Gender Lens Analysis of Zambia´s Climate Policies

Klára Sieglová

Bakalářská práce

Abstract:

Gender is a critical determinant of an individual's vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change. Therefore, climate policy-making must recognize and address men’s and women’s differential needs and priorities. This thesis investigates how Zambia’s climate policies integrate gender by analyzing twenty national-level documents through a gender lens. Inspired by the Gender Integration Continuum, a two-step assessment matrix was created to assess both the presence of gender analysis and the extent to which policies address gender in their outlined measures, strategies, and actions. The analysis results show that while Zambia has made notable efforts to address gender equality, particularly through the Climate Change Gender Action Plan and the National Gender Policy, their consistency and sustainability were questioned. Policies in critical sectors such as water, agriculture, and forestry remain gender-accommodating and fail to challenge discriminatory social norms or propose mechanisms for equitable implementation. Moreover, the analyses indicate that some climate policies tend to frame women primarily as vulnerable beneficiaries rather than active agents, and perceive gender as “women's issues”, which limits the gender-transformative potential of the policy measures. To bridge the gap between national frameworks and their translation into subnational implementation, this study suggests stronger institutional coordination and better engagement of local actors in policy-making processes. This thesis concludes that the disconnect between policy and academic discourse hinders the successful adoption of gender-transformative approaches in climate policies. By systematically mapping gender integration across Zambia’s climate policy landscape, the thesis addresses this gap and offers insights to support more inclusive and equitable climate change adaptation.

Keywords

climate governance, policy assessment, gender equality, gender-transformative, national adaptation planning

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 19. 4. 2025

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 27. 5. 2025
• Vedoucí: Ing. Jana Mazancová, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Štefan Bojnec, externi

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta tropického zemědělství

Bakalářský studijní program:
International Cooperation in Agricultural and Rural Development