Rural women and youth are key to tackling links between violence and hunger
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus discuss ways to address violence and hunger.
© FAO / Munir Uz Zaman
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus marked the United Nations International Day of Non-Violence by stressing that violence and hunger are often interlinked and that tackling this requires creating income-generating opportunities for people, particularly for women and youth, in rural areas.
Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance, spoke of the importance of enabling people to “stand on their own feet.” He noted that “microcredit helps people, particularly women, generate their own income by getting involved in businesses and enterprises.”
Graziano da Silva also expressed concern about how the impacts of conflicts and climate change, such as extreme droughts take their toll on rural entrepreneurs, particularly on women and young people.