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Women's Participation in decision-making processes in Arctic Fisheries Resource Management

Report: Lindis Sloan
Women's Participation in Decision- making Processes in Arctic Fisheries Resource Management. Arctic Council 2002-2004.

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• A circumpolar study documenting and comparing women’s and indigenous peoples’ participation in Arctic fisheries resource management.

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“..the promotion of sustainable development in the Arctic cannot be successful without the full engagement of women in developing indigenous and other local communities, in local and regional administration, in traditional and new industries and in circumpolar and other international cooperation.“ (Ambassador Peter Stenlund 6 Aug 2002).

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In international agreements, transparency and participatory practices are emphasised as a prerequisite for developing sustainable fisheries.

• Agenda 21,
• the Rio and Johannesburg Declarations,
• the Protocol on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks,
• Arctic Council Declarations,
• the Beijing Platform of Action,
• ILO Conventions

Anticipated outcomes

Further knowledge of this topic, backed up by data and statistics, will increase the focus on women and indigenous peoples’ involvement in fishery management in the various Arctic Council member countries. This documentation will serve as a basis for further identifying causes of non-participation and developing measures to change the situation. The study will make recommendations for further action at the national and international level.

The results will be published and distributed to members, permanent participants and observers in the Arctic Council and to educational institutions and policy-makers.

This project, approved by the SAOs in Iceland, April 2003, has three stated aims, representing three perspectives on power.

· Individual power – corresponding with ownership and leadership in fisheries and fishery-related businesses,

· Structural or institutional power – corresponding with influence in the systems and bodies that determine quota regulations and

· Discursive power – corresponding with the symbols, public images, assumptions and stereotypes that serve to uphold fisheries as a “male” domain.

These will be treated comparatively in an international study, where national sub-projects will have the above three levels of power as one aspect of their study, but will also go beyond the scope of this project to study the diverse faces of Arctic Fisheries Management as it touches on the lives of Northern residents, indigenous and non-indigenous women and men.

The study will include background descriptions of the fisheries and resource situation and the gender equality situation for each country, and an overview of important decision-making bodies in fisheries management at different levels in the Arctic.

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Individual projects

The project includes subprojects in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and one initiated by the Norwegian Saami Parliament. The Faroe Islands are also represented.

The Northern Feminist University:
(NFU) is a private foundation, established in 1991 and situated in Steigen in North Norway. The Northern Feminist University is a meeting place between theoretical and practical, formal and informal knowledge, as well as providing possibilities for developing networks, educational opportunities and working methods. One of the main fields of interest is democracy and human rights for women. The NFU was the Norwegian member of the reference group at the Arctic Council Taking Wing conference on Gender Equality and Women in the Arctic.

Arctic Council: http://www.arctic-council.org

The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that provides a mechanism to address the common concerns and challenges faced by the Arctic governments and the people of the Arctic.

The Member States of the Arctic Council are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States of America.

The Permanent Participants are Aleut International Association (AIA), Arctic Athabaskan Council, Gwich’in Council International, ICC, Raipon and The Saami Council `·.¸¸.·´`·.><((((º>

Contact person:
Lindis Sloan, project coordinator.
The Northern Feminist University

Post: Lindis Sloan
N-8286 Nordfold
Norway
Phone: +47 7577 9055
Fax: +47 7577 9070
Mob: +47 9518 4537
Email: lindis.sloan@kun.nl.no

http://www.ngo.grida.no/wwfap/pdf/AB0303.pdf

Publisert: 30.09.08 14:54
Sist oppdatert: 30.09.08 14:56