This gender action plan for the Minamata Convention reflects the increasing understanding that gender equality is a prerequisite for sustainable development overall and for the protection of human rights and wellbeing. Gender concerns already are embedded in the text of the Convention. The Convention’s primary objective is to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury; integral to this commitment is the understanding that some populations are distinctly vulnerable to ambient, occupational, or consumption exposures, and that there is considerable socio-environmental variability in the effects of mercury.1 The Convention itself establishes that national action plans for artisanal and small-scale gold mining are to include “Strategies to prevent the exposure of vulnerable populations, particularly children and women of child-bearing age, especially pregnant women, to mercury used in artisanal and small- scale gold mining (Annex C (i)).” In addition, Article 16 on health aspects, Article 18 on public information, awareness and education, Article 19 on research, development and monitoring and Article 22 on effectiveness evaluation all refer to the needs of vulnerable populations. The gender roadmap developed in 2020-21 for the Minamata Convention Secretariat prioritizes the development of a gender plan of action.
A Gender Action Plan (GAP) is the plan for gender activities that an institution has adopted for itself. Its purpose is to make the institutions’ activities more effective, efficient, and successful by addressing existing gender inequalities and redefining women’s and men’s gender roles and relations through guidance on gender mainstreaming. Several UN Conventions, Frameworks, and Organizations have their own Gender Action Plans, e.g. the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions; Minamata Convention; the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This refers to the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities, and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs, and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development.
The preferred terminology within the United Nations is gender equality rather than gender equity. Gender equity denotes an element of interpretation of social justice, usually based on tradition, custom, religion, or culture, which is most often to the detriment of women. Such use of equity in relation to the advancement of women has been determined to be unacceptable.