Three United Nations agencies 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 the 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.
“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,” said FAO Deputy Director-General for Programmes Daniel Gustafson.
“It is possible, necessary and effective to pursue gender transformative approaches across all contexts – humanitarian, development, urban, rural, conflict or peace – to achieve food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture,” said WFP’s Assistant Executive Director, Manoj Juneja. “Where we provide opportunities for women and men to receive assistance equitably, access knowledge and resources, and share in decision-making, we will eliminate hunger in our lifetimes.”
The resulting gender gap imposes high costs on society. In a ground-breaking report published in 2011, FAO estimated that closing the gender gap in agriculture could increase yields on women-run farms by 20-30 percent, thereby generating significant gains in terms of food security, economic growth and social welfare.
Alongside reducing the most extreme consequences of a humanitarian crisis, working to transform the lives of women and girls can effectively tackle inequalities that exclude and discriminate against them. For example, providing food assistance as cash-based transfers with opportunities for women to access resources can mean greater decision-making power and financial inclusion.
Gender inequality in rural areas is a multifaceted and complex issue that no single organization can tackle alone. The three UN Rome-based agencies are well placed to develop innovative agricultural methodologies, humanitarian and development programmes and foster capacity development to promote gender-transformative approaches.
The joint initiative on Gender-Transformative Approaches was launched at the high-level event “Taking gender-transformative approaches to scale for impact on SDG2 to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” organized jointly by FAO, IFAD, WFP and the EU, at FAO headquarters in Rome.
Original source: WFP
Published on 08 May 2019
