Rio Conventions Advocacy Resources

Group of S4HL Gender Change Agents at UNCCD COP 16.
Women play a critical role in land and resource management — we cannot meet the challenges of climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss without their critical contribution. But women face enormous disadvantages, often lacking secure rights to the land they steward. In 43 of 49 countries with detailed data, men are significantly more likely than women to own or have secure rights to agricultural land. In nearly half of these countries, the gender gap exceeds 20%.
Advocacy for the realization of women’s rights to land within each of the Rio Conventions (UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD) presents an important opportunity to acknowledge the disproportionate impact of climate change and land degradation on women and ensure women's full and equal participation in decision-making processes and in implementing gender-responsive policies across the conventions to create stronger, more equitable solutions.
The following are a collection of tools and resources to support your knowledge of entry points for women’s land rights advocacy across the Rio Conventions.
- Women's Land Rights and the Rio Conventions: A S4HL Guidance Document - A practical guide for grassroots women leaders and local and national civil society leaders who want to engage within the Rio Conventions to strengthen women's right to land. (EN | ES | FR)
- Land Rights in the Rio Conventions (ILC) - Technical guide for advocates and Cheat-sheets for each Convention
- Theory of Change - WLR and Rio Conventions
- S4HL Executive Summary for Rio Conventions 2024
- Feminist Action for Climate Justice Brief (UN Women)
- Advancing Gender-Responsive Synergies Across the Rio Conventions (UN Women)
- Women & Dirt
- Women’s Land Rights Initiative (WLRI) Strategy Workshop on Land Rights and the Rio Conventions Participant Handbook
- WLR, Climate Action, and Women Peace and Security (Report | Recording)
