IICA took presence and message of rural women of the Americas to the European Union through photography exhibition in Brussels

Brussels, 1 July 2022 (IICA).- The photography exhibition entitled “Rural Women of the Americas: Sowing Tomorrow's Agriculture Today", the product of a partnership between Vogue Brazil and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), was selected from among hundreds of proposals to be part of the European Development Days 2022 - #EDD22, organized by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. 
 
The exhibition is part of IICA’s commitment and efforts to raise awareness and to give a voice to the rural women of the Americas for whom food is synonymous with affection and survival, who are protagonists of and safeguard ancestral techniques and whose role is vital for the development of their families and communities.
 
The gallery comprised 28 images and stories by photographer Cecilia Duarte and journalist Mariana Abreu that reflect a snippet of the life of powerful women from Argentina, Brazil, Jamaica and Guatemala.   
 
On the occasion of #EDD22, a website accompanied the photographs with recordings of the voices of some of these women. The result was a more immersive experience that brought the European viewers closer to the realities, experiences and landscapes of the rural Americas. 
 
“IICA is immensely pleased and proud to be present at an event of such import. It drives us to continue our efforts to recognize the vital contribution of rural women and to invite society and decision-makers to take part in a necessary process to transform the reality and inequalities experienced by this population”, expressed Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.
 
The rural women of Latin America and the Caribbean represent 21% of the population. These women work in agriculture, handicrafts and fishing, among other productive activities, and also care for their homes, the elderly and the sick.
 
Despite these efforts, many of them are invisible. The majority do not own the land on which they live and work; they lack their own income and have very little political engagement. For these reasons, IICA seeks to give even greater value to their contributions and to drive solid public policies that empower and benefit them.
 
During #EDD22, the exhibition received hundreds of visitors, most notably Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships; Pilar Cancela, Secretary of State with Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; Antón Leis, Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID); and representatives of UN-Habitat, GIZ, AFD, British Council, CAF and the Embassy of Guatemala to the EU, among other international actors and European Union delegates.
 
See the photo gallery here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzVkJn 

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int