Strengthening Gender Considerations in Kiribati’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Process

The purpose of this scoping study is to explore options for strengthening gender considerations in Kiribati’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process with a focus on its NAP document, the Joint Implementation Plan on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (KJIP), which is expected to be revised in 2018 to reflect the government’s new priorities.

To explore options for strengthening gender considerations in the revision of the KJIP, the NAP Global Network collaborated with the Office of the President to hold stakeholder consultations in the capital, South Tarawa, in August 2017. Based on these consultations and a desk review, we found the integration of gender considerations in the KJIP to be a major positive change because the linking of climate adaptation to gender equality is new at the policy and project levels.

Gender equality has only been recently raised as a political issue and gender mainstreaming has mostly occurred in relation to domestic violence. But much more needs to be done to foster better understanding of the linkages between gender equality and climate adaptation among government officials and women’s organizations. Based on lessons learned from this study, recommendations are offered to the government and development agencies interested in improving gender considerations in Kiribati’s NAP process.