On 10 April, Kanchan Lama, WOCAN Board Member, was a discussant for the panel on “Scaling up partnerships opportunities in food and nutritional security and marine resources” at the UN Gender Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) joint thematic debate/forum on partnerships, held in United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA. The primary objective of the joint event is to provide a platform for member states, the private sector, philanthropy, civil society and academia to address how strengthened global partnerships for sustainable development including multi-stakeholders partnerships can contribute to the implementation of the post 2015 development agenda. It will promote the scaling-up of the impact of all forms of cooperation in the post 2015 development agenda, and promote the urgent implementation of existing commitments under the global partnership for development while also addressing the emerging role of innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships.
The two-day debate included an opening session, three consecutive interactive, multi-stakeholder panel discussions, two partnerships sessions and a closing session. In this context, high-level officials from Member and Observer States, head of corporate and non-corporate foundations, CEOs from major private companies and other civil society organization were invited to participate.
Several members of the Women’s Major Group were selected to speak during the four panels on different themes. The panel speakers, for various themes were Ms Bhumika Muchhala, Third World Network, Mr. Roberto Bissio, Social Watch as discussant for panel 1; Mr Akhteruzzaman Sano, Save the Earth , Bangladesh, and Kanchan Lama, Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) as discussant for panel 4 on Scaling up partnership opportunities in food and nutritional security and marine resources.
Appreciating the opportunity given to WOCAN for sharing Voice of women major group, Kanchan pointed out to the serious gap of mainstreaming roles of women network’s in partnership strategies processes at the global, regional and national level , which has been however better implemented at some local level initiatives where there are women’s networks, CSOs networks and such other right based groups working towards mainstreaming women’s agenda in food security and nutritional development processes ; however private sectors’ participation as partner in achieving this goal is very weak. During initiation of Global partnership for sustainable interventions in this area, attention needs to be paid for bringing in private sectors at all levels. In this context by demonstrating WOCAN’s brochure (which was also disseminated in the room), Kanchan flagged on WOCAN’s recently and currently ongoing efforts on ensuring benefits for women in carbon market by introducing and marketing the motto of “ensuring benefits to women” as a criteria for certifying carbon credit quality, which involves various private sector stakeholders along with the right holders groups. Kanchan voiced for integration of such initiatives in the processes of endeavors on development partnership and suggested that without mainstreaming knowledge, interests, needs and rights of the rural women and women at various level as participants, global strategies for implementation partnership might remain less effective, so requested everyone in the room having responsibilities to act upon, to collaborate towards an gender inclusive partnership strategy.