Photo: IUCN

At the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress, IUCN Members adopted a decision to establish a new membership category for Indigenous Peoples Organisations (IPOs). This landmark decision is path breaking and ensures an equal voice of Indigenous Peoples Organizations in IUCN and in the further development and delivery of the IUCN One Programme.

Above photo: A Quichua woman rowing her reed boat, photo taken during a field mission on the implementation of the climate change Gender Action Plan (ccGAP) for Peru.
Photo credit: IUCN

In this context, IUCN has recently embarked on a strategy to further mainstream and strengthen its social science capacity. To this end, the Global Economics and Social Science Programme (GESSP) is being enhanced into a new Global Programme on Governance and Rights (GPGR), of which Lorena Aguilar is the interim director.

The goal of the GPGR is: To strengthen natural resource management and conservation action through effective and equitable governance and a more systematic adoption of rights-based approaches, including in support of SDG implementation.

To this end, the GPGR will include an explicit focus on the:

• Promotion and recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples;
• Advancement of gender equality and women empowerment;
• Strengthening the governance of natural resources; and
• Advancing the realisation of a human rights-based approach to conservation

The GPGR team is expanding its expertise and capacities to work on these four areas of work. It will continue to liaise with CEESP, donors and partners in the further development and implementation of its strategy in alignment with the IUCN Programme. Stay tuned for further news in upcoming newsletters!