WOCAN (Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture & Natural Resource Management) has won UNFCCC's Momentum For Change Award 2016 with its W+ Standard project in Nepal, developed in collaboration with South Pole Group. Following the 2015 Paris Agreement and launch of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the importance of quantifying co-benefits of climate change projects and mitigation adaption measures, continues to grow in importance.
The W+ Standard project winning this year's Momentum For Change Award, further marks role of focusing on additional environmental, social or economic benefits, in the transition towards sustainable economies and societies. The project is the first under the W+ Standard - a certification system that facilitates the quantification, monetization and transfer of social capital to women - to be completed.
The first W+ pilot project was carried out in 2014 in Nepal in partnership with South Pole Group, and measured how much time was saved when women had bio-gas systems and did not have to rely on gathering fuel wood. In total, the time savings of 7,200 rural Nepalese women was measured, and results reveal that the women could save 2.2 hours per day. The excess time created opportunities for the women to pursue income generation, community leadership, and education.
Through partnering with WOCAN in carrying out the W+ standard project, the Group recognises the necessity of developing a results-based means to evaluate initiatives for empowering women.
