The Conference of Parties,
Recalling decision 7/COP.12, decision 9/COP.10, decision 9/COP.11 and decision 30/COP.13,
Reaffirming that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, will make an important contribution to the effective implementation of the Convention, including the UNCCD 2018−2030 Strategic Framework, and to the achievement of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including target 15.3,
Reiterating our strong commitment to the effective implementation of the Gender Action Plan, Welcoming with appreciation the work done by the secretariat and the Global Mechanism as well as by the Global Policy Centre on Resilient Ecosystems and Desertification of the United Nation Development Programme, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on the implementation of the Gender Action Plan and its related country support,
1. Encourages Parties, as appropriate, to create enabling environments at the national level to make the implementation of the Convention gender-responsive and transformative;
2. Requests the secretariat, the Global Mechanism and appropriate United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification bodies, including the Science-Policy Interface, within their respective mandates, to continue their support to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification country Parties on gender mainstreaming and the implementation of the Gender Action Plan;
3. Also requests the secretariat and the Global Mechanism to continue collaboration and partnership-building with the other Rio conventions, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, other United Nations entities, international organizations and other relevant organizations to explore further ways of strengthening awareness-raising, improving the Gender Action Plan and developing further tools and guidelines for the use of Parties in the thematic areas of the Gender Action Plan and the gender-responsive implementation of the Convention;
4. Further requests the secretariat, subject to availability of resources, to strengthen gender-related knowledge and capacity, both in the secretariat and the Global Mechanism, by providing training to all staff on gender mainstreaming methods, tools and techniques on a regular basis to enhance systematic gender mainstreaming in all work areas and support the implementation of the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;
5. Requests the secretariat to:
(a) Present a report on implementation efforts relevant to this decision to the Committee for the Review of the Implementation at its nineteenth session;
(b) Present a report on policy issues relevant to this decision to the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth session.
