Collab 2: Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion in Fishery and Marine Sector in the Arafura and Timor Seas Region
PUBLICATION DATE:
Wednesday, February 02, 2022
PUBLICATION TYPE:
Meeting Documents
STATUS:
Only Available Online
DESCRIPTION:
The Arafura-Timor Seas Ecosystem Action Program Phase 2 (ATSEA-2) Live Webinar of Mainstreaming Gender and Social Inclusion in Fishery and Marine Sector in the Arafura and Timor Seas Region was conducted via live YouTube on 10 June 2021.
Ms. Thea Arcella Bohol, ATSEA GESI Specialist, welcomed participants to the workshop on behalf of the ATSEA-2 project. Ms. Bohol informed that speakers and panelists of this webinar come from various areas of expertise, including government officials, civil society, the private sector, and research institutes. One hundred and fifty-four participants from different countries, including Indonesia, Timor Leste, the Philippines, Papua New, Australia, Cambodia, and Japan, attended the webinar. The webinar also celebrated World Ocean Day under the theme the ocean Life and Livelihood. This webinar response to the call for a more inclusive approach to reducing vulnerability in the fisheries and marine sector, particularly for women and minorities. The webinar seeks to answer how to apply further gender and social inclusion in the fisheries sector to ensure that minorities and women roles are appreciated and could also participate in sustainable fisheries marine management.
Ms. Yayan Hikmayani, S.Pi., M.Si. officially opened the event on behalf of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF). Ms. Hikmayani shared the gender discourse history since the early development in the seventies. In 1995, Indonesia issued presidential instruction no.9/1995 on mainstreaming gender in development. According to this regulation, gender should be an integral part of development processes to ensure men and women receive equal rights. The ministry has developed gender working groups and conducted several programs. The latest work was the development of the Gender Development Index (GDI) in 2020. The index can be used as the basis to examine men and women’s position in marine and fisheries sector and the formulation of future policies and regulations. Five panelists presented a wide range of gender and social inclusion issues, from the overall concept of GESI to GESI approach at the project level to the impact of Covid-19 on women and fisheries.
Ms. Yenny Widjaja of UNDP stressed the importance of gender mainstreaming. However, the social inclusion concept offers a more comprehensive approach to project implementation. Ms. Karen Hildahl of UNDP pointed that ideally, there should be more than one focal point at the project level to fully incorporate gender into project day-to-day activities. Ms. Kusni Setyowati, Director of PT. Kelola Laut Indonesia provides an insight into private sector experience in working with the community including women in fisheries product processing. Proper procedures and hygiene training should be provided due to the fragility of fisheries products.
Mr. Dedi Supriadi Adhuri of Research Center for Society and Culture, Indonesian Institute of Sciences suggested that a project can achieve better results when working with women organizations compare to working on an individual level. Participation of women, men, and minority is vital in any decision-making, and access is available to related resources to ensure an inclusive process. There should also be an increased awareness on cross-sectional of gender, climate change, and marine protection.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Integrated River Basin Management Project Newsletter - Edition 7
Now in its third year, the IRBM Project enters a pivotal phase in advancing integrated river basin management across Southeast Asia. “Midpoint Momentum”, the seventh edition of the project’s newsletter, highlights key developments – notably the review of the implementation progress at the Third Regional Steering Committee Meeting, including the completion of the Mid-term Review, the conduct of the orientation workshop on the REWEFe Toolkit for the ASEAN Member States, the official project launch in Viet Nam and the development of solutions templates to support IRBM pilot project planning and implementation.
This issue also features field stories, such as the Women of the Wetlands in the Pasac-Guagua Watershed, and announces the launch of the IRBM e-Portal on PEMSEA’s Seaknowledge Bank.
From establishing coordination mechanisms at the local, national, and regional levels to designing scalable solutions template for river basin-level implementation, the IRBM Project continues to accelerate momentum – strengthening regional collaboration, deepening stakeholder engagement, and enhancing capacity and knowledge sharing across the ten ASEAN Member States.
Workshop Report_Regional Orientation on ReWEFE Toolkit
The GEF/UNDP/ASEAN Integrated River Basin Management Project convened a Regional Orientation Workshop on the Development of Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Toolkit for River Basins in Southeast Asia on 3 June 2025 in Bali, Indonesia to introduce and demonstrate the applications of the toolkit in selected river basins of the project.
Proceedings of the 2nd Blue Carbon Technical Working Group Meeting
The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF), in partnership with the National Marine Hazard Mitigation Service, Ministry of Natural Resources (NMHMS/MNR), convened the 2nd Blue Carbon Technical Working Group Meeting on 5–6 June 2025 in Haikou, Hainan Province of China. The meeting was attended by nearly 60 experts and stakeholders on blue carbon from 11 countries in the EAS region and beyond. The PRF Secretariat served as the Secretariat for the meeting. Online participants included members of the PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers and other Blue Carbon experts from the region.
The meeting aimed to:
- Draw consensus on the governance framework of an innovative Blue Carbon Ecosystem Services Management Mechanism (Draft 0) and the requirements to operationalize a regional blue carbon certification program.
- Improve understanding and consensus building among BC-TWG members on the draft regional blue carbon accounting protocol.
Expected outcomes of the meeting include:
- Refined concept of a Blue Carbon Ecosystem Services Management Mechanism, including a blue carbon stock monitoring network.
- Refined regional blue carbon accounting protocol.
- Refined workplan for 2025 and 2026 for review, guidance and/or approval at the 17th EAS PC in July 2025.
Proceedings of the Training on Integrating Blue Carbon into the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) Framework
The PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers (PNLC), Burapha University and the PEMSEA Resource Facility co-organized the "Training on Integrating Blue Carbon into the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) Framework" in March 2025 in Chonburi, Thailand.
The training, co-sponsored by Burapha University and the University of Hawai'i, with support from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of Thailand, Thailand Science, Research and Innovation (TSRI), Henry Luce Foundation, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies-University of Hawai’i, brought together PNLC participants and Chonburi Province coastal management stakeholders to enhance the understanding of Blue Carbon concepts and explore how the Network can support.
PEMSEA's regional Blue Carbon program. The training had the following objectives:
- Gain foundational understanding of ICM and its role in coastal resource management.
- Learn about the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems and communities.
- Understand the concept of Blue Carbon and its significance in climate change mitigation.
- Acquire the knowledge to integrate blue carbon principles into coastal management strategies, ensuring more sustainable and resilient coastal zones and harness the potential of blue carbon ecosystems as nature-based solutions for climate action.
- Identify work areas, in terms of knowledge, capacity and technical assistance, PNLC members need to strengthen to enable them to better support government and local community efforts in managing their coastal areas and associated blue carbon ecosystems.
2024 Audited Financial Statement