Gender and the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) programme: Assessment and Action Plan. Technical Report 3

Abstract

The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) programme is the largest climate change adaptation initiative in the Pacific region, with activities in 14 countries and territories. PACC has three main areas of activity: practical demonstrations of adaptation measures; driving the mainstreaming of climate risks into national development planning and activities; and sharing knowledge in order to build adaptive capacity. The programme focuses on three key climate-sensitive development sectors: coastal zone management, food security and food production, and water resources management. The PACC programme began in 2009 and is scheduled to end in December 2014. As the first major climate change adaptation programme in the Pacific, PACC has led the way in developing and designing adaptation projects, using a ‘learning by doing’ approach. Many lessons have been learned and better practices developed as the programme has progressed. One of these is the importance of integrating gender into climate change adaptation activities. Gender was mostly overlooked during the initial stages of the programme, but significant efforts have since been made to address this shortcoming and integrate gender across programme activities. This report summarises two key documents produced by PACC as part of the drive to address gender. The first, a Gender Assessment of the programme, was carried out in 2012 to assess the level and degree that the programme addressed gender. The Gender Action Plan, which covers 2013–2014, was developed soon afterwards to address the recommendations arising from the Assessment. Activities in the Plan are currently underway, and will be reported in further PACC publications.