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Gender in coastal and fisheries resource management: A Regional Synthesis Report

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A Regional Synthesis Report

Date

January, 2024

Author(s)

Mangroves for the Future (MFI)
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC).

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Abstract

Coastal communities in South and Southeast Asia are strongly tied to marine and coastal resources and ecosystems which are vital for their food security and livelihoods. Meanwhile, the rampant expansion of the global economy is leading to rapid changes of coastal and marine resources due to overfishing and hasty coastal development. This has severe consequences for different groups of women and men from communities at the forefront when it comes to experiencing the hardships of declining marine resources and degradation of coastlines. Gendered experiences in fisheries and coastal resource management are often overlooked. To redress this gap, IUCN’s Mangroves for the Future (MFF) programme recognizes that the involvement, contribution and role of both men and women are important to the function and well-being of coastal communities, while gender equality is fundamental to conservation and sustainable development. Gender equity and equality are upheld as fundamental guiding principles in the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). In the Southeast Asian region, gender perspectives have been highlighted in the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for the ASEAN Region Towards 2020. With the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Asia Center, MFF has supported the development of a Regional Gender Analysis to improve knowledge and understanding of the state of women’s and men’s engagement in environmental decision-making and to explore drivers of inequality and the constraints they pose to women in fisheries and coastal contexts. The study project covered 12 countries in South and Southeast Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Citation

MFF, SEI, SEAFDEC (2018). Gender in coastal and marine resource management: A regional synthesis report. Bangkok, Thailand: P73

Publisher

Mangroves for the Future (MFI)

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