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Image: FAO
FAO and IIWF have partnered to train indigenous women in Asia and Latin America, enabling them to influence decision-making processes
A final third phase includes the organization of sessions
on the most relevant topics and the presentation of the
participants’ advocacy plans based on the priorities iden-
tified within their communities. For example, Clementina
Garnica from the Ckochas municipality department of
Potosí in Bolivia anticipated that “my advocacy plan is based
in food sovereignty, we want the wheat from my region to be
produced and processed to make cookies for school break-
fast as a way to promote healthy and nutritious consumption
of our local products.”
The advocacy plans elaborated so far have shown extraor-
dinary efforts from the participants and resulted in innovative
small-project proposals. FAO and IIWF are currently explor-
ing funding possibilities with the idea of supporting the
implementation of the best proposals at national or local level.
At the end of the programme, the participants are also
encouraged to raise awareness in their communities, repli-
cate training activities and support other indigenous women
to improve their socioeconomic conditions, establishing an
innovative model for empowering indigenous women.
Positive examples shared by the participants include the
creation of women’s groups, collaboration with local non-
governmental organizations in relation to land-related
claims, the organization of community seminars, discus-
sions on laws and policies among indigenous women leaders
to enable them to participate in meetings and planning
processes, demonstrations of agricultural techniques that
revive traditional ways of farming, and awareness-raising
activities on traditional seed preservation.
In order to strengthen the link between indigenous women’s
local organizations and international processes, a selected
number of participants also has the chance to attend and
intervene during a session of the United Nations Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is the United Nations’
central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns
and rights of the world’s indigenous peoples.
So far, the feedback from participants has been extremely
positive and FAO and IIWF will continue to provide support
to the women that have taken part in this initiative in their
efforts to become leaders, while seeking opportunities to run
the programme in more countries.
Pursuant to the spirit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development of ‘leaving no one behind’ further emphasis
should be put on ensuring that equal rights and access oppor-
tunities are granted to indigenous peoples, and in particular
to indigenous women who are to be the leaders of tomorrow.
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