In the context of gender mainstreaming to the “European Union for Environment” (EU4Environment) Action, UNIDO carries out an online training workshop series on gender sensitization in greening national industries. The series is part of UNIDO’s work on Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP), as well as Circular Economy in the six countries of the Eastern Partnership region.
The workshop series are being conducted in all of the six EaP countries from November 2020 until February 2021, with the contents (especially in terms of national legal framework and country-based statistics) being adapted to the national context:
- 25-26 November 2020 – Ukraine
- 3-4 December 2020 – Georgia
- 10-11 December 2020 – Belarus
- 8-9 February 2021 – Armenia
The gender sensitization trainings contribute to a larger effort that promotes gender equality in the greening of national industries in the Eastern Partnership countries. The participants of the trainings – representatives of the RECP centres, private companies, universities, think tanks, NGOs – will about learn tools and methods to make their projects and activities more gender sensitive, and to ensure that women and men equally contribute to and benefit from greener economies.
Gender mainstreaming is a key pre-requisite for making workplaces safer and more inclusive for both men and women, developing more comfortable working environments and schedules – especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Greening national industry through the gender sensitive prism addresses the impact of toxic and hazardous production on women and men, making sure that women and men are environmentally knowledgeable and sensitive. It also builds capacity and promotes women’s professional associations and networks to achieve positive outcomes for the economy.
The topic of gender equality is central to the mandate of UNIDO as it goes in line with the goals of sustainable industrial production and development, which ultimately depend on eliminating the social and economic inequalities between men and women. Gender equality means creating equal opportunities for women and men to reach their full potential and equally contribute economically, politically, socially, and culturally.
On a larger scale, the workshop series on gender sensitization follow the recently adopted EU Gender Action Plan III, which puts women and girls’ rights at the heart of the global recovery for a gender-equal world. The workshops’ agendas are enhancing knowledge and skills on gender equality, developing gender sensitivity, identifying gender mainstreaming opportunities into RECP and Circular Economy practices, and many others. They are fully consistent with ambitious plans to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment through all external actions of the European Union.