Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Call for submissions
Open until:

Community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality

Community engagement is now recognized as a critical component of international development practice and humanitarian assistance. It facilitates agency and the empowerment of all social groups in rural communities, enhances local participation, sustainability and ownership, and builds upon local resources and capacities, thereby leaving no one behind

Recognizing the importance of community engagement as a key factor in achieving a world free from hunger and poverty, and as a prerequisite for community-led collective action, FAO organized a series of five webinars between 2020 and 2021 titled ‘Community Engagement Days.’[1] This created a space for academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development and humanitarian agencies and field development practitioners to come together to explore the concept of community engagement, exchange experiences and good practices as well as challenges and opportunities to bring these approaches at scale.

The webinars provided an opportunity to share research and field experiences across five interlinked themes (gender, resilience, peace, evidence, and collective action), encouraging reflection and dialogue on community engagement strategies, practices and approaches. Nearly 1,000 participants from NGOs, governments, the United Nations (UN), international development organizations, civil society, the private sector, and academia joined the series. 

Based on these conversations it became clear that while multiple definitions of community engagement exist – and there is no “one size fits all” – these definitions do share common approaches (community-led, rights-based, gender-responsive/gender-transformative); principles (inclusive, participatory and people-centered, conflict-sensitive) and characteristics (contextual and adaptive, and empowering). The key outcomes of the webinars highlighted the importance of recognizing and challenging power dynamics, integrating reflexivity in research and implementation, prioritizing gender equality, fostering resilience and peace, and supporting collective action. Furthermore, the need for systematic knowledge sharing and creating spaces for ongoing dialogue and peer-to peer learning was emphasized to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of community-driven initiatives. 

The Community Engagement Days webinar series was not a standalone initiative but a platform for discussion aimed at exchanging experiences, forging innovative alliances and partnerships to highlight the value of community engagement in both development and humanitarian contexts.

Given the scope of the series, the shared experiences were just a snapshot of existing approaches and practices. To provide an opportunity to expand the audience and hear voices from a variety of actors, the Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division of FAO (ESP) initiated this call for submissions and invites stakeholders to share their experiences, good practices and views on community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality.[2] 

This call for submissions is open to individuals and organizations from both the development and humanitarian sectors who have experience implementing community engagement strategies, interventions, approaches/methodologies, or innovations. It also welcomes contributions from a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, sanitation, civic engagement and others critical to inclusive rural development. 

Through this initiative, FAO is eager to hear more, learn, and exchange insights both internally and externally on what interventions and practices have worked and what can be improved in community engagement and community-led collective action to achieve inclusive rural transformation and gender equality. By capturing a diverse range of contributions, FAO aims to promote the adoption and scaling-up of community engagement approaches, address barriers to their implementation and refine these practices to make them more inclusive, effective, and sustainable.

Please use the submission template in any of the three languages (English, French or Spanish). The background document can serve as a reference for completing the template for submissions.

The submissions will be publicly available on this webpage and featured in the proceedings report of this call, enhancing the visibility of participants' work and fostering learning, inspiration, and networking among a broader audience. Depending on the relevance and content, FAO may also include contributions in knowledge products such as case studies, compendiums, and reports, and use them to inform its work on community engagement and collective action, with due acknowledgment of the contributions. Beyond this call, the initiative offers participants the potential for continued engagement and collaboration, laying the groundwork for further learning, networking, and community-building.   

Criteria for submissions 

We are looking for ‘good practices’—tested methods that have proven successful in multiple settings and can be widely adopted. We also consider ‘promising practices’—innovative approaches that have shown success in a specific context and have the potential for broader application but may need more evidence or replication. Both types contribute valuable insights for continuous learning and improvement.

To ensure that relevant experiences are captured, we are looking for practices with the following criteria:

1. Engagement of the community: Interventions should deliberately and actively strive to engage a wide range of segments and groups within the community to ensure inclusivity and broad-based participation, fostering a sense of ownership and collective empowerment among all community members, this should in turn strengthen community-led collective action. This means that they should go beyond merely targeting specific groups or formal structures, such as community-based organizations (farmer organizations, cooperatives, and self-help groups) as entry points. Instead, they should engage diverse groups within the community, fostering inclusivity, collective participation and shared benefits. These interventions promote a collective added value where everyone at the community level, regardless of their direct involvement, can benefit. Ideally, the community itself should be the primary entry point for the intervention, though approaches that indirectly impact the wider community are also welcome if they emphasize community value. Additionally, community-wide interventions do emphasize the participation of groups that are typically left behind. While these interventions are designed to be open to everyone, they are strategically inclusive by deliberately creating spaces and opportunities for marginalized or underserved groups to participate.
2. Inclusive and gender-responsive/transformative: The intervention should prioritize inclusivity, ensuring active engagement from all segments of the community, regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, gender identity/expression, etc. These efforts acknowledge that gender intersects with various social dimensions and identities, including age, ethnicity, indigeneity, health, psychological resilience, disability, socioeconomic and political status or other characteristics. This intersectionality creates compound inequalities and layers of disadvantage and privilege that the interventions aim to address, promoting greater inclusivity, equality, gender transformative change and positive masculinities.[3] This also involves challenging discriminatory gender social norms and unequal power dynamics and fostering attitudes and behaviors that support gender equality and women’s empowerment.
3. Rights-based and empowering: The intervention should aim for a process of change over an extended period, rather than relying on short-term or one-off activities such as workshops, trainings or consultations. It should adopt a rights-based approach[4], grounded in the principles of participation, inclusion, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment and agency. The intervention should position itself at the highest levels of participation (see Figure 1 below), promoting tailored and sustained engagement to achieve long-term impact. By enabling marginalized groups to influence decision-making and enhancing the capacity of individuals as rights holders to know and claim their rights, as well as ensuring that states and public authorities, as duty bearers, fulfill their obligations, accountability, impact, and sustainability can be strengthened. By recognizing and redressing structural inequalities, and by fostering the exchange and development of skills, knowledge, and confidence, community engagement enhances both practical abilities and inner resilience, ultimately contributing to sustainable development. 
4. Self-facilitation and/or participatory facilitation: As a continuous and participatory process the intervention/experience can be self-facilitated by local actors from the outset, embodying bottom-up leadership, or it can be guided by an external facilitator who works closely with the community. The facilitation is focused on enhancing local stakeholders’ empowerment and ensuring their ownership and agency throughout the intervention and beyond (post-project), adopting a forward-looking approach. If the intervention is externally facilitated, facilitators should guide a participatory process that promotes community ownership and autonomy, allowing the intervention to be sustained independently after the project's conclusion. The most effective intervention facilitates the empowerment of the community to take full control, delegating authority, ensuring long-term impact.
5. Proven implementation: The intervention should either have been implemented or still be ongoing, and should incorporate learning processes throughout its execution. This includes lessons learned and results that can be shared or documented through this call. This knowledge can be generated in various ways, including local and generational knowledge, storytelling, and formal studies or evaluations. The intervention should showcase positive outcomes and lessons learned as well as challenges identified through both traditional and participatory methods.

While FAO is particularly interested in approaches that specifically meet these criteria, we also recognize the value of methods used at specific phases of an intervention to ensure community engagement. This includes approaches for design and delivery processes or tools used for monitoring, evaluation and learning. Although the call acknowledges that meaningful engagement requires a participatory lens embedded throughout the entire planning and project cycle for higher outcomes and ownership, it is open to learning about tools and methods that support these goals at specific stages of an intervention/project.

ESP figure

Figure 1 Adapted from Pretty (1995), Arnstein (1969), International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), and White (1996). Figure 1 depicts various types of community participation, reflecting different levels of engagement in development interventions at community level. The progression goes from lower to higher levels of community engagement, but it does not prescribe a linear or hierarchical path. Instead, the figure offers a range of possible approaches to facilitate participation, tailored to the specific context and objectives of the intervention. As engagement deepens—from simply providing information to transferring decision-making power to the community— the community’s sense of empowerment and ownership over the process grows. Greater levels of engagement foster collective action, enhance accountability, and enable the community to take the lead in shaping their own development.

The call for submissions is open until 13 December 2024.

We thank participants in advance and look forward to learning from you!

Conveners:

  • Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director, FAO - Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) 
  • Adriano Campolina, Senior Policy Officer, FAO - Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) 

Co-facilitators:

  • Christiane Monsieur, Project Coordinator, FAORural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) 
  • Andrea Sánchez Enciso, Gender and Community Engagement Specialist, FAO Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP)

How to take part in this call for submissions:

To take part in this Call for submissions, please register to the FSN Forum, if you are not yet a member, or “sign in” to your account. Please review the topic note to understand the criteria we are considering for this call. If you wish to learn more about community engagement, you may refer to the background document.  Once you have completed the submission template, upload it in the box “Post your contribution” on the call webpage, or, alternatively, send it to  [email protected]

Please keep the length of submissions limited to 1,500 words and feel also free to attach relevant supporting materials.


[1] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2021, March 3). Tapping into community engagement for empowerment. FAO Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism. https://www.fao.org/flexible-multipartner-mechanism/news/news-detail/en/c/1378190

[2] The call for submissions is directly aligned with the thematic components of collective action within FAO's Programme Priority Areas (PPAs), specifically Better Life 1 (Gender Equality and Rural Women’s Empowerment), Better Life 2 (Inclusive Rural Transformation) and Better Life 3 (Agriculture and Food Emergencies). 

[3] A gender-transformative approach “seeks to actively examine, challenge and transform the underlying causes of gender inequalities rooted in discriminatory social institutions. As such, a gender transformative approach aims to address the unequal gendered power relations and discriminatory gender norms, attitudes, behaviours and practices, as well as discriminatory or gender-blind policies and laws, that create and perpetuate gender inequalities.” FAO, IFAD, WFP & CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform. 2023. Guidelines for measuring gender transformative change in the context of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Rome, FAO, IFAD, WFP and CGIAR. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc7940en 

[4] A rights-based approach to community engagement emphasizes the fundamental human rights of all individuals, ensuring equal opportunities for everyone to claim and enjoy their human rights. Central to this is agency, the ability of individuals to define their own goals and act upon them. By promoting meaningful participation, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment and rule of law (‘PANTHER’ principles) this approach not only addresses power imbalances and systemic barriers but also fosters individual and collective agency.


Please read the article of FAO publications on this topic here.

 

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Community consultations are crucial in fostering inclusivity in transforming rural areas regarding addressing gender equality globally. Historically, rural communities are rooted in cultural norms, which in most scenarios leads to women being discriminated against in decision-making. These scenarios are common in developing countries where rural societies constitute a significant portion of the population. Recognising the local participation dynamics is important for effective development initiatives. The rural communities are confronted by different problems that include poverty and limited access to education and health services, which are further worsening gender disparities. Women in rural areas contribute much to agriculture, making them the backbone, but they often experience barriers threatening their economic empowerment and decision-making capabilities. It is noteworthy to integrate community engagement strategies that prioritise gender equality to spark transformative change and support the quality of life for all community members.

I hold that consulting communities in rural areas make transformation easy, thereby reducing and increasing acceptability. Consultations serve to tailor development programs to the specific needs and aspirations of the local population (Sizani, 2017). Participatory approaches in Zimbabwe can address historical inequalities and promote ownership among community members, particularly women, who are marginalised in different socio-economic contexts. Encouraging transformation in rural communities and gender equality strengthens social cohesion, steering a more resilient community. 

Citizen participation empowers the voices of marginalised communities, particularly women, where patriarchal norms often stifle women's participation. Although the involvement of women in rural development is said to promote gender equality, gaps still exist towards the implementation of strategies that promote gender equality. This has caused development projects to fail to sufficiently encompass local communities, including women, in the planning and implementation of initiatives that directly affect their lives. This separate results in vain policies and limited effect on the ground. There is a need to critically scrutinise the effect of community consultation towards transforming rural communities and ensuring gender equality. The aim is to propose actionable recommendations for improving community participation in rural development initiatives.

Community structures in rural areas

The leadership structure in rural areas is similar in Africa, where traditional leaders have influence in decision-making. Traditional leaders in Zimbabwe play a deeply intertwined role in the government’s socio-political landscape, notably concerning gender inequality. The model of traditional leadership is rooted in patriarchal norms, contributing largely to perpetuating gender disparities, for example in rural areas where customary laws prevail (Ntlama, 2020). Thus, traditional leaders are still maintaining practices that discriminate against women on matters of land ownership, decision-making, and access to resources. This highlights the systemic difficulties women face, including limited representation in policies and leadership concerning rural development. The Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe promotes gender equality; however, traditional leaders marginalise women in decision-making, which is crucial for development, for example, agricultural productivity and economic empowerment. This has exacerbated women's poverty due to a lack of support systems. The perception that traditional leaders are that males are heirs reinforces gendered norms, leading to women's rights to participate in decision-making being restricted (Sesanti, 2016). This discrimination impacts women's economic independence and limits their access to basic needs, such as food, often tied to land ownership and agricultural viability.

The issue of gender equality and inclusive community engagement is supported by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the argument is that development should be supported by all parties living in a community regardless of gender. The Goal 5 (SDGs) emphasises gender and the need to eliminate forms of discrimination against women and girls. According to UN Women (2020), community engagement improves gender equality and also enhances the effectiveness of development interventions. Intervention programs that have managed to integrate gender views into community engagement have successfully achieved targeted objectives concerning economic development and social cohesion.

African women’s voices are not heard and valued in community planning processes, making it difficult for development programs to meet the desired outcomes. These findings call for more targeted interventions tailored to address factors affecting participation in rural areas. The success of such programs requires capacity-building programs towards empowering women leaders to promote their participation in local governance. This is important in dismantling the structural inequalities that are perpetuating gender inequalities in rural Zimbabwe.

Proposed initiatives to increase women participation 

Women’s Leadership Training Programs-It is crucial to introduce training programs tailored for women to increase their participation in community decision-making processes. The purpose of this training should focus on improving skills such as public speaking, negotiation, and strategic planning. This would improve women's confidence, crucial in improving leadership roles and fostering a new generation of female leaders in communities. This can be achieved by collaborating with local NGOs and educational institutions to facilitate workshops and mentorship opportunities. This will ensure women have access to role models and practical guidance. This initiative not only empowers women but also enriches community governance by incorporating diverse perspectives.

Gender-Sensitive Agricultural Cooperatives-It is important to establish gender-sensitive agricultural cooperatives that provide women with economic opportunities. Such cooperatives will facilitate access to land, credit, and training, designed to meet the needs of women farmers. This will create an inclusive environment where women can share knowledge and resources, thereby enhancing agricultural productivity while empowering women economically.

Strengthen legal frameworks supporting gender equality- Policymakers need to focus on strengthening legal frameworks that protect women’s rights in the context of traditional governance. This involves promoting laws that emphasise gender equality within traditional communities and encouraging compliance among traditional leaders.

Facilitate Dialogue Between Traditional Leaders and Gender Advocacy Groups: There is a need to establish platforms for dialogue between traditional leaders and gender advocacy organisations to facilitate mutual understanding and collaboration. This can assist in bridging gaps in perspectives, ensuring more effective initiatives to promote gender equality within traditional governance structures.

Promote Gender-Sensitive Policies—that is encouraging for participating in gender analysis in community development projects to guarantee that women's needs are addressed.

Strengthen Local Governance: It is important to increase transparency and accountability of local governance structures to nurture trust and support broader community participation.

Engage Men as Allies—this involves developing community awareness campaigns engaging men in discussions on gender equality and encouraging supportive attitudes concerning women's participation.

References

Ntlama, N.P. (2020). The Changing Identity on Succession to Chieftaincy in the Institution of Traditional Leadership: Mphephu v Mphephu-Ramabulana (948/17) ZASCA 58. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 23, 1-25.

Nyakudya, P. (2022). Women’s Leadership in Rural Development: A Case for Capacity Building. Rural Development Journal, 14(2): 77-90.

Sesanti, S. (2016). African Philosophy for African Women’s Leadership: An Urgent Project for the African Renaissance. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, 9(9): 94–107

Sizani, R. (2017). Are powers and functions of leaders sufficient, in a republican and democratic dispensation, especially in its current character? If not, what needs to be done? Presentation at the Traditional Leaders Indaba, 28 May–02 June. Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

UN Women. (2020). Gender Equality and Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from UN Women.

 

To foster inclusive rural transformation and gender equality in Kakamega, community engagement we use several key strategies:

  1. Awareness Campaigns: Conduct workshops and seminars to educate the community about gender equality and the benefits of inclusive development.
  2. Participatory Decision-Making: Involve women and marginalized groups in local governance and development planning processes to ensure their voices are heard.
  3. Capacity Building: Provide training for women in leadership, entrepreneurship, and vocational skills to enhance their economic empowerment.
  4. Access to Resources: Facilitate access to financial services, land rights, and agricultural resources for women and marginalized communities.
  5. Collaborative Partnerships: Work with local NGOs, government agencies, and community leaders to create programs that address the unique needs of the community.
  6. Cultural Sensitization: Address and challenge harmful cultural norms and practices that hinder gender equality through community dialogue and engagement.
  7. Monitoring and Evaluation: Establish mechanisms to track progress and gather feedback from the community to adapt strategies effectively.
  8. Youth Engagement: Involve youth in advocacy and educational initiatives to promote gender equality and rural development.

By implementing these strategies, Kakamega has made significant strides toward inclusive transformation and gender equality, benefiting the entire community

Hi all,

We are currently working on a project, Bundling Socio-Technical Innovations to Empower Women as Partners and Drivers of Climate Change Solutions. This is a CGIAR Initiative on Gender Equality (HER+): Harnessing Gender and Social Equality for Resilience in Agrifood Systems. The STIB framework addresses the gender-specific barriers and challenges that inhibit women’s empowerment and resilience in various contexts. The STIB framework was developed based on a literature review that examined the relationship between gender, technology, resilience and climate-smart agriculture. The literature review revealed that gender norms and structures significantly hinder women’s empowerment. Women face various issues, such as limited access to productive land, lack of credit for business support, disproportionate domestic and childcare responsibilities, limited access to education and training, and lower decision-making power within households.

The STIBs framework provides a comprehensive approach to addressing women’s barriers and challenges in achieving empowerment and resilience. By considering the specific contexts and leveraging various enablers, this framework aims to promote gender equality and women’s agency in the face of climate change and other challenges. Context-specific bundles of STIBs are integrated solutions tailored to address unique challenges within a specific environment. Combining social innovations, such as reforms of institutions and cultural practices, with technical advancements, such as new technologies or processes, these bundles aim to create comprehensive approaches that resonate with and effectively meet the needs of a particular context or community.

I am sharing here our work in two villages in West Bengal state in Eastern India: some of the blog posts are

Using Socio-Technical Innovation Bundles (STIB) and Theory of Change to Empower Small-Scale Women Livestock Farmers in West Bengal, India  https://agrilinks.org/post/using-socio-technical-innovation-bundles-stib-and-theory-change-empower-small-scale-women

Collaboration, Coordination and Convergence: Key for Livestock Learning Labs to Build Resilience of Rural Women https://agrilinks.org/post/collaboration-coordination-and-convergence-key-livestock-learning-labs-build-resilience-rural 

Women-Inclusive Livestock Development Helps Improve Women's Empowerment https://agrilinks.org/post/women-inclusive-livestock-development-helps-improve-womens-empowerment 

Unleashing the potential of women livestock keepers https://www.rural21.com/english/a-closer-look-at/detail/article/unleashing-the-potential-of-women-livestock-keepers.html 

I shall be discussing further about  good practices’—tested methods that have proven successful in our contexts which can be tested & widely adopted. This will include ‘promising practices’—innovative approaches that have shown success in our context and have the potential for broader application but require more evidence through replications. 

Looking forward for  insightful & enriching contributions from diverse contexts!

 

Mahesh Chander

Principal Scientist

Div. of Extension Education

ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243122 (UP) India

Good Evening Colleagues,

Community participation in agriculutral transformation is hurdled by several factors, especially in the developing countries like Pakistan. Let us discuss some of these factors with reference or the livestock value chain (LVC).

The main stakeholders of the LVC, the livestock and poultry farmers and butchers belong to poor socioeconomic background with little access to the state resources like policy making and funding opportunities. Their farming processing practices prevent their business setup from generating quality products and profitability. Above this, the price fixation policy call for lower prices, irrespective of the products quality. A good entrepeneur, struggling to make a place in the market through quality products, is discouraged by the irrationally low prices fixed by the district administrative authorities. Hence, the farmers and butchers raraly sustain their small scale operations and can not attract their growing kids to come into such businesses. 

LVC is served by several public sector organizations like Livestock and Dairy Development Department KP Extension and Research Wings, taking care of extension and research needs of the livestock sector. 
Livestock Markets and Slaughter Houses are being managed by Local Council Board, livestock education 
is managed by Higher Education Department through various universities, Livestock Enterprises and Trade 
are overseen by KP-LFWA, KPCCI and SMEDA; food quality by KP-FSHFA and price regulation by the district 
administration. Fisheries have got their own Directorate General. Hence, 10 government/private organizations are taking care of a single livestock sector. All of these organizations work in total isolation without any mechanism for coordination or judicial access to the government resources. Hence, the issues of the livestock stakeholders across the livestock based food value chain remain ignored. This may not qualify to be called as a good governance model. 

This Author, as Natinoal Consultant (Qureshi 2019, FAO KP Livestock Action Plan), was of the opinion that the private sector is suffering badly by the price regulating policies of the District Goverments. Price capping has restricted the growth of the dairy and meat industries. Young dairy and meat entrepreneurs providing high quality 
products, are fined, punished and sealed by the district administration/. KP-Foof Safety and Halal Food Authority (KP-SHFA) while those selling low quality items keep on working. 

Degree programs of three provincial universities have got non-accredited by the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council. Livestock Market and Slaughter Houses failed to attract attention of the Government. Private sector could not get appropriate patronage of the government to survive and contribute in economic growth of the province through generation of decent employment and exportable surpluses. Consumers could not get access to milk, meat and eggs of their desired quality. International opportunities like collaboration with Konya Technopark, Tukey could not be honored. 

This Author suggested that Livestock Technopark Peshawar (LTP) may be established, initially as an LTP Task Force through an executive order of the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Later on, an Act of the Legislative 
Assembly/Ordinance of Governor may be initiated. LTP will be an autonomous authority with full 
regulatory, administrative, financial and legislative powers to protect all the stakeholders of the livestock 
industry, and to engage all the relevant private and public sector organizations in the process. This would 
create an enabling environment for the growth of the emerging entrepreneurs, through a coordinated 
approach, targeted at generating decent employment and exportable surpluses. A balance approach 
would provide a level playing field to all the stakeholders and ensure a private sector led growth as per 
international standards. The Managing Board of Livestock Technopark Peshawar would comprise one 
representative each of: i) DG LDD Ext; ii) DG LDD Res; iii) DG Fisheries; iv) Dean FAHVS UAP; v) Secretary 
Local Council Board; vi) VC WUM; vii) KP-LFA; viii) Poultry Farmer; ix) Fish Farmer; x) Feed Processor; xi) 
Dairy Processor; xii) Meat Processor; xiii) KPCCI; xiv) KP FSHFA and; xv) MPA. 

Dear Editor,

We are pleased to submit our contribution titled “Empowering Marginalized Beekeepers in Upcountry Sri Lanka: A Pathway to Food System Sustainability”. This piece details our community engagement efforts aimed at uplifting marginalized youth beekeepers through sustainable practices, enhancing their livelihoods, and promoting biodiversity in rural areas of Sri Lanka

Thank you for the opportunity to share our work. I look forward to your feedback.

Best regards, Hasitha and Shishanthi

Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division

FAO
Italy

Spanish and French translations see below

Dear Participants,
We are thrilled to welcome you to this call for submissions focused on community engagement for inclusive rural transformation and gender equality. We encourage you to share your valuable experiences, good practices, and lessons learned to contribute to this important initiative.
This call offers a unique opportunity to enrich the ongoing dialogue on how community-led collective action can help ensure that no one is left behind. We also invite you to share this call with your networks to help us reach a wide range of contributors.
Christiane and Andrea, our dedicated co-facilitators, will be with you throughout this discussion and are available to respond to any questions you may have.
We look forward to receiving your submissions and to engaging in an inspiring discussion that will foster learning and innovation in this critical area.
Wishing you all a fruitful and exciting conversation!

Warm regards,

Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director, and Adriano Campolina, Senior Policy Officer, FAO's Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP)

Spanish

Estimados y estimadas participantes,
Nos complace darles la bienvenida a esta convocatoria bajo el tema: “Participación  Comunitaria para la Transformación Rural Inclusiva y la Igualdad de Género”. 
Los invitamos a compartir sus experiencias, buenas prácticas y lecciones aprendidas para contribuir a esta importante iniciativa.
Esta convocatoria ofrece una oportunidad única para enriquecer el diálogo en curso sobre cómo la acción colectiva liderada por las comunidades rurales puede ayudar a asegurar que nadie se quede atrás. También los invitamos a compartir esta convocatoria con sus redes para alcanzar una amplia gama de participantes.
Christiane y Andrea, nuestras dedicadas cofacilitadoras, los acompañarán a lo largo de esta discusión y estarán disponibles para responder a cualquier pregunta que puedan tener.
Esperamos con entusiasmo recibir sus contribuciones y que puedan participar en una inspiradora discusión que fomente el aprendizaje y la innovación en este campo tan importante.
¡Les deseamos una conversación fructífera y emocionante!
 

Cordialmente,
Lauren Phillips, Directora Adjunta, y Adriano Campolina, Oficial superior de políticas, División de Transformación Rural e Igualdad de Género (ESP) de la FAO.

French

Chers participants et chères participantes,
Nous sommes ravis de vous accueillir ici pour cet appel à contributions axé sur « l'engagement communautaire pour la transformation rurale inclusive et l'égalité hommes-femmes ». 
Nous vous encourageons à partager vos précieuses expériences, vos bonnes pratiques et les leçons apprises afin de contribuer à cette importante initiative.
Cet appel offre une occasion unique d'enrichir le dialogue en cours sur la manière dont l'action collective portée par les communautés rurales peut contribuer à ne laisser personne pour compte. 
Nous vous invitons également à partager cet appel avec vos réseaux afin de nous aider à atteindre une grande diversité de contributeurs.
Christiane et Andrea, nos co-facilitatrices, seront à vos côtés tout au long de cette discussion et à votre disposition pour répondre à vos questions.
Nous sommes impatients de recevoir vos contributions et nous vous souhaitons une discussion stimulante qui favorisera l'apprentissage et l'innovation dans ce domaine essentiel.
Nous vous souhaitons à tous des échanges fructueux et passionnants !
 

Bien cordialement,
Lauren Phillips, Directrice adjointe, et Adriano Campolina, Fonctionnaire principal, FAO - Division de la transformation rurale et de l'égalité femmes-hommes  (ESP)