Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
Background
The mandate of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy.
Areas of Focus
FAO seeks to promote gender equality and reduce discrimination against women through various activities that also support the elimination of violence against women. Activities focus on the reinforcement of food security and the economic rights of women, mainly by promoting their access to and management of economic resources, the reduction of women’s workload, access to healthcare, education, training and information, and the promotion of women’s participation in decision-making processes. In agriculture and rural settings where FAO operates, GBV is a pervasive and persistent reality.
In 2017 and 2018, two key training workshops were held for FAO staff and partners in Somalia (Mogadishu and Hargeissa) and north east Nigeria (Maiduguri). The scope of the trainings was to support the integration of gender, gender-based violence and accountability to affected populations (AAP) in FAO’s programming and planning. They were articulated around participatory, practical and interactive sessions and participants were oriented on relevant global frameworks such as the World Humanitarian Summit, Grand Bargain commitments and the Secretary-General’s Bulletin on PSEA as well as have the opportunity to apply tools for gender and GBV analysis and assessment, amongst others.
In Nigeria, the importance of energy access for affected populations in the context of acute emergencies and protracted crises cannot be overstated. Vulnerable populations – including refugees, IDPs and the communities hosting them – often have very limited access to cooking fuel and other forms of energy. Women and children primarily shoulder the burden of collecting fuelwood and preparing meals for the family. This gender-differentiated role has major consequences in terms of productive time lost and exposure to protection risks and health risks. Against this background, the participatory, practical and context-specific training was delivered on challenges relating to energy access, environment and displacement, with a focus on resilience programming and gender mainstreaming in the three Nigerian states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
Through FAO’s community-based resilience building approach called “Caisses de Résilience”, women’s groups received support to strengthen their technical, financial and social capacities to engage in resilient livelihoods, reintegrate into society and rebuild their self-esteem by gaining increased skills, knowledge and economic self-reliance.