, emphasizing that current frameworks like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are "gender-blind". It highlights how women disproportionately suffer from environmental degradation, extractive industry impacts, and gender-based violence linked to corporate security forces. The authors propose three requirements for the treaty: mandatory gendered impact assessments, gender-sensitive remedy mechanisms, and protection for women human rights defenders.

The document outlines the structure of the 2018 Talanoa Dialogue, a facilitative process designed to raise climate ambition and inform future Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It emphasizes that the Dialogue's participatory nature allows stakeholders to frame climate ambition through a human rights lens, including gender equality, food security, and a just transition. The briefing details a staged approach for input—from the preparatory phase ending in October to the political phase at COP-24—and advises contributors to use the 'Talanoa' methodology of sharing stories and positive experiences rather than adversarial 'name, shame, and blame' tactics to ensure their inputs are accepted by the Fijian presidency.

The document highlights the persistent gender gap in financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 30% of women hold financial institution accounts. It presents Savings Groups—member-owned collectives of 15-25 individuals—as a sustainable strategy to provide low-income women with access to savings, credit, and insurance. The FSD Network has invested over $28 million in these groups since 2008 across several African nations to bridge the gap between marginalized populations and formal financial services.

CIEL and other civil society groups are calling on the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to immediately adopt the proposed Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Policy and Action Plan, and Indigenous Peoples Policy (IPP). The document argues that the GCF has already funded 54 projects without permanent safeguards to protect human rights and the environment, and that 23 additional projects awaiting approval at the B.19 meeting could negatively impact ecosystems and local communities. Furthermore, CIEL emphasizes the need for a funded work plan and budget for the Independent Redress Mechanism (IRM) to provide remedies for people harmed by GCF projects.

The document reviews the integration of human rights and social principles across four key areas of the Paris Agreement implementation guidelines: Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Adaptation Communications, the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), and the Global Stocktake (GST). It highlights that while some parties, notably Norway, Canada, and the African Group of Negotiators, have pushed for the inclusion of human rights and gender equality, these elements often remain absent from co-facilitator summaries or are limited to specific contexts like adaptation. The briefing notes that the role of civil society and intergovernmental organizations in the ETF and GST processes is a critical factor for ensuring social dimensions are considered in future climate action.

The proposed programme seeks USD 9,960,000 from the Green Climate Fund to scale up a Decentralised Climate Finance (DCF) model in Mali's Mopti region. It aims to benefit 720,000 people by establishing Local Adaptation Planning Committees (LAPCs) that identify and manage community-led investments. The funding is divided into three main investment windows: climate-resilient agriculture (50% of grants), livestock-based economies (10%), and drinking water for marginalised women (24%), with the remaining 14% dedicated to programme management and technical assistance.

The document advocates for Community Forest Management (CFM) as a holistic approach to territorial governance that prioritizes the 'Good Living' of indigenous and peasant communities over capitalist development. It asserts that CFM is more effective at reducing deforestation than absolute protection regimes and is essential for maintaining biodiversity and climate stability. The report warns against 'commercial logging' disguised as sustainable management and rejects REDD+ and carbon markets, arguing they centralize power and commodify nature. It recommends strengthening community land tenure, investing in local capacity building, and shifting international finance away from fossil fuels toward community-led conservation.