FAO commits to action on women, gender

Read the FAO release

The recently concluded FAO 37th Conference, 25 June – 2 July 2011, endorsed the recommendations of FAO’s State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2010-11 “Women in Agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development,” and committed to strengthening support to women in agriculture and to closing the gender gap in access to agricultural inputs, services and opportunities in order to increase economic growth and global food security. The Conference also urged the elimination of all forms of legal and customary discrimination against women, particularly in access to land, financial services, rural employment, agricultural technology and extension services. It called on countries, donors and civil society to ensure that all agricultural programmes and projects take account of the different roles and responsibilities of men and women and the constraints they face in agriculture and rural employment, and recommended that gender be mainstreamed throughout FAO’s work.

In side event dialogue on 27 June, the DG-elect, Dr. Graziano Da Silva also stated that he would work to make gender equality in agriculture and rural development a priority for FAO under his tenure. “I would like to see this item reflected in the budget for three regions: Latin America, Africa and Asia, where the role of women in food is crucial. We should set this clearly in the budget. We should set this as priority.