The preamble of the text of the Minamata Convention notes awareness of "health concerns, especially in developing countries, resulting from exposure to mercury of vulnerable populations, especially women, children, and through them future generations". In addition, Article 16 on health aspects, Article 18 on public information, awareness and education, Article 19 on research, development and monitoring and Article 22 on effectiveness evaluation all refer to the needs of vulnerable groups and populations. Furthermore, Annex C to the Convention states that National Action Plans to address artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) are to include strategies to prevent the exposure of vulnerable populations, particularly children and women of childbearing age, especially pregnant women, to mercury used in ASGM.

Implementation of decision MC-5/15 on the gender action plan


The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-6) adopted decision MC-6/16 which invited Parties to continue their implementation of decision MC-5/15 on the gender action plan, including to address health concerns of women and children, and agreed on a list of suggested activities (add link) for Parties, the Secretariat and other stakeholders to further advance the equality and empowerment of women in the implementation of the Convention during the biennium 2026–2027.

 

 

Activities carried out by the Secretariat
 

Since 2020 and thanks to the generous financial support of Sweden, the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention has undertaken several activities with the objective of mainstreaming gender within its programme of work. In November 2020, the Secretariat issued a call for information on gender and mercury inviting Parties and interested stakeholders to submit scientific, technical and policy information on gender and mercury. The information submitted was used to develop communication and awareness raising material, including a Minamata insight publication on gender and mercury and a video, which was launched by the Secretariat on 2020 International Women’s Day. An article titled "A gender perspective on artisanal and small-scale gold mining under the Minamata Convention on Mercury" was also published in the fourth edition of the UNEP-OHCHR Bulleting (October 2022).

In 2025 the Secretariat developed, with the contribution from Finland, a publication presenting an assessment of how projects funded by the Specific International Programme (SIP) under the Minamata Convention integrate considerations related to women and girls in their design and implementation.

The Secretariat has also organized dedicated online events and products, such as a Minamata Online session (2021), and an InforMEA e-learning course on mercury and gender (2022). Several sessions on gender were organized by the Secretariat as part of the Minamata Online series: Promoting gender equality in the implementation of the Convention (8 March 2022), Mainstreaming gender in capacity-building projects: practical approaches (7 March 2024) and Implementing the gender action plan of the Minamata Convention (10 March 2025).

Principles of gender equality are also embedded in the current Programme of Work of the Minamata Convention, including through the support delivered through its financial mechanism. The Secretariat released a story to show how projects under one of the components of the financial mechanism, the Specific International Programme, are taking full account of gender considerations.

Priority activities agreed at COP-6

In decision MC-6/16 on addressing health concerns of women and children, COP-6 requested the Secretariat to carry out the following activities to implement the gender action plan during the 2026-2027 biennium:

  • (a) Supporting the integration and monitoring of strategies to prevent the exposure of vulnerable populations, particularly children and women of childbearing age, especially pregnant women, to mercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, as appropriate, in the reviews of National Action Plans to be submitted by parties pursuant to paragraph 3 (c) of article 7, in collaboration with the Chemicals and Health Branch of the United Nations Environment Programme;
  • (b) Supporting the coordination of the Women’s Caucus of the Minamata Convention on Mercury to advance the equality and empowerment of women in the implementation of the Convention;
  • (c) Collecting information from Parties and other stakeholders on capacity-building needs and interests with respect to mercury exposure of women and children.

In the same decision, COP-6 also invite Parties to carry out the following activities during the 2026-2027 biennium:

  • (a) Integrating and monitoring the implementation of strategies to prevent the exposure of vulnerable populations, particularly children and women of childbearing age, especially pregnant women, to mercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, as appropriate, in the reviews of National Action Plans to be submitted pursuant to paragraph 3 (c) of article 7;
  • (b) Providing financial resources to support the participation of representatives of the Women’s Caucus in the meetings of the Conference of the Parties to advance the equality and empowerment of women in the implementation of the Convention;
  • (c) Developing, in consultation with youth, a Children and Youth Engagement Action Plan to mainstream youth engagement in the Convention;
  • (d) Responding to requests for information to enable the secretariat to identify capacity-building needs and interests of Parties with respect to the implementation of decision MC-5/15, including on the exposure of women and children to mercury.

 

Meet the expert
 

Lara Ognibene, Legal Officer and gender focal point of the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, has been coordinating gender activities since November 2020 and is the Secretariat representative in the network of MEA gender focal points established by UNEP in December 2020. Should you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact her at lara.ognibene [at] un.org.