The Final Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines is now available in English at http://www.fao.org/nr/tenure/voluntary-guidelines.
The other languages versions will be made available as soon as they have been translated.

October 18 ~ Green Room
 Policy Roundtable - Gender, Food Security and Nutrition

October 19 ~ Side Event
 World Bank - Gender Equality...

On June 30, 2011 the AdhocGroup of INGOs at FAO in Rome promoted successfully the side event on 'Women in Agriculture'. The Representative to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) for BPW International and Ad Hoc Group Coordinator, Cristina Gorajski in her presentation declared their intention of contributing to the main theme of the FAO Conference "The Vital Role of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development" with statements on microcredit, land tenure and cooperation. The Moderator, Thomas Price of the FAO OCER department also gathered messages from other NGOs partners in this event.
The SOFA 2011 report "Women in agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development" was presented by Marcela Villarreal, Director of the FAO's Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division, not only moved the audience, but also supported what many have thought all along: "We need more women in Agriculture". The findings on "Women in Agriculture: Closing the gender gap for Development" demonstrated that proper access to resources and a major improvement in the policies and laws to cover the gender gap, will have a long lasting impact on economic growth. Closing the gender gap in development will reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent which will translate into 100 to 150 million people lifted out of poverty. This hard work which aligns with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will require great collaboration among governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and agricultural sectors.
The Ad Hoc Group which included members from the IFBPW, Rotary International, Soroptimist International, Lions Clubs International, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, International Catholic Rural Association, Federation Internationale des Femmes des Carri�res Jurisdiques, ActionAid, International Federation for Home Economics and CIDSE (16 Catholic development organizations from Europe and North America) all agreed with the SOFA report. The participants shared their messages, comments, projects, developing activities and suggested possible solutions.
The message to spread was clear: closing the gender gap in development means social and economic well being of the society not only today but, more importantly, in the future.

~ Photo Gallery ~    ~ Photo Gallery 2 ~


 PRESS RELEASE

      IFHE - NL September 2011       Soroptimist International       BPW

30th June 2011 - 13:00/14:30 Philippines Room C277-281 Side Event Programme ---     • Presentation     • Words from FAO     • Reports from International NGOs:        • Rotary International        • Soroptimist International        • Lions Clubs International        • International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage        • International Catholic Rural Association     • Statements from the floor        • Federation Internationale des Femmes des carrières juridiques        • Action Aid        • Wocan        • International Federation For Home Economics        • CIDSE        • International Alliance of Women        • WILPF

FAO, IFAD and WFP - International Women’s Day Agriculture: closing the gender gap The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-11 Tuesday March 8 2011 - 9:30/12:30 Green Room, FAO Headquarters Program ---     • INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN     • IFHE - CONFRONTING FAMILY POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION     • WILPF - WOMEN, RIGHT TO FOOD, FOOD SECURITY     • SOROPTIMIST AND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY AT FAO     • INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR HOME ECONOMICS