| Overview : The Government of South Africa has received funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to develop a project on Value Chains for Products derived from Genetic Resources in Compliance with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing and the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy. The project will support Government to achieve its vision of the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES), which is to optimise the total economic benefits of the bioprospecting industries by ensuring the NBES is implemented in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing. The project will ensure that communities and companies working with genetic/biological resources, not only increase their understanding of the Nagoya Protocol, but also apply relevant ABS requirements in development of value chains for genetic/biological materials. The project will support development of value chains for genetic/biological resources across the nine provinces of the South Africa. The project target communities have been prioritised for development of small and medium size enterprises and community-based initiatives which sustainably use of indigenous biological and/or genetic resources, with a view to redistribute the benefits in an equitable manner, across various income categories and settlement areas of the country. UNDP prioritizes gender mainstreaming as the main strategy to achieve gender equality. Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implication for women and men of any planned action, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects so that women and men benefit equally. Failure to address gender issues leads to inefficiencies, unsustainable results and exacerbates and perpetuates inequities. GEF-financed projects should strive, as appropriate, to be gender responsive or gender transformative using the following gender results effectiveness scale included in the UNDP evaluation of gender mainstreaming in UNDP: Gender negative: result had a negative outcome that aggravated or reinforced gender inequalities and norms. Gender blind: result had no attention to gender and failed to acknowledge the different needs of men, women, girls and boys, or marginalized populations Gender targeted: result focused on the number or equity (50/50) of women, men or marginalized populations that were targeted. Gender responsive: results addressed differential needs of men or women and equitable distribution of benefits, resources, status and rights but did not address root causes of inequalities in their lives. Gender transformative: result contributed to changes in norms, cultural values, power structures and the roots of gender inequalities and discriminations. The aim was to redefine systems and institutions where inequalities are created and maintained. UNDP and the Department of Environmental Affairs are seeking the services of an Expert on Gender and Youth to conduct a gender and youth analysis in order to guide the project team to mainstream gender equality and women’s and youth empowerment into project implementation, taking into account the differences, needs, roles and responsibilities of men, women and | 
