Statement by Mr Phrang Roy, Assistant President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Chairperson, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my great honour to be here today on behalf of IFAD and its President, Lennart Bage, who regrettably could not attend this meeting. Ten years after the Fourth World Conference on Women and five years after the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals, we are today at a decisive moment in the fight against poverty. As highlighted in the recent Millennium Project report, about three quarters of the world’s extremely poor people, more than 800 million people, live in rural areas of the developing world. These are the smallholder farmers, fisherfolk, herders, landless and indigenous peoples. The majority of these rural poor people are women. Today the link between improvement of women’s status, poverty reduction and achievement of the MDGs is widely recognized: but more action and resources have to follow the words. This is one of the primary reasons why the MDGs are still far from being achieved. It is therefore crucial to put rural women’s needs and priorities at the centre of our poverty reduction strategies if real progress is to be made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and in particular if hunger and poverty are to be eradicated. Let us not forget that the Beijing Platform stands as a milestone for the advancement of women in this new century. The Platform is reinforced by the Millennium Declaration and its development targets, while providing a roadmap towards achieving its goals. The Beijing Platform and the MDGs are closely interlinked and mutually reinforcing. IFAD prioritizes the economic empowerment of women as the primary means to improve their overall status and thus contribute to broad-based economic growth and poverty reduction. For this to be possible, women need secure access to productive resources such as land, water for agriculture and financial capital. In one of IFAD-funded projects in Bangladesh, women were specifically targeted for credit and training in aquaculture. Fish ponds in Bangladesh are traditionally owned by men. However, the project was designed so as to give women control over the fish and the income they generated. After some time, one of the woman was interviewed about the changes that had occurred. She told us: "My husband is the owner of the pond but I am the owner of the fish". We have learned through such experiences in rural development projects and programmes that when women have secure access to these resources, and when they can take advantage of economic opportunities, they have great capacity to become powerful agents of change and social transformation. They can transform their own lives and the lives of their families and communities. With improved economic status, women’s confidence and self-esteem increase. They tend to become more involved in community decision-making that can lead to changes in social practices and relationships, and mobilize social action. IFAD’s work is guided by the recognition that promoting women’s transformational role is central to reducing poverty. For us, and indeed for the whole UN system, enhancing women’s decision-making role is a crucial goal in itself. However, for rural poor women to be able to take part in income-generating activities and decision-making, they must have access to essential services and infrastructure, such as health care, education, roads, electricity and safe drinking water. They must have new knowledge, new skills and greater capital. This is why at IFAD we also prioritize investments in infrastructure: to enable rural poor people, women in particular, to direct, manage and control their own lives and their environment. We have come to recognize through our extensive work with indigenous peoples, that indigenous women are important partners in the creation of strategies for sustainable development in their communities and beyond. They are very knowledgeable about the struggle of their communities against poverty, and they are very much united by their lands, natural resources and traditional knowledge. They are the stewards of the biodiversity of many of the world’s ecosystems. IFAD is working with the Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues to mainstream issues of importance to indigenous women. We have more than enough evidence that the Beijing Declaration’s call for gender equality is key to achieving the MDG target of halving the proportion of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Gender equality must be the compass that guides all our actions. That’s why IFAD-supported projects strive to:
Underlying these strategic objectives is IFAD’s belief that rural poor people, and women in particular, must be empowered to lead their own development if poverty is to be eradicated. IFAD is an international organization specifically mandated to eradicate poverty in rural areas. Therefore, in the words of our President, we have a unique ability to “reach the unreached and amplify the voices of the voiceless.” Sadly, rural poor women are still among the world’s most marginalized people, with little influence over matters that affect their lives. We believe they can be driving forces for social change and peace. And, above all, we believe that women are the key to poverty eradication in the world’s developing countries. I look forward to learning more from this distinguished group that has gathered here today. Thank you. New York 28 February – 11 March 2005 |
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