Abidah Setyowati, ‘How Bringing Gender Perspectives into REDD+ Policies Could Enhance Effectiveness and Empowerment’, Policy Brief, Bangkok: Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture & Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), 2013.

International agencies, governments, and project designers have failed to consider gender differentiated impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) or taken the necessary measures to address these. The REDD+ community needs to ask: what barriers are preventing women from meaningfully participating in and obtaining benefits from REDD+ initiatives? What risks do women bear if REDD+ policies fail to incorporate gender perspectives and include women’s concerns? How can gender perspectives be included in REDD+ policies and projects? As REDD+ policies begin to transform the ways in which forest lands are governed and benefits are shared, these questions require urgent answers.