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Policy briefHow can FAO assist in improving social protection for rural communities in Europe and Central Asia?
sep/22
2022Also available in:
No results found.FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022–2031 envisages the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. In this scope, FAO promotes inclusive economic growth by reducing inequalities between urban and rural areas, rich and poor countries, men and women to attain a better life for all. This policy brief highlights the gaps and barriers concerning social protection in the region, which present challenges for addressing the specific vulnerabilities of rural populations and helping them to better manage risks. The brief discusses how social protection programmes should be designed and it specifies key entry points for FAO to improve social protection for rural populations in the region. The brief concludes that, especially in the post-pandemic period, expanding the coverage, adequacy and comprehensiveness of social protection for rural populations is key to addressing food security and nutrition, rural poverty, developing agriculture, and building resilient and sustainable food systems in Europe and Central Asia. -
Book (stand-alone)Gender equality, social protection and rural development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Insights from the region
2016Also available in:
This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of gender equality, social protection and rural development in the region. Overall, there is a lack of research, documented knowledge and public discourse on this subject and a multi-disciplinary approa ch is necessary for ensuring an in-depth and rigorous understanding of these intersecting issues in the context of the region. In supporting this publication, the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia intends to draw attention to these issues as critical for the socio-economic development of the region, and raise greater awareness among all stakeholders and promote more research in this area. One of the main reasons why this subject remains on the periphery of research and discourse is the widespread public opinion that issues relating to gender have already been addressed and are, therefore, not priorities for rural development and social protection. Indeed, in the post-Soviet countries, women, including those located in rural areas, continue to enjoy relatively high levels of literacy and education and high economic activity rates. Furthermore, all countries, in an effort to sustain the achievements of the previous regime, have recognized the formal supremacy of internation al legal norms and UN standards, including in the area of gender equality and women’s rights. They have also been developing and implementing national policies towards achieving gender equality. However, if we look beyond the average numbers, and disaggregate available statistics by sex and by location wherever possible, we can see that in critical areas (for example, formal employment; access to social services such as childcare facilities and pensions; and participation in local governance, am ong others), rural women often emerge as the most disadvantaged group. There are also key issues, for example, access to productive resources (such as land, credits, agricultural equipment and extension services) that are of crucial importance to rural livelihoods but are not commonly viewed from a gender perspective. Across the region, women form a majority in the rural population, and a significant proportion of the labour force engaged in agriculture. However, the overarching trend in terms o f rural women’s employment is their engagement in informal, low-skilled and low-paid jobs. Women’s access to assets and productive resources is also significantly lower than that of rural men’s. Rural women’s participation in public life has reduced dramatically over the last decades, and generous social welfare is no longer a social norm. -
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetExpanding access to social protection for rural populations 2023
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No results found.Social protection is a human right, a commitment in the SDGs and it is an effective policy instrument to address the multiple crises we currently face like a changing climate, conflict and their links with poverty, hunger and inequality. While progress has been made in expanding access to social protection, there are still massive gaps in coverage. This is especially worrying in rural areas where there is a concentration of poor and vulnerable people with limited access to financial and social services, and informal employment is widespread. Consequently, poor and vulnerable rural households face colossal challenges in beneficially participating in economic opportunities, such as those in agrifood systems. Without access to adequate and comprehensive social protection, rural populations risk being left behind, blocking progress on reducing poverty and inequality.
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