@ILO-Egypt FAO among main partners of the Rural Academy in Luxor

Luxor, Egypt, October 21, 2016

As part of cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and strategic partners in Egypt and in the region, the FAO Regional Office supported by the Regional Initiative on Small Scale Family Farming co-organized the second Academy on “Rural Development: Towards Decent Work for Youth in the Rural Economy” in Luxor Governorate, Egypt. The academy was launched under the patronage of the Minister of International Cooperation in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

FAO supported 10 participants from several countries, and particularly from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria Sudan and Spain.

The academy's inauguration was attended by Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Sahar Nasr; Governor of Luxor Mohamed Sayed Badr; National Council for Women President Dr Maya Morsy; ILO Cairo Director Peter Van Rooij; UNIDO Representative to Egypt Giovanna Ceglie; and FAO Regional Gender Officer for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Malika Martini, and Ms. Solveig Schuster, Counsellor & Head of Cooperation, Department of Global Affairs-Canada.

In remarks at the opening ceremony, Dr. Martini said the academy on rural development is part of FAO’s priorities as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as it aims to alleviate poverty, particularly in rural areas with emphasis to youth employment. The most pressing problems facing employment of women and youth in the agriculture sector include their inability to access land, natural resources, financial facilities and services. FAO seeks to address these issues by providing training and technical solutions, as well as encouraging youths to engage in collective work and establish joint projects to achieve integration and success in the agriculture sector.

FAO had a strong presence throughout the five days’ long academy sessions; Dr. Martini, participated at the session on the Promotion of decent work in the rural economy – Enabling an Integrated strategy under the new SDG framework. She also chaired the session on
Gender equality and empowering young women in the rural economy.

FAO Regional Manager of the Small Scale Family farming and Farmer Field Schools (FFS) Regional Coordinator for the Near East and North Africa, Dr. Alfredo Impiglia spoke about rural innovation, while the social protection officer Flavia Lorenzon participated at the session on Informality in the Rural Economy.

The Academy on Rural Development is a useful venue where FAO had the opportunity to promote decent work for youth to achieve sustainable, inclusive and thriving rural economies.

FAO turns particular attention to new opportunities for young people to start up and run profitable agribusinesses by benefiting from the transforming rural and agricultural markets, the higher demand and prices, the more integrated supply chains, the greater rural-urban connectivity in many areas and the exponential growth in urban markets. FAO experts provided a range of integrated approaches, tools and training material for the participants particularly on gender equality and empowering young women in the rural economy, providing examples on rural innovations and role of cooperatives and producers associations to boost the rural economy and creating decent work for the youth.