The overall theme of the FAO-RNE-supported Regional Plan of Action for Women in Agriculture in the Near East (1996-2001 (RPAWANE 2000) is "Together Everyone Achieves More."

This broad-based, sequential, and evolutionary initiative seeks to avoid isolated, low-impact activities and adopt instead a holistic framework for the implementation of a Near East Prescription for Action, rooted in regional realities, priorities, and aspirations.

Results of this initiative have confirmed a number of compelling realities. Foremost is the fact that rural women oscillate between the burden of day-to-day problems and the social, economic, and technological challenges and opportunities of a new economic age. Women work between 15 and 19 hours a day, producing over 50 percent of the Region's locally met food requirements and attending to various domestic and community demands. However, they seldom receive the benefits of this labor since much of their work is regarded as home-produced, free, non-marketed production. To address this and related issues, the participatory regional dialogue between eighteen RPAWANE members has been preparing the groundwork for gender-anchored agricultural development strategies and programs by mainstreaming gender concerns into these usually difficult-to-access activities. Also important is the formulation of guidelines for the improvement of gender-disaggregated data and statistics in the countries of the Near East. By making available action-oriented recommendations based on a series of national and regional conferences, workshops, and training courses, FAO-RNE helps member countries assess their current practices as they work towards improving future strategies for gender, population, and environmental programs.

The Regional Consultation for the Initiation of a Network on Gender and Food Security in the Near East, held in September 17-19, 1996, in Nicosia, Cyprus, highlighted the necessity for such a network in response to the requests of the people of the region and the need to share experiences and know-how in enhancing food security and natural resource management programs. In cooperation with several other agencies, the Regional Workshop on Rural Women and Extension in Middle East Countries, held in November 9-13, 1996, in Damascus, Syria, made recommendations in the related fields of agricultural extension, education, cooperation, and coordination, as well as exploring possibilities in agricultural policies and economic development, social development, and mass media. These and variety of other country visits and regional gatherings have already helped member countries strengthen institutional mechanisms and gender-responsive policies and practices at the national and regional levels, as well as to improve access to production resources and services at the sub-regional and local levels, with the results forming a basis for resource allocation and policy orientation.

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