FAO Strengthens Rural Women’s Leadership Before 2026 Year of Women Farmers

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new Regional Platform for the Empowerment of Rural Women. Its goal is to strengthen the leadership, rights, and opportunities of rural, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and young women across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The digital tool was created as part of FAO’s Rural Women’s Empowerment and Environmental Sustainability Acceleration Programme and its regional campaign, “Rural Women, Women with Rights.”

“This innovative platform is a key instrument to transform realities through knowledge, cooperation, and collective action,” said Luiz Beduschi, Senior Policy Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. “It will allow us to coordinate efforts across the region and move towards more just, sustainable, and resilient agrifood systems.”

The platform offers a library of policy guides and research materials, the latest news on rural women’s issues, free online training through FAO Campus, and information on regional coordination events. It also features the official website for the “Rural Women, Women with Rights” campaign.

FAO Regional Programme Leader Maya Takagi said it addresses an urgent need for tools that support women’s empowerment “and support the commitments made in the lead-up to the International Year of Women Farmers in 2026.”

The resolution to declare 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in May 2024 to highlight the role of social protection in reducing gender inequality and empowering rural women in food systems.