This study assessed genders’ institutional level of arrangement in REDD⁺ pilot sites, Cross River State, Nigeria. Data were collected through literature and policy document review and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The total number of 270 documents with three, Level 1: Non-substantive inclusion, Level 2: Superficial inclusion and Level 3: Integrated inclusion. The gender were classified as Men and Women for the search engine. The results showed that only 95 of the 270 REDD⁺ related documents mentioned gender (representing 51% of the total documents). Nearly half of the texts that include the crucial phrases were categorized at Level 1, which means that gender concerns were not material. Regardless of how it is seen, the meager inclusion of gender mainstreaming discussion can only be found in Level 3. This 7% translated to only 12 out of the 270 documents which truly and fully understood the gender mainstreaming ideas. The study concluded that communities’ policy interventions such as REDD⁺ still exhibit non-compliance of gender mainstreaming and institutional level of arrangement, therefore, this study recommend that “sincerity” of gender mainstreaming from the government and other stakeholders is a panacea for the success of any climate change adaptation programme such as REDD⁺.

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