The First National Forum for Rural Women will take place from today, Wednesday 23 to Friday 25, in the city of Pilar, Ñeembucú, with the aim of contributing to empowerment for sustainable development.
The Forum has been organised by the Ministries of Women and Environment and Sustainable Development (MADES), in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, in commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women and within the framework of the Public Policies for Rural Women (CIAL) laws and the Paraguay + Verde Project.
The objectives of this forum, which will begin with two days of workshops, are to strengthen the capacities of rural women to access and use policy instruments in productive, financial and technological services, in harmony with the environment, education, health, social protection, food security and social and productive infrastructure provided by the State.
It stated aims are to “address the interests, needs and expectations of rural women in relation to natural and productive resources and the environment.” It also aims to create the Rural Women’s Network as a national mechanism for monitoring the application of the aforementioned regulations and to promote the visibility, empowerment and leadership of rural women and recognise their leadership in the application of the REDD+ mechanism.
This event, aimed at rural women leaders from the Western and Eastern Regions and the Specialised Meeting on Family Farming, seeks to highlight the important role they play in the conservation and preservation of the environment and, fundamentally, of forests, water and biodiversity.
The CIAL is the strategic technical body working to coordinate actions for the effective application of the Law for Rural Women. It is chaired by the Ministry of Women and is made up of 33 public institutions.
The expected results of this meeting include the formation of a national Rural Women’s Network to monitor the exercise of their rights to access and use policy instruments; the application of the CIAL from a social and environmental safeguards approach; and institutions that govern public policies, which are aware of the main priorities and needs of rural women.
To close the forum, on Friday 25th the presentation ceremony of the Ninth National Report on the Application of the Law in question will be held, in commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women, on the esplanade of the Cabildo Museum in Pilar.
Representatives of public institutions from the Ministries of Women, Environment and Sustainable Development, Agriculture and Livestock, National Forestry Institute, Economy and Finance, Agricultural Credit Facility, and National Institute of Rural Development and Land, which make up the CIAL and are 33 public entities, will participate.
Representatives from United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will also be present.
About Paraguay + Verde
Paraguay + Verde was created in recognition of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from land use change between 2015 and 2017. The initiative will implement actions of the National Forest Strategy for Sustainable Growth (ENBCS) and will operationalise and capitalize the Climate Change Fund (FCC).
