We Effect highlights need for investing in rural women at UN gender equality conference

On 12-23 March 2018, the world’s largest conference on women’s and girls’ rights and gender equality is held at the UN headquarters in New York. The theme of this year’s Commission on Status of Women (CSW) is Challenges and Opportunities in Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Rural Women and Girls.

We Effect and several of our partner organisations are present. We Effect’s Policy Officer on Gender Equality – Camilla Lundberg Ney – is also part of the Swedish delegation to CSW under Minister of Gender Equality Åsa Regnér, newly appointed deputy Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.

– We Effect’s long time experience of supporting people to improve their living conditions through cooperatives to move out of poverty has given us a lot of experience and knowledge that we want to share,  says Camilla Lundberg Ney.

During the CSW We Effect will advocate and highlight the importance of investing in rural development, agriculture, land and gender equality to end poverty and hunger through sustainable development. During the conference We Effect will advocate for the important that these investments reaches women and girls in rural areas.

– We Effect has a strong focus on women’s and girls’ rights. We support female leadership, a fairer division of labor in agriculture and we defend women’s right to land. We work according to the principle that at least 50 percent of our resources go to women and that we integrate gender equality into all our activities. This is something we want others to follow, says Camilla Lundberg Ney.

During CSW, We Effect organizes a high-level seminar with the governments of Sweden and Colombia, as well as UN Women. The seminar will draw attention to the role of rural women and girls for gaining sustainable development in peace processes.

– We Effect has worked with rural development for 60 years and we know cooperativism works. Many of the countries we work in have experienced conflicts and many times our business has started in the middle of a peace building process. We know how important it is to invest in rural development, agriculture, land and gender equality. This is the key to sustainable peace and development, Camilla Lundberg Ney adds.

Also The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), one of We Effect’s member organisations, is represented in the Swedish delegation by Lotta Folkesson, deputy chair of We Effect, chair for the women’s committee of Copa (Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations) and member of the LRF Board of Directors.

Text and photo: Liinu Diaz Rämö