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Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment

Leadership and participation

Promoting women’s and girls’ full, equal and meaningful participation, voice and leadership in policy- and decision-making at all levels of food systems.

Women’s full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership in decision-making related to food security and nutrition positively impacts their lives, that of their household members, communities and the countries they live in.   

Women’s participation in high-level food and nutrition decision-making is low globally. Factors that hinder women’s participation, especially rural and Indigenous women, include discriminatory social and gender norms; women’s time poverty; women’s status, age and previous membership in organizations; access to assets and resources; educational level; organizations’ rules of entry; and legal and policy environment (Kaaria, S. et al., 2016). 

Promoting women’s leadership is essential for inclusive, effective policies and investments. While largely responsible for feeding the household, women often do not have a say in household spending which limits their ability to influence nutrition, education, and health outcomes for the whole family.  

Violence and discrimination against women are also major barriers to women’s leadership and participation in public, community life and household level. 

Key figures 

  • Only 2 percent of board seats (7/351) of organizations active in global food systems are occupied by women from low-income countries, revealing huge disparities in the gender and geography of positions of power in global food systems organizations. 
  • Although the proportion of women board chairs has increased - yet at just over one-third (16/45), this is still a far cry from gender parity (Tanaka, S. and Parker, A., 2022). 

  • Promote affirmative action measures.  For example, gender parity and equal access to leadership roles in food and agriculture sectors. 

  • Support women’s and their organizations’ full participation in policy design and programmatic decisions, including through capacity building. 

  • Invest in leadership and education programmes to empower young women as the next generation of leaders. 

  • Strengthen women’s leadership and rights organizations with measures such as funding initiatives. 

  • Support women’s organizations promoting women’s collective action and leadership, especially for Indigenous women. 

  • Address gender discrimination by raising awareness, training and promoting female leadership in all sectors, including among men leaders. 

Resources