MIDDLE EAST
A "GENDER AND FOOD SECURITY" NETWORK
Gender responsive partnership is the underlying focus of the FAO/RNE/WID-supported initiative which was geared to the development of a Regional Plan of Action for Women in Agriculture in the Near East (1996-2001), under the acronym RPAWANE 2000. The main purpose of this broad-based, sequential and evolutionary endeavour was to avoid isolated, low-impact activities and adopt instead a comprehensive, strong, action-oriented regional framework for the implementation of priority programmes, through the use of a participatory people-centred approach.
Nineteen countries expressed interest in this endeavour and appointed country co-ordinators (focal points) for the preparation of country papers on women in agriculture in their respective countries. The papers were prepared through the use of participatory mechanisms and tools (participatory rural appraisals, rapid rural appraisals, national consultations, field visits, national workshops, etc.). The papers were also based on an outline and guidelines in accordance with the UN secretariat's reporting requirements for the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, September 1995. The papers were subsequently analysed and consolidated into a Synthesis Report, the objectives of which were to: (a) furnish quantitative, qualitative and comparative data on women in agriculture in the Near East; (b) provide a baseline document to assist in the preparation of RPAWANE 2000; and (c) contribute to the Beijing Conference. The report was one of FAO's working documents for Beijing and was widely circulated.
Based on the results of the Synthesis Report, the needs of the Region and Beijing's Platform for Action, RPAWANE 2000 concentrate on four mutually reinforcing strategic areas of concern: collection. analysis and dissemination of gender-desegregated data and statistics; policy advice, institutional support and capacity building; sustainable development, with an emphasis on gender, environment and population; and, networking and people's participation.
The implementation of the Platform of Action of RPAWANE 2000 has so far produced the following results:
The RPAWANE collaborative efforts were reinforce by an exercise that aimed at improving gender-desegregated agricultural and rural statistics in the Near East. A workshop that was held in July 1994 succeeded in enhancing interaction between specialized producers and a broad cross-section of users of statistics. Technical guidelines for the improvement of statistics on women which were obtained from national agricultural surveys in selected countries of the Near East, were subsequently prepared in September 1995.
Technical backstopping has been provided at the macro upstream level through contributing to the formulation of gender-responsive agricultural strategies and the establishment of WID machineries, in collaboration with other partners - especially the World Bank and UNDP - to interested countries in the Region, such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.
One of the areas of concern of RPAWANE 2000 are the cross-cutting issues of gender and the environment. An Expert Consultation on Rural Women and Sustainable Development was held in December 1995. The Consultation resulted in action-oriented recommendations for the socio-economic empowerment of rural women to ensure their full participation in issues and decisions on sustainable development. The following technical papers were prepared: Gender, Environment and Population in the Near East: Major Policy Challenges for Sustainable Rural Development (1994); Rural Women as Managers of Natural Resources - A Near East Perspective (1995); Gender and Environmental Sustainability - a Direct Route to Food Security (1996); Gender-Anchored Extension Services in Support of the Environment, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (1996).
The momentum generated by RPAWANE 2000 was fostered by the initiation of a regional network on gender and food security in the Near East. The regional consultation that was held for this purpose in September 1996, succeeded in laying down the building blocks for this interactive initiative. This is being further enhanced by the issuance of a quarterly newsletter which was given the title - by its readers - of "WIDIALOGUE". The newsletter is intended to serve as a forum for professionals who are working to improve the economic and social well being of women in agriculture and rural development and continues to attract a growing readership.