Dr Mariamalia Rodríguez Chaves, an Environmental Lawyer from Costa Rica, is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the Global Ocean Institute focusing on a group of ocean-related intergovernmental organizations and their approaches to gender equality. In the video below, she talks about how human health and wellbeing are dependent on a healthy ocean, which provides food and livelihoods to approximately 40% of the world’s population.
Dr Chaves also talks about the inclusion, for the first time, of a chapter on gender in the third World Ocean Assessment, which will be released at the end of this year. Dr Chaves says the chapter highlights that gender disparities persist across ocean sectors and traditional roles often restrict women’s participation in fisheries, aquaculture and marine science, perpetuating inequalities in resource access, leadership opportunities and economic outcomes.
This and many other topics are covered in the World Ocean Assessments, the only global integrated assessments of the state of the ocean. Established by the United Nations General Assembly and prepared by hundreds of scientists from all over the world, the Assessments provide a regular review of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the world’s ocean. Two Assessments have already been completed spanning approximately a decade, and the third Assessment will be released at the end of this year.
You can become better informed, take wiser decisions, and help make the ocean better for future generations by checking out the World Ocean Assessments. Find out more about the current state of the world’s ocean and the complex relationship between humans and the ocean.
