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Reflections publishes the articles presented at the Gender Forum meetings organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF). Since HBF reopened its office in Addis Ababa in 2006, both the organization of the Gender Forum and publication of Reflections have been executed by the Country Office. The journal has been published since 2000. It is believed that, by providing a permanent platform for experience and knowledge-sharing, the fora and the journal will assist in disseminating information and promoting gender dialogue in Ethiopia, as well as contribute to raising the awareness of the public and increasing the
visibility of the gender experts in the country.

The articles in this 16th issue of Reflections are based on the presentations made at the Gender Fora meetings that took place in 2008. The forums reviewed gender equality in the context of environment, leadership and religion.

In January, Dr Emebet Mulugeta gave a talk on integrating gender issues in environmental development plans. Her presentation was based on a larger study of environmental planning and how gender issues are taken up by the government offices. It provided very important information for policy dialogue.

The February forum covered the topic of the impact of climatic change on gender and was presented by Almaz Demissie. The article reviews the impact of climate change in general and on women more specifically, and discusses the role of women in adaptation and
mitigation.

In July, Dr Tesfay Solomon and Misrak Tamiru looked into the issue of gender and leadership. Dr Tesfay explored how women leaders perform on two key leadership areas as assessed by the leaders themselves. Misrak Tamiru’s talk brought out the challenges women face when occupying leadership positions. Both presentations provide direction on
further research needed in certain areas to contextualize leadership issues to local situations.

The last two fora in October and November focused on gender and religion. In this issue of Reflections, we publish Metasebia Nigussu’s presentation on the role of gender in shaping gender relationships in Christian religions, and Semira Al Hadi’s paper on women and Islam. The presentations on gender and religion triggered lively debates, during which participants shared their genuine concerns about the limiting role religions play regarding gender relationship.

Unfortunately, we were unable to publish all of the papers presented at the Gender Forum meetings as some did not meet our publication standards.

We, at HBF, believe that the publication of this issue is both a helpful document on gender issues in the country and a contribution to the ongoing discussions on addressing gender issues through policies and social dialogue. We hope it will provide readers with knowledge and insights on gender concerns that need to be addressed in policy-making
and planning. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the resource persons for researching and presenting very informative papers.

We also would like to thank all participants who actively attended the forum meetings for their valuable contribution.

Christian Peters-Berries
Director
Heinrich Böll Foundation Ethiopia

Teigist Lemma
Coordinator Gender Forum
Heinrich Böll Foundation Ethiopia