FAO Media Advisory – www.fao.org
cid:image003.gif@01D11649.2E61A570

High-Level Event: Unleashing the potential of rural women to tackle hunger and poverty

Reducing gender inequality key to achieving sustainable development goals, say UN agencies, EU, development partners

16 December 2016, 9:30 -1700h CET | FAO, Rome

 

Women are the backbone of the rural economy – especially in the developing world, where they make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour force.

But female farmers receive only a fraction of the land, credit, training and inputs like seeds and fertilizers that their male counterparts do.

This “gender gap” in agriculture imposes high costs on all of society: it stifles rural development, handicaps agricultural production, and undermines food security and nutrition.

On the other hand, empowering and investing in rural women has been shown in study after study to significantly increase agricultural productivity, strengthen livelihoods, boost food security, and improve nutrition – especially for children.

Concrete ways to unlock the vast potential of rural women as agents for change will be the subject of discussions at an all-day High-Level Event, “Step It Up Together with Rural Women to End Hunger and Poverty, taking place December 16 at FAO’s Rome headquarters.

The event will feature addresses by leaders and experts from the development community, high level government representatives, Nobel Prize laureates and civil society delegates, as well as interactive discussions and roundtables.

RESOURCES

High-Level Event website

Program

Gender and agriculture: Key facts

 

FOLLOW ON TWITTER

@FAOknowledge, @FAOnews, #RuralWomen

 

ACCREDITATION

Advance-accreditation 24 hours prior to the event is required. Send scans of a valid press card or letter of assignment on company stationery, plus a valid identification document with photo, to:
[log in to unmask]
.

You must have these materials with you on the day of the event.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

George Kourous

FAO Media Relations

(+39) 06 570 53168

[log in to unmask]

Speakers include:

·         José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO

·         Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius

·         Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate

·         Sika Bella Kaboré, First Lady of Burkina Faso

·         Gabriela Matecná, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic

·         María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia

·         Taalaigul Isakunova, Minister for Labour and Social Development, Kyrgyzstan

·         Neven Mimica, European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development

·         Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

·         Kanayo F. Nwanze, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

·         Denise Brown, Director of Emergencies, World Food Programme (WFP)

(Click here for a full program listing all speakers.)

The event is being co-organized by FAO and the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union in close collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Program (WFP), and UN Women.

Why gender matters for the development agenda

The issue of gender equality and women's empowerment runs as an important theme throughout the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is an absolute precondition to break the cycle of poverty and hunger and achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the international community has set for itself.

The High-level Event will offer a platform for dynamic discussions aimed at identifying the main challenges, gaps, opportunities and actions needed for unleashing the potential of rural women and girls to advance the 2030 agenda.

 

Where and when

·         16 December 2016, 9:30-19:00h CET

·         FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy (Metro Circo Massimo)

·         Or watch live via webcast

Journalists & editors:

For photos, audio clips, video material & b-roll, contact: (+39) 06 570 53625 or [log in to unmask].

Online tools:
Photos via the FAOnews Flickr account
FAO's online newsroom
RSS feed of FAO news releases
@FAOnews on Twitter

This media advisory was issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To unsubscribe from this news service click the link below or send an email to [log in to unmask] with "signoff Media-G-Eng-L" as the only text in the message body. You can also manage your subscription online, here.


FAO | Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy | (+39) 06 570 53625 | www.fao.org

 



To unsubscribe from the Media-G-Eng-L list, click the following link:
&*TICKET_URL(Media-G-Eng-L,SIGNOFF);