Bulletin | 28 September 2022
Engaging men as partners for gender equality:

Promoting positive masculinities to prevent gender-based violence in coastal biodiversity management
In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, IUCN has been working to address gender-based violence and environment linkages as a part of the Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project where male engagement to support gender equality have been a crucial strategy.

See below for recent project resources to learn more!
NEW! Webinar recording:
Engaging men and boys to address gender-based violence in coastal biodiversity management – Spotlight conversation with the Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project
Last week, the GBV-ENV Center co-hosted a webinar with the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM). The event was a spotlight conversation with the Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project, with speakers emphasizing the importance of engaging men. These efforts not only shift gender norms towards positive masculinities to address gender-based violence but also help build more resilient communities and coastal-marine ecosystems through improved gender equality. 

In case you missed it, watch the recording now!
The Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project’s gender strategy is grounded within a participatory gender analysis process. As a result, women are tapping economic empowerment and leadership opportunities in natural resource governance – with the support of men. 

See the brief for a summary.
NEW! Blog:
New Masculinities – A strategy for conserving coastal biodiversity in Central America
The engagement of men and boys in the prevention and response of gender-based violence in sustainable fishing contexts of the Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project is groundbreaking. 

Learn more about the project’s gender mainstreaming efforts and how the new masculinities training process for environmental staff and local communities are benefiting local communities and ecosystem conservation.
NEW! Profile for Change:
Adalberto Blanco Fuentes, Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project
Adalberto, an expert consultant on positive masculinities, has developed the facilitator’s training manual on nonviolent masculinities for sustainable fishing contexts in Central America for the Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project. He has also supported the application of his manual within the project. 

Learn more about Adalberto and why he believes transforming masculinities benefits local communities and ecosystems alike!
NEW! Facilitator’s training manual:
Nonviolent masculinities for sustainable fishing contexts in Central America
This facilitator’s training manual helps facilitators conduct behavior change training to promote nonviolent masculinities in the context of sustainable fishing in Central America.

Read it today to see how it can be adapted to support similar work in other environmental contexts!

This manual is currently available in Spanish and will soon be available in English.
RISE knowledge highlights
Lessons learned and promising practices to address GBV and environment links together
As the implementation of the current Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Environments (RISE) Challenge grantees comes to a close, projects are sharing learning on their experience addressing GBV in environmental programming. See the latest final reports:
Conservation of the Alto Mayo landscape without gender violence – Final report
In Peru’s Alto Mayo, Conservation International Peru worked with women of the Nuwas forest from the Shampuyacu community to change social norms and beliefs about women’s and men’s roles. To secure women’s safe engagement in natural resource conservation and sustainable economic activities in the Nuwas Forest, the project addressed gender-based violence and community processes for dealing with incidents. 
Gender-based violence and REDD+ in Fiji: Tackling resource conflict and addressing gender-based risk in the environment
Marstel-Day and WI-HER built on a previous resource-based conflict and land rights initiative, led by the Government of Fiji (GoF) and funded by the World Bank, to improve the readiness and implementation of REDD+ programming in Fiji. Using WI-HER’s iDARE framework, the activity incorporated methods to address gender-based violence associated with the REDD+ program in its Feedback, Grievance and Redress Mechanism (FGRM), a promising conflict mitigation mechanism, for improved management, control, and access to resources and land in Fiji.
Securing land rights and ending gender exclusion project
In Uganda, Trocaire partnered with Land and Equity Movement of Uganda (LEMU) and Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organization (SOCADIDO) to address women’s denial of land rights and and the use of physical and psychological violence in land grabs. The project used the SASA! methodology to change social norms around GBV and women’s land ownership, implemented and trained customary and community leaders in using a gender-sensitive alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism to resolve land conflicts, and supported 52 women and 87 men in land demarcation.
Interested to learn more about previous and current RISE grants challenge winners? Visit us online!
RISE 2022 update
A global grants challenge to address GBV and environment linkages together
Thank you to everyone that submitted a proposal for the 2022 call for RISE applications – 
we received 375 applications
– demonstrating the urgent need and growing demand for funds to support environmental programs to address GBV in relation to climate change, conservation, and environmental defense as key themes.

The RISE team is in the process of evaluating applications. Stay connected to updates by bookmarking the RISE grants challenge webpage and following #USAIDRISE on social media.
Learn. Act. Create change.
The GBV and Environment Linkages Center is hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) under its Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT) partnership with USAID. It works to close the knowledge gap on GBV-environment issues while mobilizing learning and forging collaborative action towards ending GBV and securing environmental sustainability.
Cross-sector partnerships.
Pioneering learning.
USAID’s Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Environments (RISE) Challenge identifies and funds the innovative application of promising or proven interventions that prevent and respond to gender-based violence across programs that address the access, use, control, and management of natural resources.
Filling information gaps.
Making the case.
Tailored technical support.
Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT) is a collaboration between the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to increase the effectiveness of environment programming through the robust integration of gender considerations, while improving gender equality and women’s empowerment outcomes.
The information provided in this email is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.