Priorities of the Women Major Group for CSD16-17

· The face of the farmer and natural resource manager is primarily female in most of the developing world. Knowledge, technology, policies, institutions & programs must therefore be developed by putting women at the centre to orient structures and processes to address their needs as food producers and environmental managers through gender mainstreaming.

 
· Rather than being regarded as a vulnerable group, women's knowledge , experience and substantial roles make them experts in agriculture and natural resource management ;they are key agents in the way forward for sustainable development.

 
· Our experience is that when governments implement the CEDAW Convention, especially Article 14, and the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa by developing and implementing policies to ensure ownership, including the right to inherit land, equal access and control by women to land and safe tenure, .

 
· Access to safe drinking water and sanitation services : the text doesn't not refer to remarks made about rights to water and sanitation which are already recognized and incorporated in CEDAW, the Children's Rights treaty and JPoI, thus creating an important framework, especially for women and girls, in getting access to these basic services.

 
· GMOs: women's concerns about GMOs are not addressed in the Chair's summary

 
· Women practice sustainable agriculture that incorporates practices of integrated pest management, integrated soil management and reduced use of pesticides and chemicals in many parts of the world.

 
· Biofuels: production of biofuels has to be made ecologically sustainable and binding criteria developed. Monitoring of sustainability criteria is crucial and should be done through an independent monitoring system, for instance by IFAD, and would have to include a mandate to visit the sites on fact finding mission.


· Vocational training for women: Training of women for a specific vocation is an absolute prerequisite to enhance their economic and livelihood opportunities. Vocational training at different education levels, especially for women and the girl child, has to be given priority and incorporated in development strategies. Vocational training should be based on the train-the-trainer principle and incorporate local knowledge systems. Women must be trained to carry out minor maintenance of agroprocessing equipment in rural communities.


· Extension workers in the field should be trained and sensitized to the needs and knowledge of women farmers. One good example of this is the Farmer Field Schools. Furthermore it is very important to gender balance all teams of extension workers.


· Many governments have already endorsed 30% women's participation in decision-making processes. However, this percentage should be increased to at least 50% at all levels of decision-making.


· We call for measures to improve water distribution, the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to be included in all agricultural and health policies and projects. Access to water and sanitation is a basic human right.

 
· Criteria of funders often include the proof of long standing legal status and proven track-records; most women's organizations can not comply with that either because they have recently been founded or are not able to get a legal status because of lack of resources or legal constraints - a paradigm shift and creative solutions by policy makers are needed. We also refer to the agreed conclusions of the Commission on the status of women 2008 on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women.


· We stress again that gender indicators and disaggregated data collection (by sex and age) have to be part of monitoring programs and gender budgeting has to be part of the planning process.


· Adaptation & mitigation practices need to address climate change which impact women and their livelihoods.


· HIV/AIDS, malaria and waterborne diseases, impact women and children heavily and should therefore be considered as an essential thematic cross-cutting issue.


· We urge the CSD to recognise the growing problem of suicide amongst farmers and its impact on the lives of agricultural women.


· Finally, we would encourage the nomination of a woman chair for CSD-17 and beyond.