Indigenous and Rural Women Economic Empowerment and Food Security - Side event at the 61st Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Last year’s CSW saw an increased focus on empowerment of indigenous women; the adopted Agreed Conclusions made direct reference to indigenous women and recognized the distinct and important contribution of indigenous women and girls to sustainable development.

 

The Commission urged Governments to formulate and implement, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women, policies and programmes designed to promote capacity building and strengthen their leadership while recognizing the distinct and important role of indigenous women and girls in sustainable development; and prevent and eliminate discrimination and violence against indigenous women and girls which has a negative impact on their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and which they are disproportionately vulnerable to, and that constitutes a major impediment to indigenous women’s full, equal and effective participation in society, the economy, and political decision making…”.

 

The empowerment of indigenous women as been put as a focus area in this years’ CSW.

 

FAO considers indigenous peoples not only as recipients of development assistance, but primarily as key partners in achieving its mandate of hunger eradication.

 

Many indigenous peoples are economically poor and live in remote, marginal and risk-prone rural environments. They often see their basic rights violated, in particular their collective right to land, territories and natural resources and their right to free, prior and informed consent, both enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

 

On top of that, indigenous women experience a broad, multifaceted and complex spectrum of mutually reinforcing human rights abuses. Typically, they suffer a triple discrimination, based on gender, ethnic origin and socioeconomic circumstances.

 

Even in such a context, indigenous peoples have managed to produce food in sustainable ways thanks to their ancestral knowledge and traditional practices. As recognized in the FAO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, through their diverse livelihoods they manage to integrate social, economic, environmental and cultural considerations. Tellingly, today the areas they inhabit hold 80% of the world’s biodiversity.

 

And indigenous women are the backbone of indigenous communities, they play a crucial role in the achievement of food security. They plant, harvest, thresh the crops and provide most of the labour necessary for post-harvest activities; they are responsible for food preparation, household chores and taking care of their families.

 

Indigenous women also have a fundamental collective and community role as guardians of indigenous ancestral knowledge, having been traditionally carers of natural resources and managers of seeds and medicinal plants. They must be part of the solution, and have the resources, recognition and support to enable them to take charge of their destinies as actors.

 

Despite the economic and social contribution of indigenous women, their work is often undervalued and unpaid.

 

Furthermore, their work and their needs are not represented in statistics, there is very few data on the situation of indigenous women. As a consequence of this invisibility, resources and public policies for rural development fail to address their specific needs.

 

Technical assistance and development activities are usually not conceived to target indigenous peoples, being culturally inappropriate and failing to reach remote communities; when they do, they benefit indigenous men, leaving women outside. This further exacerbates indigenous women’s vulnerabilities and marginalisation.

 

The 2030 Development Agenda and its commitment to leave no one behind, and the recent developments in the CSW, build up to FAO´s work towards the empowerment of indigenous women and to close the gender gap in agriculture, with particular attention to addressing the deep-rooted barriers that prevent indigenous and rural women from becoming agents of change.

 

In this context, in 2014 FAO partnered with the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (IIWF-FIMI in Spanish) to develop a Leadership School for Indigenous Women, made of National Programmes on Human Rights, Food Security and Nutrition and Advocacy Skills.

 

So far, the school has been implemented in 7 countries: Bolivia, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, India and Philippines.

 

The programme has demonstrated overwhelming results in providing indigenous women from different socio-cultural regions with skills, networks and advocacy strategies that strengthen their leadership capacities and empower them, thereby promoting sustainable social change in their communities and countries.

 

During the programme, the participants elaborate advocacy plans identifying specific issues in their communities and possible actions to undertake towards an improvement. The best plans are selected and implemented at national or local level, through the support of FIMI (depending on availability of funds, donors are always welcomed).

 

Handicrafts fairs are organized during the schools as an opportunity for the participants to sell their products and to raise awareness on their main issues among different individuals. Visits and meetings in national institutions are also arranged as part of the programme, to increase the level of dialogue and interaction at country level.