Celebrating Gender Pioneers for a Future Detoxified

The Awards

On the occasion of the 2017 Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, as part of its activities on gender, the Secretariat launched an initiative to promote gender mainstreaming and showcase the leadership of women and men in governments, Basel and Stockholm Conventions regional centres, civil society, academia and the private sector, who are contributing to these important efforts. Awards to celebrate “Gender Pioneers for a Future Detoxified” recognized eleven women and men for their achievements in advancing gender equality and mainstreaming gender issues in the area of chemicals and wastes.

The following winners of the awards were announced at a ceremony held at the side-event on Lessons and best practices integrating gender into implementation: Case studies from Nigeria and Indonesia and new data from the Environment and Gender Information (EGI) platform during the 2017 COPs in Geneva, Switzerland: (click to download the flyers)

Eligibility criteria

Nominations were welcomed for colleagues who make efforts to champion the issue of gender in their work and/or workplace, particularly in the field of chemicals and waste.

Nominees demonstrated that they:

  • Mainstreams the issue of gender by valuing the diversity among both men and women in his/her work and/or workplace;
  • Demonstrates commitment to the advancement of gender equality in his/her work and/or workplace;
  • Ensures gender equality/participation in decision-making; or
  • Assesses the different implications for women and men of any planned policy action, including legislation and programmes.

Selection process

The Secretariat convened a Selection Committee comprised of representatives from developed and developing country Parties, an intergovernmental organization and a civil society organization. The Committee was responsible for reviewing the 32 submissions received from 27 countries, representing all UN regions and different sectors, including governments from developed and developing countries, regional centers, civil society organizations and the private sector against the eligibility criteria and for selecting the 11 Gender Pioneers for a Future Detoxified.