COAG29 Side Event: International Year of the Woman Farmer: “Empowering Women Farmers to Tackle Hunger, Poverty, and Climate Change” Statement

His Excellency Ambassador Prescott, Permanent Representative of the United States to FAO.

Her Excellency Ambassador Tserendorj Narantungalag, Permanent Representative of Mongolia to FAO

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Farmers and Colleagues,

When I arrived at FAO five years ago I had one design connected by three dots:

The first dot was to establish the FAO Women’s Committee; the second dot was to set up the FAO Office of Youth and Women; and the third dot was to empower women by kick-starting the preparation of the report on The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems, which was published in 2023.

Former Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo from Africa was the first Chair of the FAO Women’s Committee, and she did a really great job, and now the Chair is Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol from the United States and I know she will also do an excellent job.

I deeply appreciate the support of the United States – our big brother – to our mandate, and for initiating the proclamation of the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026.

It was an unexpected and good surprise to me!

In the same way, I was happy to support the former President of Mongolia with the proposal to establish the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists 2026, as women make up most of the pastoralists in Mongolia and beyond.

The two international years reinforce each other, and I am grateful to both the United States and Mongolia for bringing together these two important years in 2026.

It is a huge task, but with your shared responsibility we can be successful.

Of course, advocating for women farmers is not just about one year, it is a decade, it is a lifelong commitment.

Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol was also a farmer before joining FAO – so she is well placed to provide all the support needed!

Furthermore, I grew up in a small village, and I saw firsthand the important and decisive role played by rural women.

Empowered women lead to empowered families in the village, first. An empowered girls start with being given the chance for an education, from the primary school.

In most cases, especially in developing countries, boys are normally given the opportunity to start the primary school, not girls.

Unfortunately, this is an historic observation, from around the world.

That is why I was very happy to participate in the “Grow Equality” event at UN headquarters last week, led by the FAO Chief Economist, Maximo Torrero, and the new Deputy Director of the Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division at FAO, Lauren Phillips – I am very happy that we have a young woman leading this important work!

At FAO, rural women and rural farmers, and girls, are our focus. And we work with all partners in support of rural women and girls.

Rural girls should be at the forefront of education, and nutrition, and at the centre of everything we design to support them.

So, let us design a little bigger and more inclusive when it comes to the International Year of the Women Farmer.

In different cultures, women farmers have different roles and face different realities. Sometimes they are family farmers, other times they are big commercial farmers, and sometimes they are individual small-holder farmers. 

Our No.1 action should be to aim at the highest marginal utility for girls, to give them more opportunity for education, for training and even for skills training.  

Whether they are 10 or 12 years old, or just before getting married, they should be able to learn some skill to make their life better. Because that is my point: we need to empower women economically, empower women with professional skills, empower women with their independence, including culturally and legally. 

So, empower women!

When I was a local government leader, I was responsible for these issues. I established a lot of polices and practices to empower women starting from girls, as well as young startups for women.

These young startups for women need to be supported with loans, with training on how to run a business.

This also applies to middle aged women who may need to start their own business once the children have grown up and leave the house. They need to be provided with some basic training and vocational training to improve their lives and livelihoods.

FAO is ready to stand up and to take a leading role. It is our duty and our responsibility.

I wish to once again thank Ambassador Narantungalag and Ambassador Prescott, and all the panelists and participants, especially those who came from far.

And I am glad to see we also have men participating – because empowering women is not only about women, it also involves men - it involves the whole of humankind!

Thank you.