Newswise — BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Binghamton University’s Ellyn Uram Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls, in alliance with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), will host a three-day conference July 10-12, at the Engineering and Science Building at Binghamton University’s Innovative Technologies Complex, 85 Murray Hill Rd., Vestal.

The conference aims to support countries to enhance their capacities on gender and climate change as they prepare to attend the next United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 28.

The workshop will bring together government officials from Kenya, Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala, Panama and Chile. Representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and a selected group of students from the University will also participate.

“We will work with the attendees to enhance their capacity to link gender equality and climate change so they can be active participants in the climate change negotiations at the UNFCCC COP 28,” said Lorena Aguilar, executive director of the Kaschak Institute.

The local conference will cover the current status of gender and climate change initiatives as well as gender mandates within the UNFCCC, Aguilar said. Additionally, the participants will develop inputs for a new Gender Action Plan (GAP) that will empower women and girls to contribute and enable them to become leaders in efforts to foster global sustainable recovery. 

“Our conference participants will be better able to advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women globally as they participate in COP 28,” Aguilar added. 

In addition to Aguilar and Donald Hall, Binghamton University executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, conference presenters include Juan Carlos Monterrey, executive director of the School of Biocultural Leadership and inaugural Obama Foundation Scholar; Jamie Wen-Besson, senior gender programme manager from IUCN; and Diana Rodriguez, associate economic affairs officer in the Division for Gender Affairs of ECLAC.