Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT)

AGENT is a ten-year partnership implemented by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This partnership aims to strengthen the integration of gender considerations throughout USAID’s forest and biodiversity programming through resources and tools that increase awareness and capacity.

AGENT supports national, regional and global environmental activities to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality. This support complements USAID environmental efforts by:

• broadening the reach of USAID’s technical support
• building evidence for the integration of gender considerations throughout the environmental sectors
• filling critical information gaps and developing targeted resources and tools that can be applied to Agency programs, training and communications

By recognizing women as agents of change, and valuing the diverse knowledge, experiences and capacities of women and men alike, AGENT works to bridge gender gaps. AGENT envisions a world that approaches environmental work at all levels with gender-responsive policy and action.

AGENT has developed several national climate change gender action plans (ccGAPs) with environmental and gender ministries. These ccGAPs support USAID missions in cross-sectoral environmental programing—particularly in biodiversity, agriculture, fisheries and forestry—while working with partners to ensure the ccGAP informs their collective work and enhances knowledge and training.

In Africa, Asia and Latin America, AGENT has developed knowledge products to highlight innovative gender-responsive REDD+ approaches, including effective national and local level policy and implementation processes. Under AGENT, Uganda, Ghana and Cameroon initiated National Gender and REDD+ Task Forces to ensure women's participation and a gender perspective in REDD+ policy and programing.

AGENT is working to expand the knowledge and tools available on gender and specific sectors, such as combating wildlife trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries, to enhance USAID's impact on the ground.

AGENT works to:

1. Develop new resources and tools

• Produce factsheets on biodiversity, conservation and gender to inform and guide best practice interventions
• Develop tools for conducting gender analyses, including sample gender analyses across biodiversity; and combating wildlife trafficking; illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries; and illegal logging and associated trade sectors
• Integrate gender into Forest and Biodiversity Office training

2. Curate resources to enhance information sharing platforms

• Promote the availability of tools to increase awareness and information sharing on gender linkages with forestry and biodiversity
• Develop and implement outreach to promote awareness of gender tools on forestry and biodiversity