FAO urges countries to promote indigenous women’s rights

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has urged countries to unite behind a campaign to promote indigenous women’s rights and encourage their participation in policy discussions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger.

“We call on countries to stand up and guarantee a place at the table for indigenous women in policy-making processes. Without them, we cannot achieve the Zero Hunger goal and we will not achieve Sustainable Development,” José Graziano da Silva said in a video message ahead of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Aug. 9.

There are some 400 million indigenous peoples in the world; about half of them are women. Indigenous peoples play an important role in ending hunger.

“Indigenous peoples are the custodians of the world’s biodiversity. They are the defenders of lands and territories which they care for, for future generations,” Graziano da Silva said. “However, too often indigenous peoples have not seen respected their collective rights to their ancestral lands, territories and resources.”

Indigenous women raise livestock, farm, fish and hunt to gather food for their communities. They are also considered guardians of seeds and medicinal plants.

Despite their contributions, FAO said indigenous women are not part of policy and decision-making processes affecting their lives. Often, social protection policies fail to include their views and needs. Despite their wealth of expertise, their work, knowledge and needs are not represented in statistics.