“To change the world – you have to use your voice” Challenging the status quo to promote gender safety and gender equality at the recent Global Environment Facility Assembly

From 22-25 August, an estimated 1,500 delegates from 185 countries joined together for the 7th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Vancouver, Canada, where the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund was launched. The 7th Assembly also opened its doors to a record number of civil society, youth and Indigenous Peoples representatives to influence the structure of the GEF in its ninth replenishment cycle. At the request of the GEF, IUCN supported and worked with three representatives from the Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments (RISE) grants challenge to remind the assembly of GEF’s environmental and social management framework – which includes requirements to understand, mitigate, and prevent gender-based violence in environmental programmes as a part of its safeguards.