Earth Today | EFJ prioritises gender, social inclusion in environmental action

ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS are often judged by what they restore, protect, or build. But for the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ), there is another equally important dimension – one that addresses who gets to participate, whose needs are considered, and who ultimately benefits.

That thinking is at the centre of the organisation’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Policy, which was updated last December and approved by its board earlier this year.

Carol Narcisse, EFJ gender specialist with the Jamaica Urban Solutions for the Environment (J-USE) project, said the policy reflects one of the EFJ’s core values – non-discrimination – and is designed to ensure that gender and other demographic characteristics are accounted for and responded to throughout the full life cycle of EFJ-supported projects.

“People do not experience environmental challenges in the same way. Women, men, young people, seniors, persons with disabilities, and people from different socio-economic circumstances can face very different levels of vulnerability, access and resilience, particularly when confronting issues such as flooding, heat stress, and degraded ecosystems,” said she said.

“If EFJ-supported projects are to achieve their goals, then programmes and interventions must take account of and be informed and guided by the voices, knowledge, needs, and contributions of different demographic groups, especially the most vulnerable, who are stakeholders in the process,” Narcisse added.

AIM

The aim, she noted further, is to “ensure equity in their representation, participation, and positive impacts or benefits from interventions”.

For EFJ partners, this means that gender equality and social inclusion must be built into projects from the outset, not added later. To support this, the foundation provides partners with sensitisation, training, tools, and practical guidelines to help them identify excluded or disadvantaged groups, understand barriers to participation, and design actions that deliver more equitable outcomes.

This approach also assists partners in developing gender equality and social- inclusion indicators to strengthen their project monitoring, evaluation and learning, and ability to assess whether projects are reaching and benefiting diverse groups.

The EFJ has expanded eligible applicants for grants to include Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the private sector, and non-government/civil society sectors. It has also updated its grant application and project reporting documents.

Applicants are now required to demonstrate how gender equality and social inclusion have been considered in project design, implementation, and evaluation. This includes evidence of inclusive consultation, equitable benefits and strategies that respond to the particular needs of vulnerable populations.

“Projects that incorporate gender analysis, adopt gender-responsive activities, and include measurable equity and inclusion outcomes are assessed favourably,” Narcisse noted.

The approach is also expected to strengthen results, drawing on the knowledge and lived experiences of a wider community of actors and leading to better-designed environmental solutions and a stronger sense of ownership, in support of long-term success.