Annex VIII: Future strategic goals and objectives

Annex VIII: Future strategic goals and objectives

Cyprus:

The following objectives are recommended for a future plan of action:

· Provide training for local researchers/surveyors;

· Increase representation of women at the decision-making level in relevant agricultural organizations and councils;

· Expand the Social Insurance Scheme to include rural women;

· Improve credit lending facilities and encourage women's application for credit;

· Expand the Home Economics Programme to include all rural communities;

· Improve medical facilities for rural women; and,

· Involve representatives of existing Farmers Union in the "National Mechanism" responsible for women's affairs

Egypt:

The Policy and Coordination Unit for Women in Agriculture (PCUWA), Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MOALR), focuses on policy, planning and the coordination of activities for the betterment of rural women Future strategic goals should include

· Provide information on issues of concern to rural women in order to (i) integrate such issues into mainstream agricultural policy and practice through collaborative activities with the various departments and institutes of the MOALR; (ii) serve as a link between the MOALR and international and national governmental and non-governmental agencies The required budget from the Egyptian Government is LE 1,000,000 and from external donors (such as UN and FAO) U.S $2 million The duration of this funding is for two years.

Iran:

The following objectives are recommended:

· Establish and expand rural women's cooperatives;

· Train 5000 women extension officers to be located in 500 agricultural service centres; and,

· Train 100 female agricultural engineers in extension

Iraq:

Future strategic goals should be:

· Disaggregate agricultural data by gender;

· Strengthen institutional mechanisms and infrastructures for women;

· Develop and encourage the use of labour-saving technology;

· Intensify the use of the mass media as a means of agricultural extension;

· Increase the allocation of resources to NGO projects and programmes;

· Increase inter-agency cooperation and collaboration; and,

· Develop and introduce new technologies in agriculture, especially in the areas in which women predominate, such as livestock and food processing

Lebanon:

Future strategic goals should be to:

· Carry-out comprehensive surveys on the status of rural women;

· Create a WID unit within the Ministry of Agriculture; and,

· Establish a country coordinating body composed of representatives from different ministries and organizations in order to avoid duplication of programme, overlapping of efforts, lack of attention to deprived sectors, and delayed outcomes

Mauritania:

Future objectives of the national plan for rural women in development, as developed by the State Secretariat for Women, include the following:

· Increase women's productivity in the rural sector and the protection of the environment;

· Reinforce women's participation in the economy, especially in decision-making positions;

· Improve research and data collection on women's and children's health and education;

· Promote income-generating activities for rural women; and,

· Sensitize national cadres at the central and regional levels to women's constraints

Morocco:

Recommendations for the future include:

· Improve research on the status of women;

· Extension of infrastructure;

· Increase income-generating schemes for women to increase family welfare;

· Develop labour-saving technology to alleviate women's tasks at the household level;

· Increase technical improvements in agriculture; and,

· Recruit more women in technical cadres

Oman:

There is a need to develop a plan of action to promote the advancement of women in agriculture, food security, food production and processing To realize this plan, the following recommendations are suggested:

· Collect accurate data and information on rural women;

· Establish a WID unit with clear objectives and mandates; and,

· Create operational linkages and coordinating mechanisms at all levels

Pakistan:

The following objectives are recommended:

· Increase rural women's access to the means of production, extension services, and credit, as well as in training in marketing;

· Increase the number of women employees in agricultural organizations, especially at the policy-making level;

· Increase investment in research on women in agriculture;

· Collect gender disaggregated data;

· Increase awareness and recognition of the role of women in agricultural production; and,

· Improve extension services to target women and facilitate their access to information and technology

Sudan:

A ten-year strategy targeting the traditional sector emphasizes the role of women in food production and recognizes the need to:

· Provide women with production inputs, encourage land ownership and access to credit, provide agricultural and labour-saving technology, as well as extension and training;

· Strengthen women's organizations and encourage women's participation in community development organizations and other associations such as farmers unions and farmers societies and cooperatives;

· Strengthen extension services for women and provide them with skills in crop, livestock and forestry production, as well as environmental conservation and energy-saving techniques;

· Provide assistance to women in backyard gardening;

· Develop income-generating schemes for women and training in agricultural activities in which women predominate; and,

· Establish rural industries such as food processing and preservation to employ women

Tunisia:

The objectives of the VIII National Development Plan for the advancement of rural women are to:

· Reinforce women's participation in productive activities and management;

· Provide rural women with training in various productive domains;

· Establish a credit system for rural women; and,

· Incorporate a women's component in every development project

The National Plan of Action for Technical Training has established a Directorate for Women's Technical Training, with the following objectives:

· Improve young rural women's technical training, both qualitatively and quantitatively; and,

· Encourage women to learn specialized techniques in various sectors such as agriculture, agro-industry, commerce, manufacturing and services

Turkey:

The following objectives are recommended:

· Mainstream gender in governmental plans;

· Provide improved extension services to women as well as labour-saving technologies to increase women's productivity and efficiency;

· Target on-farm women's activities such as livestock and market-oriented non-farm activities;

· Improve the health of rural women;

· Collect gender disaggregated data in censuses and surveys;

· Improve women's access to credit; and,

· Encourage NGO activities

Yemen:

Future strategic goals at the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources should be to:

· Conduct detailed rural studies to collect and incorporate gender variables in national statistics;

· Strengthen the Rural Family Directorate to better achieve its objectives;

· Improve rural women's access to credit;

· Initiate small-scale income-generating projects for rural women;

· Develop and provide women with technologies to improve the efficiency of household work; and,

· Establish Society Development Centres in rural areas to execute women's programmes