FAO Ethiopia Equips Staff with Knowledge and Skills of Gender Mainstreaming in Humanitarian interventions - Towards gender-transformative interventions in the agricultural and rural sectors in Ethiopia

24 November 2023, Addis Ababa: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Ethiopia conducted a three-day training aimed at enhancing the knowledge and expertise of its programming and project staff in gender mainstreaming within humanitarian and development interventions. The training was held in collaboration with “Reaching 60-million Initiative” under FAO Emergency and Resilience and FAO's Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Divisions.

The training focused on building the capacities of relevant staff members in designing, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on gender-responsive and gender-transformative programs and projects. In her opening remarks, FAO's Representative in Ethiopia, Farayi Zimudzi, emphasized the importance of gender equality and women's empowerment as core principles guiding all of FAO's activities.  Zimudzi added, "In order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), FAO's Four Betters framework and the country program framework, we all need to commit ourselves to continuous learning and putting this knowledge in action by responding to the local and communities’ needs and realities of women and men in relation to food security and nutrition, as well as support our partners to do so”

Fikre Mulugeta, IPC Analyst and Implementation Support Officer, commented, "The training helped us, especially the technical staff, to give proper attention to gender mainstreaming during project design. The knowledge I gained from the training will help me to utilize gender-sensitive analysis frameworks in the efforts to transform the agriculture food chain, ensuring a better quality of life."

The training equipped participants with the knowledge of conducting gender analysis prior to the project design phase. Gender focal person- Maya HageAli- has stated: “Through case studies and practical examples, the training was tailored to give FAOET technical staff the chance to practise methodologies for gender-responsive and gender-transformative mainstreaming throughout the project cycle, as well as facilitating and monitoring towards gender-transformative programming and results.” Aresawum Mengesha, Farmer Field School Officer at FAO Ethiopia, confirmed the relevance of the training to project cycle management, stating, "We will directly implement the knowledge we acquired during the training in our routine interventions."

Likewise, FAO Ethiopia's technical field staff expressed that they have gained knowledge and skills to integrate gender equality and women's empowerment into their future programs and projects. They also highlighted being equipped with methodologies in reporting gender-related results and the use of gender-sensitive indicators and tools for monitoring and evaluation.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Meseret Abiy
National Communications Specialist, Addis Ababa
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +251 11 647 8888; Mobile: +251 911 161702
Twitter: @FAOEthiopia

Mya Hage Ali

Gender Focal Person, FAO Ethiopia

[email protected]