Enhancing Gender Equality through the Voluntary Principles - 2019-2022

This project maintains Canada’s full membership in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Association (VPA) and supports its work of gender-sensitive implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs). The VPs are guidelines for public and private security forces and natural resource companies to ensure their operations do not have a negative impact on human rights for all including women and marginalized groups. The project works to approach security and human rights risks with a gender lens identifying the particular barriers that women human rights defenders and vulnerable groups face when interacting with private and public security forces around natural resource sites. The VPA is a multi-stakeholder non-profit association made up of natural resource companies governments and civil society that promotes outreach and implementation of the principles. Canada endorses the Voluntary Principles and is an active member of the VPA. The VPA uses these funds along with other donors’ funding to enhance personal security safety and human dignity for all around industrial natural resource sites in developing countries. Project activities include: (1) establishing gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive policies within work streams of the Voluntary Principles Initiative (VPI); (2) completing toolkit(s) designed to respond to human rights threats specific to women human rights defenders and vulnerable groups including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV); and (3) providing support to the VPA and in-country working groups on gender-sensitive policy and programming support.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) reduced gender inequalities and increased protection of women human rights defenders and vulnerable groups from human rights abuses around natural resource sites including SGBV; and (2) increased capacity and accountability of the VPI for gender-sensitive implementation of the VPs both globally and at the country level.