Social, economic or legal gains need to be consolidated and further expanded, she said. From the Gender and Development strategy that takes into account the roles of both men and women in the rural community, how they differ, their interrelationship and the different impacts that policies and programmes have on them, FAO has moved forward in promoting a more holistic approach to gender issues by including the analysis of socio economic factors at micro, intermediate and macro levels. This new conceptual framework and approach has represented a challenge for FAO to provide more gender-balanced policy and technical advice to address development needs of the rural population in member countries, Sissel Ekaas said. At the World Food Summit in Rome one year later, the Heads of State and Government and Representatives of 185 countries committed themselves to foster equitable participation of women and men, and to adopt legislation guaranteeing women access to and control of productive resources.
Women make up a substantial majority of people working on the land in developing countries.
Today, rural women's vital contribution to social and economic development is well-documented. Now we need to move from knowledge to action, especially by removing the constraints they so often face, and facilitating their even greater contribution to food production and food security. Today, five years after Beijing, the Parliaments of Hungary, Tunisia and Ghana are among those who have passed National Action Plans for the Integration of Rural Women in Development, as inspired and promoted by the FAO Plan of Action for Women in Development. When taken into account by rural planners and policy-makers, women can produce tangible and sustainable improvements in the quality of rural life at the household, community and national levels. Therefore, agricultural planning should make full use of existing human resources, in particular rural men and women, Ms. Sissel Ekaas said.