CIHEAM Press Review

RIYADH: Global and Saudi organizations on Tuesday highlighted the significant work of women in combating drought and boosting local economies to mark the International Day of Rural Women. It follows a report released by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the Food and Agriculture Organization that highlights the impact of droughts on women, while emphasizing their resilience and leadership in addressing climate challenges. The insights from the report will serve as a foundation for discussions at COP16, which will be hosted by Saudi Arabia in December.

Le CIHEAM organise conjointement un événement avec l’Union pour la Méditerranée (UpM) et la FAO Proche-Orient pour la Journée internationale des droits des femmes 2022.

L’événement sera un webinaire de deux heures, prévu le 7 mars et intitulé « Les systèmes agroalimentaires confrontés au changement climatique dans la région MENA : l’égalité des sexes pour une meilleure résilience ».

Medfeminiswiya devotes this series of articles to the great forgotten of the rural world, to these women and girls that are too often deprived of fundamental rights and security, to all those who live in the countryside – sometimes in the most remote areas – and cultivate the vast nourishing gardens of the Mediterranean all alone and with their curved backs.

TUNIS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) are launching a study to discover how best to adjust national policies for the economic and social empowerment of rural women and girls, especially in times of crisis such as the pandemic COVID-19.

Celebrated on the 15 October, the International Day of Rural Women recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security, and eradicating rural poverty.

Women and girls are often excluded from efforts to restore planetary ecosystems. This despite the huge roles they play in agriculture, food security, nutrition, land management and all other uses of nature. On this year’s International Day of Rural Women, let’s take a closer look at the structural barriers, social norms and historical biases that still hold us back and trip up our attempts to restore the planet.
Today, the decline of nature has reached dangerous levels, with catastrophic consequences in store for people and planet. In response,  global agendas and programs are prioritizing ecosystem restoration – this year for example, the UN General Assembly declared the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

An insightful introduction by Dr. Noura Abdelwahab, MENA Hub Gender Specialist, as she addresses the challenges rural women face in accessing to information and opportunities to women owned and managed innovators through highlighting successful examples of women-led businesses in the green sectors and showcase role models from the program who have went extra miles and managed to benefit from business trainings
or fellowships opportunities that had a positive impact on their business.

Combining local varieties from ancient and young trees with organic practices and Sicilian terroir help Francesca Oliva's oils stand out.

There are many voices begging for an end to the exploitation of avocados in Portugal. However many farmers claim that this is nothing more than a negative campaign.

To find out the farmers' perspective on this controversial subject, we went to visit Célia Fences, who owns a small 4-hectare farm with avocado trees.

The COVID-19 pandemic has now affected more than half the world’s women farmers with restrictions on movement, the closure of shops and markets, and disruption to their supply chains”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the International Day of Rural Women.