Two members of the Women in Global South Alliance for tenure and climate (WiGSA) will attend the 7th GEF Assembly in Vancouver, Canada to advocate for a gender-inclusive and equitable Global Biodiversity Framework Fund that takes into consideration the needs of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community women and girls on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Background

Environmental leaders from 185 countries will gather in Vancouver, Canada for the 7th Assembly of the Global Environment Facility from August 22–26, 2023. Building on recent diplomatic breakthroughs on biodiversity loss, toxic chemicals, and the high seas, the GEF Assembly will be a critical stocktaking for 2030 goals to end pollution and nature loss, combat climate change, and propel inclusive, locally-led conservation.

It is set to include the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, a new source of funding for protecting species and ecosystems globally. The GEF was selected to manage the new fund at CBD CoP15 in December 2022.

The Assembly will bring together ministers, government officials, business leaders, environmentalists, leaders of international agencies and environmental conventions along with representatives of youth groups, civil society, and Indigenous Peoples to discuss solutions to a healthy environment for all.

Speaker Bios

Devi Anggraini is a member of the Indigenous community of Taluk Kuantan in Sumatra, Indonesia. She is president of PEREMPUAN AMAN (Indigenous Women’s Association of the Archipelago) and has been working as an Indigenous activist in Indonesia for more than 20 years. She initiated and founded the Hakiki Foundation in 1999, focusing on the empowerment of Indigenous Peoples—and specifically Indigenous women—and the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of Riau (AMAR). Devi has worked on a variety of projects on gender, land rights, natural resources, and Indigenous Peoples for Yayasan Hakiki, Global Environment Facility, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), and USAID, and facilitated the formation of the Alliance of Riau Indigenous Peoples (AMAR). Devi continues this work by training Indigenous women on natural resource management, activism, governance, and youth leadership. She received her degree in Water Resources Management from the Fisheries Faculty of Riau University.

Gloria Estefán Bermúdez is an Afro-Colombian woman from Chocó. She is currently the president of the Association of Afro-descendant Women of Northern Cauca (ASOM), which works to improve the living conditions and organizational strengthening of Afro-Colombian women, the protection and defense of their human and ethnic-territorial rights, as well as the eradication of the violence that has limited their participation in decision-making processes. At ASOM, Gloria led the creation of a community-based conservation system, which includes 15 conservation areas in eight community councils totaling 10,000 hectares of protected areas, defending community and women’s tenure and economic rights in the face of pressures generated by the armed conflict, and by the inappropriate use of natural resources, which implies the loss of diversity, cultural traditions, and self-government. Gloria has also accompanied the construction of the system of truth, justice and non-repetition in the framework of Colombia’s peace process and has led the UN’s ProDefensoras initiative to protect women leaders and human rights defenders. 

August 23 Update

At the opening plenary titled “Setting the Stage for Change,” Devi Anggraini, Indigenous leader from the Taluk Kuantan community in Sumatra, Indonesia, member of WiGSA, and president of the Indigenous Women’s Association of the Archipelago (Perempuan AMAN) bravely brought Indigenous women’s rights agendas to the decision-making table.

She spoke of the urgent need to increase direct, accessible, and equitable funding for Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local women leaders to succeed in the fight against climate change.