Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Canada would like to submit – as part of the online consultations - its written comments on the Zero draft of the  Voluntary guidelines on Gender Equality and Women and Girls’ Empowerment in the context of food security and nutrition. See attached the full comments.

Comments by WFO

1. Does the Zero Draft appropriately capture the main challenges and barriers that hinder

progress in achieving gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ rights in

the context of food security and nutrition? If not, what do you think is missing or should be

adjusted?

Yes, we think the overall the zero draft captures the main challenges and barriers. 

2. Does Part 2 of the Zero Draft satisfactorily reflect the core principles which should

underpin the Guidelines? If not, how do you propose to improve these principles?

Para 17, p. 6: WFO would like to suggest adding the UN Decade on Family Farming 2019-2028

among the policy framework of reference to build the CFS guidelines. In fact, pillar 3 of the

Global Action Plan of the UNDFF is specifically focused on Promote Gender Equity in Family

Farming and the leadership role of rural women, considering women as key agents for a world

with zero hunger and inclusive food systems.

Para 22, p. 7: WFO appreciates the reference to sustainable food systems and food security.

However, we would suggest adding a specific mention to reiterate the need to guarantee girls’

and women access to education and capacity building opportunity to fully develop their skills

and potential and gain more future opportunities both from a social and economic

perspective, within their communities. 

3. Do the nine sections of Part 3 of the Zero Draft comprehensively cover the policy areas to

be addressed to achieve gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’

rights in the context of food security and nutrition? If not, what do you think is missing?

Para 37, ii, p. 9: Strengthening women’s organisations is vital for sure, as well as women’s

participation also at leadership level in those organisations. However, from WFO side we also

think that gender equality and women empowerment should be mainstreamed at a general

level, in all policy debates and all kinds of organisations, and that women should deserve equal

opportunities as men to take also leadership roles even in those organisations where the

mandate is not strictly focused on women.

4. Does Part 4 of the Zero Draft provide all the elements necessary for effective

implementation and monitoring of the use and application of the Guidelines? If not, what

do you propose to add or change?

From WFO side, we would like to stress the relevance of what happens at the country level

once the CFS products are endorsed and circulated. It is essential to make sure that there is a

strong link between Permanent Missions in Rome, National Governments, and stakeholders’

organisations and networks. RBAs can certainly play a key role in making sure that this

connection exists and works well, through the liaison offices for example. Also, it would be

helpful to establish for example a kind of soft reporting exercise so to ask CFS members when

and how CFS guidelines have been used at national level for example to establish a financial

mechanism for rural women or a national plan, always engaging stakeholders directly through

their organisations.

Feedback on the Zero Draft of the Guidelines by World Vision Canada (Ms. Socorro Maminta and David Mbugua)

Review findings/results:

1. Part 1 – This section clearly captures the main challenges and barriers which hamper the achievement of gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights in the context of food security and nutrition. Nevertheless, there is still room to flesh out the following:

Sections 4 & 6: While these sections state that the “COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women and girls xxxxxx as a result of gender inequality and discrimination”, and “xxxxx the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain it are having a negative and gender-differentiated impact on food security and nutrition”, they do not clearly explain how the pandemic negatively impacts on women and girls in the areas of food security and nutrition. To address this gap, would it be possible, for example, to include a narrative around women’s and girls’ gendered role as food providers and preparers which would make it more burdensome for them to search for or buy food for the family considering pandemic-related issues such as mobility restrictions, decrease in family’s purchasing power due to COVID-19 related job losses and inflation, heavier and unpaid care and domestic work due to stay-at-home orders (e.g., homeschooling responsibilities, taking care of young and elderly family members, taking care of the sick); added to these are inequitable household spending patterns on food, health services and education that women face?

Section 8: This section states that “xxx gender inequality persists as women and girls continue to face multitude and intersecting forms of discrimination in many areas.” Is it possible to add a sentence or two to provide examples to illustrate what these multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination are?

2. Part 2:

Section 23: Can we include a human rights analysis embedded in the context-specific gender analysis and approaches?

Section 25: Reinforcing the collection and use of gender-disaggregated data is great. However, having a feminist M&E system is also important by ensuring that data planning, collection and analysis includes participatory and inclusive approaches. For example, prospective participants (female and male) of various food security and nutrition-related interventions need to be actively involved in the interventions’ M&E process, from research planning to implementation, analysis and interpretation of data and reporting. This also requires the mapping, development and use of robust gender-transformative indicators to measure progress on GE changes in the agriculture, food security and nutrition sectors.   

Section 28: Please include as one of the key stakeholders to collaborate and partner with the religious leaders/faith-based organizations as they are influential in shaping/influencing mindsets, values, norms and practices around gender equality and food and nutrition.

3. Part 3:

Section 33: It is important to emphasize that women’s participation, voice and leadership needs to be seen and heard along entire lengths of food value chains.  Currently, women are over-represented in low-skill, labour-intensive (often informal) levels of value chains. However, to be effective actors, leaders and decision-makers means that women should be well educated and skilled which is not the case because girls tend to drop out of school and do not complete primary, secondary and tertiary education for varying reasons (early marriage, early pregnancy etc.).

Section 37: We suggest including the following in the Policy areas for discussion:

• Provision or strengthening of safe, affordable, and accessible infrastructure for childcare and elder care services for women with care responsibilities to free up some of their time from time-consuming care work which will allow them to actively engage in productive initiatives and assume leadership roles in agriculture and nutrition-related organizations and policy making fora/platforms
• Enhance resource allocation including scholarships for the education, capacity building, training, knowledge and information services, including personal and professional development for women and girls to better prepare them for leadership/decision-making roles
• Institution of flexible work arrangements for women and men to promote work-life balance 
• Engaging men and boys to become active change agents towards a fairer distribution of unpaid care and domestic work and support advocacy for gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment and human rights

Section 37.iii: The institution/application of gender quotas is an affirmative action initiative to tip the scales of inequality in favour of diverse groups of women who have faced historical disadvantage and multiple layers of discrimination. While this is to ensure women’s representation in leadership positions in public and private sectors, this does not mean that the merit system which considers the qualifications of prospective candidates for certain leadership positions will be ignored or will not be taken into consideration. It is assigning a certain quota for women to ensure that they will be actively and deliberately considered in leadership posts. For example, if there are two equally qualified candidates and one is a female and the other a male, tipping the scale in favour of the female candidate will be part of the gender quota system. 

Section 46: In addition to UN CEDAW, there are other international instruments which need to be referenced as they spell out key mandates which are essential in ensuring gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment and human rights impacting on violence against women. These are: UN Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women; UN Declaration of Human Right; Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; International Covenant on Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights; and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Section 53: This section states that the “often lower percentage of women in higher agricultural education translates into a limited pool of available women extensionists, agricultural technicians, researchers, planners and policy makers” and “in many countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, female agricultural researchers” or those who are critical to improving farm productivity for all farmers, are limited. It is recommended that incentives such as scholarships, stipends, free dormitories/accommodation, etc. be provided to female youth to take courses/educational programs in the agriculture and nutrition sector.

Section 56: Lack/limited access to agricultural advisory services is the result of several factors: 1) Low budgets allocated to the agricultural sector by governments. That means that staffing capacity i.e. agricultural extension staff/farmers ratios are low which makes it difficult for producers to receive timely information to guide their farming operations.  2) Very few government extension staff are female which means women are sufficiently served with information because male extensionist workers tend to focus on men than women in their service provision. Governments need to be intentional when recruiting agricultural extension officers to ensure gender balance. 

Information asymmetry exists along value chains meaning that producers, especially women, rarely have good understanding of what is demanded by markets in terms of quality, quantity and price offerings. Promotion of ICT use should be enhanced and barriers to access to such technology by women addressed.

Section 80: To ensure that women participate and benefit from food value chains deliberate efforts should be made to identify VCs that have the greatest potential to promote gender equality. It should be noted that women often provide the labour needed to produce most cash crops/livestock which are owned by men and who also control the income generated from their sale. In some contexts, women are also responsible for marketing such produce. That means they have limited time available to produce “their crops” after fulfilling men’s labour needs. That not only increases women’s time poverty but also means they can hardly benefit from production of crops/livestock they have control over.

Section 82.iv: I suggest revising the following by adding the underlined words as follows:

Investments in technologies, rural infrastructure, transport and women’s specific activities (across food systems and along value chains) that support women’s activities, informed by a context analysis that applies a gender, human rights and intersectional lens, and strengthen capacities of diverse groups of women to use technologies or methods that reduce their work burden.

Boa noite,

Espero que ainda seja possível contribuir com a discussão proposta pela CFS sobre Soberania e Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional sob a perspectiva de gênero.

Infelizmente, não sei escrever em espanhol. Por isso, enviarei minhas contribuições em português.

Meu nome é Vera Helena Lessa Villela. Sou natural de Santos, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, mas vivo em São Paulo – capital desde 1975.

Sou nutricionista e participo de um conselho de participação e controle social – Conselho Municipal de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional de São Paulo – COMUSAN-SP, como representante do Sindicato de Nutricionistas do Estado de São Paulo, portanto compondo o segmento da sociedade civil.

As experiências que trago aqui estão relacionadas ao que o COMUSAN vem acompanhando, construindo e propondo ao governo municipal como prioridades para a garantia do direito humano à alimentação e nutrição adequadas, ao enfrentamento da fome e das desigualdades em nossa cidade.

A pandemia de covid 19 traz cada vez mais evidências de que para prevenir nosso mundo desse tipo de situação passa por proteger as florestas e pensar em outro modelo alimentar.

Ao longo desses dois últimos anos – 2020-2021, as mulheres marcaram presença efetiva no enfrentamento da fome e das desigualdades em todos os territórios de São Paulo.

Na perspectiva dos movimentos, para resolver a crise ecológica e para implementar sistemas alimentares saudáveis, sustentáveis e solidários é preciso derrotar o sistema capitalista, responsável por destruir cada vez mais a natureza e expandir as fronteiras de dominação sobre os territórios.

Nesse sentido,  as mulheres do movimento agroecológico têm afirmado há muito tempo que “sem feminismo não há agroecologia”. Mulheres envolvidas na  luta pela agricultura urbana e periurbana relacionam a produção de alimentos saudáveis com o feminismo, afirmando que constroem não só territórios livres de agrotóxicos e transgênicos, mas também livres de violência contra a mulher.

Podemos trazer como exemplo dessas ações a Rede de Agricultoras Paulistas Periféricas Agroecológicas – RAPPA, com experiências de articulação entre as redes produtoras e as comunidades vulneráveis nos 4 cantos da cidade. Desde a Comuna Irmã Alberta, assentamento da reforma agrária e pertencente ao Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST), em plena zona norte de São Paulo, que tem contribuído com a produção de alimentos e entrega de cestas, compradas por redes de doadores ou mesmo doadas pelo movimento.

E sobre as mulheres do Grupo da Agricultura Urbana – as mulheres do GAU, como são conhecidas, que mantém hortas comunitárias e viveiro escola, na zona leste de São Paulo, e sobre como a horta e as experiências dos trabalhos das mulheres se encontram na saúde da vida comunitária pela produção de alimentos sem veneno.

Bem como a pujança das agricultoras e agricultores da Zona Sul de São Paulo, que chegam a mais de 500 e que por meio da organização cooperativada – Cooperativa Agroecológica dos Produtores Rurais e de Água Limpa da Região Sul de São Paulo (Cooperapas) se estruturou para apoiar as redes de solidariedade que se constituíram por toda a cidade e que, de certa forma, foram a forma de garantir a oferta de alimentos frescos, hortaliças, legumes e frutas, às comunidades vulneráveis da periferia da cidade ao longo de 2020 e 2021

E não podemos deixar de falar da organização dos movimentos sociais da Zona Oeste da cidade que mapeou e construiu estratégias para enfrentamento da fome para mais de 100 comunidades, em conjunto com suas lideranças.

Todas essas experiências evidenciam a importância da organização coletiva, autogestionada e solidária para acessar alimentos agroecológicos, com valores e trocas justas, junto às mulheres agricultoras.

A aliança campo-cidade é parte essencial da construção de formas mais justas de se alimentar, sem enriquecer as grandes redes transnacionais de supermercados. Comprar de mulheres agricultoras coloca um desafio para a organização: a diversidade cultivada nos quintais e roças é tanta, que o processo de compra e logística precisa ser repensado.

Os moldes de comercialização baseadas no mercado, que só buscam a eficiência econômica, não comportam uma experiência que coloca no centro a soberania alimentar e dos territórios.

Alessandra Carè Direttrice Centro di Riferimento per la Medicina di Genere Istituto Superiore di Sanità; Roberta Masella, Prima Ricercatrice; Direttrice Unità di Prevenzione e salute di genere del Centro di Riferimento per la Medicina di Genere Istituto Superiore di Sanità - Roma

Denise Giacomini, Dirigente medico, Ministero della salute, Segretariato Generale, Ufficio 2

Monica Gasperini, Psicologa, Ministero della salute, Segretariato Generale, Ufficio 2

Part 1- Introduction

5. It should be emphasized that guaranteeing optimal nutrition to women, especially during the reproductive age, represents an effective tool to ensure the health of the entire future generations. It is well known, indeed, that malnutrition affects the fertility and increases the risk of a number of pathologies in the offspring, with consequences also in the adult age.

1.2 objectives of the guidelines

10: In this point it should be mentioned that advancing in gender equality positively impact also health of women and girls, facilitate their access to healthcare and maternal health.

Part 2

23. Maybe appropriate to change ‘’ to :…… its impact on gender relations, lifestyles, roles and norms

Part 3

3.3.1

50/52 Besides the relevance of increasing knowledge and education degree in women and girls, it is of outmost importance to start as early as possible a specific education in health and nutrition. Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand the basic health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions”. It is a determinant of health as it favours the adoption of correct lifestyles, the adherence to therapies, and the appropriate access to health services. Furthermore, there is a growing interest about food literacy defined as a set of skills and knowledge related to food, which enables people to make informed choices about food and nutrition for improving their own health. The big challenge, therefore, is to start very early with nutrition education programs to encourage the adoption of adequate lifestyles. School appears to be the most eligible setting to implement strategies aimed at improving people’s diets and food choices that play a pivotal role in promoting health. However, nutritional education interventions in the entire population are mandatory to improve the quality of diet and the knowledge of the nutritional value of different foods.

3.3.2 it should be merged to 3.3.3, since it is already partly addressed in 63 and it is too general and strictly related to the 3.3.3.

58: too generic and poorly formulated. Better to include it in 65 ii

3.3.3 it should include also 3.3.2

3.3.4

68. ICT and digital devices represent important tools for disseminating information and knowledge. Thus, it should be considered the importance of e-learning to spread health and food knowledge as wide as possible.

3.5 as general comment is oriented almost entirely to the vegetables and crops production, and barely mentions livestock productions (including game meat). We suggest to expand 91 and 98 including the specific knowledge needed for farming livestock, and the role that women should have as livestock carers, in early detection and control of animal diseases and zoonoses. Moreover, basic educational needs in this sector should also be mentioned, to ensure sustainability, animal health and welfare and to reduce the risk of zoonoses (included those from wild animals and game meat) and epidemics.

3.8

114/115

It should be emphasized that consuming a healthy diet play a pivotal role in maintaining not only woman health but in guaranteeing and preserve the offspring health by meeting maternal and foetal needs. Maternal undernutrition, or, in general, malnutrition is a key determinant of infertility, abortion, poor pregnancy, poor perinatal outcomes. Furthermore, the increased risk for non-communicable diseases has been associated with epigenetic regulation of gene expression depending on early life environment, in turn, strongly influenced by maternal diet during pregnancy and also before. Thus, maternal diet by modifying the epigenome, may lead to persistent phenotypic changes and an altered risk for NCDs in later life of the offspring.

Lastly, concerning gender and nutrition it should be noted that multidisciplinary, multistakeholder and intersectoral interventions can also be carried out through multilateralism actions.

The G20 Health Forum in the final Declaration of September 2021  https://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pagineAree_5459_8_file.pdf  underlined that “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted people's livelihoods, increased food insecurity and malnutrition and exacerbated inequalities around the world leading to an increase in the levels of poverty, hunger, morbidity and mortality…. Progress towards achieving the SDGs is an important benchmark as we seek to shape a more inclusive and gender-sensitive response for a resilient and sustainable future, where communities in vulnerable situations should be empowered to overcome the long-term negative effects to end of this pandemic and similar effects from future pandemics”.

English translation below

Colaboración para consulta fao “Directrices voluntarias del CSA sobre la igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres y las niñas en el contexto de la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición”.

La igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres y las niñas para lograr la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición, un tema que debe abordarse en diferentes ámbitos de acción desde el núcleo familiar hasta acciones más globales, y que si bien los esfuerzos y las acciones que se plantean ponen de relieve la autonomía y el empoderamiento de las mujeres mediante el acceso a la educación, a la tecnología y la información, a la protección social, a recursos financieros, etc., no ha sido suficiente para cumplir las metas deseadas en cuanto a la mejora de la nutrición y la seguridad alimentaria; para lo cual valdría la pena hacerse las siguientes preguntas:

-¿Están siendo las políticas públicas coherentes con las necesidades reales de la población y están llegando a quiénes las necesitan?

-¿Se tiene representatividad y una participación activa de todos los involucrados en la formulación de la política pública?

-¿Se cuenta con mecanismos eficaces para el monitoreo y cumplimiento de la política pública?

-La coordinación y la articulación de las acciones siguen siendo un desafío importante y que es imprescindible para avanzar en el cumplimiento de metas, entonces, ¿qué estrategias son válidas de implementar para abordar este desafío?

-Se menciona que la sobrecarga del trabajo en oficios no remunerados sigue aún sin resolverse, entonces, ¿estamos tomando las decisiones correctas para dar respuesta a esta problemática?, ¿cómo pretendemos lograr el empoderamiento económico?

-Los procesos de planificación y discusión para el establecimiento de acuerdos y acciones, son a menudo extensos y de lento avance reduciendo significativamente la ejecución, y empezamos de nuevo con el cambio de administración en el sector público, entonces, ¿deberíamos ser más pragmáticos?, ¿cómo romper ese círculo de inacción?

Como se plantea, las directrices están dirigidas a garantizar la autodeterminación y la autonomía de las mujeres y las niñas y a brindarles un espacio justo y equitativo que no sólo contribuye a su propio beneficio, sino el de su familia, comunidad y país. Sin embargo, aún son muchos escollos por superar que podríamos decir falta de recursos de diferente índole (recursos, técnicos, financieros), pero también debemos ser coherentes con el discurso y que se requiere de voluntad política, la solidaridad, la colaboración y el apoyo de diferentes actores. Además, importante indicar que son necesarias acciones inmediatas en el corto, mediano y largo plazo que no se vean interrumpidas por procesos electorales, políticos, cambios de gobierno u otras acciones que interfieran con la ejecución y seguimiento de la operacionalización de las políticas públicas

Katia Jiménez

Nutricionista

Panel de expertos

Asociación Proyecto Camino Verde

Comments on the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition

Gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment to ensure food security and nutrition for all need to be addressed at different areas of action, from the domestic environment to a more global scale. While the efforts and actions outlined in the Zero Draft of the Guidelines focus on promoting women's autonomy and empowerment through access to education, technology and information, social protection, financial resources, etc., these have not been sufficient to meet the desired targets in terms of improved nutrition and food security. Therefore, it might be worth raising the following questions:

- Are public policies consistent with the real needs of the population and are they reaching those in need?

- Is everybody represented in the formulation of public policies? Does everyone participate actively in the process?

- Are there effective mechanisms in place to monitor and enforce public policies?

- Organising and coordinating all the actions is essential to make progress in the achievement of the goals. However, it remains a major challenge. What strategies should be implemented to address this issue?

- The draft mentions that heavy workload in unpaid care and domestic work is still an unresolved concern. So, are we making the right decisions to address this issue? How do we intend to achieve economic empowerment?

-The planning and discussion processes for establishing agreements and actions usually take a long time and make a slow progress. The actual implementation is diluted and the change of government brings the processes back to the starting point. Should we be more pragmatic? How can we break this cycle of inaction?

The Guidelines are aimed at guaranteeing the self-determination and autonomy of women and girls and providing them with a fair and equitable space that not only contributes to their own benefit, but also to that of their family, community and country. However, there are still many hurdles to overcome. Not only the lack of different types of resources (material, human, technical, financial), but also the duty of being consistent with our principles and the subsequent need of political will, solidarity, collaboration and support from different actors. Furthermore, short, medium and long-term actions are needed immediately.  They should not be disrupted by electoral or political processes, changes of government or other actions that might interfere with the implementation and monitoring of public policies.

Katia Jiménez

Nutritionist

Panel of experts

Proyecto Camino Verde

English translation below

Buenas tardes: Las directrices nos da una posibilidad de realizar trabajo a futuro, pero es necesario en nuestro contexto como sociedad civil específicamente como organización sindical que se de la interpretación en las  palabras  que se aplican  en el texto en el capítulo Política de la agenda...; y ellas son discreminación y el acceso, ya que cuando hablamos de seguridad alimentaria y nutrición el concepto de las mismas aporta un rol fundamental. También es importante que la interrelación de los Principios Básicos que sustentan las directrices. Muchas gracias. 

Good afternoon: The guidelines give us a possibility to do future work, but it is necessary in our context as civil society (specifically as a trade union organisation) to interpret the words that are used in the text in the chapter on Policy...; These words are discrimination and access, because when we talk about food security and nutrition the content of these words plays a fundamental role. Also important is the interrelation of the Basic Principles that underpin the guidelines. Thank you very much.

Comments on behalf of the Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) Team at FAO

As a general comment, and especially since the Guidelines are being negotiated in the context of the CFS, we would like to stress out the importance of explicitly mentioning the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI Principles). Principle 3 is specifically on “Foster gender equality and women’s empowerment”.

Kindly find below more specific comments based on the guiding questions indicated in the open consultation.

1. Does the Zero Draft appropriately capture the main challenges and barriers that hinder progress in achieving gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ rights in the context of food security and nutrition? If not, what do you think is missing or should be adjusted?

The Zero Draft overall captures the main challenges and barriers that hinder progress in achieving gender equality. However, some key elements are missing from Part 1-Introduction, where relevance should be given to the current unequal access to extension, advisory and financial services, education, training, markets and information. In addition, women’s meaningful participation in partnerships, decision-making, leadership roles, and the equitable sharing of benefits are also current challenges that should be mentioned here (see principle 3 CFS-RAI). Some suggestions on wording are provided in the document attached.

Also, the Guidelines indicate they are directed to stakeholders that are involved in addressing food security and nutrition, gender equality and women’s empowerment, but they should also be addressed to those who work in the agricultural and food systems sector and are currently not contributing or even hindering food security and nutrition, gender equality and women’s empowerment (e.g. those involved in agricultural investments; see suggested wording in document).

2. Does Part 2 of the Zero Draft satisfactorily reflect the core principles which should underpin the Guidelines? If not, how do you propose to improve these principles

Some of the points included under “core principles” seem rather objectives than core principles, we would suggest to revise and even reduce number of principles (suggestion in the document attached).

3. Do the nine sections of Part 3 of the Zero Draft comprehensively cover the policy areas to be addressed to achieve gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ rights in the context of food security and nutrition? If not, what do you think is missing?)

On behalf of the RAI TEAM, we feel the investment dimension is comprehensively covered, and we would leave the analysis of the other policy areas to our gender colleagues.

4. Does Part 4 of the Zero Draft provide all the elements necessary for effective implementation and monitoring of the use and application of the Guidelines? If not, what do you propose to add or change?

Would suggest to include reference to the principles for the implementation of the CFS-RAI Principles and the VGGT: human dignity, non-discrimination, equity and justice, gender equality, holistic and sustainable approach, consultation and participation, the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

In relation to monitoring, we would suggest to reconsider the encouragement made to governments to define national priorities and related indicators to report against, as they already have many indicators to report against, and statistical offices are already struggling to collect required data. I would suggest encouraging governments to make use of the Guidelines as a tool to support their already due reporting against SDG 5 and other gender-related monitoring mechanisms. Clearly indicating how the guidelines could play an instrumental role towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda would really show their added value.

We take this opportunity to congratulate all those involved in the development of these guidelines and remain available in case there is any further support our team can provide.

Thank you

Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD)

IFIAD welcomes the draft guidelines. In particular, we wish to share some insights from a Women’s Empowerment and Nutrition dialogue hosted by IFIAD and the Centre for Global Development at University College Cork in April 2021, to complement the guidelines, in particular section Section 3.8 on Women and men’s ability to make strategic choices for healthy diets and good nutrition, para 120.

The main challenge identified was how to promote women’s empowerment and improved nutrition and health in such a way that women’s individual needs are being met. Often nutrition programmes that focus on better community and childhood nutrition are targeted at women, but their own nutritional status is neglected. Evidence shows that empowering women can lead to increased household diet diversity and food security, however women’s own nutritional status does not correlate to their empowerment status.

The Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition Index (WENI) was developed to contribute to a shift in thinking about empowerment in the context of women’s nutrition. The index bridges the missing link between empowerment and individual women’s nutrition and health.

The WENI introduces the concept of nutritional empowerment as a method to identify barriers to increased nutrition for women. It encompasses the basis of both empowerment and drivers of nutrition to expand on household nutrition but also examines the causes of female malnutrition. It measures women’s knowledge, resources, agency and achievements in food, health, fertility, and institutional support.

Key insights from the dialogue included:

· Women’s nutritional empowerment is a concept introduced as a method to capture underlining structural factors determining poor nutrition and health of women.

· The determinants of women’s nutritional disempowerment are context specific and require detailed analysis to identify the main barriers to improved nutrition.

· Both women’s empowerment and nutrition are extremely complex issues, and have multi-sector determinants therefore a multi-sector approach to address them both simultaneously is needed.

· There are opportunities to use new approaches to identify the main barriers to ensure appropriate future planning on women and nutrition.

· The potential negative outcome of overburdening women with increased workload should always be considered and closely monitored.

· Social behavioural change of relationships within families and communities can off-set the over-burdening of women.

Link to policy brief http://www.ifiad.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Policy-Brief-on-Webinar-…

Finland strongly supports the initiative to produce voluntary guidelines for gender equality and women’s and girl’s empowerment in the context of food security and nutrition.

• We very much appreciate that Gender Transformative Approaches have been included as a core principle in the Voluntary Guidelines. We cannot achieve gender equality and women’s and girls' empowerment without addressing the root causes of gender inequality, such as harmful social norms and gender stereotypes. Engagement of men and boys is crucial to achieve transformative changes.

• We welcome the reference to the concept of intersectionality and see it important that it is reflected throughout the document, including in the themes in the section three. We would also like to see women and girls with disabilities more strongly reflected in the guidelines.