The Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) has emphasized the need to implement policies, programs and affirmative actions with a gender approach, as well as to increase rural women’s participation in decision-making processes, particularly in mixed organizations and in the public sector, in order to address gender inequalities and decrease the gaps they face. In Resolution No. 534, the IABA explicitly recognizes the contribution of women in the Americas to agricultural and rural development across all cultural, social and productive sectors, especially given the major constraints that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on rural women. Furthermore, the resolution instructs the Director General to strengthen the strategic vision and technical cooperation actions aimed at reducing gender gaps and inequalities in this MTP, with a view to driving the empowerment and equal inclusion of rural women in the development of agrifood systems in the Americas.

To fulfill this mandate, this program will be aimed at increasing gender mainstreaming and support for rural youth in order to achieve substantial equality in the Americas. Its technical cooperation actions will focus on:

• Strengthening institutional capacities in the region with a gender approach and increasing support for youth, while promoting regional frameworks that bring them together and give them a leading role in strengthening and transforming agrifood systems.
• Supporting the development of a new generation of public policies and programs to position the region and strengthen its linkages with global agendas.
• Strengthening the gender perspective at the Institute and the role of women in agriculture and rural life in the Americas, capitalizing on innovative capabilities to meet the demands of the Member States.
• Leading an initiative on youth leadership in agriculture in the Americas, involving youth in efforts to develop a new generation of public policies and in decision-making that will contribute to transforming agrifood systems.

To this end, the program’s actions will be aimed at driving coordination with public and private stakeholders to foster the inclusion of a gender perspective and the incorporation of youth into technical cooperation processes.

Likewise, in light of the current climate and mitigation and reactivation plans in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, it will foster the development of post-pandemic recovery strategies that are gender-sensitive and involve youth.

Within this framework, the program will be strengthened through the generation of information, analyses, opportunities to work in a network, policies and programs with a gender perspective. Additionally, the management of the Hemispheric Platform for Rural Women and the Hemispheric Platform for Rural Youth will be strengthened. Similarly, all institutional activities that contribute to strengthening and establishing new partnerships in the area of gender and youth will be managed, both with Member States and with other key stakeholders in the international community, such as the forums of female ministers and other high-level officials of the Americas.