CATIE's gender policy

Abstract

The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and the World Conference on Women in Beijing drew specific attention to the relationship of women to natural resources management. CATIE follows this lead and recognizes its responsibility as a regional center to become a leader in this field, in higher education, research and outreach, building on promising findings in the socioeconomic field. This policy paper is an attempt to elaborate and put into operation the objectives, strategies and actions mentioned in the Strategic Plan, with respect to gender. The assumption is that CATIE as a whole must change its attitude and seek wider knowledge on gender issues and that the same change in attitude will result in a change in the focus of CATIE’s research, education, training and outreach activities, in such way that they will contribute to an increase in the well-being of the male, as well as the female population of Latin America and the Caribbean. CATIE’s gender policy focuses on gender within the Center and gender in its external relations. Concerning gender within CATIE, the policy concentrates on four strategies: 1) bringing CATIE staff up to date on gender; by organizing workshops for the staff, incorporating a gender focus into the Plan of Action 2) Increasing the number of women professionals including at higher levels 3) Promoting and facilitating the participation of more women in postgraduate and training activities 4) advancing the understanding of gender among students.