Examination of Power – Partners’ perspectives on Both ENDS

Both ENDS supports movements that are transforming power relations so that people everywhere can influence and share in the benefits of political and economic processes. In order to effectively create a sustainable, fair and inclusive world, we know that it’s crucial to analyse power – to examine who holds what kind of power and how they use it – and to work to recalibrate power as needed. We recognise that power – including its positive forms, such as the ‘power with’ and ‘power to’ bring about social change – is a crucial factor in the world around us, as well as in our own relationships, especially with partners.

Both ENDS is committed to working with partners in relationships based on equality and trust, where we recognise each other’s expertise, actively learn together and cooperate toward shared goals. In line with these principles, we have long advocated for funding mechanisms, like small grants funds, that shift decision-making power to the local groups and communities they aim support. Thankfully, there are signs of progress: the topic of ‘shifting power’ has risen higher on the agenda of the development cooperation and global philanthropy sectors. Appreciation of the need to move away from top-down decision-making, where resources and decision-making power lie in the hands of donors from the Global North, is slowly gaining traction.

Co-designed by partners

Both ENDS has always strived to be an equitable partner, but our discussions about power prompted us to examine our own assumptions, particularly the assumption that channeling an increasing amount of funding to partners does not affect our relationships with them. It is within this context that we embarked on an ‘Examination of Power’ process in 2023. The main purpose of the process was to better understand how Both ENDS holds power and how partners experience equity and power in their relationship with Both ENDS, as well as to learn how we can better share power towards fair and equitable partnerships.

The process was led by a team of independent consultants and a randomly selected, diverse group of six willing partners from the Global South who co-designed the process and participated in multiple meetings to share their perspectives on power as it relates to Both ENDS and their relationship. Additional input came from a detailed anonymous survey, which was made available in 5 languages and completed by 82 partners. The results of the survey were analysed by the consultants and the six partners. The partners were subsequently joined by a team of four Both ENDS staff members to discuss the overall findings and recommendations.

Insights and recommendations

The ‘Examination of Power’ process generated a treasure of useful insights. We learned that a majority of partners see Both ENDS first and foremost as an international mission-aligned advocacy partner, and not only as a funder/donor. Our long-term relationships with partners are valued, with 80% of the partners feeling supported by Both ENDS, with high levels of mutual trust, and direct, clear and open communication. Partners told us that their relationship with Both ENDS increases the impact of their advocacy, access to funding, increasing their international network, alliance building and capacity strengthening. Partners value Both ENDS for showing understanding, flexibility, and trust, and for giving them the space to ask questions and voice their opinions.

Partners also provided recommendations for improvement, including the suggestion for Both ENDS to establish and facilitate more connections by making more and better use of its relationships and access to international advocacy spaces and funding. Partners also asked that we communicate better and more regularly about the work of Both ENDS and other partners, as well as about decision-making, including in relation to donors and in the use of funds. Other suggestions included improvements to the administration of funding, such as sharing power by co-creating rules and principles, and engaging in mutual evaluation.

The next step in the ‘Examination of Power’ process will be to develop a plan of action to address these recommendations, and to communicate back to partners about the whole process. We also intend to share information about the process with external parties, including donors, as inspiration for conducting an examination of their own.

Examination of power is a continual process for Both ENDS, also within the organisation. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion processes, which have included regular workshops on relevant issues, create space for important, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversations and learning. Topics have included unconscious bias, integrity, and addressing undesirable behaviour. Our work is not finished. Both ENDS is committed to continue learning how to hold, share, and transform power.

 

Both ENDS supports movements that are transforming power relations so that people everywhere can influence and share in the benefits of political and economic processes. This image was taken at the first-ever “Encuentro Latinoamericano de Defensoras Ambientales para la Acción Climática”, supported by Both ENDS. Photo by Fundación Plurales

“Co-designed by partners” also accounts for our organisational strategy. Every 5 years we invite a group of partners to our Partner Meeting to give input to our new strategy.

 

Advancing a shared agenda for transformative water governance

Water is an essential element for sustaining all life on earth. It is essential for our bodies, for the food we grow, for the diverse organisms and rich ecosystems that make up our precious planet. But that’s not all. Water also has significant social, cultural, Indigenous, spiritual and natural values: water plays an important role in many spiritual practices, and many religions consider a particular source or body of water to be sacred. Yet in many places around the world, water sources are being irresponsibly exploited and polluted for the financial gain of a few. All too often, power and money determine the flow of water, including who has access to it, how it can be used, when, and how much.

Since its founding, Both ENDS has worked with partners to promote the meaningful and long-term participation of communities in sharing and caring for water. Among other things, Both ENDS contributed to the development and documentation of the ‘Negotiated Approach to Inclusive Water Governance’, a methodology based on the concrete experiences of several partners. The approach emphasises the importance of strengthening local capacities of local communities to engage in meaningful negotiations with policymakers and claim their rightful role in water governance.

Participatory process

Preparations for the 2023 UN Water Conference – the first to be held in nearly 50 years – provided the perfect opportunity for Both ENDS and partners to take this work a step further by developing a comprehensive, shared vision of inclusive water governance. Together with the international water knowledge institute IHE-Delft, Both ENDS convened a diverse group of some 40 environmental justice advocates. The collaboration drew experts from both civil society and academia, with experience in different water ecosystems – from rivers and wetlands to drylands and coastal zones – as well as different social and political contexts. In four online roundtables held over the course of several months, participants discussed the key principles, practices and policies that make up inclusive water governance, as well as the root causes, challenges and barriers that stand in the way of realising it. Participants shared their struggles and their solutions.

The resulting Transformative Water Pact, co-authored by 40 organisations and individuals worldwide, describes ten principles that concern the root causes of the current water crisis, the diverse values of water, and its governance as a commons. The Pact acknowledges that contemporary water crises are shaped by unequal power relations and injustices, which result in an unequal distribution of risks and benefits associated with water, to the detriment of marginalised groups. It underscores water as a human right and as a commons, in which communities play key roles as custodians of knowledge in caring for water, not only for its value in sustaining life and ecosystems, but also for its diverse cultural and spiritual values.

A key component of the Transformative Water Pact is the ‘Framework for Action’, which fleshes out the action needed to turn the principles of Transformative Water Governance into practice. The need for safe civic space, which allows citizens to freely speak out and mobilise, is considered as a precondition for socially just decision-making through responsive public institutions. The Transformative Water Pact also highlights the need to strengthen capacities of community-led water management organisations based on their needs and priorities, as well as the importance to learn from indigenous and traditional knowledge systems and practice that foreground common well-being and the intrinsic value of nature. The Transformative Water Pact was launched with a dedicated website and is available in eight languages.

Dialogue at the UN Water conference

The Transformative Water Pact served as the starting point for a dialogue at an online side-event aspart of the UN Water Conference, co-organised by the government of Colombia with Both ENDS, IHE Delft, the Latin-America based network Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). Specific attention was given to the ways in which Indigenous, ethnic and bio-cultural approaches can be used to create stronger synergies between communities and formal institutions within the context of water governance. Speakers included staff of Both ENDS, the Director of Water Resource Management of the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia, and representatives from AIDA, the Millennium Community Development Initiative, in Kenya – partners of Both ENDS and co-authors of the Transformative Water Pact. Some 200 people attended the online side-event. The international support for the Transformative Water Pact has made it a valuable tool for advocacy.

Spotlighting partners’ practices of Transformative Water Governance

Transformative Water Governance is not just a vision for the future. There are already inspiring examples of it here and now, which inspired the principles reflected in the Pact. A key aim of Both ENDS is to support, strengthen, make space for and spread the wide range of transformative practices that are being implemented effectively around the world right now. Both ENDS raises awareness about existing practices and advocates for policies and funding to support them.

A policy briefing and the #WeWomenAreWater campaign, co-organised by Both ENDS as part of the GAGGA Alliance around the UN Water Conference, highlighted the leadership and crucial role of women and girls from local and Indigenous communities in the sustainable use and protection of water resources and in ensuring water security for all, as well as the need to support them. The GAGGA Alliance, in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also organised sessions at the UN Water Conference, including the side-event ‘Making finance for gender-just water and climate solutions a reality!’, co-hosted by the Government of Chile, and Women Engage in a Common Future (WECF). The event was designed to influence other stakeholders to commit to support, finance, and promote locally rooted, gender-just climate and water solutions within the Water Action Agenda and featured inspiring examples of solutions presented by Both ENDS partners.

World of Water, a special report published around the Conference, described Both ENDS’ long-standing work for water justice and community-led water management, and featured the work of several partners, among them Millennium Community Development Initiatives (MCDI), in Kenya. MCDI’s work with the Athi River Community Network (ARCN) reflects the principles of Transformative Water Governance. MCDI supports communities in setting up or joining existing Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs). Through the associations, local water users determine together how the water in their sub-basin is to be allocated and used. MCDI plays a facilitating and connecting role – supporting the various WRUAs in the Athi River watershed to govern effectively, and providing practical assistance to communities to stand up for their right to water.

MCDI’s role echoes that of Both ENDS: connecting people for change. Both ENDS has helped to connect MCDI and IHE Delft, through the involvement of both organisations in the Transformative Water Pact process. The result is an exciting new collaboration: MCDI, with technical and financial support from IHE Delft and Both ENDS, has developed an action research project to map distribution of water across the Athi River basin. The research will provide crucial information for the Athi River Community Network to strengthen their efforts to claim their water rights.

 

The Transformative Water Pact describes ten principles that concern the root causes of the current water crisis, the diverse values of water, and its governance as a commons

Community meeting in the Athi River watershed, organised by MCDI. Photo by MCDI


A just and equitable energy transition

Both ENDS has long urged governments to stop supporting fossil fuel projects. In addition to causing climate change, such projects are often linked to severe social and environmental impacts for local communities in the Global South. The success of our efforts – together with climate justice movements worldwide – is finally apparent. Although the pace continues to be too slow, there’s no doubt about it: an energy transition is now underway. At the 2023 UN climate talks, in December, governments heralded the ‘beginning of the end’ of the fossil fuel era. The world is shifting toward an energy system based on renewable sources like wind and solar.

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that such a shift will translate to a more just and equitable energy system – a key component of the larger system change we know is needed to ensure that human rights are respected, gender justice is realised, and the environment is nurtured and protected, both now and in the future. In our effort to change the system and realise this vision, Both ENDS focuses particular attention on public financial flows and public institutions, including Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), government-backed agencies that insure domestic businesses against payment risks for projects abroad.

Lithium mining

In 2023, we teamed up with the Latin American network Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) to explore the case of lithium mining in Argentina and the role of ECAs. Demand for lithium, a key ingredient in batteries, has skyrocketed in recent years, largely due to the increased production of electric vehicles. Argentina, which is home to some 20 per cent of the world’s lithium deposits, plans to ramp up lithium extraction. More than 40 lithium projects are currently in the pipeline.

The negative impacts of such projects, however, are already clear. Lithium extraction, which is taking place in the valuable and sensitive ecosystems of Argentina’s arid high Andes, consumes enormous amounts of water, posing a major threat to the area’s fragile water systems and water quality. The rights of Indigenous communities, in whose territory the projects are located, are being violated, including their right to access information about the mining projects and to self-determination, enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The role of export credit agencies

In the subsequent report, The foreign financiers of Argentina’s lithium rush: Export credit agencies’ support for lithium mining, we made the crucial connection between these issues and public financial support provided through Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). Our research revealed that ECAs from Asia, Europe, and North America are increasingly active in lithium projects in Argentina. Meanwhile, as research for the report was underway, the European Union pushed through in record time a new Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), aimed at promoting EU access to lithium and other ‘transition’ metals and minerals used in renewable technology, such as nickel and cobalt. The role of Export Credit Agencies in supporting critical raw materials supply chains abroad was specifically mentioned in the new law, paving the way for more involvement of ECAs in the future.

Drawing on decades of experience with the shortcomings of ECA policies – based on countless cases of human rights and environmental violations in diverse ECA-supported projects – we signalled the alarm. The report called on governments to avoid making the mistakes of the past and, instead, design a new public financial instrument to advance a just and equitable energy transition that respects the rights of local communities and the limits of nature, and builds an energy system that uses a democratic, decentralised, and participatory approach. Among other recommendations in the report, we highlighted the importance of reducing energy and material consumption, starting in the EU, and to fundamentally rethink mobility patterns.

Wisdom, vision and justice

Outreach activities amplified the report’s message. Some 50 participants joined a webinar organised by Both ENDS, in collaboration with Wetlands International Europe and the EU Raw Materials Coalition, on the issue of raw materials extraction in vulnerable areas. FARN shared the case of lithium extraction in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile – which together form the so-called Lithium Triangle – highlighting the problems of water shortages, land dispossession and displacement of Indigenous communities, and the impacts on their livelihoods and food sovereignty.

We also brought these issues to the attention of members of the ECA Watch coalition, many of whom have focused on the issue of fossil fuel divestment. A presentation of the report helped put the threat of an unjust energy transition on the coalition’s agenda. Similarly, an opinion piece in Dutch newspaper NRC, raised awareness among the broader Dutch public about what electric cars mean for Indigenous communities in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, and made the case for few cars, smaller cars, more shared cars and, above all, more public transport. In response to the article, one NRC reader asked: ‘Why was this alarming message not included in bold letters on the front page? … When the first oil was discovered … and then the car was designed, … people had no idea where it would lead. But now we know better.… I hope for wisdom, vision and… justice.’

 

Lithium mine in Argentina. Demand for lithium, a key ingredient in batteries, has skyrocketed in recent years. Photo by Susi Maresca on Minga

Lithium extraction, which is taking place in the valuable and sensitive ecosystems of Argentina’s arid high Andes, consumes enormous amounts of water, posing a major threat to the area’s fragile water systems and water quality. Photo by Susi Maresca on Minga

 

Building a network of women in action on mining

Both ENDS is dedicated to supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) as they tackle social and environmental injustice and inequality, and bring about a better world. We work to ensure that civil society can safely operate and has the decision-making power, resources and capacities to be effective. By connecting a diversity of actors – from the grassroots to the global level – we aim to maximize the power and effectiveness of collective action. It’s a crucial strategy in the current context of extreme corporate power, inequality and growing repression worldwide, which especially impacts women and girls from Indigenous and other marginalised communities.

As part of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), Both ENDS has helped strengthen communities and organisations across Asia that share a common problem: mining. The Women in Action on Mining in Asia (WAMA) network grew out of a meeting in 2016 of GAGGA partners from Asia. WAMA includes both environmental justice organisations and women’s funds, and is coordinated by the Asia-based network Non-Timber Forest Products–Exchange Programme (NTFP–EP), Lilak, an Indigenous women’s rights group (Philippines) and the Mongolian women’s fund MONES. Since its founding, WAMA’s annual skillshare – organised with support from Both ENDS – has become an important event, drawing women from mining-affected communities across the region.

Linking and learning across Asia

In 2023, WAMA convened women from ancestral, rural, pastoral and mountain lands and small islands for a five-day ‘Regional Skillshare on Extractivism, Climate Justice and Women’s Natural Resource Rights’, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Among other things, participants discussed the interconnected impacts of mining on women and Indigenous peoples, forests, livestock pastures and water. The skill-share provided an important space for discussion of emerging issues, including the impacts and threats of ‘green extractivism’ – large-scale renewable energy projects and mining of ‘transition minerals’ used in renewable energy technologies. Participants also exchanged good practices and strategies in relation to gender-just climate solutions, including barefoot ecology, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable and climate adaptive livelihoods that are based on the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous women. The skill-share involved women from eight countries across Asia, and brought in new network members from Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Georgia.

In addition to the annual skill-share, WAMA supports members in their local campaigns and actions through peer-to-peer learning and support on key issues. To that end, a delegation of WAMA members took part in a week-long learning exchange in Mongolia in 2023. At the request of Mongolian member Steppes Without Borders, WAMA members from India and the Philippines conducted field visits in the Gobi region of Mongolia. The delegation visited herder communities affected by coal and spar mining. Among other impacts, the communities described the loss of access to grazing areas, depletion of ground water, a drastic reduction in income, exposure to dust and water pollution, and harassment from security guards. Together, Steppes Without Borders and the WAMA delegation identified actions for follow-up, including further collective support to bring more global attention to the herders’ struggle – a perfect reason for holding WAMA’s skillshare in Mongolia in 2024.

From extractivism to gender-just climate action

WAMA, Both ENDS and hundreds of partners in the worldwide GAGGA network are collectively advocating for an end to extractivism and false solutions to the climate crisis, and to mobilise more support and finance for women-led climate action. In a declaration composed at the 2023 skill-share, WAMA called on the UN, governments, international financial institutions and banks to recognise that women are actively protecting life systems, cultures, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods everywhere around the world, and that they possess the knowledge and wisdom to guide the world in constructive pathways for addressing the global climate crisis.

Under the GAGGA umbrella, Both ENDS, together with Fundo Casa Socioambiental and Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Program (NTFP-EP), a coordinating member of WAMA, took the message directly to policymakers at the 2023 UN climate conference as co-organisers of the official side event, ‘Gender-just Climate Policy & Finance: From Barriers to Actionable Solutions’. Representatives of local CBOs and NGOs shared how they implement gender-just climate solutions, the obstacles they face to access finance and meaningfully engage in decision-making processes, and urged decision-makers to channel more climate finance to women-led community-based organisations. The side-event, which attracted nearly 300 online views and reached some 8,000 people on social media, featured an interactive panel with representatives from the Dutch, Canadian and UK governments.

Through network-building, linking and learning, and coordinated advocacy, Both ENDS and the GAGGA network are succeeding in mobilising support for gender-just climate solutions in general, and those of GAGGA partners specifically: in 2023, GAGGA was pleased to receive new grants from Global Affairs Canada Climate Finance Department, Chanel Foundation and Re.arc Institute, to deepen and expand the GAGGA programme.

 

A delegation of WAMA members took part in a week-long learning exchange in Mongolia. Photo by WAMA

WAMA members from India and the Philippines visited herder communities affected by coal and spar mining. Photo by WAMA

 

Our achievements in 2023

To achieve our vision of a sustainable, fair and inclusive world, Both ENDS works to empower civil society, to change the system so it prioritises people and the planet, and to support transformative practices. The numbers and successes below together show the broad variety of our achievements along each one of the three pathways.

STRONG CIVIL SOCIETY

Both ENDS cooperates with many partner organisations around the world to strengthen civil society, advocate for green and fair policies and support transformative practices. This cooperation entails much more then only financial support; we strategise together and each take our own role in our joint efforts for just and sustainable societies. Our partner network embraces the whole world:

SYSTEMIC CHANGE

In order for systems to prioritise people and the planet, Both ENDS and partners aim to change the system step by step, policy by policy. Where policies are already strong, they need to be implemented, and where they are absent, we advocate for new ones to be enacted, on all levels. Influencing policies often is a matter of patience. It might take years until change finally materialises. This is why Both ENDS and partners are involved in such a large number of policy influencing processes:

TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICES

According to Both ENDS and partners, transformative practices are the future. There are many of these bottom-up, planet-friendly practices. By strengthening and eventually up-scaling transformative practices, Both ENDS and counterparts show tangible examples that can inspire and promote a radically different system that places human and environmental well-being at its core:

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SOME EXAMPLES OF OUR IMPACT IN 2023

STRONG CIVIL SOCIETY

  • The Women in Action on Mining in Asia (WAMA) network grew out of a meeting in 2016 of GAGGA partners from Asia. WAMA includes both environmental justice organisations and women’s funds. Since its founding, WAMA’s annual skillshare – organised with support from Both ENDS – has become an important event, drawing women from mining-affected communities across the region.
  • Both ENDS supported the second Women’s Climate Assembly (WCA), which took place in Lagos, Nigeria, from 24 to 28 September 2023, as part of the third African People’s Counter COP. Partners, WoMin African Alliance and Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, along with various other women’s movements, grassroots networks, and a few non-governmental organizations, organised this event. The Women’s Climate Assembly converged with community and women’s assemblies across the continent to build and advance a deeply Pan-African perspective on the climate crisis and African climate justice, collecting statements and questions which were subsequently shared during the official COP28 in early December in Dubai by Both ENDS and GAGGA partners.
  • The Joke Waller Hunter Initiative creates opportunities for young environmental leaders in the Global South to fulfil their full potential. By providing small grants to individuals, the initiative, created and powered by Both ENDS, builds the next generation of environmental leaders. In 2023, we proudly presented 18 new grantees, improved our selection procedure via the active involvement of our grantee network, and launched a new website to highlight their work (with support of the Dutch National Postcode Lottery).
  • Civil society is increasingly under pressure worldwide, and grassroots organisations are heavily impacted by shrinking of civic space. Many of our partners face threats and violence as a result of their environmental and human rights activities. The communities they support are also subjected to violence when acting to protect their livelihoods and territories. In 2023, Both ENDS, in collaboration with allies, worked on developing a ‘System of Care’, which involved exploring ways to further support partners to improve security measures, strengthen practices of care, and sustain their work. In Nigeria, Both ENDS collaborated with a Nigerian consultant with extensive expertise on the security and political situation in the Niger delta. He provided rapid responses to emerging threats for our partners in Nigeria, as well as strategic advice for our advocacy in the Niger Delta. Based on advice from this security consultant, Both ENDS was able to invest in key aspects of security for our partners such as stronger office security, safety protocols, home security and digital security.
  • Similarly in Uganda, Both ENDS invested in context specific analyses for partners most at risk, resulting in concrete office, home and digital security measures. Furthermore, during an exchange visit of members of a Nigerian women’s group to Uganda, members of both organisations learned about different techniques applied to continue advocacy in a restricted civic space. During this visit, Both ENDS members visited the Dutch and EU embassy with partners in Kampala to discuss concerns about shrinking civic space, and to connect with possible contact persons in cases of threats.

SYSTEMIC CHANGE

  • Although the pace continues to be too slow, there’s no doubt about it: an energy transition is now underway. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that such a shift will translate to a more just and equitable energy system. In 2023, we teamed up with FARN to explore the case of lithium mining in Argentina and the role of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs).
  • In January, a letter, undersigned by almost 60 organisations from countries facing the direct consequences of fossil fuel projects together with others standing in solidarity, was sent to the Dutch Members of Parliament to vote against any form of fossil export support. Both ENDS has worked to stop governmental support for export credits to fossil fuel projects for a long time. In 2022, the Dutch government committed to stopping public finance for fossil fuel projects but unfortunately, the policy has various ‘loopholes’ that make it possible for the Dutch government to keep supporting large fossil projects for at least another year. These projects often run for years and will have a negative impact on the countries where they take place for decades to come. With this joint letter we once again emphasised the negative impact of fossil fuel projects on people and ecosystems, and urged the Dutch government to stop fossil export support now.
  • In April, we joined a coalition of Dutch organisations to present a joint agricultural manifesto; “The Dutch Agriculture Agreement offers prospects for sustainable farmers and consumers worldwide”. It urges the government’s agricultural policy to reduce the Netherlands’ enormous agrarian footprint beyond our borders, by taking food security and the preservation of biodiversity as its starting points. Within a few weeks, the manifesto had been signed by over 70 civil society organisations, agricultural organisations and companies, environmental organisations, and scientists from around the world. The manifesto itself and the topics were central in a parliamentary debate and a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in The Hague.
  • Both ENDS successfully contributed to amplifying and understanding the crucial link between gender equality, trade, and investments, as part of Dutch ambition to embrace a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP). We organised a panel on trade and gender equality – in collaboration with ActionAid, SOMO, Milieudefensie and partners – as part of the FFP conference organised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Key feminist trade partners of Both ENDS from the Global South were able to take centre stage. A joint publication on the topic, ‘Reimagining Trade and Investment through a Feminist Lens’ was discussed with relevant policymakers. We call for respect for women’s and human rights, and increase gender equality in Dutch foreign policy, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) rights. The proposals are offered in the spirit of constructive collaboration as Dutch policy-makers create the building blocks for a forward-looking FFP on trade, investment, and tax for the Netherlands – a policy that prioritises women’s human rights, care, and the planet above profit.

TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICES

  • Since its founding, Both ENDS has worked with partners to promote the meaningful and long-term participation of communities in sharing and caring for water. Preparations for the 2023 UN Water Conference provided the perfect opportunity for Both ENDS and partners to take this work a step further by developing a comprehensive, shared vision of inclusive water governance. The resulting Transformative Water Pact, co-authored by 40 organisations and individuals worldwide, describes ten principles that concern the root causes of the current water crisis, the diverse values of water, and its governance as a commons.
  • In Brazil, agroecological logbooks strengthened women farmers. The logbooks stimulate women farmers to monitor their food production. This way, they gain more insights on the value of production for the family, including monetary and non-monetary benefits, and the preservation of soil health and biodiversity. This project is supported by the working group Women of ANA (the National Agroecology Network) and the organisation CAATINGA. Both ENDS is working together with CAATINGA and the working group of ANA, supporting them in their fundraising efforts for the Caderneta Agroecológica initiative.
  • The Communities Regreen the Sahel is a programme promoting the upscaling of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to restore degraded (farm)land in the Sahel region. Together with locally rooted partners in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, local farmers have regreened almost 17.000 hectares in 2023, bringing the total hectares of regreened land to 116.197 over the last 6 years of this programme. This has resulted among other things in improved soil fertility, food production, income for women’s cooperatives, and ecological and climate resilience.
  • In 2023 Both ENDS has been closely collaborating with social movements in Bangladesh. Bangladesh suffers from massive floods due to wrongly constructed dikes and a disrupted tidal ecosystem. As a result, monsoon (rain) water became trapped within the polders, leading to severe waterlogging affecting the lives and livelihoods of over 2 million people throughout the southwest coastal zone during the last decades. Massive grassroots resistance movements sprung up to demand change. Local organisation and Both ENDS’ partner Uttaran stepped in to support the people’s quest for ecosystem restoration and social justice. In 2023 we started working on a People’s Plan for Community-based Tidal River Management, together with Uttaran and CEGIS,which promotes the local knowledge, experiences and practices of Tidal River Management. Both ENDS has supported this process and the development of the People’s Plan by visiting local and national Bangladeshi governmental organisations and the Dutch Embassy to gather support for the development of this plan.

A word from our co-directors and board

In the Netherlands and around the world, there is growing awareness that the current economic system is not working. Diverse social movements let their voices be heard in 2023, calling out loud and clear for justice and systemic change. In the Netherlands, Extinction Rebellion activists occupied a highway to bring attention to the urgent need to end fossil fuel subsidies – a policy Both ENDS has long advocated for. In Argentina, Indigenous peoples mobilised in resistance to the lithium rush, which threatens their communities and the fragile ecosystems they have long cared for. In Asia, women environmental human rights defenders have built a regional movement against mining and for democratic governance and corporate accountability. They are demanding recognition of women’s leadership in protecting life systems, cultures, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods. Their efforts give us hope in a world facing multiple crises.

At the same time, the challenges we face are undeniably grave. At the end of the year, a far-right party won the most seats in the Dutch Parliament. There is a serious risk that the Netherlands will renege on its commitment to international cooperation and turn its back on the rest of the world. Globally, more than sixty elections are set to take place in 2024 and the signs are worrisome. Democracy is threatened in many countries and civic space is shrinking across the world.

The future we see

In the face of these challenges, we are convinced thattogether with partners worldwide, we can and must tackle the root causes of social and environmental injustice. This entails both laying bare the problems, as well as showing the world the way forward – helping people see that another world is possible. To that end, in 2023, we were pleased to organise ‘The Future We See’ series. We opened the doors of our historic office in Utrecht to local students and other guests with a live talk show and video podcast focused on inspirational and visionary systems and solutions. In three lively events, we put the spotlight – literally and figuratively – on practitioners who are actively engaged in or creating food systems, economic systems, and decision-making systems based on principles of justice, environmental sustainability and democratic, participatory processes.

Of course, one purpose of the series was to connect what’s happening here in the Netherlands with the crucial work of our partners and allies around the world. In a panel on food systems, Rosinah Mbenya, from Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Association Kenya, shared the stage with three panelists based in the Netherlands, and spoke about the group’s efforts to advance agroecological methods and centre Indigenous knowledge in Kenya. The panelists exchanged their experiences and thoughts on sustainable farming practices and policies. In a session on economic systems, Jane Nalunga, from the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) joined Winne van Woerden from the Amsterdam-based Commons Network in a lively discussion about degrowth and the need to redesign the economy based on indicators of well-being. In a session on inclusive and democratic decision-making, we heard how villagers of Mendha-Lekha, India, are successfully implementing traditional consensus-based forms of self-rule that are based on similar values and agreements being practised in citizen assemblies organised in the Netherlands and worldwide. By supporting and linking these diverse systems and practitioners, we are convinced that a better world is in the making.

From principles to policy

Meanwhile, in our advocacy, we worked to defend and create space for that better world. A manifesto on Dutch agricultural policy, supported by more that 70 civil society and farmer organisations, as well as academics and members of the private sector, placed particular emphasis on the need to support robust local food systems, small-scale producers and preserve food security in countries in the Global South. We called on the Dutch government to examine the Netherlands’ role as a global trader and consumer of food and agricultural products, and to reduce the country’s ecological impact.

In a series of workshops together with the members of the Fair, Green and Global (FGG) Alliance, we articulated our shared vision and principles for a feminist foreign policy on trade and investment, and worked out what this would mean in terms of policy. At a session during the international Feminist Foreign Policy Conference organised by the Dutch government, we urged policymakers to reorient trade, investment and tax policies so they prioritise women’s rights, care and the health of the planet above profit. Our analysis and recommendations, published in Reimagining Trade and Investment through a Feminist Lens, served as input for the development of the new Dutch Feminist Foreign Policy.

Similarly, the Transformative Water Pact, co-developed by some 40 organisations during a series of online roundtable discussions, describes ten principles that concern the root causes of the current water crisis, the diverse values pertaining to water, and the need to govern our waters as a commons. Launched in anticipation of the UN Water Conference 2023, the pact serves as a compass pointing towards the type of decision-making processes, institutions and power relations that are needed to foreground environmental justice, equity and care in relation to water.

Confirmation that we’re on track

We were very pleased to receive confirmation in 2023 that our approaches and strategies are bearing fruit and are highly valued by partners. Mid-term reviews of our two strategic partnerships with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FGG and the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), revealed that the themes of the two alliances – trade and value chains, and gender-just climate action – are extremely relevant. Both FGG and GAGGA are contributing to important results, from strengthening women’s leadership, resilience and capacities to advance gender-just climate solutions at the local level, to bringing about major policy shifts – such as divestment from fossil fuels – at the global level. Partners also confirmed that our ways of working enable them to set their own priorities and lead on their work in their local and national contexts. These findings were echoed in positive feedback from partners as part of our ‘Examination of Power’ process. In an anonymous survey, most partners reported feeling supported by Both ENDS, with high levels of mutual trust, and direct, clear and open communication.

Donors also recognise the value of our work. In 2023, together with our GAGGA partners, we succeeded in increasing support for locally-led gender-just climate action. New funding from Global Affairs Canada, the Chanel Foundation and Re:Arc Institute has enabled us to expand and deepen the work of the GAGGA network. And with the generous support of the Dutch Postcode Lottery, we’re piloting a new approach to funding and reporting – ‘Dare to Trust’ – that is entirely unrestricted and flexible.

Changes, challenges and opportunities ahead

The year 2023 marked some major changes at Both ENDS. After 15 years of service, Daniëlle Hirsch, stepped down as Director of Both ENDS to take up her new role as a Member of Dutch Parliament. After eight years as chair of the Both ENDS Board, Paul Engel recently passed the baton to Leida Rijnhout. We wish Daniëlle and Paul the best of luck and are grateful to them for their long-term commitment to Both ENDS. Fortunately, they leave behind a strong and resilient organisation. Both ENDS’ self-organised structure helps to ensure that we have a deep reservoir of talent and leadership.

Amidst these organisational changes is a shifting political landscape. A more restrictive and challenging context worldwide requires us to step up our collective struggle with partners. One of the lessons from the GAGGA mid-term review was that our work to build global solidarity and support collective care is essential in the current context of increased repression and structural violence faced by many partners. In the coming months, we will take this and other lessons forward as we look to the horizon and develop a new five-year strategy. Working hand-in-hand with partners and allies around the world, we know that today’s challenges will be tomorrow’s opportunities. Working with our partners and allies around the world, we are committed to contributing to the urgent systemic changes needed to achieve a healthy, just and bright world for all, now and in the future.

Annelieke Douma and Karin van Boxtel, Interim Directors

Leida Rijnhout, Chair of the Board

 

Annelieke Douma en Karin van Boxtel, Interim Directors

Leida Rijnhout, Chair of the Board

 

A word from our board and director

We started 2022 with ideas and energy. We were relieved that the pandemic seemed nearly under control. We were excited about having made strides in increasing support for transformative practices, like agroecology, which strengthens community resilience and contributes to stable supplies of food in times of crisis. And we were buoyed by the crucial breakthrough at the UN climate talks in Glasgow, where a large group of wealthy countries, including the Netherlands, and key international financial institutions, pledged to end public funding for new fossil projects abroad by the end of 2022. This was an enormous victory for Both ENDS and our many partners and allies worldwide, who have been working together for decades for fossil free public finance.

And then the next crisis hit. In February, the geopolitical context suddenly and profoundly shifted when Russia expanded its occupation of Ukraine into a full-scale war. As in case of the Covid crisis, we again saw how a sudden shock to the global economic system has direct and severe consequences on people’s access to energy and food, as well as on civic space and human rights. Along with many others, we’ve been warning for years about the risks of our dependence on fossil fuels and industrial agriculture, and the danger of long and unsustainable global supply chains dominated by a few companies.

SECURITY DEPENDS ON A JUST TRANSITION

We have talked about these problems again and again, and our experience in 2022 confirms that it’s critically important to continue to do so. Everywhere we go, in every conversation we have, Both ENDS highlights the systemic character of the many crises we are facing and the consequences for people and planet. Together with diverse civil society organisations, social movements, scientists, parliamentarians and policymakers, Both ENDS continues to work and advocate for a just transition. In this, we are inspired by the many people we collaborate with, such as those in Uganda who, despite very difficult circumstances, are tirelessly advocating for a socially just, sustainable energy strategy. They are raising awareness and advocating for community-driven clean energy solutions, such as off-grid solar energy.

As yet another global food crisis loomed in 2022, we also continued to advocate and work for food system transformation. Worldwide, there are countless examples of local food producers engaged in socially just and ecologically sustainable food production. During the Covid pandemic, we saw confirmation of what we already knew: these holistic practices are best suited to ensure food and nutrition security, and to strengthen economic, climate and community resilience. They deserve much more support, both in terms of policy and funding.

In dialogue with a variety of actors, including Dutch policymakers, international financial institutions, banks and funders, we continued to urge relevant actors to take effective action to prevent hunger by supporting and investing in local food producers, especially women, and agroecological practices. Although there is more work to be done, our message is increasingly being heard. There is growing recognition by policymakers in the Netherlands, in Europe, and at the international level that investing in people’s food security requires investing in people.

As part of the GAGGA Alliance, we are drawing attention to the leading role of women in implementing effective and sustainable measures to adapt to and mitigate climate change, and calling for more recognition, political support and funding for their work. We were pleased to make great headway in 2022, including in fruitful dialogue with a number of donors. In our efforts to mobilise more resources, GAGGA was delighted to receive two new grants. A generous extra project grant from the Dutch Postcode Lottery focuses on flexible funding to strengthen community-driven, women-led systems of resilience and autonomy, building on an initiative launched during the pandemic. A three-year grant from the Ford Foundation enables GAGGA to provide flexible financial support to women and girl environmental human rights defenders to address structural violence.

EXAMINATION OF POWER

As a Dutch organisation based in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, Both ENDS aims to be continually alert to how we hold and use our power, both in the context of our relationships with partners in the Global South and with each other. We recognise that power relations are a constant factor in our work, and we want to improve our understanding and awareness of what this means, while ensuring that we are maximising our efforts to share power. To that end, we embarked on a new, ongoing learning process in 2022 focused on ‘Examination of Power’.

The principle of shared power is at the core of our theory of change and of Both ENDS as an organisation. In recent years, much work has been done to make Both ENDS more united, strategic, and inclusive. Our self-organised organisational system has solidified: staff members have a clear understanding of what they can expect from the organisation and from each other, and what is expected of them. We have found new ways to enable people to grow within the organisation, with more staff members engaged in external communications, outreach, and partnership building. Of course, an organisation’s health is always a work in progress, and we continue to keep strengthening the organisation collectively.

DOING WHAT WE DO BEST

Without a doubt, the best part of 2022 was being able to resume our regular work – to connect in person with our partners, and to facilitate their engagement in important dialogues and decision-making processes. At an event in November, we brought together over 150 people – including staff of Dutch pension funds, asset fund managers, and policymakers – to see the remarkable documentary The Illusion of Abundance, which tells the stories of three women environmental human rights defenders fighting at great risk to defend communities against corporate misconduct. After the screening, Carolina de Moura, a GAGGA partner from Brazil and one of three women defenders featured in the film, told the audience about her efforts to hold the mining company Vale accountable for human rights and environmental abuses, including the Brumadinho dam collapse. She insisted on the urgent need to stop investment in such companies and projects. Listening to Carolina, it is painfully clear that we have an important job to do. We can — and we must – transform global value chains.

Ensuring that people like Carolina can take centre stage and make their voices heard is one of the things Both ENDS does best. It is our job to use our power by sharing our power – to connect people, to connect issues, to challenge decision-makers to do better, to show a way forward. Looking ahead, we aim to develop new relationships to ensure our financial stability, and that of our partners worldwide who, together with us, are creating space, power and momentum at both ends of the globe, in both North and the South, to change our broken system once and for all.

Danielle Hirsch, Director
Paul Engel, Chair of the Board

Our achievements in 2022

To achieve our vision of a sustainable, fair and inclusive world, Both ENDS works to empower civil society, to change the system so it prioritises people and the planet, and to support transformative practices. The numbers and successes below together show the broad variety of our achievements along each one of the three pathways.

STRONG CIVIL SOCIETY

Both ENDS cooperates with many partner organisations around the world to strengthen civil society, advocate for green and fair policies and support transformative practices. This cooperation entails much more then only financial support; we strategise together and each take our own role in our joint efforts for just and sustainable societies. Our partner network embraces the whole world:

SYSTEMIC CHANGE

In order for systems to prioritise people and the planet, Both ENDS and partners aim to change the system step by step, policy by policy. Where policies are already strong, they need to be implemented, and where they are absent, we advocate for new ones to be enacted, on all levels. Influencing policies often is a matter of patience. It might take years until change finally materialises. This is why Both ENDS and partners are involved in such a large number of policy influencing processes:

TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICES

According to Both ENDS and partners, transformative practices are the future. There are many of these bottom-up, planet-friendly practices. By strengthening and eventually up-scaling transformative practices, Both ENDS and counterparts show tangible examples that can inspire and promote a radically different system that places human and environmental well-being at its core:

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SOME EXAMPLES OF OUR IMPACT IN 2022

STRONG CIVIL SOCIETY

  • Uganda is one of many countries where the situation for environmental organisations has deteriorated. Both ENDS has taken steps to develop a more systematic and proactive approach to supporting partners in addressing safety and security issues. In 2022, we successfully mobilised resources to support six Ugandan organisations to strengthen collaboration, increase their visibility, and carry out joint advocacy towards a green and sustainable future.
  • At the Climate conference (COP27) in Egypt, Both ENDS was able to do what we stand for: connecting people for change. By bringing partners together, and by facilitating exchanges between our partners and policymakers, we achieved to give our partners a podium on which to make their voices heard.
  • As a response to the demands of our partner Forum Suape in Brazil, the license for Dutch dredging company Van Oord in Port Suape was limited to the winter period. This will drastically lower the impact of the dredging works on the livelihoods of the local community. This decision came after another breakthrough in Suape, when a controversial dam in the Rio Tatuoca that was destroying the mangroves and the aquatic life in the area was partially dismantled, enabling the ecosystem to slowly recuperate. Together with Fórum Suape, Both ENDS has been working for almost ten years to protect the rights of local communities in and around Suape.
  • In 2022, Both ENDS and the Land Portal Foundation started a series of webinars, called “Whose Land? Inclusive Pathways to Land Governance”. The four-part webinar series provided a platform for different stakeholders engaged in land governance to exchange on the importance of inclusivity and meaningful participation of all relevant actors in both formal and informal land governance processes. In total 1614 people participated in the webinars.

SYSTEMIC CHANGE

  • In Mozambique, few women can rest assured that their right to use and enjoy land is guaranteed. Forum Mulher, a network of Mozambican women’s rights organisations, raised public awareness and mobilised rural women to effectively make their voices heard during the government’s formal review of the legislative framework for land governance.
  • The Netherlands finally decided to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). This is good news for the energy transition in the Netherlands and beyond. Both ENDS has been working with partners for a number of years to raise awareness about the disadvantages of the ECT, especially in countries in the Global South that were considering joining the treaty, such as Uganda and Indonesia.
  • In Argentina, after intensive advocacy by our partner FARN, the government adapted its national biodiversity policy to be in line with the international CBD-framework, including norms concerning human rights, gender and the recognition of biocultural corridors – an important pillar of the Wetlands without Borders programme.
  • As part of a European tour and together with Brazilian partners (Instituto Cordilheira) Both ENDS pre-screened ‘Illusion of Abundance‘, a documentary sharing the story of three Latin American women fighting injustice caused by large scale development projects. The panel debate after the screening and several follow-up screenings requested by Dutch investors, generated an in-dept discussion about the role of investors on due diligence, prevention and improvement of communication with communities in potentially affected areas.
  • The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has taken a unique decision to withdraw from the construction of two controversial dams in Ixquisis, Guatemala. Both ENDS has supported our partner AIDA for many years in its fight against the dams.

TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICES

  • As part of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), the International Analog Forestry Network (IAFN), a long-term partner of Both ENDS, is inspiring and supporting women’s leadership in their communities to restore local ecosystems using natural forests as a model. They succesfully built a network of local Analog Forestry Promoters during the pandemic years.
  • At the UNCCD COP15 in Abidjan, the UNCCD adopted the FAO’s “Technical Guide on the implementation of the VGGTs in Land Degradation Neutrality”, including suggestions by Both ENDS and partners. This technical guide builds on the groundbreaking COP14 decision on Land tenure. With this technical guide, the UNCCD offers a tool to support countries to integrate the tenure guidelines in their land use policies and to halt desertification and land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought. Both ENDS and partners – especially from the Drynet Network – have since long advocated for this matter.
  • In the Wetlands without Borders programme, our partner CODES has created ‘Family Seed Banks’ in Paraguay for the preservation and multiplication of native and endangered seeds. So far 5 seed banks have been created and these families were named as “Guardians of Seeds”. They harvest, store and share these native seeds in the community. Community-managed seed banks are an important aspect of agroecology and contribute to local food sovereignty.
  • Our partner organisation Prakriti Resource Centre (PRC) supported 28 local women’s groups in Nepal to undertake and promote environmental and climate actions. These actions include organic farming, forest plantation and pruning, water management and waste recycling. The women’s groups also influenced their newly elected local governments to scale up climate actions and in some cases managed to access municipal budgets to further implement their gender just climate actions.
  • Our “Communities regreen the Sahel” programme, aimed at supporting partners for at least ten years (2018-2028), is now halfway. Together with more than 20 local partner organisations and more than 40.000 farmers in Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger, we’ve regreened already a 100.000 hectares of farmland in 5 years time.

Growing a global network of Analog Forestry promoters

Around the world, the loss and degradation of ecosystems is happening at a dangerous pace. About a quarter of land on Earth has been degraded, meaning that diverse ecosystems that were once rich with life have lost their capacity to thrive and grow. Each year, tens of millions of hectares of forest are destroyed or lose their ability to naturally regenerate. Alongside of their cultural and spiritual importance, healthy forests are a vital source of food, water, and medicine for people worldwide. They provide valuable materials for housing, furniture, crafts, and energy. And they provide essential protection against climate change and its impacts.

As part of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), the International Analog Forestry Network (IAFN), a long-term partner of Both ENDS, is inspiring and supporting women’s leadership in their communities to restore local ecosystems using natural forests as a model. Analog Forestry, the creation of forest gardens that are analogous in structure and function to original forests, enables communities to strengthen their livelihoods and incomes while creating stable and ecologically rich forest landscapes. Analog Forestry is one of the many transformative practices that Both ENDS and our partners strive to bring attention to, scale up, and spread far and wide.

New ways of working

In the last several years, IAFN set a goal for itself to expand and strengthen its network of local practitioners of Analog Forestry, known as ‘Promoters’, with a specific focus on women. Due to the Covid pandemic, however, the network had to profoundly adjust its usual ways of working. Travel restrictions necessitated a shift to online training. On-going technical support for implementation of Analog Forestry sites had to be provided remotely.

IAFN successfully navigated the transition. Since 2020, the Promoters Network has continued to flourish. So too has awareness of the need to invest in and strengthen food sovereignty and agroecological food systems. Trainers and Promoters maintained regular contact with each other via whatsapp groups where they exchanged information and experiences about the implementation of Analog Forestry, such as setting up nurseries, collecting seeds, identifying plants that grow well and those that don’t, dealing with problems with weeds, and applying organic fertilizers.

At the beginning of 2022, with the pandemic still limiting mobility, IAFN and its Cameroon member, CENDEP, organised trainings, thematic mini-workshops and interactive sessions for promoters in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Topics covered, such as biological control, nurseries, soil improvement and the issue of gender justice, were selected by the Promoters themselves. During the mini-workshops, presentations about implementation and commercialisation of products from mature Analog Forests in Ecuador and Sri Lanka served as inspiration for new Women Promoters, helping them envision what can be achieved in the longer-term on their own Analog Forest plots. IAFN plans to follow up on this by including visual materials and virtual ‘walks’ through mature Analog Forests in future online events.

Consolidating progress

As 2022 progressed and travel finally became possible, IAFN took action to consolidate the progress made over the previous two years. With support from Both ENDS, IAFN and CENDEP trainers organised their first post-pandemic on-site visits and monitoring missions to partner organisations and Analog Forestry sites in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Uganda and Zimbabwe. During the visits, a variety of workshops and learning sessions were held. In Asia, IAFN brought together a new group of Analog Forestry Promoters – seven women and two men from India, Nepal and Indonesia who met in person for the first time in the Asian Promoters Gathering.

In total, 30 Analog Forestry Promoters were strengthened in 2022 in their capacities to restore degraded lands and apply Analog Forestry on the ground. In evaluations of these efforts, IAFN’s Promoters confirm how much they value being part of IAFN’s international network of practitioners and the opportunity to exchange experiences, knowledge and mutual support with others in the network.

Spreading the word, building support

Promoters are spreading their knowledge and enthusiasm for Analog Forestry in their communities. To foster their work, at the end of the year IAFN provided seed grants to Promoters to develop new and existing Analog Forestry demonstration plots. The network is also working to make the work of Promoters more visible. In October, in the lead up to International Day of Rural Women, World Food Day, and the Global Day of Action for Food Sovereignty, IAFN shared the stories of four women Promoters from Nepal, Indonesia, and Bolivia. The articles highlighted the women’s efforts, through agroecology and Analog Forestry, to build community resilience to crises, fight for and ensure food sovereignty, and contribute to regeneration of their territories.

Likewise, Both ENDS is showcasing the transformative promise of Analog Forestry among its key audiences, including donors. As part of the GAGGA Alliance, Both ENDS and its partners are making the case for more recognition, political support, and funding for women-led Analog Forestry and other gender-just climate solutions. At a side event at the 2022 UN climate conference in Egypt, with representatives from governments, the Green Climate Fund, and the Adaptation Fund in the audience, GAGGA partners underscored the need to support local women and indigenous organisations in leading climate action.

In anticipation of the conference, Both ENDS published briefing papers describing two examples of gender-just climate solutions, including a successful women-led Analog Forestry initiative in Cameroon supported by IAFN member CENDEP and a sustainable forest management initiative in India involving ‘Women Barefoot Ecologists,’ a project of Both ENDS’s long-term partner, Keystone Foundation. At the UN conference, the latter received a huge boost when it won the Women and Gender Constituency’s Gender Just Climate Solution Award. The project was specifically recognised for its transformational power.

 

Women at analog forestry training in Guatemala. Photo by Colectivo Madreselva

Laili Kairnur, one of the Analog Forestry promoters from Indonesia. Photo by Laili Khairnur

Woman showing lychees grown in a food forest in Laos. Photo by Dorn Bouttasing

 

Women’s land rights in Mozambique

For rural and peasant women in Mozambique, land is life. Land is crucial for women’s livelihoods, their health and well-being. Land nourishes bodies and spirits. The Mozambique Constitution, National Land Policy and Land Law affirm the rights of all Mozambican people to the use and enjoyment of land, and recognise land as a universal means of wealth creation and social welfare. In practice, however, many regulations and procedures discriminate against women. Despite being the country’s largest producers of the food that sustains Mozambican families, few women can rest assured that their right to use and enjoy land is guaranteed.

Fortunately, a network of Mozambican women’s rights organisations, Forum Mulher, is gaining ground in its effort to improve respect for women’s land rights. In 2022, with support from Both ENDS, the network raised public awareness and mobilised rural women to effectively make their voices heard during the government’s formal review of the legislative framework for land governance.

Rural women’s political declaration

When Mozambique’s Land Policy Review Commission shared its new draft land policy in April, Forum Mulher held meetings with rural and peasant women across the country to discuss the draft and gather women’s concerns and demands. From there, Forum Mulher organised a three-day National Conference of Rural Women involving some 50 rural women peasants and activists from around the country to develop a shared strategy in relation to the review process. Women activists and land experts from Brazil, Portugal, Kenya, Argentina and South Africa also joined the retreat to share their own experiences of advocacy to influence land policy and advance gender and women’s rights in their countries.

On the last day of the conference, the women hand-delivered their political declaration to the Deputy Minister of Land. Among other things, the declaration highlighted the need for an inclusive legal framework for land that focuses on gender equality and a participatory and democratic consultation process. The declaration insisted that communities and women be central in decision-making process regarding the management and administration of land and that family farming, the work of a large majority of women, be recognised, valued and protected.

Engagement in the review process

Forum Mulher also met directly with the Minister of Land, urging her to address the severe lack of representation of (rural) women in the Land Policy Review Commission, which included nine men and just one woman. As a result of the meeting, the Minister recommended that the Commission involve Forum Mulher and rural women in its working group meetings. Forum Mulher provided necessary financial support (travel, food and accommodation) and training to rural women representatives so that they could fully engage in the meetings, which were held over multiple days. In the Commission’s final meetings, a delegation of rural women, activists and lawyers made a final push to ensure consideration of gender issues and women’s rights.

Recognition of women in new land policy

As a result of the women’s participation in the process, the Commission’s final document on the revision of the National Land Policy of Mozambique, submitted to the Council of Ministers, contains articles on the importance of prioritising and valuing rural peasant women in land policy and law. It emphasises the importance of ensuring women’s participation in decision-making at community and family level, as well as the need to consult them about possible large-scale land allocations to investors and the government. The policy further recognises that women play a key role in the management of natural resources and biodiversity and that they should be involved in the design of policies and laws.

For Forum Mulher, important work lies ahead, as the government proceeds to the next step of revising the Land Law. Forum Mulher will continue to ensure that rural women in Mozambique are mobilised and supported to engage in the process and effectively ensure that their rights are guaranteed.

Fostering awareness globally and in the Netherlands

For its part, Both ENDS is fostering learning about women’s land rights among its network of partners as well as policymakers, building on recent documentation of successful strategies and practices to advance inclusive land governance. Together with Land Portal, in 2022 Both ENDS organised a series of webinars on Inclusive Land Governance, where participants exchanged knowledge and perspectives about inclusion in land governance initiatives, what it means in practice, and how it can be better embedded in the programming and policies. The series, which attracted the participation of hundreds of participants worldwide, included one webinar specifically dedicated to transformative approaches for women’s land rights.

In the Dutch context, Both ENDS also worked to inform incoming Ministers and members of parliament about the importance of land rights, particularly in relation to the topics of food and agriculture, and Dutch business and investment abroad. In June, at a Parliamentary roundtable on the topic, Both ENDS urged policymakers to guarantee (women’s) land rights in Dutch foreign policy and in all public financial flows, and the importance of adopting legislation, known as mandatory human rights due diligence, to ensure that the private sector does the same. Both ENDS also called on the Dutch government to invest in community-driven, inclusive and environmentally sustainable agriculture around the world.

Although women in Mozambique are the main food producers for families, their land user rights were not guaranteed by law. Photo: Shutterstock

Forum Mulher organised meetings for rural women to inform them about the land policy review. Photo: Forum Mulher

At the Conference of Rural Women, the women delivered their political declaration to the Deputy Minister of Land. Photo: Forum Mulher