Thematic study 2: Gender and drylands governance: empowering women for change found that significant opportunities exist for facilitating dryland women's empowerment in governance, in the context of wider support for processes seeking greater democracy in dryland governance and values. There is a need to tackle the inadequate representation and recognition of women’s rights in the drylands, and to consider the redistribution of resources to more equitable ends. Effective channels that can be used to support gender justice are increased investment in dryland governance, building upon contemporary trends in the drylands towards democratization and decentralization, supporting current processes for greater dryland citizen engagement and ownership, and opening up new spaces for participation of women in dryland governance specifically
