The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will address the issues of gender equality, empowerment of women, and development cooperation at its High-level Segment, to be held from 28 June – 2 July 2010 in New York.
In preparation for these discussions, the Council will organize a series of preparatory meetings. The first of these meetings, which is being organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, UNIFEM, Heifer International, WOCAN, and the Hunger Project, will address the topic “Who feeds the World in 2010 and Beyond: Rural women as Agents of Change and Champions of Global Food Security”. The event will take place on 22 April, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The objective of the session is to increase awareness and understanding of the critical role of rural women in agricultural development and food security for the achievements of the Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs), in particular the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In addition, it is expected that the meeting will generate a critical mass for action and collaboration through broader engagement and dialogue on rural women’s economic and social roles among various stakeholders (governments, UN agencies, civil society, private sector, foundations) and strengthen ECOSOC’s role as a strategic and pro-active intergovernmental forum at the forefront of global policy making. The meeting will also serve to highlight areas for further work with respect to the Council’s Ministerial Declaration of 2003 on Rural Development.
The second meeting, which will take place on 22 April, from 3 to 6 p.m., will serve as a preparatory event for the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF). The meeting will explore the role of aid in mitigating the impact of the financial and economic crisis on achieving national development goals and the MDGs. It will initiate a multi-stakeholder dialogue on questions such as decisions on aid allocations in the context of multiple crises, the possible cost of marginalizing “aid orphans” in favor of “aid darlings”, and the need for a renewed firm commitment by donors to restore stability and prosperity in the global economy. Key policy messages and good practices emanating from this discussion will serve to inform the consultative process and analytical preparations for the 2010 DCF and beyond.
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