INTRODUCTION

Gender equality matters for both the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). All citizens have a right to participate in the public life of their society, but different groups of citizens face different barriers to doing so. Women, non-binary individuals, and LGBTQIA+ actors historically faced systematic exclusion from public decision-making processes and continue to be widely under-represented across the world. Further, women, non-binary individuals, and LGBTQIA+ actors often have different needs and experiences of government and public services, and therefore may prioritize different things from their governments and service providers. Intersectionalities across gender, sexual identity, age, race, ethnicity, ability, location, and access can further discrimination and limit voice and access to vital services.

However, the important priorities and needs of these communities are often poorly understood and under-supported. Diverse, substantive participation in governance processes like OGP and its action plan co-creation processes strengthens both the legitimacy and effectiveness of these mechanisms, truly broadening the base of participation.

Civil society organizations (CSOs) that work across gender equality and equity issues are an important democratic mechanism for aggregating, representing, and applying pressure to secure the interests of women, non-binary individuals, and LGBTQIA+ actors. OGP coordination bodies need to actively facilitate a range of these CSOs and social movement actors to participate in the co-creation of OGP action plans, if it is to harness the ideas and expertise of diverse citizens, and be relevant to their needs and priorities.

The Feminist Open Government (FOGO) Initiative was created to generate research, data, and practical tools to support OGP members in better using OGP as a mechanism to advance gender equality. This Gender Toolkit was produced based on several pieces of research that started under the FOGO Initiative and has continued within OGP’s broader gender and inclusion efforts.

The use of the tools can be facilitated by an OGP government or civil society stakeholder, a third-party facilitator, or a resource person with gender expertise. A third-party facilitator may be best able to explain concepts to participants, ask probing questions to prompt deeper thinking, moderate the discussion to surface different points of view, and facilitate consensus around actions to be taken after the tools are used.

Note that this toolkit will reference women, girls, non-binary individuals, and LGBTQIA+ actors as specific stakeholders to engage and consult throughout co-creation and implementation. This will also appear as “gender equality actors” for shorthand. These categories are not comprehensive, and there are overlapping identities and intersectionalities within and across these groups that greatly impact voice, agency, and access. None of these groups are a monolith, and diverse consultation is needed across identities and experience to better ensure open government approaches serve a diversity of citizens.

To view and download the full document, please click here. 

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines is still experiencing challenges in surpassing limitations and challenges — both new and exacerbated existing ones. However, it seems that one positive note is that in certain areas in the country, vaccine hesitance or resistance is slowly diminishing. Undoubtedly, this is not solely due to mainstream media and hearsay, but also because of the valuable contributions of community representatives, volunteers, and workers.

In some barangays in Pulilan, Baliuag, and Malolos, Bulacan, Community Health Educators or CHEs work hand-in-hand with the local government, particularly at the barangay level to engage the community and assure that they are being informed of updates for protocols, current response efforts from different sectors fo society, and most importantly the availability of services and vaccinations around their area.

Mary Jean Santos, 46, a resident in Pulilan, Bulacan, shared how she was extremely against getting the vaccine before. She had gotten word of different stories and hearsay that the vaccine would provide more harm than benefit, possibly even causing death. However, upon the encouragement of one of the barangay volunteer CHEs, Mary Jean was invited and attended a seminar that helped educate citizens on accurate information regarding COVID-19 vaccination. After learning that most, if not all of her prior prejudices on getting vaccinated were false, she was vaccinated last December 2021.

“Ngayon alam ko na na kailangan pala ng bakuna kasi kailangan natin ng protekshyon at saka para rin sa mga kasama sa bahay at pati na rin mga mahal natin sa buhay.” [I only found out recently that we really do need vaccines since we not only need protection for ourselves, but also protection for the sake of our households and loved ones.]

Community Health Educators such as Fe Jumagdao, also shared that aside from encouraging citizens to get vaccinated, it is also helpful to encourage the community to share their concerns and questions with their local government since it is also their right. CHE Syrlle Ann Ginooalso recounted her experiences in speaking with her fellow community members, with people fearing possible side effects of the vaccine, even hearing stories that some worried getting vaccinated would only allow them up two more years to live. Furthermore, since she believed the CHEs learned many facts from working with the health professionals and barangay officials, she strongly encouraged the participation of community members to take advantage of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) efforts like resources and seminars made available through partnerships with both the private and humanitarian sector.

“Malaki ang naging tulong ng saminar dahil nga naunawaan nila, bukod sa kakasabi namin,” says Leny Ventura, another CHE from Brgy, Pinagbarilan, Baliuag, Bulacan. [The seminar was really a big help since it provided people an avenue to better understand the situation aside from jus t us CHEs repetitively telling them.]

Among other volunteers at the barangay level, Evelyn Paltao, a mother Leader in Barangay Tarcan highlighted that it is also important for local leaders and volunteers to be examples of practicing proper health protocols and movement in the community in order to further strengthen and assure their local safety and progress toward recovery and herd immunity.

With continued perseverance paired with government assistance, collaborative partnerships among different sectors of society, and the open-mindedness of the community people, the CHEs in these communities are among many of those who work hard and strive for a more positive and healthy population.

The RCCE and Vaccination Roll-Out Project, which is being implemented in Malolos City, Baliwag and Pulilan in Bulacan Province, Sto. Tomas City in Batangas, and General Santos City in South Cotabato, aims to support 30 barangay local government units (BLGUs) to increase their capacities in implementing COVID-19 policies and help encourage their residents to get vaccinated. More than 2,450 barangay officials, health workers and members of the peacekeeping team have already been trained by medical professionals to further spread information and provide communication about the risks of COVID-19 and vaccination benefits. This initiative is a collaboration between CARE Philippines, the Southern Tagalog People’s Response Center, MINCODE, and Cargill.

Given its geographical location, the Philippines is one of the countries in Asia that is most prone to disasters. In fact, the Philippines placed 5th as the most vulnerable country on disaster risk implications for development capacity on the 2015 Global Assessment Report of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction while consistently ranking in the top 4 among the countries in the world hit by the highest number of disasters for over 20 years. Recognizing the adverse impacts of disasters in the economy and human capital, the Philippine government has predicted a yearly PhP 177 billion losses due to disasters.

START Network defined disaster risk financing as an integration of the elements of science-based risk modeling, contingency planning, and pre-agreed financing to prompt humanitarian funding in situations that meet the threshold. Disaster risk financing also entails access to reliable funds whenever a crisis hits which can result in an improved timing, coverage, and design of humanitarian action, and at the same time, support improved emergency preparedness measures.

In terms of gender equality, the Philippines, as compared with other countries in the world, ranks medium to high based on Gender and Development Index, and Gender Gap Index. Despite these achievements, during the onslaught of both climate and disaster risks, women, men, and other gender identities still tend to remain vulnerable. Thus, in disaster risk financing, it is essential to consider gendered needs and the contexts of populations that benefit from it. START Network recognizes the importance of experiences as a learning mechanism to devise ways to help in improving disaster preparedness, access to information, and early action given the gendered needs of people.

View and download the full document here.

Start Network started piloting disaster risk financing (DRF) approaches to move from reacting to crises, to proactively managing risks, so that we can ensure faster, more efficient, and more effective locally-led humanitarian action. Disaster risk financing as defined by START Network (2021) integrates the elements of science-based risk modeling, contingency planning, and pre-agreed financing to prompt humanitarian funding in situations that meet the threshold. This session was conducted with the aim of achieving the following objectives:

1. Introduce the DRF system build work for the Philippines;
2. Share the outputs of completed DRF research studies to a public audience; and
3. Ensure that START Network members, local CSO partners, and other stakeholders have a common understanding of the current baseline for the build-up of the DRF system in the Philippine context. 

Background of the Sessions during the Webinar

Start Network supports inclusive locally-led structures to own, develop and implement financing strategies and systems in their contexts. In the Philippines, Start Network conducted studies to collect baseline information needed to establish a DRF system that is appropriate for the Philippine context.  In this meeting, the outputs of three research studies on disaster risk management (DRM) financial flows, impact, vulnerability analysis, and gender mainstreaming will be shared to Start Network Members and local CSO partners in the Philippines.  

1. Financing Disaster Risk Management in the Philippines: A Three-Year Snapshot, 2018-2020
   This study by a research team from the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute mapped the flow of funding for DRM in the Philippines from 2018 to 2020 to determine the gaps that can be addressed by developing a DRF mechanism. This study identified financing gaps geographically and hazards-wise and explored the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on DRM funding. Tracking the sources of annual financing to deal with disaster risks, both ex-ante and ex-post, allows for a better understanding of the scope of actionable DRM strategies by both government and non-government actors, especially for anticipatory action.

   View and download this presentation deck here. 

2. ‘What suits one may not suit the other’: A Vulnerability and Impact Analysis on flooding and severe winds caused by tropical cyclones
   START Network members in the Philippines have identified severe winds and flooding caused by tropical cyclones as the most impactful hazards that have hit the country. This Vulnerability and Impact Analysis by a team from the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture identified the following: (1) the geographic and socio-economic extent of impacts of severe winds and flooding due to tropical cyclones in the Philippines; (2) the vulnerability factors and cross-sectoral issues related to tropical cyclones and (3) the existing community-based coping mechanisms that the humanitarian sector can leverage on. Through their analysis, three vulnerable areas (one each in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao) were selected as focus study areas where the DRF Project can potentially be piloted.

   View and download this presentation deck here.

3. Mainstreaming Gender and DRF: Experiences of Marginalized Gender Identities in Disasters in Rural/Urban Communities in the Philippines
   In developing DRF models, it is important to highlight the need to mainstream gender and other intersectional identities in the planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluation process. Ensuring gender equality in DRF requires looking into its gendered dimensions with respect to intersectional identities. This research report by Practical Action Consulting on mainstreaming gender and disaster risk financing (DRF) documents the lived experiences of women, men, and other gender identities on disasters and their intersectional impact on their access to information, preparedness, and early action. It delves deep into their marginalized status and how the existing disaster risk reduction measures reach them and how these could provide opportunities for disaster risk financing. In these gendered dimensions of disaster risk financing, the study identified entry points on opportunities where gender can be effectively mainstreamed.

   View and download this presentation deck here.

4. Start Ready
   Start Ready is a new financial infrastructure recently launched by Start Network that will house a range of innovative crisis financing mechanisms, enabling faster, more efficient, and more effective global humanitarian action. Through risk pooling, it can provide predictable triggered funding at scale for foreseeable crises using innovative risk analysis, collective planning, scientific modeling, and pre-positioned financing.

 Start Network is made up of more than 50 aid agencies across five continents, ranging from large international organizations to national NGOs. Together, our aim is to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action, and localization. Through the START Network, members and partners can quickly access funding for projects to save lives before a disaster strikes.

An Excerpt from the Document:

INTRODUCTION

CORAL reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems globally, and they support the provision of goods and services for approximately 500 million people in coastal communities (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2019). Yet, climate change threatens the sustainability of coral reefs. Increased ocean temperatures mean coral bleaching and mortality events are becoming more widespread (Wilkinson 2000; Speers et al. 2016). These changes are modifying food systems and decreasing fisheries productivity (Rogers et al. 2018), increasing the vulnerability of millions of people dependent on reefs for their livelihoods (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2019).

Within coral reef systems, the effects of social and ecological change are inequitably distributed (de la Torre-Castro et al. 2017; Lau et al. 2021a). Gender, the social meaning and expectations regarding what it is to be a woman or man, shapes how individuals experience opportunities and outcomes within social-ecological systems (Resurrección & Elmhirst 2008; Nightingale 2016). Women tend to face greater constraints than men in their capacities to respond to social-ecological change; men tend to have greater access to and control over assets (i.e., natural resources, income or technology) meaning they are generally better positioned to cope and recover from such change (Cohen et al. 2016; Locke et al. 2017). Moreover, in cases where social-ecological change has created food or economic insecurity, men are more likely to migrate to urban areas to find work, leaving women to bear the brunt of food provisioning, reproductive labour and experience the impacts of poverty more intensely (Rao et al. 2021).

Gender also shapes how people experience and engage with programmes and policies seeking to assist communities overcome social-ecological disturbance. In many cases, men are more able than women to access information and support, have greater flexibility to participate in alternative or adapted livelihoods, and greater autonomy in making strategic life decisions (Locke et al. 2014; Cohen et al. 2016; Lawless et al. 2019). To ensure both effective and equitable outcomes, it is critical that environmental development interventions consider, and work to address these inequities. Yet, analysis of gender approaches used by interventions within coastal social-ecological systems suggest that current efforts are falling short of catalyzing needed progress toward gender equality (Stacey et al. 2019; Lawless et al. 2021; Mangubhai & Lawless 2021).

How environmental interventions interact with gender can be situated along a spectrum from those that seek to ‘reach’, ‘benefit’ or ‘empower’ women and men (Johnson et al. 2018),  to those that actively seek to ‘transform’ gender inequalities (Kleiber et al. 2019) (Figure 1)1. Research has shown that the majority of environmental interventions seek to ‘reach’ or ‘benefit’ participants (Danielsen et al. 2018; Mangubhai & Lawless 2021). ‘Reach’ approaches tend to focus on ensuring women are included in interventions, for example, equal numbers of women and men participating in activities or projects. ‘Benefit’ approaches focus on advancing individual access to resources, for example, as a means to increase productivity or income generation (Johnson et al. 2018; Kleiber et al. 2019). While these are important steps, these actions alone are unlikely to generate the profound gender and social change needed to drive equitable outcomes. Further along this spectrum, yet far less evident in environmental and conservation practice, are approaches that seek to ‘empower’ individuals. Essentially, these approaches focus on strengthening agency through expanding strategic freedoms or life choices, ultimately enhancing individual ability to make and act on decisions. Given women tend to have relatively less agency than men (Kabeer 1999; Muñoz Boudet et al. 2013), there is a tendency for ‘empower’ approaches to primarily focus on women.

Gender transformative approaches (GTAs) are considered the frontier of gender best practice. GTAs seek to surface and rebalance unequal norms, power relations and structures toward those that are considered gender equal (expanded in Section 2) (Wong et al. 2019; McDougall et al. 2020). They are distinct from approaches that only seek to address the symptoms of gender inequality (i.e., ‘reach’, ‘benefit’ or ‘empower’ approaches). GTAs are more ambitious and are designed to tackle the root causes of inequality (McDougall et al. 2020) and thus realize more transformative and longlasting progress towards gender equality across a range of scales. While the use of GTAs is emerging in environmental sectors, and specifically in food systems discourse, to date, there has been little guidance for their application in coral reef social-ecological systems.

A recent literature review (Lau & Ruano-Chamorro 2021) found that although attention to gender and fisheries, and marine environments is increasing (Harper et al. 2013, 2020; Gopal et al. 2014; Kleiber 2014; Frangoudes & Gerrard 2018; Frangoudes et al. 2019), studies of gender are more nascent in tropical seascapes (de la Torre-Castro et al. 2017; de la Torre-Castro 2019), and gender transformative approaches are rarely applied. There is thus considerable scope to enhance gender equality outcomes by elucidating what applying a GTA entails in this context.

To view and access the technical brief, click here.

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Vulnerable groups – particularly women – suffer most from natural and man-made hazards. Now more than ever, there is a need to account for their needs and interests in public decision-making spaces to ensure that community-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) mechanisms and governance structures are effective, inclusive, and are sustainably adopted. Providing women with the opportunity and ability to actively participate in DRR planning and solutions not only amplifies their voice in decisions that affect their lives but also harnesses their potential in leading community DRR work.

Aimed at increasing the resilience of small-scale farmers, fisherfolk – with focus given to female headed-households and women collectives in its partner communities, Project INCREASE sought to augment its women engagement activities and advocacy work through (1) piloting the Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) action research model in its activities, and (2) drawing insights from the Rapid Gender Analysis on Power (RGA-POW) conducted in nine crisis-affected barangays in Mapanas, and Palapag, Northern Samar, Philippines that are covered by the project.

This RGA-POW provides information about the different needs, capacities, and aspirations of women – with a focus on the structural and relational barriers to, and opportunities for women’s leadership and public participation during and after emergencies, as well as relevant information on the local context from previous studies (e.g. post-distribution monitoring reports, rapid gender analyses, etc.).

Apart from demonstrating that women do have power and exercise this with other women, the report also outlines underlying reasons for limited public voice and decision-making for different groups of women and identifies potential resistors and risks, as well as presents opportunities and actions that can address observed barriers. Thus, providing promising directions for WLiE in INCREASE.

View and download a full copy of the document by clicking here.

The first part was a capacity-building session Gender Mainstreaming in Community Resilience on September 22 while the partner-level learning exchange on September 24 provided an avenue for partners to reflect and share best practices on the meaningful participation and decision-making of women in resilient livelihoods.

This session focuses on INCREASE’s learnings and experiences in increasing women’s participation and decision making in resilience building, as well as in ensuring that gender is mainstreamed in longer-term development plans. In support of integrated risk management principles focused on inclusion and participation, this session highlights how women-led activities in livelihoods and in preparedness activities not only build community resilience but also their individual and collective confidence, and more cohesive relations among peers and within formal and informal groups and actors in the community.

  

CLPRB is the manifestation of the project’s commitment to holding four (4) learning exchanges engaging local implementing partners and partner communities across provinces to share DRR-CCA and/or IRM good practices, ideas for sustainability and upscaling, innovations, and evidence from which these are based. Similarly, the project has also committed to producing four (4) research briefs or communication materials, or case stories, from DRR-CCA / IRM good practices and innovations that have been documented; these are to be published and disseminated through RILHUB.

The final installation of the INCREASE Cross-Learning Platform for Resilience-Building will be held in October 2021.

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INCREASE or  “Philippines – Increasing Resilience to Natural Hazards” aims to increase the resilience of 45,00 women and men small scale farmers and fishers, including 720 extremely poor female-headed households, to natural hazards and the effect of climate change. The project will run from 2019-2021 in different parts of the Philippines, namely 36 barangays across 8 municipalities in the provinces of Cagayan, Mt. Province, Northern Samar, and Surigao del Sur. Its project components and activities include early warning systems, alternative livelihood, and climate and disaster governance

Gender equality and social inclusion are cross-cutting themes that are central to CARE’s emergency and development programming. In this IEC material, CARE’s Gender Equality Framework and Theory of Change were reintroduced in this IEC material to inform community members of these concepts, and along with INCREASE interventions, modify behaviors and change social conditions.

INCREASE or  “Philippines – Increasing Resilience to Natural Hazards” aims to aims to increase the resilience of 45,00 women and men small scale farmers and fishers, including 720 extremely poor female-headed households, to natural hazards and the effect of climate change. The project will run from 2019-2021 in different parts of the Philippines, namely 36 barangays across 8 municipalities in the provinces of Cagayan, Mt. Province, Northern Samar, and Surigao del Sur. Its project components and activities include early warning systems, alternative livelihood, and climate and disaster governance.

With resilient livelihood as one of the core activities of INCREASE, promoting sustainable agriculture principles to women and men farmers in the project areas help in ensuring livelihood diversification and strengthening strategies are being implemented. This tarpaulin will be placed in strategic areas especially in demo farms to familiarize community members with elements of sustainable agriculture.

INCREASE or  “Philippines – Increasing Resilience to Natural Hazards” aims to aims to increase the resilience of 45,00 women and men small scale farmers and fishers, including 720 extremely poor female-headed households, to natural hazards and the effect of climate change. The project will run from 2019-2021 in different parts of the Philippines, namely 36 barangays across 8 municipalities in the provinces of Cagayan, Mt. Province, Northern Samar, and Surigao del Sur. Its project components and activities include early warning systems, alternative livelihood, and climate and disaster governance.

Similar to how spectacles may help one see a picture clearer and in more detail, using a gender lens in our planning and programming to ensure that we are able to consider all perspectives in a situation. A gender lens allows us to permeate the systems in which we operate so that gender is never forgotten.

As we continue to feel our way through living amidst the pandemic that has set us back decades economically, not to mention having pushed the medical and technological fields to new limits, we need to take a moment to view our next steps and actions in a way that considers the gender-specific risks and experiences that should inform and shape all of our interventions. Arguably the most pressing issue of our generation, climate change does not wait, slow down, or stop for anyone, especially for us humans who have been the greatest exploiters of our environment and natural resources.

The 15th International Conference in Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change, or simply CBA15, brings together practitioners, grassroots representatives, local and national government planners, policymakers, and donors working at all levels and scales to discuss how we can drive ambition for a climate-resilient future.

It aims to provide an innovative, interactive space for the global CBA community of practice to come together to promote effective, locally-led climate action. The conference videos and presentations shared by both experts and community members also provide a valuable learning resource for practitioners and policymakers during and after the event to continue the conversation on adaptation and climate change.

Held from June 14-18, 2021, CBA15 includes 2 “cross-cutting” themes – Gender and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL). These themes were introduced to draw attention to two essential topics – equally relevant across organizations and disciplines within adaptation – that have not typically been given enough attention in previous conferences. 

Gender here focuses on the differences in the way climate change affects men and women, and the power structures and socially constructed norms that affect the way men and women are able to shape, access, or derive benefits from adaptation solutions. It is more than simply focussing on women’s perceived climate vulnerabilities and participation in CBA. Gender may also incorporate discussions of “intersectionality”, the way in which the social identities of different people intersect to create a particular type of experience of marginalization or vulnerability to risks. Discussions on gender should recognize the way in which gender identities maintain the drivers of vulnerability and the importance to change power relations and norms to ensure climate resilience for all.  

MEL focuses on the need to track the outcomes of projects, learn from successes and failures, and incorporate that learning into the way the adaptation community carries out its work. MEL has been typically undervalued and underfunded among the adaptation community, and taking MEL seriously requires practitioners to think carefully about how they prioritise the implementation of projects and programmes. Any thematic discussion could engage with the particular challenges raised by ensuring that outcomes and recommendations are monitored and assessed appropriately.   

By creating “cross-cutting” themes, the objective is for gender and MEL to be integrated across the different sessions at CBA, including thematic workshops, peer-to-peer training and the marketplace. We also aim to demonstrate that these issues are applicable across themes – there are no topics or areas of discussion where they are not relevant, or their consideration does not raise new challenges.

Albeit completely virtual due to pandemic restrictions around the world, RILHUB was able to participate as a gender champion in the following sessions:

• Voices from the Frontline: Resilience Lessons from Communities
  This session brought together community voices from the “Voices from the Frontline” initiatives, discussing local responses to COVID-19 and how local action can be supported.

  The Voices from the Frontline has been supporting communities across the globe in sharing their stories on the challenges of and the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative has shed light on the different ways that local communities are self-organizing and effectively mobilizing sources of resilience in the face of the pandemic and the consequent lockdown.

  The session was lead by the Global Resilience Partnership, the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network. It applied a talk show format to bring together community voices from the initiative, academics, local government representatives, and international organizations in an engaging and deep conversation.
  

• Pathways to Youth Inclusion in the Local Governance of Climate Action
  Youth inclusion in the adaptation processes is pertinent at the local government level where they could make invaluable contributions through their energy, vision, and ideas to help shape climate change adaptation measures and policies.

  The session sought to explore Pathways to Youth Inclusion, answering these questions:

  • What are the key areas for youth inclusion in adaptation processes at the local governance level?
  • What barriers and enabling factors exist for meaningful youth inclusion?
  • How do we ensure gender favourable youth inclusion in local climate action?

  Generally, the session will explore various views on youth and gender inclusion in local adaptation processes. It was lead by the Green Africa Youth Organization and the Official Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC.

• What Women Want: How Grassroots and Urban Poor Women are Impacting Change in Climate Adaptation Policy and Practice
  This session highlighted how grassroots needs are being articulated, and open discussions around financing solutions for the urban poor.

  SDI and Huairou Commission showcased how grassroots and urban poor women are effectively innovating, engaging, and advocating for changes in policy and practice that speak to their priorities and needs. It shared the methods they are using, and how this work pushes forward adaptation efforts that are truly community-based in order to effect change from the local to global levels.

  This session was facilitated by Slum Dwellers International and the Huairou Commission.

• Zoom is Marvellous
  Ideal for trainers, youth workers, managers, community builders, and generally anyone who needs inspiration for Zoom, this session tackled safety considerations and how to be inclusive and engaging in online spaces. It shared methods of how to move beyond ‘presentation’ style sessions to creative interactive sessions by sharing different experiences, fears, and joys of working online.

  This session was facilitated by Rehearse the Revolution.

• Climate Storytelling for Impact
  The need to challenge ourselves to move past the mono culture of past climate narratives by identifying and amplifying the biodiversity of stories and communication as diverse as the ecosystem we seek to save was highlighted in this session.

  Formatted as a peer-to-peer learning session, it shared a case study on impactful storytelling through film, what storytellers are doing to catalyze climate communication and a breakout group exercise on how to strategize with a story for impact.

  This session was lead by DOCUBOX, Docsociety, and the Indian Documentary Foundation.

By providing avenues for discussion, learning, and knowledge exchange, there are more spaces for marginalized and vulnerable groups like women, children, and indigenous peoples to voice out their specific experiences, concerns, and proposed solutions that are from the perspective of those on the ground. It was highlighted how specific sessions throughout the week-long event were dedicated to amplifying the voices of women and girls in the frontlines and other sessions were either very gender-sensitive, gender-balanced in terms of speakers and facilitators, or at the very least, conscious of not being gender harmful in any way. As representatives of the CBA community of practice shared their reflections on the conference and what needs to happen next alongside high-level panelists during the closing plenary of the event, it was notable to see varied and colorful observations related to or suggestions on how to “use the momentum of the super-year to transform adaptation and address structural inequalities”.

RILHUB continues to strive to create and support various opportunities for learning, reflection, and the sharing of best practices among partners, communities, and stakeholders.