Conducting gender analysis to inform national adaptation plan (NAP) processes: Reflections from six African countries
As countries advance their National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, they are increasingly focused on issues of effectiveness, aiming to put into practice the principles and approaches that have been highlighted in decisions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This includes the Paris Agreement, which calls for climate action to be gender-responsive, and the Gender Action Plan, which highlights the need to integrate gender considerations in adaptation plans and actions. The NAP process, a key mechanism for countries to accelerate climate change adaptation efforts, represents an important opportunity for ensuring that investments in adaptation are effective and sustainable and that they generate equitable benefits for women and men, including the most vulnerable.
Since 2018, the NAP Global Network has been working with six country governments in Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea-Conakry, Madagascar and Togo) to undertake targeted gender analyses to inform their NAP processes. Although the countries are at different stages in the formulation and implementation of their NAPs, each felt that they had reached a strategic moment to conduct these analyses to inform the coming steps in the process. This briefing note describes the rationale and approach that we have taken in supporting these NAP-focused gender analyses. It provides insights from the analyses, presenting common themes that are emerging as well as lessons learned from the process. In sharing these reflections, we aim to demonstrate the value of targeted gender analysis in promoting adaptation action that is gender-responsive, while also documenting learning that may be useful for other countries that are working to integrate gender considerations in their NAP processes.
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