Young people take part in an afforestation activity on the coast of Cam Thanh Bac commune of Cam Lam district, Khanh Hoa province. (Illustrative photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting Vietnam to enhancegender mainstreaming in the National Adaptation Plans so that it is moregender-responsive and better able to meet the needs, priorities, and challenges faced by women, according to UNDPResident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen.

Wiesenstressed in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that women are hitting a glass ceiling that stops themfrom advancing to the highest levels of leadership in environmental protectionand climate action.

The Gender Equality in Public Administration (GEPA) report compiled by UNDPand the University of Pittsburgh shows that women’s participation in ministries of environmentalprotection averages 33 percent globally and parity in decision-making inenvironmental protection is exceptionally rare.

Theimpacts of climate change are not gender neutral, she noted, adding that climatechange often exacerbates existing inequalities between women and men, the poorand other vulnerable groups.

Numerousinternational climate policies, many that Vietnam is a signatory to, haverecognised the dual objectives of reducing gender inequality as a key tool fordelivering climate action and building resilience to the impacts of climatechange.

Itis clear that people who are poor, especially women and ethnic minorities, are mostat risk from climate change because they have less ability to adapt to and dealwith severe weather events such as storms, floods, and drought, Wiesen said.

“Thisis clearly seen here in Vietnam - one of the countries most impacted by climatechange - from storms and floods along the coast, to saline intrusion in theMekong Delta and drought and landslides in the Central Highlands,” she said.

Wiesensaid UNDP has worked with farmers in the south-central coastal province of BinhThuan, especially women, to save 50 percent in energy consumption foroff-season dragon fruit production.

Manycooperatives have experimented with installing LED light bulbs (9w) leading toenergy savings compared to using incandescent bulbs (60 - 75w). The installationof LED lights has led to a reduction of GHG emissions from the dragon fruitsupply chain. 

Additionally,these cooperatives have employed several water-saving solutions, such as dripirrigation or low-pressure sprinkler irrigation, resulting in better conservationof water resources that are becoming increasingly scarce due to droughts,especially in the south-central coastal provinces.

Theshifting to green climate friendly agriculture has opened the way for womenfarmers to sell their dragon fruit in lucrative, green markets such as the EU, theUNDP Representative emphasised. 

She continued to say that Vietnam experiencesmany storms and extreme weather events and floods, and these weather events disproportionatelyimpact women and other vulnerable groups as they have less ability adapt tosevere weather events.

UNDP, through a Green Clima𝓡te Fuꦛnd-financedproject, is supporting vulnerable communities to enhance their resilience tostorms by providing climate resilient houses.

Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, speaks at the launch of a crowdfunding campaign to build storm- and flood-resilient houses for poor and near-poor families in Quang Binh (Photo courtesy of UNDP)

As documented in previous major floods of2020, these storm resilient houses notonly protect women and their families before during and after storms, but thehouses also often become safe havens for other vulnerable members of thecommunity and enabling women to re-start their livelihoods as soon as watersrecede. 

Women have also participatedin the design and construction of their houses and one by one are building anempowered frontline of women resilient to climate change, she added. 

UNDP through the GCF projecthas made an important contribution with 4,000 storm resilient houses, but there isstill an estimated 100,000 houses required to meet the needs of vulnerablewomen and their households on the climate frontlines and should be delivered inthe name of climate justice.

Promotingwomen’s stewardship, contributions, partܫicipatꩲion and leadership are key forsuccessful climate and environmental solutions, Wiesen affirmed./.