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Gender and Rural Development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Key Issues









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    Booklet
    Food policy, rural development and gender equality in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia
    Summary and recommendations of the International forum (10, 12, 17 March 2021)
    2022
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    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) commissioned the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow to organize the international forum “Food policy, rural development and gender equality in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: current trends and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic” which took place on 10, 12 and 17 March 2021. This paper is based on the discussions held at the webinars. It identifies and documents the key issues to inform stakeholders, and serves as a reference for the work of FAO and other development actors in the region. The presentations and discussions focused on the role of women in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia), but also highlighted cases from the Russian Federation, other Eastern European countries (Belarus, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine), the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) and Turkey. This summary lists examples of promising practices in the region and beyond to improve the socio-economic opportunities of rural women and young people. In addition, based on the discussions of all three webinars, the summary offers a range of policy recommendations that can be deployed by FAO and Members.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Gender equality, social protection and rural development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
    Insights from the region
    2016
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    This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of gender equality, social protection and rural development in the region. Overall, there is a lack of research, documented knowledge and public discourse on this subject and a multi-disciplinary approa ch is necessary for ensuring an in-depth and rigorous understanding of these intersecting issues in the context of the region. In supporting this publication, the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia intends to draw attention to these issues as critical for the socio-economic development of the region, and raise greater awareness among all stakeholders and promote more research in this area. One of the main reasons why this subject remains on the periphery of research and discourse is the widespread public opinion that issues relating to gender have already been addressed and are, therefore, not priorities for rural development and social protection. Indeed, in the post-Soviet countries, women, including those located in rural areas, continue to enjoy relatively high levels of literacy and education and high economic activity rates. Furthermore, all countries, in an effort to sustain the achievements of the previous regime, have recognized the formal supremacy of internation al legal norms and UN standards, including in the area of gender equality and women’s rights. They have also been developing and implementing national policies towards achieving gender equality. However, if we look beyond the average numbers, and disaggregate available statistics by sex and by location wherever possible, we can see that in critical areas (for example, formal employment; access to social services such as childcare facilities and pensions; and participation in local governance, am ong others), rural women often emerge as the most disadvantaged group. There are also key issues, for example, access to productive resources (such as land, credits, agricultural equipment and extension services) that are of crucial importance to rural livelihoods but are not commonly viewed from a gender perspective. Across the region, women form a majority in the rural population, and a significant proportion of the labour force engaged in agriculture. However, the overarching trend in terms o f rural women’s employment is their engagement in informal, low-skilled and low-paid jobs. Women’s access to assets and productive resources is also significantly lower than that of rural men’s. Rural women’s participation in public life has reduced dramatically over the last decades, and generous social welfare is no longer a social norm.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Gender, rural livelihoods and forestry 2017
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    The main purposes of this research are to identify and analyse the role of women and men in the forestry sector in Kosovo, and women’s and men’s ownership and use of forests. The report also aims to analyse the gender issues within the institutional policy and legal framework that governs forest management, in order to provide recommendations on how to mainstream gender in forest policies in Kosovo more effectively. The research forms part of a project entitled, “Support to Implementation of the Forest Policy and Strategy in Kosovo” (GCP/KOS/005/FIN) funded by Finland, which aims to increase the forestry sector’s contribution to the national economy through the sustainable use of forest resources, taking into account multipurpose forestry, and the economic, social and environmental benefits of forests, as well as the sector’s contribution to climate change mitigation. The study demonstrates women’s limited access to decision-making and information compared with men, and women’s pen ding property rights. Furthermore, the high unemployment rate is the main obstacle identified by rural community members, especially women. The report also demonstrates the interests of rural women in improving their skills in the collection, processing and marketing of non-wood forest products (NWFPs). Consequently, the report shows the importance of improving women’s access to information, capacity development and decision-making. It concludes by emphasizing that NWFPs have strong potential fo r reducing food insecurity and poverty in the regions of the study, particularly when both women and men are effectively supported.

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