This webinar was organised with support from the European Union.

13 June 2017 – 14.30 - 16.00 CEST

Speakers:

• Yannick De Mol, Project Officer (Dimitra), FAO
• Andrea Sanchez Enciso, Gender, women's leadership and participatory communication specialist, FAO

Moderator:

• Etienne Juvanon Du Vachat, Resilience Expert, FAO

Strengthening the resilience of rural households, communities and institutions is essential to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. In resilience work, the social dimension should be systematically included to prevent and mitigate the effects of shocks and crises in the life of men and women of rural communities. This dimension relates to gender equality, participation, social cohesion, communication, access to information, etc.

To this end, FAO has developed and implemented a community-driven approach, named Dimitra Clubs, to empower rural people. The approach has been recognized as an FAO good practice for gender equality.

The Dimitra Clubs are groups of women, men and young people who decide to organize themselves so as to work together to bring about changes in their communities. They meet regularly to discuss the challenges they face in their daily lives, make decisions and take collective action to resolve their problems.

In this process, rural radio stations are used as a relay to increase the communication flow, provide access to knowledge and raise awareness on themes that have been identified and requested by the clubs themselves (food security and nutrition, access to water, land, sanitation, health, gender roles and relations, climate change adaptation in agriculture,  conflict resolution, etc.).

This webinar gives an overview of the implementation of the Dimitra Clubs approach, highlighted its results and impact on the resilience of rural men and women’s livelihoods, and discussed with the audience on its replicability and potential for upscaling.