Fostering Gender-Transformative Change in SustainableForest  Management A CASE STUDY OF THE DGM NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEES Ezgi Canpolat, Meerim Shakirova, Vince McElhinny, Kame Westerman, Alli Cruz, and Theresa Buppert CLIMATE INVESTMENT FUNDS Investing in the future © 2022 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. 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Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. Cover photo: DGM Indonesia/ Margaretha Seting Beraan Graphic design: Andrea Carega and Karlien Truyens Table of Contents Executive Summary................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 7 2. Methodology.......................................................................................................................................... 9 3. NSC creation......................................................................................................................................... 12 4. Gender parity, quotas & ‘legitimate representation’ .................................................................... 17 5. Journey to the NSC............................................................................................................................. 24 a. Enabling conditions..................................................................................................................................................... 25 b. Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................................... 29 6. NSC membership impacts on personal leadership journeys...................................................... 32 7. Women’s influence on NSC governance.......................................................................................... 37 8. Broader societal impacts of women NSC members...................................................................... 51 9. Conclusion............................................................................................................................................ 59 a. Lessons learned............................................................................................................................................................. 60 b. Recommendations ..................................................................................................................................................... 62 Annex 1: .................................................................................................................................................... 64 4 Executive Summary Across the DGM country projects, the National Across the entire DGM, one in every four NSC Steering Committees (NSC) play a critical members is a woman, with NSC percentages role in determining priorities, guiding project of women members ranging from 0 to 46%. implementation and making funding decisions While the NSC selection process was largely on eligible subgrant proposals. The DGM’s perceived to be fair, and quotas were not ability to elevate and legitimize women’s widely adopted in the first cohort of DGM voices and agency at a national level, and countries, interviewees acknowledged the at international exchange events, has been existing inequalities that can disadvantage an important contribution to the overall women. Despite their underrepresentation, achievement of project results. the perceived legitimacy of women NSC representatives was widely observed. The This case study seeks to understand how NSCs combined experience of the first cohort of serve as an important platform for supporting DGM NSCs suggests that moving from greater and advancing women’s leadership and awareness of gender parity as a principle to effective participation, with possible second- practice is happening, albeit slowly, as greater level impacts on broader societal perceptions consideration of gender quotas is evident in and beliefs about indigenous and local women the more recently formed NSCs. in prominent leadership positions. The DGM experience with establishing NSCs composed Leadership experience, nomination from entirely of Indigenous and local community national or regional organizations, technical, leaders has provided a unique opportunity political or cultural experience and socio- to test a governance model that has few economic status are among the enabling precedents. factors that explain women’s and men’s journey to the NSC. Support from GEA/NEA The study is based on a desk review of DGM members, GCS members, World Bank TTLs, literature, interviews with key World Bank government officials and national IPLC leaders staff (mostly TTLs) and 35 semi-structured also opened crucial space. interviews, including with seven male and nine female NSC members or observers from seven The array of obstacles hindering women DGM countries, representing a cross-section from entering leadership positions such as of views from each region, with NSCs that the NSC is not necessarily well understood or have had a long track record of operation. The appreciated. Men tend to place less emphasis selection process to form the NSC has varied than women on challenges in their leadership across countries, reflecting guidance that journey. Cultural norms influence whether explicitly states a preference for gender as a women would step forward and engage as consideration in NSC membership, but has the NSC members. flexibility to allow each country to determine the appropriate governance structure NSC participation has enhanced women’s within a set of common requirements. voice, agency and leadership, but the overall NSC representatives were selected by IPLC impact varied based on where women were on communities themselves based on criteria they their own leadership trajectory. The NSC role identified. enhanced women’s legitimacy and leadership skills before new, larger audiences, widened 5 Photo: DGM Mexico/ Gladys Garcia Osorio, 2020 access to new technical training and learning there was a greater convergence of views opportunities, and expanded their networks about the influence women NSC member had and influence. The NSC role also provided over access to subgrants, support for particular women an opportunity to better serve their women and enhancing the interest of women community in a new and more visible way. community members in the DGM. However, key debates on gender strategy and representation underscore the limitations of Some indicators of gender-transformative women’s NSC influence and upward mobility. change, more at the individual than at the societal level, could be attributed to NSC Women’s influence on NSC governance and women acting in leadership positions. At a local decision-making was highlighted in discussion or community level, more enduring, if uneven, of NSC representation, inclusion of women- gender outcomes included the creation or led or women-focused subprojects and consolidation of women’s groups or networks other aspects of emerging gender strategy. as the basis for greater articulation of women’s Perspectives on NSC influence by men and interests. There were also reports of shifts in women leaders underscored the heterogeneity attitudes or behavior toward supporting of of views on women’s influence within the NSC, gender parity or gender norms at the household particularly regarding NSC decisions over the level or within community institutions. need to tackle structural barriers to women’s inclusion, such as tenure reform. In contrast, 6 NSC impact on wider societal change Introducing procedural norms for managing was less clear. A few strong women were decision-making spaces that support gender integrated, contributing to improved NSC equality could be an area of innovation for impacts, but reported little change in larger the DGM. In spaces where men or women are IPLC organizations. Where NSC women not equally represented or not equally able focused on efforts to ‘organize women’ as to influence decisions, innovative ways of a central element of DGM gender strategy, structuring decision-making could help. This interviewees suggested this approach as a includes requiring women and men to have the key indicator of farther-reaching impact. same allotment of time to voice their opinions, In contrast, some NSC members set a low assigning meeting leadership that alternates bar for societal change, suggesting that the between women and men, or separating men influence of women leaders in the NSC may be and women into smaller discussion groups. encouraging women to settle for less. The approach of improving results frameworks The DGM NSC experience offers some as an accountability tool to address gender on important wider lessons: the DGM and NSC was largely overlooked in the interviews for this study. While inclusion Closing the gender gap must be a clear in project monitoring activities provided priority. To help achieve it, the DGM should opportunities for women NSC members to have a project gender strategy that supports a demonstrate their leadership skills, the focus pipeline of IPLC women leaders. As this case of DGM project monitoring was not on the study clearly demonstrates, one of the key quality of measuring women’s empowerment challenges in getting closer to gender parity or gender-transformative change. Greater on the NSC is a lack of pre-qualified women innovation in the area of DGM performance leaders with the skills, knowledge, interest, indicators related to gender transformational and ability to engage in this type of leadership change is needed if recognition of women’s position. Readiness training must be available leadership, voice and agency in decision- to prepare women for success in the event that making spaces like the NSC is to get the a quota systems opens new space. This should recognition it deserves. include targeted support and mentoring for existing women NSC members to ensure they are effective and supported. Photo: DGM Gana/Edward Kyere 7 1. INTRODUCTION 8 Across the DGM country projects, the Representation and effective participation National Steering Committees (NSC) play a of women at the NSC level is important for critical role in determining priorities, guiding several reasons. Research across multiple the implementation of the projects and disciplines, including community-based making funding decisions on eligible subgrant forestry, demonstrates that gender inclusive proposals. The design and implementation of decision-making bodies lead to better DGM national steering committees composed decision-making which results in increased of indigenous and community leaders forest cover (Agarwal 2010). Women in represents one of the most innovative and visible leadership positions can help shift potentially transformative elements of this gender norms and provide role models for pilot initiative to empower Indigenous Peoples other IPLC women (and girls) that validates and Local Communities (IPLCs) in the direct their leadership pursuits. Evidence from the delivery of natural resources management political and academic spheres (e.g., Campbell and climate solutions. Like all DGM-supported & Wolbrecht 2006, Bettinger & Long 2004) activities, the NSCs were not explicitly intended demonstrate the positive effect of female to be designed and implemented in a gender- role models in encouraging young women sensitive and inclusive manner, but over time and girls to enter and succeed in those took steps and received guidance that sought professions. Finally, because the NSCs play to improve key gender equality outcomes a primary role in selecting subprojects for based on the particular contexts of DGM support, their composition could influence countries. which subprojects are selected. Specifically, a gender-balanced NSC may be more likely This case study seeks to understand how to select sub-projects that are women-led NSCs served as an important platform or women-focused, or which have included for supporting and advancing women’s strong gender mainstreaming. leadership and effective participation, with possible second-level impacts on broader The DGM experience with establishing societal perceptions and beliefs about National Steering Committees composed indigenous and local women in prominent entirely of Indigenous and local community leadership positions. The issue of gender leaders has been a unique opportunity to test parity on NSCs—how women secure and use a governance model that has few precedents. positions on the NSC to influence decision- For that reason, no direct qualitative or making at different levels of DGM action (both quantitative indicators of NSC performance indirectly as role models or as direct drivers were included in DGM results frameworks. This of change on the design and implementation case study of how NSC members viewed their of country project work plans)—defines the roles and the DGM in general as a means for factors that have opened key pathways for leveling the playing field for women, in addition emerging women leaders. This case study to advancing the wider agenda of indigenous examines the impact that female membership and community forest-user rights, is by nature in NSCs has had on personal leadership exploratory. The ideas and lessons captured in trajectories, on the governance within NSCs, this case study can hopefully serve to inform and on broader societal impacts. the design of similar governance mechanisms as well as the appropriate results indicators that might better assess the performance of this key component of the DGM. Photo: DGM Burkina Faso/ Oumarou Seynou 9 2. METHODOLOGY 10 This case study was developed through a desk women in NSC decision-making and wider review of DGM literature, interviews with key DGM governance. Interviewees were asked World Bank staff (mostly TTLs) and 35 semi- about their personal trajectory to become NSC structured interviews, including seven male and members, how being part of the DGM NSC nine female NSC members or observers from had impacted their own leadership, and in turn seven DGM countries (see Annex 1 for full list how they viewed the influence of women on of NSC interviewees)1. NSC interview requests NSC decision-making. Upon obtaining the were sent to eight of the 13 DGM NSCs, of consent of the interviewee, interviews were whom seven responded affirmatively. This recorded through virtual media (Zoom, Teams, selection of countries was based on having phone) and the recording was transcribed (and a cross-section of views from each region, translated in many cases) into English. with NSCs that have had a longer track record of operation. Additional insights were drawn Table 1 provides a breakdown of the interviews. from interviews with four National Executing Where appropriate, contrasts of men and Agencies (NEAs), several additional interviews women’s views are highlighted in the analysis, with World Bank TTLs and key informants. All however with very limited generalization. interviews were conducted in the national The low number of total NSC interviews language. does not permit meaningful comparisons between indigenous and non-indigenous The questions were designed to elicit the views, although some examples of how views of NSC members on the role of men and intersectionality informs power are highlighted. TABLE 1. NSC CASE STUDY INTERVIEWS NSC Other (TTL, Non- Indigenous members NSC NEA, key indigenous Interviews Total NSC (7 DGM observer informant, NSC members countries) NGO) members Women 18 8 1 (9) 2+1+ 3 5 2+1+1+1+1 Men 17 6 1 (8) 1 5 1+2+3+1+1 Total 35 14 2 17 4 10 1 Not all requested interviews with NSC members were completed, either due to non-response or personal conflicts. One NSC interview (Republic of Congo) was conducted as a group. 11 This analysis focuses on some aspects of The responses to questions by a cross-section gender equality within a sample of all NSCs. of men and women NSC representatives The NSC representative interviews were therefore does not attempt to capture the limited in scope and therefore not intended entirety of work that formed the NSCs and to provide a full detailed representation of shaped country-level DGM projects that for the DGM country project activities or of NSC some countries are nearly a decade in the governance. The NSC selection process, making. Instead, this case study provides an for instance, is a foundational moment admittedly partial view of the multifaceted for understanding the DGM governance. issues and debates of which an exploratory Yet the details of NSC formation are not analysis is presented here. well documented. Efforts in interviews to understand how women were selected, The interviews with NSC members were appointed, or elected to become NSC conducted by the Conservation International members (including through the selection of (CI) research team of Vince McElhinny, Kame leaders to serve or guide the formation of an Westerman, Alli Cruz and Theresa Buppert, and interim steering committee) leaves many gaps Juliette Crepin (for French language interviews in understanding how these key decisions were in Burkina Faso) as well as by the country made. Our analysis is based on fragments of consultants, Suyana Huamani (two NSC this complex and highly varied process, but interviews in Peru) and Paramita Iswari (one acknowledges that observations are dependent NSC interview in Indonesia). For interviews on a full accounting of the NSC selection conducted directly by CI staff, efforts were process that is beyond the scope of this study, made to clarify that the researchers were not but worthy of careful analysis. associated with the CI GEA team to minimize any positive or negative bias that might stem A second challenge was that most DGM from this perceived association. projects did not track overall performance in terms of gender equity beyond one or two Nevertheless, through either emphasis or high-level indicators (beneficiaries). The lack of omission, these interviews provide relevant systematic sex disaggregated results on NSC insights into how the NSCs have served membership over time, subgrantee proposals as an important platform for supporting or awards to women-led or women-focused and advancing women’s leadership and subprojects, or participation in trainings and participation, and what impact this may have other DGM benefits, limits the ability to align had for stakeholders of the DGM. NSC interview claims with actual gender responsive achievements. With the patchwork of evidence compiled, our analysis provides selective comparison of claims by NSC leaders to reported results for women more broadly. Photo: DGM Burkina Faso/ Meerim Shakirova, 2020 12 3. NSC CREATION 13 The history of NSC formation began in 2010 As a defining feature of the DGM, the when the DGM was established as part of the guidance on NSC formation was flexible Forest Investment Program (FIP). The DGM to allow each country to determine the originated in global consultations between appropriate governance structure within 2010-2012 between IPLC leaders, FIP and a set of common requirements. The DGM the World Bank. The first NSC in Peru was Global Project Document indicates that established in 2013 and an interim Global membership of the NSCs should include both Steering committee was formed in 2014. When Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities the first DGM country project was approved in and be defined based on national March 2015, the Brazil NSC became the first circumstances and broad, participatory official NSC to begin operation. Since then, 12 dialogues with IPLCs. IPLC members will be additional NSCs have formed, with the number representatives from Indigenous Peoples and of voting members ranging from eight in Côte Local Communities, balanced to the extent d’Ivoire to 39 in DRC. The DGM’s staggered possible by geographic area, community/ approach means that the first cohort of DGM ethnic group/tribe and gender. As appropriate, country projects such as Brazil and Peru are government representatives may be members drawing to a close while the most recent NSCs of the NSC acting as observers with no voting in Guatemala, Republic of Congo and Nepal power. In addition, observers will be invited to were just established in 2020. the NSC from the World Bank, civil society, the private sector and other groups, as appropriate The selection process to form the NSC has in the country circumstances. A representative varied across countries. The DGM Framework of the NEA will support the NSC meetings documents deferred to the IPLC leadership in providing secretariat and logistical support. DGM countries to define a selection process for forming an NSC. This process varied DGM guidance documents do explicitly state depending on the organizational structure a preference for gender as a consideration for IPLCs in each country. Several factors in NSC membership, however there is no influenced the discussions that led to the specific requirement or mandate for a formation of an NSC, including the nature of minimum number or percentage. The DGM’s the FIP investment plan in the country and operational guidelines call for NSC members the centralized or decentralized level of IPLC to be “representatives from Indigenous Peoples organization, among others. As indicated in and Local Communities, balanced to the extent Table 1, most processes included a thorough possible by geographic area, community/ consultation that was guided by both the ethnic group/tribe and gender” (p. 6). The World Bank, the government and an interim guidelines further explain that “in all cases, it is steering group. Some processes then selected important that the process [of establishing the from the nominations at the national/regional NSCs] be inclusive and generate broad support level to form the final NSC. Encouragement for the NSC’s composition. The process of these highly democratic and norm-based should be inclusive and participatory and take selection processes to establish project into account gender, geographic and other governance is in and of itself a fascinating and diversity considerations as appropriate in the instructive dimension of IPLC-led governance final composition” (p.9). that is a signature feature of DGM design. This paper does not attempt to fully represent these While each DGM country followed different complex processes to ensure equity in DGM processes in selecting the NSC, they were decision-making. similar in that representatives were selected 14 by IPLC communities themselves based on communities’ interests. DGM countries took criteria they themselves identified. These varying approaches to encouraging gender criteria were often focused on previous parity on the NSC. As Table 2 shows, some leadership, knowledge of the forestry sector, countries were more concerned and proactive education/literacy, and ability to represent the about gender on their NSC than others. TABLE 2: DGM NSC FORMATION AND ACTIONS TAKEN TO SELECT NSC REPRESENTATIVES AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH GENDER WAS CONSIDERED IN SELECTED DGM PROJECTS.2 The process of selection was open to anyone to compete, with 52 target communities selecting their representative. There was no quota for women and no way to control Ghana the number of women selected, and this resulted in 11 of 52 communities electing women focal points. Of these, only one woman was selected in the first instance for (11 men, the 14 member NSC. NSC members recognized this discrepancy after the election. 2 women) When the opportunity arose to replace a male representative, there was unanimous consent among the NSC that the community should appoint a woman; that’s how the second woman came to the NSC. Indonesia’s National Forestry Council (DKN) facilitated a consultative process with IPLCs in each of the seven of DGM Indonesia’s geographic regions. Additional resources were requested by IPLC leaders to ensure a proper consultation. One representative for each of these seven regions (5 men, 2 women) was selected as a voting member Indonesia of the NSC based on a list of criteria. Per the NSC design as outlined in both the DGM Country Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and Operations Manual, two seats on the (5 men, 4 NSC were specifically allotted to one Indigenous and one local communities woman women) representative, who were selected through a national consultation of IPLC women. The DGM-I General Assembly of Community constituents (sitting per region) was designed to participate in periodic evaluation (every 2 years) of the program starting from DGM-I Project commencement and may decide to change or extend the term of their elected Representatives. The process for selecting the NSC was an election during a series of workshops with stakeholders throughout the 5 target regions and 32 communes. Candidates met a Burkina list of criteria including belonging to a local organization, experience in managing natural resources and local development, having computer skills and access to the Faso internet, availability for activities, as well as character. There was no quota for gender representation, but targets for 40% of women as beneficiaries, and 20% of women included in forestry-related training. The two Amazon indigenous confederations in Peru, CONAP and AIDESEP, had significant influence over the composition of the NSC, with each defining 5 representatives, and selecting 1 woman and 4 men. Despite AIDESEP adopting a policy Peru of 50:50 gender parity for federation councils, the number of women on the NSC did not change. Representation on the GSC rotated between CONAP (a woman) and AIDESEP (both men and women). 2 DGM NSC formation processes are described in the respective World Bank Project Appraisal Documents and Operation Manuals, referenced in this table. No information was available for Republic of Congo. 15 In 2014, the Government and World Bank carried out a consultation process of over 650 leaders in 16 informed and free consultation workshops to identify inputs to the DGM design and to assure a participatory consultancy to design the project’s governance structure. This included two regional meetings with indigenous representatives in the Yucatán Peninsula and Oaxaca that selected the Consorcio Chiclero from Yucatán as the Chair of the NSC. Other community and ejido representatives and leaders from ejido organizations and producer groups emerged Mexico that were invited to serve on the NSC, which is composed of elected representatives of each one of three regional subcommittees: Jalisco, Oaxaca, and the Yucatán Peninsula. The NSC receives direct support from a small (four person, all male) technical committee composed of members from the NSC. One regional subcommittee has added four women alternates for each representative in the regional committee, two of which have become official NSC representatives. Despite plans to replicate the approach in the remaining two regional committees, as of the 4th year of project execution, the NSC currently has 2 indigenous women and 13 men. For the NSC in Nepal, selection of representatives focused on ensuring a diverse group (e.g., indigenous women, forest users, Dalits, disabled indigenous women, etc.). However, a prior agreement between FECOFUN and NEFIN (the two largest community and Indigenous federations in Nepal) identified a desired 50:50 gender balance. In all, Nepal 5-6 women’s organizations are represented by the federations that make up the NSC. Of the 7 IPOs and 7 Local Community organizations that make up the 14 member NSC, 2 seats from each are agreed to be represented by women. In addition, there is an observer committee of 15 alternates of which 7 are women. If a NSC representative can’t serve, the first priority for replacement is a woman. According to the PAD, the preliminary selection of IPTC representatives in the NSC was balanced by geographic area, ethnic diversity and gender, and complied with Brazil 3 the criteria established in the FIP Design Document4 and its Annex III (Guidelines (9 men, for Consultation). Accommodating a request by the Government of Brazil, GOB representatives, will take part in all decisions made by the NSC. The Brazil NSC has had 5 women) joint coordination by men and women leaders since its establishment, but this is by far the exception. The GSC formation was informed by a prior interim steering committee established several years before the Global Project started. GSC members were selected based on three critera: identification as an IPLC person, active representation and membership in an IPLC organization, and respected as an IPLC leader in the forest sector. Membership of the GSC originally included as decision-making members one IPLC representative Global from each FIP pilot country (initially 14 countries, but now 12 with the exit of Lao PDR and Ecuador) and one representative from a non-FIP pilot country (originally a total of Steering 15, now 13). The GSC was formed on the basis of established or interim NSC’s electing Committee5 or appointed one decision-making member and one alternate to represent the DGM country project at the global level. One GSC seat was held by a non-FIP country IPLC (9 men, representative, which in this case was a woman IP leader from the Philippines, which 4 women) was the IP observer to the FIP at the time. The GSC has had joint coordination by a man and women co-chair since its establishment. Non-decision-making GSC members can include, as appropriate two representatives from FIP pilot country governments, two from MDBs (World Bank and one other MDB), one from the FCPF, FMT/UNREDD Secretariat, and one from the CIF AU. No gender quota was considered, but women representation was encouraged. Source: NSC member interviews; DGM Country Project documents 3 Although no NSC interviews were conducted in Brazil, this well-known feature about the NSC was included in the table as a relevant reference. 4 See Brazil DGM PAD (2015), citing FIP Design Document (paragraphs 16.d and 20.b), FOG (paragraphs 26 and 27), 5 World Bank, DGM Global Project PAD, pg. 16 16 Lessons related to the NSC selection process Our interest in these questions is primarily are limited by the lack of documentation to better understand how, when or if gender and analysis across DGM countries. The targets were introduced in any part of the detail reflected in Table 1 provides only a NSC design and formation process. The superficial description of the NSC selection evidence we have presented is incomplete, process. This foundational moment in the allowing for limited insight into how initial DGM governance process at the country level NSC gender representation was decided. The is also a baseline assessment of power sharing piecemeal descriptions provided in Table 1 between men and women IPLC leaders. The attempt to represent what is known and what lack of a complete documentary record of the interviewees highlighted in evaluations of the selection process limits our ability to assess country level DGM processes that are featured influence, agency and voice of women in the in this study. NSC governance process. For example, several aspects of the NSC selection process are frequently incomplete or missing altogether in DGM project documentation, including a) how the interim steering committee was formed; b) how the geographic boundary of the DGM was decided6 – which informs the eligibility of IPLC leaders; c) how the size of the NSC voting membership, and the number and role of observers, was decided to best represent different groups7 d) how national, subregional and local IPLC decision-making units were invited to nominate NSC candidates; e) how fixed term versus multiple-term appointments were defined (duration) and decided; and f) what were the criteria to select a co-chair or technical committees. 6 Often, the DGM footprint aligned with Forest Investment Program geography, but not in all cases. 7 For example, how the role of the government, NGOs and other non-IPLC organization representatives were defined 17 Photo: DGM Brazil/ Magno Amaldo da Silva 4. GENDER PARITY, QUOTAS & ‘LEGITIMATE REPRESENTATION’ 18 Across the entire DGM, one in every four NSC members is a woman. For the 13 DGM countries, over 187 Indigenous and Local Community leaders were appointed or elected to serve on their National Steering Committees. Of these, 24% were women. In addition, approximately 75 individuals serve as alternates, about one third of whom are women. One person from each country is further selected to represent their NSC at the Global Steering Committee. The Global Steering Committee has always had one man and one woman as co-chairs. The 14 current GSC members include three countries (Peru, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nepal) that rotate their representatives. For Peru, both representatives are women, for Nepal and Côte d’Ivoire, a man and a women take turns. With 11 current GSC seats and three alternating countries, the women’s representation on the GSC can range from 55% (6 of 11) to 36% (4 of 11). Across the DGM countries, women are largely underrepresented within NSCs. This is a reminder of the challenges to gender equality that persist and have elicited a variety of explanations from interviewees (see Annex 1, Table 1). When asked about women’s leadership in the DGM, World Bank interviewees often pointed to one or two “very strong” women who have secured or maintained their place in the male-dominated leadership space. One non-NSC member interviewed suggested that because these women were so strong (i.e., outspoken), their presence compensated for the absence of more women leaders around them. In another DGM country where quotas for women’s representation were not considered necessary, the female NSC leader observed that women had an equal opportunity to compete even though they were outnumbered by male candidates: “ For the election of the representatives of the forest-dependent communities, we demanded that in each of the five regions concerned, there be at least one woman. But since it is by election, we did not dispute the results too much (three women out of 11 were elected). In the South-West region, where I had to conduct the selection process for representatives of forest-dependent populations [in the NSC], there were no major problems. The women fought well even though they were in the minority (NSC member, F) The NSC selection process was perceived by NSC members to be open and fair but is built on ” existing inequalities which can disadvantage women. Most men and women NSC members or observers interviewed said that the selection process was one that allowed communities and IPLC representative organizations to choose who they thought was best suited for their representation. The criteria on which communities selected their representatives were focused more heavily on previous or demonstrated leadership, knowledge of forestry-related or business issues, educational level or status within the local governance structure, connections with key public and private actors in forestry or agriculture sectors, and ability to effectively represent a community. While these are clearly commendable and important criteria for selection, underlying societal inequalities in many DGM countries mean that women often don’t have the same access to 19 acquiring these credentials and therefore expertise and thereby enabling her to represent to develop those skills to leadership assets. both men and women. Given the choice, it was These inequalities include unequal access inferred that one may view representatives of to higher education, unequal distribution of women’s organizations as less legitimate and household duties, legal barriers to land and less desirable for the DGM NSC. access to community decision-making roles, and societal norms that may force women to No such standard was reportedly applied to defer to men. Absent any affirmative measure men’s ability to represent women’s interests. to offset this unequal starting place, such a Unless advocacy of women’s rights has selection process results in fewer women reached a threshold of national visibility, as in having the necessary education, experience countries such as Indonesia and Ghana, this and skills, or ability to engage and succeed in double standard effectively discounts one the NSC selection process. important space for women’s leadership that has advanced at the community level. This is In order to overcome inequalities such not to say that women have preferred to be as these, the use of quotas have been solely confined to the space of leading only championed by governments and others. women, and the majority of the interviewed While a quota system would ensure a leaders (including all women NSC members minimum percentage of female (or male) interviewed) have clearly demonstrated their representatives, it calls into question the ability and recognition as societal leaders. legitimacy of that representation. Those representatives may be regarded as just filling The growing perception of the wider a spot and not necessarily selected as true leadership capacity of women NSC members representatives of the community. was largely borne out in interviews. Female and male NSC members (Burkina Faso, Ghana, When considering quotas, women’s Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Indonesia) indicated that leadership is often held to a higher standard. women (even those who are representatives Communities have increasingly formed a of women’s organizations) are seen and variety of women’s organizations, both for respected as legitimate representatives of both economic, social, and political objectives. men and women in their communities with Two male interviewees commented on the real influence in the NSC. risk of appointing or electing women leaders of women’s organizations as an insufficient Finally, women’s perceived legitimacy as qualification for making decisions that affected leaders can be explained by multiple factors. both men and women. These interviewees The legitimacy of NSC women as leaders can questioned whether leaders of women’s be explained not only by their confidence organizations could properly represent in speaking out on behalf of women (a skill men’s interests within the DGM. Whether supported by the DGM), but also influenced someone is considered a legitimate leader or by their class, age, family background, etc. representative is subjective, especially when which may give them more bargaining power the starting place is unequal. within the community. Conversely, lower- caste, more impoverished, landless or illiterate One World Bank interviewee reflected on the women (and men) experience differentiated legitimacy of a woman leader who represents opportunities that adversely affect their only a women’s group, compared to a woman ability to claim those leadership rights. There leader who rose to that position based on other were cases of women who were indigenous, 20 coming from poor backgrounds, rising through a male-dominated community social structure to take leadership positions as a pathway to the NSC. Equally, indigenous and non-indigenous women with greater education, and some material advantages, were also invited to represent IPLCs on the NSC. The effect of intersectionality on power imbalances for women can offer important insights into the quality of representation by women (and men), but the evidence presented did not allow for further investigation in this case study. Still, only one of the DGM country projects interviewed chose to institute a partial quota system. Indonesia set aside two of its nine NSC seats for women. Two additional women were selected as regional representatives, giving Indonesia the highest NSC ratio of women to men. There are a variety of opinions about quotas as a method that could have been used in this situation. Multiple interviews from certain countries (e.g., Ghana, Indonesia, Nepal, Peru) indicated that a quota system could have been a good way to increase the number of women and give women a better chance at being chosen. However, in some of the first cohort of DGM countries that started operations between 2015 and 2018, NSC members were clearly ambivalent and divided on the need for quotas. As such, no clear guidance was provided in the early stages by the GSC, which was essentially composed of NSC members. One NSC member indicated that while gender parity quotas were mandated within the governance structure of his organization8, it was largely ignored without sanction in much of the community-level councils. Additionally, the lack of attention to cultivating indigenous women leaders through more ambitious and customized engagement and capacity building at the community level left the organization without a supply of prepared women leaders to move into higher decision-making roles, such as the NSC. The other NSC member of the same country offered a different view that focused more on the interest level of men or women to serve as NSC members. “ In most of them [the regional federations] it is not working. Currently only my organization [at the national level] is working with quotas, where there are three men and three women. But in the nine regional federations... such as in my federation they only have one woman. And so, they have one, one, just to ” accomplish. There is nothing else. They are not complying. (NSC member, M) 8 AIDESEP adopted a gender policy, which outlines several workstreams to promote the rights of indigenous women. http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php/node/13210 21 “ Gender quotas... actually, in the case of [our organization], there were no quotas. We were simply summoned, both the available technicians and the leaders, who, in some way, were from [our organization]. This work [as a member of the NSC] was proposed with those willing to participate and commit themselves for five years, do the follow-up, and all the work that this implied. It was something democratic within [the organization]. I am speaking on behalf of my ” [organization]. (NSC member, F) Interviewees from most other countries also suggested that a quota would not necessarily be the optimal NSC design option for different reasons. A few men and women suggested that the expected results on the ground would require other factors that were as or more important than any specific number of women on the NSC. They suggested focusing on supporting women’s skills and ability at the community level to influence decision-making on the NSC would be better. “ Gender mainstreaming was a key issue from the first consultations for the DGM project. There is of course flexibility in the different countries but with a strong incentive to address gender. The quota approach does not address gender. The issue of women should not be approached as a conflict issue. It is better to be strategic to get better results. If we proceed with flexibility and intelligence, we ” will have a better consideration of women. (NSC member, M) “ I think that we must first let women fight naturally to deserve their positions. But when the results are too segregated, we must apply the principle of positive ” discrimination to achieve a quota. (NSC observer, F) 22 Quotas or power-sharing arrangements related to ethnicity and caste, or indigenous versus community organizations, were often competing with gender consideration in terms of NSC composition. “ There is not a male/female quota but rather a native/bantu quota. Furthermore, it is not easy to find highly educated indigenous women. There is a real need for ” capacity building among indigenous women. (NSC member, F) When it came to NSC selection in another DGM country, the consideration wasn’t so much “X number of men, X number of women.”9 The consideration was more about representation of diverse groups—there was representation for indigenous women, forest users, lower castes, disabled indigenous women, etc. While the NSC was chosen in a way to ensure wide representation of ethnicity, caste and gender, pushing for a 50:50 gender balance was part of a prior agreement between the two largest community and Indigenous federations in this country. “ We discussed within our two organizations and made a common decision on 50% women in the NSC. Women are already very empowered in the CBFM [Community- based Forestry Movement], already practicing a 50% quota at the community level. Why not practice at the NSC as well? This is key natural resource decision-making space, we should give priority to women. We invited seven IPOs, seven Local Community organizations to make up the official 14 member NSC. Two of the IPOs and two of the community organizations would be represented by women. My organization is not a women’s organization, but I represent them at the DGM, so some women represent men and women. In addition, there is an observer committee of 15 alternates, seven are women. For the NSC if a representative can’t serve, the first priority is a woman, and the second option is a man. In all, 5-6 ” women’s organizations are represented in the NSC. (NSC member, F) 9 Interview, World Bank TTL, March 2021. 23 How women are selected to the NSC varies in qualities and skills to the table. The absence of terms of who they are intended to represent. a quota for contexts in which women leaders While the evidence is anecdotal, an important are substantially underrepresented, such as question relates to the diversity of people all levels of decision-making in forest sector within the project area of influence that organizations or communities, can also have women leaders in the NSC are expected to or deeper costs for governance in terms of lost were perceiving themselves to represent. In access to technical knowledge, a diminished Brazil, both Quilombo and Indigenous women ability to pursue more integrated solutions, a in Cerrado were represented on the NSC by less balanced and efficient distribution of work, different leaders. In Peru, only indigenous and lower levels of trust, accountability and people were eligible stakeholders, so the two ethical commitments. Three NSC members indigenous women on the NSC were clearly went as far to suggest that by not pursuing representing the interests of indigenous gender parity more aggressively, the DGM may people (both men and women). In Mexico, have missed an opportunity to strengthen the only indigenous women represented men overall project performance. and women from their region (Oaxaca). In Ghana, two local community women leaders The combined experience of the first cohort seemed to represent a wider cross-section of of DGM NSCs suggests that moving from community-level women. Women on the NSC greater awareness of gender parity as a in Indonesia and Nepal represented both men principle to practice is happening, albeit and women at the national level, but it was slowly. There is an indication that NSC quotas apparent the former represented indigenous for women are given greater consideration people, while the latter represented non- in the more recently formed NSCs, whether indigenous people. How this representation this reflects learning within the DGM or is was understood or changed within the NSC tracking other trends (e.g., momentum behind over time suggests another dimension of a gender strategy in the World Bank). One NSC empowerment that merits further exploration. member summarized the situation: “It is hard to reach ideal [gender] balance, but at least With or without quotas, NSC inclusion of now they try.” (NSC member, F). Even without women leaders can have longer term positive quotas, the indication provided by the more impacts for governance, just as exclusion recently approved country DGM projects (Côte can have longer term costs. A few men and d’Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Mozambique and women respondents made the point that Nepal) is that learning from DGM experiences insisting on the selection of a woman did not is encouraging greater proactivity and the mean that she was unqualified. The presence desirability of adopting minimum thresholds of women on the NSC due to a quota system for women’s representation on the NSC. did not necessarily equate to a deficit in their skills or knowledge. They pointed to skills and capacities that women were likely to introduce to NSC decision-making that would ensure overall better governance. Several women and men NSC members observed that women were becoming stronger and more forceful and more willing to take on greater leadership roles. The quota system can work to bring women with those important Photo: DGM Brazil/ João Rocha 24 5. JOURNEY TO THE NSC 25 Being an established and recognized leader a. Enabling conditions within the community or the country was a critical criterion for selection to the NSC. Overall, interviewees indicated a number of Across the female and male NSC interviewees, supporting factors that helped them become each recounted their previous leadership leaders and continue on their leadership experience—often organizing local groups or journeys to successfully achieve placement associations and being active in community on the NSC. The respondents identified meetings. This was also true of the NSC important enabling conditions in their own observers we interviewed. Like their male leadership experience, including context counterparts, NSC women representatives factors in their community or upbringing brought deep technical, political and cultural and formational factors that defined their expertise at the local, national and global leadership skills. Such conditions also levels. Women NSC members have previous highlighted types of material, cultural, and or ongoing professions that include a wide pyschosocial support that had helped them to range of leadership positions: environmental be successful. engineer, the first woman member of her community’s Agrarian Committee, Queen National-level social movements for women’s Mother of her community, president of a rights eased barriers to NSC gender parity. women’s organization, chairperson of a Longstanding women’s rights movements at National Federation of Forestry User Groups, a national level and among indigenous and chairperson of the district level Charcoal community organizations has raised awareness Producers Association, and a deputy to the of the importance of involving women in secretary-general of a National Indigenous decision-making. In some countries (such Federation. Some had been founders and as Indonesia and Nepal) the change within leaders of national women’s organizations. the economic, political and societal spheres catalyzed by the movements was seen as NSC nominations also came through national an important enabling factor for arguing for or regional organizations. The majority of the gender parity on the NSC. The hard-won NSC representatives (both women and men) achievements of women leaders and the were established, internationally recognized advance of women’s rights movements in leaders in prominent national, regional or some contexts enabled certain options for local IPLC organizations before joining their securing gender parity on NSCs that may DGM NSC. Two of the interviewees (a man not have been as widely available in all DGM and a woman) were present at the early countries. stages of negotiation of the DGM in 2010- 11, while others had learned about the DGM only recently. Each pointed to the internal governance processes of these organizations when explaining how they were invited to serve as an NSC member. 26 Photo: DGM Brazil/ João Rocha “ I think it’s because of the history of the movement here. We have been fighting for the rights of women for a long time. Many organizations, like my own, have a woman’s wing organization, so the awareness of the importance of the involvement of women in decision-making is already there. But the process of the selection for NSC members in my country is different than other countries. When we first started the DGM in my country, women had to lobby the Bank to provide us with more money so that we could do the consultation process in all seven regions. This is the official selection process of the NSC, a member is chosen from each region. So, we had additional funds, on top of the DGM funds, to do this ” consultation—this isn’t the same in other DGM countries. (NSC member, F) 27 Support from Community Authorities or National IPLC organizations elevated some women leaders. About a quarter of the leaders interviewed, both men and women, emphasized the firm endorsement and support provided by their membership in a large organizational structure. In one country, within indigenous communities, community property is governed by an assembly of communal landowners. In order to have standing in the NSC, a representative must first receive the support of these local authorities, which are almost entirely men. “ The challenges have been great. The NSC made an agreement, because they had to meet certain requirements set for social (safeguards), that there needed to be women as alternates… I received great support from my community, including from my president, I assumed a great responsibility to be able to speak for them, to make known the challenges they face every day as marginalized communities in accessing possible grants from the project. Still, most of the NSC are men, we are only two women. Before it was only one woman, now we are two, something is something. (NSC member, F) Elsewhere, a female NSC representative had worked for 25 years in the community forestry ” movement before joining the NSC, progressively moving up from a grassroots leader to her current role as chairperson of the large national community forestry federation. Her success both in that space and with the DGM NSC recently helped her become selected as a CIF observer. The presence or absence of a larger organizational structure to articulate the interests of Indigenous peoples or local communities can be an enabling condition but can also act as a constraint on women’s leadership. As noted in the next section, the Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) has encouraged quotas for women leaders at the national level since 2017, leading to important changes to AIDESEP’s bylaws including equal participation between women and men to be one full delegate for each AIDESEP base.10 However, this effort has met with resistance within the federations at the local level.11 As a result, some women may feel demoralized by seeing a directive ignored. Education, Technical or Political Skills, and Socio-economic status elevated certain IPLC leaders. It was clear that for some men and women NSC members that overall socio-economic status, including educational level, were significant enabling factors in privileging their eligibility as NSC members. 10 https://www.servindi.org/actualidad-noticias/22/12/2017/lizardo-cauper-es-el-nuevo-presidente-de-aidesep 11 http://www.aidesep.org.pe/noticias/la-participacion-de-la-mujer-indigena-debe-ser-un-compromiso-de- todos-y-to- das 28 “ At the University, I did my thesis on the Indigenous woman. I then worked in different associations related to the Indigenous woman. It helped me to work now on [gender equality issues] with a focus on Indigenous women. With the platform [to fight] against climate change, there was not really an application [for NSC] but ” an encouraged choice, so I was nominated. (NSC member, F) For many others, technical expertise in the forestry or agricultural sector, experience engaging in international climate change issues, familiarity with international cooperation, or political representation of a larger IPLC or women’s constituency were important factors for their selection. One NSC woman reported that she was likely selected due to her sensitivity to women’s suffering in her community and is driven and motivated by a desire to help them. For women leaders, support from champions and allies opened crucial space. Particularly for women NSC members, some reported having significant, direct encouragement and support from GEA/NEA members, GCS members, World Bank TTLs, government officials and national IPLC leaders in ways that enhanced their selection to their committees. While these relationships were rarely the exclusive factor, the importance of involving champions in the overall selection process can’t be underestimated. In two interviews with women NSC members, men on the NSC were also noted in some cases as the gender champion. “ Women are in the minority in the NSC, but this does not affect the work. For example, many women’s organizations have received DGM funding. It must also be admitted that there are gender-sensitive men in the NSC. Moreover, the three ” women members of the NSC with voting rights are supported by three other women members as observers. (NSC member, F) 29 Photo: DGM Mozambique/ Virgílio Conjo b. Challenges The myriad obstacles that hinder women from entering leadership positions are not necessarily well understood or appreciated. Despite the presence of these enabling conditions, most women that were interviewed pointed to the multiple, persistent challenges that IPLC women and men have had to overcome to attain this level of leadership. Men tended to place less emphasis than women on challenges in their leadership journey. Respondents were selective in their responses, but men tended to either omit identification of major challenges, or to cite policy or wider economic barriers to their vision for change, but not necessarily to their own individual access to a leadership opportunity. One might attribute this difference between men and women to difficulty for men to recognize privilege. Cultural norms influenced whether women would come forward to engage and participate as NSC members. Women did not necessarily feel comfortable coming forward to engage in the selection process and the invitation would not necessarily be passed on to them by male traditional leaders. “ We didn’t know we could compete and make progress on that level; if we were ” educated and encouraged to come forward, more women would have come on board. (NSC member, F) “ We [women] have a challenge with reading and writing and I think that will be our disadvantage [in] good leadership. (NSC member, F) ” 30 “ The challenges are enormous, including the coexistence between female and male leadership and the difficulty of mobilizing women and their organizations. ” (NSC member, F) “ The NSC would have loved to have more women on board, however because of some cultural norms, such as women taking the back pew and being intimidated by the men, they could not come forward boldly to engage and participate as NSC members. A lot of the trainings we have had made us realize, that women need to participate more, and this is one of the reasons why the team insisted the new member be a woman. Insisting on a woman, however, does not take away the element of bringing a more qualified person on board because these days, the women are becoming ... more forceful and are willing to step in the shoes of men. ” (NSC member, F) “ The cultural settings consciously ... misinform women and make them think they are incapable, so they end up stepping back and taking the back position. I am speaking from the community perspective, and sometimes the men assume they are to make the decisions even when they have no jobs, do not provide or play any influential role. The low level of education of women also retards their progress and they grow up with the mind-set of the setting within which they grow, thinking that that is how the life of a woman should be, which is not true. Unfortunately, there is less exposure and they end up growing up with that mind- set. Also, there is not enough capacity and opportunity available for women to notice that there are options where they can demonstrate who they are and their ” full potential, and so it is false how we look at women. (NSC observer, M) Some male NSC members also spoke of the challenging social structures in which they worked. One man from a rural community said he had attracted criticism and disbelief from the “Big Men” in the city who didn’t understand how a mere local man could be leading a World Bank project. The political nature of NSC selection and representation was also indicated as a specific challenge for women. Running for office and campaigning is challenging both personally and professionally. This was said this could be a big deterrent for women, especially if the position is a ‘service job’ like NSC. Existing or underlying inequalities were mentioned as posing challenges for women. Willingness to accept the responsibility for the work required of an NSC member was another important 31 criterion for selection. Women who are mothers are not as free to accept the obligations that come with the role. NSC members were not paid and had to take their NSC responsibility on top of other jobs and obligations. The work of an NSC member involved a five-year commitment to undertake a variety of collective and individual tasks. These could include meetings away from home for multiple days at least twice a year, but often more frequently, and receiving and providing a variety of trainings related to DGM operations and to climate and forest technical, policy and safeguards topics. NSC members set the work agenda priorities on an annual basis, reviewed all subgrant proposals, provided follow-up monitoring in conjunction with the NEA, engaged the national government, traveled to represent the interests of DGM constituents at international fora, and helped troubleshoot any problems that arose in the design and implementation of the project. As one NSC member explained, when faced with the scope of the work required, not all women (and some men) were able to commit their time. “ I have been on the NSC since the beginning, representing my organization as a technician, not as a leader or as a politician. I support the steering committee. At some point, there has been another woman [as an IPO representative]. In the other IPO representation, there is also a woman. There should be more, but there is the issue of commitment. Maybe because of these obligations or availability of many women leaders… I don’t have children, and I can keep up with the project during meetings and trips. Some colleagues can’t because they have to deal with other issues… Giving your time was critical. So, to give yourself and take away time from the work that gives you a livelihood, to take on one more job, that was also a decision that one had to make. You are assigned to a [position], you are called to a meeting, you are called to accompany the executing agency or the project executors in the field, you are called to hold a meeting to clarify some issues of the project or their initiatives or [they request] that you give them advice. So, one had to be willing to do that. Upon reflection, many were not ready to share their time and be subjected to this demand for five years… You know, well, the committee did not ” have a salary, nor a per diem, nor anything like that. (NSC member, F) More pragmatic challenges to serving on the NSC were also identified that affected both men and women. Tenuous phone and internet connectivity in rural areas necessitates more frequent travel to the city for meetings, calls, and participation in DGM activities. This may be more difficult for women who tend to have more responsibilities at home. However, it may also have implications for male leaders. A male NSC member noted that of the four candidates that initially expressed interest in the NSC position in his province, four were men. One woman was identified by the interviewee as a qualified candidate, but she declined. The other male candidates withdrew from consideration after learning that the position was unpaid. The male NSC member admitted he was the only one in a position to be able to dedicate time and energy to an unpaid NSC position. 32 Photo: DGM Indonesia/ Bastian AS, 2019 6. NSC MEMBERSHIP IMPACTS ON PERSONAL LEADERSHIP JOURNEYS 33 NSC participation has had a positive, but differentiated impact on women’s voice, agency and leadership, depending on where they were on their own leadership trajectory. At least three of the women interviewed had established leadership credentials before becoming NSC representatives. The other five were emerging leaders, with strong local expertise and visibility. All were asked to reflect on the net impact of their NSC role in strengthening their abilities as leaders or amplifying their voice and influence beyond a pre-DGM space. Albeit in different ways, all women respondents stated that their engagement with the NSCs had enhanced their voice and agency and advanced their leadership journey. While men also attributed their role as an NSC member as a contributing factor to new leadership opportunities, this view was not as pronounced as with women. The value of serving as an NSC member was widely recognized and meant different things to different people. The NSC role enhanced women’s legitimacy and leadership skills before new, larger audiences and widened their access to new technical training and learning opportunities. Women, particularly those who were not already nationally or internationally recognized leaders, recalled the access to training or critical skill-building from which they benefitted personally. For these emerging leaders, NSC participation translated into enhanced skills needed to occupy a public space often dominated by men; they learned to engage as equals or lead a decision-making discussion, to mediate a conflict, to provide technical advice to stakeholders, to address donors, to solve problems. For established leaders too, while the effect was implied rather than explicit, most associated the DGM role with their own chance to reach and be effective in new leadership opportunities, for example as a co-chair of the GSC or NSC, as an indigenous/ community observer for a large trust fund, or as a more trusted leader within their own national organization. “ The DGM project has strengthened my leadership at the regional and national level. This is noticeable in improved public speaking and especially in the arbitration of microprojects. Also, in the management of sub-projects, my capabilities have been strengthened. Everything that was quoted above, I could ” not do before. (NSC member, F) “ Since joining DGM I can speak in public without fear, my knowledge on how to cultivate crops has expanded and also I have been able to extend my knowledge received to other farmers. I have been able help other women apply for grants as ” well. (NSC member, F) 34 “ I have gotten a different mind-set since I joined the DGM. This journey has also helped me understand that women can be at par with men and play the same roles as the men. When I contested and was selected it granted me the opportunity and courage to speak and interact at certain levels, I would normally not have been able to. I have also added on to my skills and experience as a leader due to trainings I have gone through and have come to understand that women ” need to improve upon their lives, progress and wellbeing. (NSC member, F) “ We are only two women among a majority of men on the NSC. As all of them are experts in negotiations, so I observed them personally, I noted the tone in which they spoke, but I fixed my position in saying, ‘Yes I agree but nevertheless I would like to include this other part as well.’ I had to assert myself, also and above all, to carry the voice that had been delegated to me from the people of my community who have placed their confidence in me. It was a little intimidating, because there were so many men. But I took a little bit of courage from the fact that some of NEA are women, this also supported me in that they joined in the conversation on the parts that I could not explain well, they helped me to explain it, this is fundamental, it made me feel welcome. Most of the NEA team are women. It helps not to feel ” exposed in front of men. They absolutely supported me. (NSC member, F) The NSC can be an important venue for IPLC men and women to expand their network and influence. Prior to their involvement in the NSC, women’s influence was often limited to their personal lives and within their communities. The NSC brought capacity building and networking with important stakeholders. The many regional exchanges organized by the GSC provided wider networking opportunities for NSC men and women, and increasingly featured women leaders as spokespersons for the NEA.12 For one NSC chair, this role has opened doors for him—he has direct access to the Ministry of Lands & Resources and can get through the bureaucratic process. They take him seriously because of the World Bank backing and because he is speaking directly from the community. He said some women had achieved the same expanded influence. “ You’re not a mere person, but a board member of a World Bank-sponsored project. Seen as big person. Gives you more audience. The NSC member in a community becomes the first choice to go to because of their connections. For example, the woman member of our NSC can speak directly to forestry managers ” given her leverage. (NSC member, M) 12 See for example the regional exchange held in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2019, featured in the 9th SAR (2019) 35 “ NSC is an important decision-making body and therefore brings legitimacy to women. It also values women and confirms their leadership. The NSC has a good visibility with journalists, consultants… They are “important people who are ” consulted” so it is a nice platform for leadership. (NSC member, M) As the head of an organization that was selected to lead the DGM consultation process in 2014, this NSC member said the experience had helped him to become the national coordinator for the DGM and its representative on the GSC. He has held these positions since 2015. A female NSC member who became a full representative of the local agrarian governance structure that had been dominated by men, said her connection with the DGM had helped her: “ Well, yes, then, the DGM has had an impact in this sense, because now I am a member of my community’s Agrarian Committee. I am a regional liaison of the Committee, already appointed, put on record. Now my fundamental role is to lead all the projects that have to do with the social and environmental part. They have ” placed a great deal of trust in me. (NSC member, F) In addition, this member became a more visible spokesperson for the DGM in her country, starting with her participation in a regional knowledge exchange organized by the GEA in 2019 and later speaking to audiences at the Climate COP in Katowice, Poland. In 2020, she spoke about the gender achievements of the DGM in her country at the launch event of the DGM Annual Report at the Forest Investment Fund meeting in Washington. Other respondents also noted the importance for both men and women of gaining exposure at the global level. One female NSC member stated: “ Yes, it has been promising that the international events have provided opportunities where women can express their views such as at the UNFCCC Climate Convention of Parties (COP). We’ve been in many places through the global steering committee participating in this event. Also, there have been various opportunities, because women or men weren’t chosen, but selected according to the rules of each committee in each country… There has been a lot of participation; there has been a lot of public space to talk about our women’s work experiences… There should be more spaces, yes, it is also essential. But I ” think there should be more spaces, but not only for women. (NSC member, F) 36 The NSC role provided an opportunity to better serve their community in a new and more visible way. For NSC members who represented small rural constituencies, the opportunity to benefit from the DGM was significant. At the same time, past experiences with similar public programs to benefit rural communities have often left a legacy of distrust and skepticism. Research has documented the uneven performance of public programs in the natural resource management sector to reach the most vulnerable, particularly women.13 The NSC role provided an opportunity to steer DGM benefits to the communities that the NSC members were elected to represent. To do so required a range of skills, not least of which for women was the courage to challenge business-as- usual approaches to project delivery. At the same time, the DGM was never resourced sufficiently, and was not expected to address all the unmet needs of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Service to community interests had to be balanced with creativity in designing a resource-allocation process that sought equity and fairness across multiple dimensions (geography, ethnicity, subgrant thematic focus, in addition to gender) within a specific resource constraint. An NSC member’s contribution to this collective design was informed not only by commitments to and insights from their own constituency, but by ensuring the DGM was effective in its larger agenda—for the sake of its reputation as an IPLC-led initiative. This delicate balance to serve one’s own community while consolidating a fragile governance model was perhaps one of the most significant challenges to NSC leadership. Particularly for women who were not invited as full members of NSC governance initially, and who faced significant barriers to ensuring gender equity was not sacrificed to other priorities, insisting on the inclusion of women was at times perceived to have potentially adverse consequences. The following quote by one NSC member illustrates this challenge: “ With my community there to support me, it is their voices that speak through me, and I am their spokesperson. Transmitting my knowledge, the knowledge that comes from those behind me, this is part of what I have transcended from what I have worked on as a person, as a woman, because it is not just in any place that they allow you (a woman) to give your opinion or give your assertion, your criticism of something, without you being judged. I have been fortunate, they have allowed me to take this leadership role, that you can give your opinion without being threatened by the factors that have influence. Sometimes, I am told not to give an opinion because something bad could happen, in this case in my ” communities this does not happen. (NSC member, F) 13 World Bank, Closing the Gender Gap in Natural Resource Management in Mexico (2019) 37 Photo: DGM Global 7. WOMEN’S INFLUENCE ON NSC GOVERNANCE 38 Critical moments of debate within the NSC over strategy or implementation offer illustrations of where women members’ influence was decisive. This section explores some of those examples to understand how have women members influenced governance or decision-making within the NSC. To understand the influence that women have had on NSC governance, we highlight several areas where such influence might be most visible. In each area, interviewees pointed to key debates that defined the moments where the influence of women leaders was tested or demonstrated on NSC representation, inclusion of women-led or women-focused subprojects and other aspects of emerging gender strategy. Several examples highlight the significance of women’s direct representation in pushing the DGM to tackle key barriers to gender equality. While these efforts were not always successful, most men on the NSC who were interviewed agreed that the influence of women in these instances improved the overall governance and performance of the NSC to the benefit of all. These experiences motivated some respondents to advocate for women to have a majority of seats in the NSC. Women’s influence on the overall parity in NSC representation reflects an effort to expand the number of women, but with only modest change. In the interviews, women NSC members reported their efforts to expand opportunities for other women to serve on the NSC and discussed whether those who had become voting members had any actual influence on DGM decision- making. Taken together, these views reflect a wide range, from those saying women had a lot of influence to those saying they had relatively little influence. It was perhaps most interesting to compared the views of men and women NSC members from the same country. Within the same country’s NSC, we found contrasting views regarding the gap in women’s representation and the factors that con tribute to this gap. This variability underscored the complex range of factors that may explain women’s voice, agency and influence in decision-making spaces like the NSC. In one country, male and female interviewees offered a similarly positive view regarding the equity of opportunity for men and women to be heard on the NSC. “ We the two women on the NSC committee were involved throughout the entire process and insisted more women be taken [for subprojects] with the justification that women are very dedicated and accountable compared to men… I have worked closely with the men, expressing my views during meetings. I am neither relegated, disregarded or intimidated, which made me realize how equally powerful women are. When important decisions are being made, we all share our opinions and agree on the best action points. Even when we were contesting for the NSC positions, I freely contested and won the position as the current organizer. ” And so, the NSC operates fairly in a very participatory manner. (NSC member, F) “ Even though women are the minority in the leadership role in our meetings, both ” men and women are given the same opportunity to freely air their concerns and contributions. (NSC member, F) 39 These views correspond those of the men on the same NSC. “ In cases of managing issues, the women have been very active. They are given the platform to speak freely. The NSC woman representative is serving a second term as the NSC organizer. She competed unopposed because the committee wanted female representation as part of the leaders of the NSC. I think that speaks a lot for the men too because they insisted a woman be brought on board. So generally, the women have a lot of opportunity to express themselves, make their ” points clear, and have the full support of the men. (NSC observer, M) “ When we meet as the NSC, we’re all equal, all community representatives. The two women are given the same respect… Most issues we talk about in the community are about women – e.g., climate leading to water shortages. Women are instrumental in climate – charcoal, water, fuel. Therefore, women should be ” given 60% and men 40% on the NSC. (NSC member, M) Does agreement between male and female NSC leaders on women’s influence reflect acquiescence to inequity? These similarly satisfactory views of men and women on women’s influence in this NSC despite the overall low level of women’s representation raises a question about why adding one additional women leader was considered by both to be significant. That women were given the chance to express themselves and participate in discussion is a recognition of the procedure required for being a NSC voting member rather than a demonstration of influence. The view of the male NSC observer that the male NSC decision to insist on (or allow) a second woman joining the NSC seems to suggest control over gender parity. If so, the male NSC member decision of inviting a second woman NSC member to join suggests an agreement around a relative target. Both male and female interviewees seem content with the addition of a second NSC member as the basis for influence. Does it hold up to greater scrutiny? Particularly in light of the retrospective view of the positive additionality of women’s participation suggested by the second male NSC interviewee, one might ask why women NSC members seeming to have settled on only two women being enough. The absence of any dissent with the overall minority position of women on the NSC combined with the suggestion of some male control over the NSC selection process leaves the impression that women may be satisfied with the relatively small space ceded by men for them. Without discounting the other evidence of influence that both women NSC members attribute to their role, we can appreciate how the local context, among other factors, may inform what some NSC members view as a significant achievement while some other NSC members see as a problem. 40 However, it should be noted that in one other DGM country, the male and female NSC member views on women’s representation and influence aligns with the example above. In both countries, a significant share of DGM resources was allocated to women-led or women-focused subprojects. So, we cannot easily dismiss the claims that women in a minority position are able to exercise significant influence. This lesson is also evident in other cases. Agreement between men and women NSC leader views on low representation of women diverges in their focus on the different root causes. For example, a second pair of interviews that illustrate a contrasting view of a similar outcome to the prior example. Both interviewees offer a differing critical analysis of low women’s representation. In this country, an indigenous woman who was first included as an alternate on a regional NSC subcommittee, but later became an official representative, described how she analyzed and addressed the challenges of unequal women’s representation on the NSC. Unlike the prior NSC example, the minority share of seats on the NSC from this country is clearly viewed as unsatisfactory. Moreover, the structure of decision-making by an all-male Technical Secretariat within the male dominated NSC is also the focus of criticism. The view is consistent with a more widely observed assessment about power sharing among men and women. Male leaders that have already achieved decision-making power act to protect their self-interest by setting the agenda in a way that disfavors equity of opportunity for women to compete on an equal basis. By acting as gatekeepers, male leaders can regulate any change in power sharing to protect their own power. Despite her efforts to address what she viewed as the barriers to expanded influence by indigenous women on the NSC, she was unsuccessful. Despite disagreement with the outcome, the interviewee describes how the process was resolved by a vote that both reflected the current power distribution, but may also set an important precedent for future influence. “ Regarding the appointment of the Technical Secretary committee of the NSC, in my region, we have the firm conviction, that if you were appointed, it is for the time that was established, there is no reappointment for us. The time of the current director [National Coordinator] is running out, and I asked that we put his re- appointment to a vote. The four of us from my region (two men and two women) wanted to change the director (National Coordinator), but we could not have more impact because we were 4 out of 15. The majority was for him to continue, because, they said, he is the only one who can travel, who can talk to us. And I said no, not only him, but we can also do it. We have our own limitations, if we change the Technical Secretariat, we should give the opportunity to the others. Let’s review the regulations. We had a very conflictive discussion. Yet, in the end everything was solved in the committee, where you can talk, nobody can prevent you from saying what you think, and everything has the support of the NEA in the end, the majority won…. I did not like the outcome, but the majority voted in favor of keeping the ” same person as National Coordinator. (NSC member, F) 41 The perspective of the male NSC counterpart from the same country suggests some agreement on the need to close the gender gap in NSC representation but provides a more cautious view that places greater emphasis on the need for policy reforms to overcome the structural obstacle to change. “ In terms of how many women should be on the NSC, I think we have fallen short, we should have been more aggressive in recruiting… One of the key challenges is public policy in this country. There are significant opportunities for economic enterprise development in the countryside. The State does not provide the space for these opportunities in the rural economy to materialize. Why aren’t women more incorporated into the rural economy? Because the legal framework does ” not permit that woman can legally access agrarian land rights. (NSC member, M) This view is consistent with widely documented analysis of the country’s legal and policy framework and was echoed by a diverse range of interviewees. However, the apparent intractability of this structural barrier to which this country DGM seems resigned is at odds with the respondent’s own personal experience of actions that have influenced equally transformative change in agrarian policy. The suggestion that the root cause of the gender gap is beyond the short-term reach of the DGM nevertheless may confine the NSC to choices around representation and implementation that are of second or third order importance for women. Men and women NSC members’ disagreement about whether women’s NSC representation and influence is a problem points more to agency at the organizational or individual level. In another DGM country, we observe a similar debate about the underlying causes of gender representation and influence on the NSC, but with the gender roles reversed. The male NSC representative from an indigenous organization offers a less positive view of the impact of women’s leadership on NSC governance and the DGM impact on women. “ I believe that from the beginning the [country] DGM project has not promoted [gender integration] much. I know the project since 2017…and the project has been restructured… it also depends a lot on the decisions of the regional and local organizations, but I increasingly think that not much has been achieved regarding integration related to the subject of women in the actions that have to do with the recognition of native communities or sustainable economic ” production activities, at least with the economic initiative, it can be said, there has been very little. (NSC member, M) 42 Yet rather than pointing to legal or policy barriers, the male NSC member highlights the internal gaps in commitment to advancing gender within the male dominated Indigenous organizations themselves as a formidable barrier to change. The invitations for DGM capacity building and other benefits are filtered through community-level governance, which too often excludes women from accessing the tools and skills needed to become the kind of leader who can represent the community on the NSC. The indigenous organization has a gender strategy, but implementation does not flow down to the community level. The problem, in his view, rests more in the realm of organizational agency than structural or systemic impediments. “ I know, now that I accompany eleven regions in different parts, the invitations [for DGM activities] go to the community leader, and the leader makes the decision, and two or three men come, plus some authorities get tired and the woman does not ” come, and does not participate. They [women] cannot participate. (NSC member, M) Photo: DGM Burkina Faso/ Meerim Shakirova 43 In contrast, a woman representative on the NSC provided a more qualified approval of the NSC efforts to include women. Despite sharing the same concerns regarding educational and capacity gaps as well as economic and household pressures that indigenous women face, she provided a more positive assessment regarding the DGM benefits accessed by indigenous women. “ The project has been well structured. It has not been a perfect project, but when the project is socialized in their development area, they [the women] were clear that women should have strong participation within the initiative. It’s not that they say, “Oh, look, they had to push to be taken into account.” No, because they knew they had the right to participate. But many of them did not see the channel to do so… Those who were able to access. I believe that all of them have been included in the project. If any of the proposals for the project had observations, we helped ” them raise them so that their projects could be crystallized. (NSC member, F) Moreover, the challenge observed by this same NSC member (noted above) has more to do with the individual woman’s or women’s led subproject proponent’s willingness to follow through on the responsibility to deliver the project obligations than the need to push a gender strategy for overcoming structural barriers. She also places greater responsibility for any shortcoming in achieving greater influence on the NSC with women’s own choices. “ Economics is not about whether you are a leader or a man and a woman. It is the same for everyone… When we socialized the project, I told them it was a great opportunity for all of them. They saw it not only as an opportunity but as a great responsibility. Showing leadership is not only about saying, “I agree to be taken into account,” but also about how you respond to this opportunity. I have seen over the years that women may receive resources and lead the project, but when it comes to responding with help, they victimize themselves. They say, “I am a woman. I have no education. I don’t know how to perform.” They disassociate themselves. It is indeed an opportunity to lead and make decisions; you yourselves [refer ring to women] must know how to work and have resources. It is a great responsibility from the moment of making resources work. You don’t ” just lead for profit but also for when you have to respond. (NSC member, F) 44 Photo: DGM Peru/ Segundo Chuquipiondo Chota, 2019 Men and women in NSCs with a higher In her account of her influence on the NSC, representation of women may tend to this member mentioned repeatedly how be more aligned on their assessment of the GSC encourages NSCs to include more the influence that women have on DGM women representatives. She firmly argued project design and implementation. Another that women have the same influence as men woman NSC leader offered a highly positive across a region where women are already quite account of the influence of women on NSC powerful, are actually involved and can really governance, which is corroborated by the influence the decision making, highlighting in NSC chair. Both at the NSC and GSC level, in her view that “women can argue with men, and this case, women hold a higher than average usually, they [men] are the ones who lose.” She representation on the Committee. At the added that countries will often look to the GSC GSC level, the catalytic effect of the influence for guidance in the formation of their NSCs, from the interaction between a group of the and at the insistence of GSC women members, most effective IPLC women leaders across the GSC recommends that NSCs ensure that the DGM cannot be understated. Where these there is a balance in decision-making between two forces align at the national level depends men and women. (NSC member, F) in part on the country context, but can be an important factor for opening space for wider The view of the male NSC counterpart seems representation and influence of women at the to converge with hers. national level—as is suggested below. 45 “ Within the committee, the role between the male and female member was equal. They have the same chances, the same authority, almost in every aspect is as the same. There was no dominant way… I have to admit as the NSC leader, the women parts are so significant, there would be no decision making before the women give their opinion. (NSC member, M) These paired perspectives on NSC influence by men and women leaders underscore the diversity ” of views on women’s influence within the NSC. First, there is inconsistency between men and women regarding their perceived level of women’s influence. While some country cohorts converge around positive influence, others disagree. Sometimes men and women see the same general picture for women’s voice and agency, but in other cases, there is divergence. This is not surprising, but worth noting if only to underscore the significance of heterogeneous perspectives within an IPLC cohort of leaders. This observation suggests a certain unpredictability for how men and women view women’s influence. It is worth noting that one perspective that was missing was both men and women holding the view that women were not influential in the NSC. Secondly, the expected default perspective (women tend to see less relative influence, men tend to see greater relative influence) does not hold in at least two countries, and one where the views are reversed. The first cohort reflects an agreement on women’s representation and influence, which is open to question given the relatively low number of women on the NSC. In the second example, the divergence is also interesting because it calls attention to surprisingly self-critical gender perspectives that point to agency factors within one’s own gender cohort. In this example, the female NSC member placed a greater burden on women’s own choices within a relatively fair process that invited women and men to serve. In contrast the male NSC member underscored structural factors (the concentration of power among male leaders restricting women’s opportunity to prepare to be leaders) as the decisive factor behind lackluster representation of women and their associated influence on the NSC. The contrast is striking because of its reversal of expected gender norms in how women’s influence might be assessed. Both views are legitimately grounded in personal experience and may be in play simultaneously within the county’s NSC process, suggesting the complexity of isolating single factor explanations of women’s empowerment or disempowerment. Finally, other factors, including country context and a personal sense of efficacy, among others, may contribute to the perception of a gap in women’s influence and why this gap may or may not exist. The contrast between legal and policy barriers versus a lack of agency by an important NSC organization is one example of the importance of country context. How a constituency is represented (e.g. by a large national organization or by smaller, subregional or local organizations) may have positive or negative implications for women’s influence. A larger national organization may be more capable of tackling structural barriers for women, but may not prioritize those objectives compared to other goals. Similarly, a decentralized and fragmented representation of IPLC interests may be less well placed to address legal or policy barriers to women’s influence in the rural economy, and this may in turn pose important questions for a project’s theory of change. Neither scenario (strong, peak organization or decentralized representation structure) is decisive on its own for determining how to increase women’s influence on new decision-making bodies such as the DGM NSC. However, the important insight may be to acknowledge these factors as 46 important for collective project design decisions that avoid unnecessarily confining women to a space for decision-making influence that is less relevant than it could be. Interviews reflected important debates and decisive moments about DGM gender strategy and hinted at the influence of both men and women on the central aspects of DGM governance and program design. A female NSC member described the efforts by herself and others to support the design of a dedicated funding window that would ensure the participation of indigenous women. The example highlights one of the central debates in DGM project design—what kind of women-focused targeting should guide DGM resource allocation. As with the noted ambivalence on quotas, the interviews reflected a wide range of perspectives. Even among female NSC members, there was not agreement about the extent of targeting that was needed. In this case, the experience of past initiatives failing to reach women motivated the NSC member to insist on subproject procedures that eased barriers to participation by indigenous and marginalized women. “ …even when there is a call from the government that says that a project is exclusively for women, it will be men who benefit. A male representative will get the opportunity over all the women because he is able to meet the requirements. So little ‘padlocks’ (affirmative actions) were put in place by the DGM to effectively achieve the ” participation of women, to ensure that the project directly reaches women. A male NSC member from the same country expressed a critique of a woman-targeted subproject approach that was approved, but which settled on distribution of smaller amounts to a wider cross-section of candidates. Instead, he argued for a more selective and longer-term approach for supporting fewer women-led businesses in early stages of development but taking them to scale over time. This approach to targeting women replicates some of the principles of the other project funding window set up for established businesses and was expected to deliver a larger overall benefit to the same community. “ By providing only small grants of $10-15,000 and contracting out social promoters, this is not going to generate any development… giving them a little bit of money and saying this will empower the women and address climate change just isn’t realistic. The DGM should take less of a mass production approach to gender subprojects and be more selective in providing greater support to scale up fewer projects that have a medium- or long-term plan, with a grand vision, with access to technical expertise that is more integrated into the project cost. Not a bit of bread and then just leave them. We are entering the third year of the DGM ” and not one subproject has started implementation. (NSC member, M) 47 This debate reflects two competing views on gender empowerment within this country’s NSC. The first might be described as a bottom-up approach that seeds many smaller initiatives to ensure that a critical mass of women can benefit in the short-term by piloting or consolidating their ideas, perhaps then to become eligible as a better networked group for the next tier of support. As noted, this approach may be motivated by an inherent distrust with the alternative more top- down approach of ‘picking winners’ that has too often, in the view of the female NSC member, failed to elicit or approve a sufficient number of women-led proposals that are deemed to have the potential to get to scale. If successful, the latter approach can also reach women over time as the women-led business expands with the concentrated support of limited DGM resources and in turn provides greater opportunity to more women to participate in this growth. The funding window with affirmative requirements for women’s inclusion has been established and is more in line with the vision articulated by the woman NSC member, which indicates the influence that women leaders can have in key decisions, despite holding only a small number of seats on the NSC. As noted, the support of other actors like the Bank’s own TTL and the NEA have been equally influential on this gender strategy design question. NSC decisions over the need to tackle structural barriers to women’s inclusion, such as tenure reform, also reflect varying levels of influence by women on the NSC. In another country, the key barrier to women’s economic empowerment in the Community Forestry sector was identified as the lack of access to land tenure. In this case, only about 20% of households have women’s ownership over their family farming private land. A woman’s name is not on the land title, vastly restricting access to credit for women-led businesses. Photo: DGM Burkina Faso/ Oumarou Seynou “ Enterprise establishment time in the forest sector is a big obstacle for empowering grassroots women in the forest sector. For 80% of women, their name is not on the land certificate. If I am interested in starting an SME, they demand a land certificate, and say they need to talk to a male (husband or brother). This prevents women from certifying a business. Removing this barrier requires a land rights campaign to change policy, which is very conflictive. We tried including this focus within the DGM, but government resisted. If we can’t ” solve this barrier, how can we really support women? (NSC member, F) 48 This NSC member has led her organization’s work on land reform in the country and as a newly elected NSC member argued that this policy objective should be part of the DGM program. The government sits as an observer on the country NSC and has otherwise been supportive of the DGM. The government representative, also a woman, resisted. In the end, the decision was made to continue support for land reform outside of and in parallel to the DGM to avoid conflict with the government. According to this NSC member, this decision reflected the limitation of her influence and the influence of other women on the NSC but did not diminish her confidence that the efforts to remove this barrier would continue in a way that could leverage the DGM support to women in the future. Targeted interventions in the design and implementation of subproject programs proves to be another NSC decision-making space where women’s influence was visible and had lasting impact. These efforts include shaping the gender strategy of the DGM program and engaging directly with women beneficiaries. Often this influence was most conveyed in response to specific requests for support from female stakeholders. Women leaders reported efforts to expand opportunities for the DGM to recruit, mentor and support other emerging IPLC women leaders. Efforts to elevate the leadership of the women on the NSC may have proven to be critical to reaching and retaining the support of key elements of the DGM constituency. A female NSC member explained her influence this way: “ The obvious example was my participation in the selection of micro-projects where I defended body and soul a significant number of micro-projects for the benefit of women for their selection. The women of the NSC have been very much in their support for the micro-projects submitted by women (28 out of 53) and at the sub- project level many women’s organizations have had their capacities strengthened and some of these organizations have been equipped with transformation equipment and infrastructure. It should be added that we have received the ” unwavering support of the eight (8) men of the NSC. (NSC member, F) “ I was able to fight for some of the women to access grants. I believe that if there were other women in leadership roles, we could have fought for most of these ” other women to also access grant opportunities. (NSC member, F) 49 “ I took the lead in further explaining to farmers the benefits of what they were being encouraged to practice, and then they became convinced. They said they appreciated the way I handled the situation and spoke to them and wished to keep in contact with me for any further engagements. Due to the fact that I was a woman, it also gave them some level of trust, and made them believe they were not just being deceived by the men. Usually when we visit the communities and meet with them, the women normally regard what the female leaders tell them ” because they believe they can relate more to the situation of women and would not mislead them. (NSC member, F) A similar decisive moment of influence for another NSC representative involved her intervention when the NEA wanted to exclude a community from benefiting from a DGM project due to its low level of response and interest at the beginning. “ Since I was the NSC member of the area, I was given a call and I intervened. After convincing the NEA not to, and speaking intensively with the community members, they turned out to be one of the most active communities who successfully implemented subprojects. The community members now regard me very highly and assign me all forms of titles. According to them they did not show ” interest initially due to deceit and bad experiences with the men that bring them such projects… (NSC members, F) These perspectives highlight a more fundamental insight - that women’s representation in the NSC has enhanced the interest of women community members in the DGM. All women NSC members suggested that a certain level of women’s representation on the NSC is a necessary factor in the DGM reaching and benefiting from full participation of IPLC women. The impact of having visible women leaders on the NSC may prove to be crucial in unlocking knowledge, expertise and innovation that only women can bring to natural resource management initiatives. These examples of personal interventions by NSC women were likely consequential for the overall legitimacy and effectiveness of the DGM. DGM’s contribution to amplifying women’s influence in designing more effective capacity building for women (and men) suggests a pathway to gender transformation. One NSC leader said that her experience with women-led small enterprise underscored the need for a more intensive effort to support livelihoods and enterprise development for women entrepreneurs in the forest sector. Effective capacity building to help women (and men) entrepreneurs scale their businesses will require more sustained engagement than the 1-2 day orientation to these topics that most NGOs in her country now only provide in the capital city. Building Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) enterprise skills transformation (management, marketing, equipment, training) will require tapping into expertise and organizational approaches that have already proven effective for women leaders. 50 “ There are many good examples of successful women SMEs in vegetable farming, grass plantation, nurseries, handicrafts, NTFPs, nurseries, candy, juice, handmade paper, prayer icons, charcoal briquettes for renewable energy. What they need are grant funding and greater training. When I was younger, the trainings for youth were one month long and we would go back and train others. This level of ” support is needed to truly empower women-led businesses. (NSC member, F) This same insight about the women’s voice and agency in the design of the core DGM activities, such as capacity building, was echoed by an interviewee in another DGM country. Nearing the end of the project, NSC women leaders were instrumental in designing an empowerment training course for women leaders of traditional, Indigenous and Quilombo communities. This training was designed jointly by women on the NSC and representatives from subprojects. The aim of the workshops was to build on the achievements of women-led subprojects by promoting women’s role and leadership in various spaces. The trainings centered on how to provide women and men with the same benefits and conditions of participation in the subprojects or networks supported by the DGM, enabling the construction of an inclusive political organizational space, and valuing the role and contribution of Indigenous women, Quilombos and traditional communities in biodiversity conservation. The course modules, which were designed to be delivered over multiple weeks, addressed how to speak up and occupy the public spaces, how the community members could organize themselves to support women—not just in private space, but in the community as well. This innovative initiative came late in the DGM Brazil program and reflected lessons learned by the project during implementation. The focus on occupying public space beyond the subproject within the wider community decision-making process through more carefully designed trainings for women by women suggests how empowered women are planning to build on their DGM- supported achievements. The way DGM has helped shape the design process for capacity building could potentially influence other opportunities to extend this approach more systematically. Photo: DGM Mozambique/ Virgílio Conjo 51 Photo: DGM Mozambique/Virgílio Conjo, 2019 8. BROADER SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF WOMEN NSC MEMBERS 52 The NSC members were asked how DGM perspective of NSC leaders, any optimism or had contributed to any positive impacts for pessimism about the likelihood of change women beyond the project, at the societal takes on particular importance. level. The responses focused on perceptions of how DGM placing women in the prominent Societal level change stemming from DGM position of NSC representative had influenced NSC influence can be observed in different perceptions or beliefs about women as leaders ways. Impacts on society prompted by the more generally. In these perceptions, we women leaders’ prominent role in the DGM looked for any signals or pathways leading NSC may be detected in a number of different toward gender-transformative change at areas: a) sustainability—the ability to leverage the individual or societal level that may additional resources or benefits beyond the be attributable to women acting in DGM DGM project; b) shifting attitudes or behavior leadership positions. further in support of gender parity or gender norms at the household level or within The DGM theory of change did not explicitly community institutions that reinforced women’s call for, but increasingly encouraged, gender full and effective participation in the forest transformational change at the societal sector; c) maintenance, replication or extension level. Assessing comments about change of innovative gender strategy practices through at the societal level must be framed by two uptake by local, regional or national institutions; limiting factors. The DGM is a relatively short d) assisting other women leaders to move into intervention that engages IPLC stakeholders positions of greater responsibility or authority; within a flow of activity that started earlier. First, or e) the creation or consolidation of women’s the ability to attribute impact to the DGM may groups or networks as the basis for greater be limited by its relatively brief influence, which articulation of women’s interests. if the project preparation period is included, may be no more than 3-4 years for the majority At a local or community level, more enduring of stakeholders. Second, DGM support may be gender outcomes were evident to some, but only one factor contributing to change (or lack there were differing views on this among of change) at the societal level. Policy, political, the leaders who were interviewed. Evidence institutional, and community-level factors that of lasting change at the local level in favor of preceded the DGM were equally likely to have gender equality builds on examples of voice contributed to any perceived change in gender and agency among NSC women and the value norms or institutional change regarding the added to the successful delivery of women- rights of women in the forest sector. Moreover, led or women-focused subprojects, both the respondents may also not associate the of which involved NSC members but were observed changes with their leadership as associated as well with other women leaders women in the NSC, but to other DGM activities. involved with the DGM. Most inerviewees spoke with confidence that the positive Any attribution of societal change must changes they had experienced would continue be moderated by these methodological in their community, but often without considerations. As in all the case studies, specifying how. However, concrete examples the focus was on detecting indications that of local change associated with NSC influence DGM had seeded the process of gender- were largely limited to the subproject scale or transformative change. From the privileged were aspirational. 53 “ Of course, having women in this position of public leadership has an influence on broader social or gender norms and on how communities do when we know the ” vital role that women play in our communities. (NSC member, F) “ For the record, when meetings are to be held within my community, I mobilize the people, and the turnout of women is usually higher than normal. (NSC member , F) ” When asked about the NSC, members observed that their NSCs could have done more to recognize women’s leadership and put them front and center in the project implementation. A male NSC member suggests that effective community engagement in his country depended on having more visible women leaders on the front lines. “ One NSC women member’s community was not really interested in the DGM, but once she was at the forefront people were much more interested; the NSC ” realized that if they’d gotten 3-4 women maybe they would not have had as many challenges engaging communities. (NSC member, M) Two female NSC members suggest that despite the DGM contribution to NSC women leadership, their local or country context had not yet approached the threshold for the number of visible, empowered leaders necessary to catalyze wider societal change in gender norms. While the DGM may have demonstrated the model to follow, these interviewees did not indicate whether they expected that these practices would inform the design of a next generation community- led project similar to the DGM or would be taken up by another local or national institution. A pathway for replication or uptake was not specified. “ I believe we will see that broader change when we put women at the forefront of many activities and many leadership roles. For example, women see their fellow women exhibiting certain modern traits, like dressing well and appropriately, ” speaking confidently, travelling to places, and begin to watch and copy. (NSC member, F) “ We cannot say for a fact that broader gender transformations can be observed, however, there have been improvements at the project level and (it is) evident how women now participate in DGM activities and make contribution boldly ” during meetings and discussions. (NSC member, F) 54 Photo: DGM Burkina Faso/ Oumarou Seynou The significance of women’s representation in highly visible positions of authority was both a contribution of the DGM and a reflection of the enabling environment. More than one woman NSC leader referenced the established leadership achievements of IPLC at a national level in their countries to explain women’s influence in the NSC. For example, one female NSC member stated: “ In our country now, most of the biggest advocacy organizations now, their leaders are women. The leading Indigenous federation has a woman leader, the Agrarian Reform Consortium, the peasant movement, the leader is a woman. The national Friends of the Earth leader is also a woman, as is the legal aid organization. Lots of woman leaders for many years already—there is a big difference when women lead. Sometimes, people have the wrong perceptions about women—that we are weak, easy to influence, whatever. But we are proving, with women in these leadership positions, they are the strongest voice. All of the leaders are very strong. And these are influencing at the community level— now the women at the community level have examples. In the National General Assembly last month for my organization, I can see clearly how these women have really changed. The women in the village have more knowledge, and they can speak so articulately about their situation, their rights, they really understand ” it. (NSC member, F) 55 Is DGM contributing to or benefitting from enabling contexts where women are already visible leaders? The theory of change suggests that gender empowerment can flow up from the project level to open space for women’s leadership at a wider institutional or societal level. From the perpective of most confident women leaders, the shift in male attitudes was happening in parallel with the DGM. It is likely that the local or societal trend toward increased women’s voice and agency in certain contexts has influenced the DGM NSC as much as the reverse. For these countries, it becomes difficult to separate the project effect on increased women’s leadership in the NSC from the enabling environment effect of strong women national leaders in prominent organizations. Even where NSC members observed that their influence may have fallen short of expectations, the learning process points to important recommendations for future success. For one of the first DGM countries to begin implementing, the NSC assessment of change was mixed. One male NSC member suggested that efforts to integrate women had fallen short, that very little lasting inclusion of women had been achieved. In his view this represented a missed opportunity to fill a gap in new women leaders to eventually take on greater leadership roles in local indigenous organizations. As a result, few eligible indigenous women would be candidates for any future steering committee. As noted earlier, for this NSC member, the critical barrier that DGM failed to overcome was within these local organizations themselves. At the same time, this experience highlights lessons for future project design that could surmount barriers to full and effective inclusion of women. “ If the [women] are summoned with a presence and through an official letter or a letter that is put out to the public, look, we have been invited or I have been invited and they [women] can go in representation of their community, they are encouraged, they feel valued, that they are putting her in that line, then they participate, they make their effort to participate. The common thing is that the public and private invitations reach the authorities, sometimes the community does not even know and only the authorities go… If we want to empower women, we call, for example, twenty women, and we have to follow up for a year, for example, to see how many meetings they have participated in, if they are the same and evaluate them. But not to evaluate in order to discourage them, but ” to evaluate in order to integrate much more, to increase the number of women. (NSC member, M) 56 The perceptions of change in a subregion of another DGM country were perhaps the most wide ranging and showed indications of incremental change in gender norms in the political, economic and social spheres. These changes speak to an erosion of cultural barriers that have restricted women’s role in the community that began before the DGM. The agrarian structure that has been dominated by men is slowly changing, and one NSC representative said she believed that her role in the NSC was both reflective of and contributing to that change: “ In the past in our region, we women did not have an income, we only depended on our husband’s income, or on whoever could provide for us. There was no major concern to do anything else. In the past women could not go to enjoy a drink in the center of the community, near in the playing fields, it is the meeting center of the community. Now they can do it, they can even talk with me, and participate in small training sessions. They are more willing to listen and give their opinion. Now, under these current conditions, women are the first ones to look for ways to support their families economically. There are even women that are substitute representatives in Agrarian Committee, they can fulfill their work responsibilities and are still present in discussions. Some women have become part of the community governance structure and we even have a representative of the Agrarian Committee who is a woman, and this is because people have trusted in their abilities to discern, to give their opinion and to take the project or any project that has been started in the right direction. With the DGM projects, … many communities have given their approval, and the projects are going to have an impact not only economically but also socially. Women are now not only able to take care of their children, but to support their community. These processes are advancing. It is not 100% of what we want, but it is a super achievement ” because at least there are more women, I am not alone. This part I have observed in the communities. (NSC member, F) 57 In this same context of this subregion, the NSC representative also pointed to a more important shift in terms of attitudes that contribute to gender-based violence. “ A fundamental part is that women can give their opinion without expecting violence at home, by their husbands, that their husbands are also community members. Because sometimes they give their opinion and later it results in a conflictive discussion at home. That for me is a very big achievement, maybe not economically, it is that women can give their opinion without being threatened or abused when they get home. And it also changes the mentality of the men in my community, because I take opportunities to talk with them. Our meetings are often eight hours walking between communities, it helps to spend the time talking to men about their goals, their achievements as a family, about machismo, asking them how they feel, what they have achieved or want to achieve in their life, if they have solid relationships with their wife, these things don’t sound so nice, but it helps them to ” recognize that their wife has value and has an opinion. (NSC member, F) These reflections offer an incomplete picture regarding how much influence the NSC has had on the observed shifts in gender norms. However, the views of many if not all women NSC representatives were consistent in pointing to promising trends or signs of change in attitudes toward women’s leadership in the forest, agriculture and climate change space. A few strong women were integrated and improved NSC impacts, but few pointed to significant organizational change beyond the DGM project itself. While many NSC members recognized the voice and agency of the women NSC leaders, there were only two NSCs that replaced a man with a woman during the implementation process. The change may come in some of the more recently formed NSCs that have established higher standards for women’s representation. Many pointed to the importance of capacity building as the key to reaching and empowering both men and women. “ Women within beneficiary communities have also been trained, and so it is opening their eyes to things and practices they were not aware of before, making them bold enough to engage at different levels. Both men and women are receiving trainings and capacity building which is gradually bringing them to the same level and offering them equal opportunities. The women feel more geared ” up to engage in things that better their lives. (NSC member, F) 58 Some felt that while the DGM did well, women did not receive adequate capacity building or other inputs to make the most use of the DGM. “ More capacity building, financial support and availability of more opportunities ” (are needed for) to women to enable them engage more on projects like DGM. (NSC member, F) “ I think the capacity building and empowerment is changing things at the project level, where women are actively involved in decision making, and opportunities have (been) offered them. However, I think it will be difficult to say for certain ” that DGM has influenced the broader gender structure in the society or at the community level. (NSC observer, M) NSC women focused on efforts to ‘organize women’ as a central element of DGM gender strategy, suggesting a key indicator of farther-reaching impact. NSC members stressed the achievement of having organized women’s groups or associations and the strengthening of networks as the basis for expecting DGM’s impact on women to endure and grow. More importantly, this organizing lens included the political sphere. Discussing the advances or challenges for political advocacy on women’s rights in their respective countries, several women NSC representatives cited their own efforts as a model, and said there was a critical need for DGM to fortify women’s organizations to build the power needed to tackle the structural barriers to women’s empowerment in the forestry sector (Mexico, Peru, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Nepal). In contrast, some NSC interviewees argued for a lower threshold for societal change, suggesting how the influence of women leaders in the NSC may be encouraging women to settle for less. When women’s lack of access to land or to leadership positions in rural governance structures was discussed, few NSC members were inclined to associate small two- year subprojects with wider gender-transformative change. However, in one case, having access to cashew seedlings that would take 5-10 years to produce was an outcome associated with transformative change for women. Photo: DGM Peru/ Gladys Garcia Osorio 59 9. CONCLUSION 60 a. Lessons learned The range of obstacles that hinder women from entering leadership positions was not The DGM NSCs present an important necessarily well understood or appreciated. opportunity for indigenous and local women Men tended to place less emphasis than to enter prominent leadership positions. women on challenges in their leadership The project’s ability to elevate and legitimize journey. Cultural norms influenced whether women’s voices and agency at a national level, women would not come forward to engage and at international exchange events, has and participate as NSC members. However, been an important contribution to the overall even some male NSC members identified the achievement of project results. The lessons challenging social structures that they have learned within the DGM, and this case study had to operate in. The political nature of NSC specifically, can help identify best practices for selection and representation was also indicated replicating, scaling, and even more effectively as a specific challenge for women. Many supporting strong women IPLC leaders. reported that existing or underlying inequalities posed challenges for women. Being an established and recognized leader within the community or the country was Key debates on gender strategy and a critical criterion for selection to the representation underscored the limitations of NSC. Women NSC members have previous women NSC influence and upward mobility. or ongoing professions that include a On average, only one in four NSC members wide range of leadership positions. NSC were women, clearly confining the space for nominations also came through national or women to move into positions of decision- regional organizations. Some of the NSC making authority within the DGM. Interviews representatives (both women and men) were underscored that DGM governance reflected a established, internationally recognized leaders delicate balance in NSC representation among within prominent national, regional or local myriad competing ethnic, caste, geographic IPLC organizations before joining their DGM and indigenous/non-indigenous interests, in NSC. This may have had the effect of elevating addition to gender. Women reported some the most capable women, but not necessarily success in shaping DGM strategy and project reaching the more marginalized women. execution but fell short in attempting to drive attention to structural barriers to greater Overall, interviewees indicated a number of change for women stakeholders. The gap in supporting factors that helped them become women’s representation raised questions about leaders and continue on their leadership whether certain strategic priorities were never journeys to successfully achieving placement raised perhaps due to a lack of critical mass of on the NSC. National level social movements women’s voices within NSCs. for women’s rights eased barriers to NSC gender parity. Standing within, or support Despite the increasing recognition of from, Community Authorities or National IPLC women’s leadership capacity, only one of the organizations elevated certain women leaders. DGM country projects engaged in the case Education, Technical or Political Skills, and study’s interviews chose to institute a quota Socio-economic status elevated certain IPLC system. While some NSC members indicated leaders. For some women leaders, support that a quota system could have been a good from gender champions and allies opened way to increase the number of women and crucial space. would have given women a better chance to be being chosen, multiple factors were given 61 to explain why NSC members were clearly NSCs and are widely recognized for playing divided on the need for quotas. This reluctance consequential roles in DGM governance. in the first cohort of DGM countries (2015 and Convergence between male and female 2018) appears to have given way to a greater NSC members on the positive influence of adoption of quotas in the latest cohort. women was apparent, but at the same time drew into sharper relief the disparity in gender With or without quotas, the benefits of NSC representation in most DGM councils. inclusion of women leaders were clear. Respondents pointed to skills and capacities Critical moments of debate within the that women were likely to introduce to NSC of strategy or implementation offered NSC decision-making that would ensure illustrations of where women members’ overall better governance. Some observed influence was decisive, but also revealed that women are becoming stronger and the limitations. Women’s influence on the more forceful and willing to step into the overall parity in NSC representation reflected shoes of men. Even without quotas, the an effort to expand the number of women, indication provided by the more recently but only modest change was actually effected. approved country DGM projects (CIV, ROC, Interestingly, the views of men and women MOZ, Nepal) is that learning from DGM NSC members did not always converge on experiences has reinforced the desirability of the importance of greater women’s NSC adopting minimum thresholds for women’s representation or on the factors preventing representation on the NSC. gender parity. Several personal interventions by NSC women were consequential for the The NSC role enhanced the women’s overall legitimacy and effectiveness of the legitimacy and leadership skills before new, DGM. While some reported efforts by NSC larger audiences and widened access to new members to open space for other women, this technical training and learning opportunities. role model effect for emerging women leaders NSC membership can also be viewed as an was largely aspirational or had been going on important venue for women to expand their prior to the DGM. network and influence. In addition, the NSC role provided an opportunity to better serve Some indicators of gender-transformative their community in a new and more visible way. change, mostly at the individual rather than at the societal level, could be attributed to Women had influence on NSC governance. NSC women acting in leadership positions. The feedback from NSC representatives It is important to remember that the DGM provided some indications of influence in areas theory of change did not explicitly call of perceived individual voice and agency. This for, but increasingly encouraged, gender view was shared widely by men and women, transformational change at the societal level. who cited examples of interventions related to At local or community level, more enduring subproject allocation and providing technical gender outcomes were evident to some, but advice to communities, among others. they were uneven across the seven countries analyzed. Although the vews of many, if not DGM NSCs indicate some progress in all, women NSC representatives consistently institutional change in terms of new pointed to promising signs of change in leadership achievements for IPLC women attitudes towards women’s leadership in the leaders. NSC women leaders chair one NSC, forest sector, evidence for this was mixed. co-chair the GSC, dominate several other Most said the NSCs could have done more to 62 recognize women’s leadership and put them is in a position to help break this cycle and front and center in the project implementation. support the development of more emerging women leaders who can successfully fill the Fewer indicators were cited of NSC impact on spaces of legitimate representatives. If those wider societal change. A few strong women underlying contexts are not transformed, were integrated and in turn contributed to men and women will forever be starting from improved NSC impacts, but little change unequal places. was noted for larger IPLC organizations. In cases where women focused on efforts to Targeted support and mentoring for women ‘organize women’ as a central element of NSC members would help ensure they are DGM gender strategy, this approach suggests effective and supported. Leading as a woman a key indicator of farther-reaching impact. in a male-dominated space can be challenging In contrast, some NSC members set a low and isolating; a DGM initiative to bring bar for societal change, suggesting that the women NSC members together to discuss influence of women leaders in the NSC may be their experiences and shared challenges, and encouraging women to settle for less. strategies for overcoming them, could be a useful initiative to retain and support women The benefits of gender parity and women’s NSC members. Greater engagement with empowerment (as well as the costs of women and men NSC members is needed to not having it) within the DGM should better understand the different approaches be a consistent and top-level point of to effective leadership that women have discussion. According to the Global Executing developed in male-dominated spaces and Agency, communicating and collecting sex- the associated perceptions that govern the disaggregated data on NSCs and making that legitimacy of these approaches. a point of discussion helps to reinforce the message about the importance of gender Introducing procedural norms for managing parity in project governance. decision-making spaces that support gender equality could be an area of innovation for the DGM. In spaces where men or women are b. Recommendations not equally represented or not equally able to influence decision-making, innovative ways of Building and supporting a pipeline of IPLC structuring decision-making could be helpful. women leaders would be an important For example, requiring that women and men contribution of the DGM. As this case have the same time allotment for voicing study clearly demonstrates, one of the key their opinions, assigning meeting leadership challenges in getting closer to gender parity that alternates between women and men, on the NSC is a lack of pre-qualified women or separating men and women into smaller leaders who have the skills, knowledge, discussion groups. interest, and ability to engage in this type of leadership position. The DGM, and other Closing the gender gap of emerging IPLC similar initiatives, should include specific women leadership. We can observe that the focus on identifying and mentoring emerging effective use of quotas or other affirmative leaders; while they may not immediately be actions may involve a process that starts at the able to successfully compete for leadership community level, where male leaders often positions, these efforts would help to ensure play a crucial gatekeeping role for emerging that future opportunities are not lost. The DGM leaders. While establishing a quota system 63 may enable eligible women, it is essential that study strongly suggests wide agreement that training steps be taken in advance to ensure closing a gender gap in NSC representation they are ready to succeed if a quota opens constitutes a core strategic objective of the new space for them. How can established DGM. Following the World Bank’s gender tag leaders on decision-making bodies like the process, the project would agree that the NSC help to demolish local political barriers gap in gender parity on the NSC, a central with customized, sustained training for a and influential decision-making body for the cohort of women, some of whom cen be projects, should be closed by some standard groomed for political or economic roles higher that reflects the autonomy and direction of the in the organization? IPLCs. The DGM Framework documentation would then outline common affirmative Using improved results frameworks as procedures to identify a minimum threshold an accountability tool to address the for adequate gender representation and gender issue on the DGM and NSC was ensure actions at all levels to meet this target. largely overlooked in the interviews. While Flexibility could be provided that recognizes monitoring activities provided opportunities for the absence of universal agreement on quotas. women NSC members to demonstrate their leadership skills in the field, references to the If projects like the DGM are to help create quality of measuring women’s empowerment and support emerging women IPLC leaders or gender-transformative change in project to close a gender gap in project governance results frameworks was largely omitted from for the current project or the next project, the discussion. This may have been due to a dedicated component is required whose the limited number of indicators in country purpose is to support leadership skills for project results frameworks specifically men and women (50/50) who were at that measuring gender targets. Besides the GEA early stage in their careers. Recognition of the and GSC efforts to encourage more systematic status quo condition of not having enough reporting on gender, there was little innovation women who are ready to lead becomes a pre- in the area of DGM performance indicators condition for action rather than a result. related to gender. Retrospectively, the case 64 Annex 1: Percent of women as NSC voting members 50 45% 45% 43% 45 40 38% 39% 36% 35 32% 31% 30 27% 25% 25 20% 20% 20 15% 15% 15 12% 12% 10 7% 5 0% N/A 0 Brazil Burkina Peru DRC Indonesia Ghana Mexico Mozambique Cote Republic Guatemala Nepal Faso d’Ivoire of Congo Baseline (2016/2017) Actual (2020) 65 TABLE 3. INTERVIEWS 1 NSC member Burkina Faso M May 11 2 NSC member Burkina Faso F May 10 3 NSC observer Burkina Faso (observer) F May 14 4 NSC member Ghana M May 11 5 NSC member Ghana F May 14 6 NSC member Ghana F May 14 7 NSC observer Ghana M May 14 8 NSC member Indonesia F May 14 9 NSC member Indonesia M May 27 10 NSC member Nepal F May 4 11 NSC member, Mexico M May 17 12 NSC member Mexico F May 20 12 NSC member Saweto Peru M May 26 13 NSC member Saweto Peru F May 26 5 women, 3 14 NSC members Republic of Congo men May 25 15 Rainforest Alliance, NEA Mexico March 12 16 Project Manager, WWF, NEA Peru March 17 Solidaridad, NEA Ghana March 5 18 Samdhana Institute, NEA Indonesia March 3 19 World Bank consultant May 20 World Bank TTL Guatemala and Peru DGM Country Projects; April 21 DGM Technical Director, Global Executing Agency, CI June 66 ECO-AUDIT Environmental Benefits Statement The World Bank Group is committed to reducing its environmental footprint. 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