News

Empowering indigenous women

07.03.2018

On 12-13 January 2018 during the High Level Forum “Empower indigenous women to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in America Latina and the Caribbean”, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the advocacy campaign "Make them visible, empower them". The campaign seeks to increase the empowerment of indigenous women through the recognition of their contributions and challenges to the achievement of Zero Hunger and the whole Sustainable Development Agenda.

There are approximately 185 million indigenous women in the world, belonging to more than 5 000 different indigenous groups, many of which are living in mountain areas. Despite the broad international consensus about the important role indigenous women play in eradicating hunger and malnutrition, there are still limitations in the recognition and exercise of their rights. The empowerment of indigenous women is not only a central issue but also a necessary condition to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the world.

The campaign, which is being implemented with the collaboration of the International Indigenous Women Forum (FIMI) and the News Agency of Indigenous and Afro-descendent Women (NOTIMIA), has a “glocal” approach. This means that FAO’s global messages will be adapted to local contexts, and in turn, locally-produced content will support the global campaign. As such, FAO will implement several initiatives around the world throughout 2018.

As for ongoing initiatives, NOTIMIA has launched the photo contest “Indigenous women and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean”, which aims at raising awareness about the contributions indigenous women make to food security. The ten best photographs will be published online on 8 March, the International Women’s Day.

FAO is also organizing the implementation of two workshops at national level in Latin America, in which indigenous communication experts from NOTIMIA will train other indigenous women in the use of information and communication technologies at their reach to advocate about their contribution to food security and sustainable development.

Organizations that are interested in supporting the campaign by helping with social media dissemination, and if possible, participating in activities, can register here.

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Learn more about indigenous mountain peoples 

Photo: FAO