Gender and socio-economic considerations in environmental programs and projects : lessons learned in the Brazilian Amazon

GENESYS worked with Brazilian environmental, labor, and non-governmental organizations and U.S. counterparts to build local capacity to investigate socioeconomic and gender themes relevant to dwellers of Amazonian communities, and to promote and monitor the inclusion of both men and women in program activities, such as the marketing of non-timber forest products. Several valuable lessons were learned. (1) Integrating gender considerations into organizations is a slow process and requires strategies that produce short-term benefits to a targeted organization. (2) Without attention to gender and WID issues, socioeconomic research may fail to provide information on differences between men and women"s roles, responsibilities, and rights, with the result that women may continue to be by-passed by project activities, including the provision of TA. (3) Socioeconomic research skills within NGOs are not developed easily without social scientists and TA, although simpler rapid rural appraisal methods can meet many information needs. (4) The quality and relevance of repeated exposure to socioeconomic and gender issues appear to influence how these issues are incorporated by an institution, as does the existence of a key individual or group continuously promoting awareness of, and commitment to, them. (5) A system for monitoring and evaluating socioeconomic and gender indicators is critical to reinforcing the link between research findings and planning, and improved project implementation.