Commander Bernadette N’Guessan

Technical assistant at the MINEF and coordinator of the Women and Forests project

Source: Rodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip.

Although Côte d’Ivoire still has many challenges to overcome to achieve gender equality, the introduction of gender in policy discussions on forest governance, and in particular in the VPA negotiations, is a critical step.

For Commander Bernadette N’Guessan, these changes are key because “they improve stakeholders’ understanding of gender aspects, which is not always obvious. Women are now better represented in the VPA negotiations.”

However, this trend is not yet reflected in rural areas, where “women are generally excluded from decisions concerning the management of natural resources”, says Ahoussi Delphine, president of MALEBI, an association of rural women who work in the production of sustainable biomass.

Mrs. Ahoussi Delphine

President of MALEBI association

Source: Association MALEBI

The role of women, reinforced by the FLEGT-VPA

The EU’s international partnerships strategy aims to strengthen the role of women in the management of natural resources. Taking gender into account throughout the VPA negotiations is therefore a priority both for the EU and Côte d’Ivoire.

For Chantal Marijnissen, chief VPA negotiator for the European Commission, "the negotiations of the Agreement must contribute to the recognition of women’s right to play a role in forest governance, and to be included in the sharing of economic benefits derived from forests”.

For the first time, gender is explicitly included in the definition of the legality of a VPA, which establishes the aspects of a country's law that must be met to ensure timber is legal. For example, the development of this definition helped “identify and include in the Agreement measures to ensure that the private forestry sector respects the maternity leave of women workers”, explains Commander Bernadette N’Guessan.

The VPA negotiations have also played a key role in recent legal reforms of the country’s forest sector. These reforms, which will continue beyond the signing of the Agreement, could provide an opportunity to facilitate women’s access to forest resources and land. This, in turn, would ensure a more balanced sharing of economic benefits driven from forestry activities. “Such benefits would contribute to generating socioeconomic development opportunities for rural women,” underlines Ahoussi Delphine.

The importance of supporting rural women

Within the framework of the VPA negotiations, some EU-supported initiatives (mainly through the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme) have put forward innovative approaches related to the inclusion of women in forest management.

One of these initiatives is the Women and Forests project, implemented by MALEBI. The project increased the visibility of the potential of rural women in the management of forest and agricultural resources. "Despite its short duration – says Ahoussi Delphine – the project has demonstrated that an association run by women can perfectly carry out agroforestry-based reforestation, produce sustainable charcoal and manage a forest."

In light of these results, Denisa Salkova, European Commission focal point for this VPA, says the VPA constitutes a great opportunity for donors "to strengthen women’s associations position vis-à-vis the administration, help them find their place in forest governance, and reduce their dependence and vulnerability”.

While progress is undoubtedly promising, the challenge remains significant and unavoidable for Côte d’Ivoire and its partners, because, as Ahoussi Delphine says, "if we talk about sustainable development, we cannot leave women out of decisions that affect forest management. It’s simple: if we want to succeed, we need women to be on board.”