I am honoured to introduce and welcome Michelle Bachelet, the Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Gender equality is a basic human right. Over several decades the United Nations has made considerable progress in raising awareness and improving the condition of women. And yet gender inequalities are still pervasive in the world today.

The creation of UNWomen represents a special commitment, a promise that we can and will do more. UNWomen will hold the United Nations system accountable for delivering on that promise, and will monitor progress throughout the system and facilitate coordination.

Michelle Bachelet has already shown her ability to lead and to ensure results as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and as Defense Minister and Minister of Health. She has championed women’s rights and gender equality throughout her career. Wherever she has turned her attention, women have benefitted. And now she has turned her attention to the work of the UN system.

One of UNWomen’s key focus areas is economic empowerment. At IFAD we are also keenly aware that empowering women can have a dramatic impact on individuals, families, communities, and even countries. Investing in women can improve productivity and food security, as well as peace and security as a whole.

From our experience, we have seen that women re-invest in their communities and in their own and others’ futures, and have proven to be prudent savers and savvy entrepreneurs.

But the obstacles that women face are considerable, as you know. Many of these are systemic. Women are often denied access to basic education and health care. They are denied a voice in political and economic decision-making. Women are held back by unequal property rights and limited control over resources. In addition, violence against women is widespread, and it is women who bear the brunt of conflict situations.

As we look at creating sound foundations for food security today and in the years ahead, we must look to the young people living in rural areas. It is estimated that food production in developing countries will need to double by 2050 to meet demand.

We must ensure that rural girls, as well as boys, are educated; that young women, as well as young men, receive training,  so that they can be the community leaders, the entrepreneurs and the productive farmers of tomorrow.

The need to do this was recently underscored by the release of a report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs called Girls Grow: A Vital Force in Rural Economies. The report confirms that girls and women are pivotal for economic growth and social stability in rural areas.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment have always been at the core of IFAD’s efforts to reduce poverty, for reasons of both development effectiveness and justice  – two dimensions that we consider to be inseparable. We have made much progress, but we also know that we need to do much more, and to do it faster.

Enabling women to have more equal access to economic opportunities and services, and improving their livelihoods, is not only a matter of justice --it is also one of the most effective strategies for reducing poverty and malnutrition. Greater justice leads to greater development for all.

Women participate in and benefit from increasing numbers from IFAD’s operations. Currently 49% of those receiving services from IFAD-supported projects are women. And our efforts are accelerating. Two years ago, when IFAD received  the MDG3 Torch from the Danish government, I committed IFAD to “do something extra” for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

I have seen for myself the impact that IFAD-funded projects are having on women’s lives. In Kenya, I met Jane Njaguara, who benefitted from a smallholder community services development project. She went from having one goat to running a dairy farm with poultry, cows, and a milk business. All that she needed was an opportunity. And through her, others have benefitted as well. She now makes enough money to send her children to school, and her business  provides jobs for other members of the community.

We see over and over in our work that women are willing to invest time and effort in improving the nutrition of their families. When I was in Guatemala, I met Anna Maria Morales, who was taking part in an innovative project to turn a trash heap into a community garden, and diversify the local diet. The community is using organic gardening techniques and an efficient drip irrigation system. Morales told me that her family is eating better and enjoying the more varied diet.

I have many more stories from China, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and elsewhere, but today is not the day for storytelling.

IFAD’s new policy on gender equality and women’s empowerment will be presented for approval in December 2011, and will help us intensify and scale-up our efforts to improve the economic and social status of rural women. This cuts across all aspects of our work – programmes, policy dialogue, advocacy, communications and learning.

When we say that women’s empowerment and gender equality are key to development, we are also saying that without them, our efforts will fail.

Women have vast potential to transform their own lives, the economy, and society itself. That potential is not so much untapped as constrained, held back systematically and functionally. If we have the courage and determination to make gender equality a reality, the overall impact on reducing poverty, hunger and injustice worldwide would be enormous. I am looking forward to hearing more from Ms Bachelet about her vision of how we can reach that goal.

Thank you.

IFAD President remarks

 

Ms Bachelet remarks

Full recording

18 October 2011, Rome, Italy