Women's Forum 

COP 17 Blue Zone - Yerevan, Armenia

27 October 2026 

The Women's Forum aims to promote the implementation of the Gender Action Plan and advance gender-responsive approaches in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The Forum will bring together a diverse community of stakeholders to push for commitments to integrate gender equality into biodiversity policy and action.
It will also provide a platform to discuss challenges, share success stories and offer tools and resources. These discussions will inform the discussions at COP17 for the mid-term review of the Gender Action Plan: identifying progress, lessons learned and future priorities.

Interpretation: English, French, Spanish and Armenian

Taking Action for the Gender-Responsive Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The Women’s Forum at COP17 will bring together governments, indigenous peoples and local communities, women’s organizations, civil society, youth and stakeholders to advance gender-responsive implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). Building on the momentum generated through the adoption of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its Target 23 and the Gender Plan of Action, the Forum will provide a dedicated space to showcase leadership, share experiences, and identify practical solutions for accelerating action towards 2030.

As Parties consider the mid-term review of the Gender Plan of Action and the next steps for its implementation at COP17, the Forum will explore how women and girls in all their diversity are contributing to biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit-sharing as leaders, rights holders, knowledge holders and agents of change. It will also highlight the structural barriers that continue to limit participation and leadership, and discuss the conditions needed to ensure that women’s rights, agency and contributions are fully recognized and supported.

Through high-level dialogues, interactive exchanges and thematical panel discussions, participants will examine priorities for strengthening women’s rights and leadership in biodiversity governance, improving gender-responsive data and decision-making, and enhancing access to biodiversity finance. The Forum will foster collaboration across sectors and constituencies, generating recommendations and momentum for the implementation of Target 23 and the Gender plan of Action from COP17 to COP18 and beyond.

Objectives

The Women’s Forum aims to:

• Strengthen political commitment and accountability for the implementation of Target 23 and the Gender Plan of Action.
• Highlight women’s rights, leadership, knowledge and contributions to biodiversity action across regions and sectors.
• Promote practical approaches for gender-responsive implementation of the KMGBF, including policies, institutions, monitoring systems and financing mechanisms.
• Foster dialogue and partnerships among Parties, indigenous peoples and local communities, women’s organizations and stakeholders.
• Contribute to the mid-term review of the Gender Plan of Action and the first global review of collective progress in implementing the KMGBF.

Themes

The Forum will focus on three interconnected themes:

• Women’s rights, leadership and safety in biodiversity governance
• Gender-responsive biodiversity data and evidence for decision-making
• Financing gender-responsive biodiversity action

Organizers

The Women’s Forum is organized through the collaboration of the CBD Women’s Caucus, the CBD COP17 Presidency and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.