MIND Your Step! Gender Tool

The MIND Your Step! Gender Tool was prototyped to mainstream gender considerations into the implementation on the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

While the tool in itself is not a substitute to a fully fleshed gender analysis, it provides an immediate answer and a complementary shortcut for development professionals to get gender issues right in Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) under the Nagoya Protocol.

A dedicated Gender Toolkit was developed. The Toolkit is a living document and aims at igniting the ongoing dynamics in view of further stimulating reflections on how ABS interventions can foster the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups to ensure that no one is left behind in the share of the benefits that can potentially arise from the utilization of genetic resources and the associated traditional knowledge.

Using the Gender Toolkit, ABS professionals can design gender-responsive interventions to accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment while at the same time ensuring the triple bottom line where ABS not only facilitates innovation to develop new products but also triggers a ripple effect to enhance environmental benefits, generate sustainable business dividends and act as true accelerator of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The MIND Your Step! Gender Tool can be further adapted for other use cases in the fields of biodiversity, climate change adaptation and disaster risk management.