UN food agencies step up joint efforts to tackle rural gender inequalities

Three United Nations agencies today launched a new European Union-supported global initiative to address the root causes of rural gender inequalities and thus strengthen efforts to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

The EU will allocate 5 million euros to finance a four-year programme of the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) that seeks to trigger transformative changes to empower women and men, boys and girls in households, communities, and institutions in rural areas and beyond.

The joint programme is designed to move beyond treating the symptoms of gender inequalities and discrimination, such as the unequal access to resources and benefits, to addressing the underlying causes rooted in discriminatory gender norms and behaviours and unequal power relations.

The EU and the three UN agencies share the view that achieving gender equality and women's empowerment are key for food security and nutrition.

"While many conventional approaches for closing the gender gaps in agriculture continue to be perfectly relevant, we have to think more creatively and be more daring in our actions," said FAO Deputy Director-General for Programmes Daniel Gustafson. "By promoting gender-transformative change, we can pave the way for gender equality within rural households and communities, in rural organizations, among service-providers and other value chain actors, and ultimately in policy processes".

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FAO Webcast | UN food agencies step up joint efforts to tackle rural gender inequalities

FAO Flickr | UN food agencies step up joint efforts to tackle rural gender inequalities