Reinforcing rural women’s rights
Gendered threats to rural women’s right to food and nutrition are inextricably intertwined with the pervasive patriarchal norms and practices that discriminate against women and girls, reads a civil society submission to the Commission on the Status of Women.
On the occasion of the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, FIAN International, as Secretariat of the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition (GNRTFN), together with another 25 organizations, submitted a written contribution on rural women’s right to food and nutrition.
The submission highlighted that gendered threats to rural women’s RTFN are inextricably intertwined with the pervasive patriarchal norms and practices that discriminate against women and girls. It also pointed to the current economic and development model, as it is generally known to be rent-seeking, exploitative of people and natural resources, and highly growth-oriented.
In particular, the submission focused on the threats to the livelihoods of rural women producers, the lack of access to decent work for rural women workers, and the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights for the full realization of women’s RTFN. It also looked into the precarious situation of indigenous women and girls, the historical isolation of the RTFN from women’s rights within legally-binding language of key international human rights treaties, and finished with key demands for achieving rural women’s RTFN.
The submission takes place in the context of the formal adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This marks the beginning of a new phase of monitoring development as all countries work to translate the SDGs – including Goal 2 on Zero Hunger and Goal 5 on Gender Equality – into their respective national contexts. At the same time, it offers an opportunity for civil society to remind States of the need to maintain human rights, as well as address the structural causes of hunger and malnutrition, and the effective participation of women in all monitoring.
You can read the submission here.
For more information, please contact cordova[at]fian.org
