“We will not achieve sustainability if we are not inclusive, and we can't be inclusive if we don't include women and girls.”Patricia Peña
Assistant Deputy Minister, Global Affairs Canada (high-level CGE event, New York, 24 September 2024)
[O5] Canada commits to allocating financial support to FAO in 2024 for the dissemination and uptake of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition.
The adoption of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition has not been followed by dedicated funding for dissemination and implementation, resulting in many partner countries facing challenges in translating the guidelines into national policies, legal frameworks, and investment strategies.
By 2025, the Government of Canada will have allocated financial support to directly finance the dissemination and uptake of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition.
The CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment were adopted to provide a global framework for transforming food systems into more inclusive, equitable and resilient spaces where women’s rights are protected, promoted and fulfilled. However, without targeted investment and strategic implementation, these guidelines risk remaining aspirational rather than actionable. Women’s unequal access to resources, land, finance, markets and decision-making continues to undermine their ability to contribute fully to agrifood systems, reducing productivity and weakening food security and nutrition for entire communities. Structural barriers, discriminatory laws, and gender-blind policies perpetuate these inequalities, leaving women particularly vulnerable to poverty, malnutrition and climate-related shocks.
Canada has long been a leader in advancing gender equality, women’s empowerment, and inclusive governance. By supporting the implementation of these guidelines, Canada reinforces its commitment to embedding gender equality across all efforts to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. This aligns with its Feminist International Assistance Policy and broader role in promoting the right to adequate food as part of sustainable development.
Canada’s financial allocation ensures that the guidelines translate into concrete policy actions. Through this initiative, Canada enables governments, institutions and development partners to integrate gender-transformative approaches into agrifood systems, trade policies, and rural development strategies.
This investment reaffirms Canada’s leadership in multilateral efforts to make food systems work for all, ensuring that gender-transformative policies drive systemic change, strengthen women’s leadership, and advance a more equitable and food-secure world.
Required citation:
FAO. 2025. Commit to Grow Equality: investing in the future of women in agrifood systems – Progress report 2025. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd4123en
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