Coming Soon: High-level Event to “Step It Up Together for Rural Women to End Hunger and Poverty”

Organized by FAO, the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, in collaboration with UN Women, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP), the High-level Event will also provide an interactive platform to promote partnerships.

In particular, with respect to the central role of gender equality and women’s empowerment for effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Event will provide an opportunity for the European Union, the Rome-based agencies and UN Women to identify ways forward to support Member States in the implementation of the gender dimension across the SDGs, with a special focus on SDGs 1 (“No Poverty”), 2 (“Zero Hunger”), 5 (“Gender Equality”) and 17 (“Partnerships for the Goals”).

No one left behind: gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls

Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls lies at the centre of the 2030 Agenda. In addition to the targets for SDG5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, it is reflected and mainstreamed across all 17 SDGs, in particular SDG1 “No Poverty”, SDG2 “Zero Hunger”, and SDG17 “Partnerships for the Goals”. Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is therefore an absolute precondition to succeed in achieving all 17 SDGs.

The role of rural women

A key focus of the High-level Event is the critical role and contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and nutrition and eradicating rural poverty. More specifically, the Event affords an opportunity to explore how gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls is critical to the success of the 2030 Agenda.