Enhanced Commitments to Women to Ensure Food Security - Case Study Example

Critique: Enhanced Commitments to Women to Ensure Food Security Introduction Issues involving women are one of the major issues which are being encountered by different governments and different national and international agencies and organizations. Women, traditionally have been considered the more inferior gender. Their rights in general have always been relegated in favour of the rights of men. In terms of resources, the supplies have always been based on availability and on excess. Some analysts have decried that women have traditionally been at the bottom of the food chain. In the contemporary scene, major changes have been made to ensure that women receive as much as their male counterparts and that they receive adequate help and assistance in their daily needs. Various programs have found implementation in the past years with the goal of ensuring sufficient programs for safeguarding the welfare of women. One of these policies is the policy on “enhanced commitments to women to ensure food security”. This study will now provide a critique of this policy. This critique shall evaluate the advantages and the disadvantages of this policy, along with the issues which have been seen with the implementation of this policy. This study is being carried out in order to establish the baseline details about UN policies for women. It is also being undertaken in order to identify gaps in these policies and the possible recommendations which can be implemented in order to fill in these gaps and to resolve these issues. Discussion The goal of the World Food Programme (WFP) is to ensure that all people have access to adequate food supplies. In October 2002, the WFP set forth the new Gender Policy which was meant to consider the recommendations from the review process. This policy outlined different favourable measures for women and gender mainstreaming tools, including eight Enhanced Commitments to Women from 2003 to 2007 (WFP, 2002, p. 2). The ECW programme for women has now included the women’s enhanced control of their food. In effect, the ECW is set to contribute to women’s control of food distributions upon the issuance of household food ration cards in their names, and with their food delivered directly to them or in the manner which they prefer (Rand, et.al., 2007, p. 104). The full transparency of food distribution measures is also being committed in this program. The WFP is also based on the eight enhanced commitments to women in different areas of advocacy. The commitments include the following: meet nutritional needs of expectant mothers and adolescent girls; ensure that women benefit equally from assets created for food training and food for work; contribute to women’s control of food relief distributions of household rations; ensure that women are equally involved in food distribution committees; and contribute to environments which acknowledge the role of women in ensuring food security (Stotz, Joergensen, and Gautam, 2004, pp. 1-3). These are the policies which are meant to ensure better and improved access to food and food services for all citizens, especially for women. Inasmuch as these policies are well planned and well thought of, they are ultimately filled with issues and problems in their implementation. These issues are discussed below. Issues in the implementation of the policy One of the issues in the policy on enhancing commitments to women in terms of ensuring food security is the fact that the implementation of the policy has been uneven (WFP, 2002, p. 3). The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Government of Lao PDR set forth a review in order to evaluate the experiences of rural women in the Asian region in the past ten years since the conduct of the UN Conference on Women. The report revealed that since 1975, much progress was gained in improving the status and food security of women in most countries worldwide. However, such progress has been largely uneven (Chaturvedi, 2002, p. vi). Some nations were able to gain better success in these areas as compared to other countries. Women in the rural areas still do not enjoy the same benefits and gains enjoyed by women in the urban areas (WFP, 2002, p. 3). For women living in lesser developed nations, they suffer greater food insecurity as compared to women in developed nations. In a report by the International Journal for Rural Development (IJRD, n.d), it was pointed out that rural women bore the brunt of economic and food crisis. The report pointed out that the financial and food crises have decreased the progress of establishing gender equity and decent work for women in the rural areas. “With job losses and cuts in spending on social services and infrastructure, women’s care burdens and unpaid work have intensified, and their financial contribution to household food security is likely to decrease. This is particularly dramatic for female-headed households” (IJRD, n.d). A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund and Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) mentions factors which drive women into disadvantaged positions. These positions cover employment, segmentation, gender gaps in earnings, and lower hours of paid work (IJRD, n.d). As a result, these women have difficulties in securing their basic needs, especially those which pertain to their sustenance. In terms of meeting the specific nutritional requirements for expectant and nursing mothers and adolescent girls and improving the health and nutritional awareness, the efforts of the UN was able to reveal that in 89% of the sites to implement food security for mothers, micronutrient-fortified food was given to all pregnant and lactating mothers (WFP, 2004, p. 3). Most of the pregnant and lactating mothers were also able to attend awareness-raising sessions on nutrition, health, and caring practices (WFP, 2011). There were however issues seen in this area of food security because deworming was only made available in about 19% of sites for pregnant and lactating mothers. In many sites, adolescent girls were not covered at all. Moreover, only about 61% of the sites were able to experience awareness-raising sessions on food security and on disease prevention (WFP, 2004, p. 4). Another aspect of improving food security for women has been set forth in the school feeding program which helps expand activities which would enable girls to attend school (International Food Policy Research Institute, 2000, p. 2). In general, about 48% of school pupils who were brought under the WFP programme on food security were able to benefit from the policy. It is noted however that in primary schools, there are gender gaps between boys and girls enrolled (Babu and Sanyal, 2009, p. 282). In fact, in many developed nations, boys outnumbered girls by more than 15% (International Food Policy Research Institute, 2000, p. 2). In secondary schools, the gender gap is about 25% in areas where primary education is supported by the WFP. In terms of providing food for training and food for work activities, women represent about 61.2 % of trainees, approximately 70% set forth by the Gender Policy (WFP, 2004, p. 3). In most sites, ration cards and distribution lists were being used with each trainee receiving food from ration cards which bore their name (Women’s Refugee Commission, 2011, p. 2). However, in this aspect of the policy implementation, data for adolescent girls were often not available; hence, it is difficult to make generalizations and accurate assessment of their situation and the efficacy of measures being implemented in their behalf. There is therefore a need to improve the data information gathering for the female adolescent population – seeking to ensure that the right data is produced and later utilized for policy making (Women’s Refugee Commission, 2011, p. 2). In terms of food for work/assets (FFW), on the whole, women and adolescents make up about 55% of food for work workers. And among these participants in the FFW activities, about 98% of women are identified through ration cards with their names (Rao, 2008, p. 279). An issue seen in this aspect of the policy is obvious in the fact that participatory consultation involving beneficiaries to define FFW activities was not apparent in about 36% of the sites (Kisamba-Mugerwa, 2001, p. 1). This is not an encouraging figure because the WFP aims to make its policies as participatory as possible. In terms of food relief and general food distribution in order to ensure women’s control of food in relief food distributions of household rations, male and female beneficiaries have been made well aware of food distributions methods, most especially in ration sizes, ration composition, and distribution schedule (WFP, 2004, p. 4). In polygamous areas, about 63% of the sites identified wives as food entitlement holders or allowed their wives to avail of food rations under their names. In 73% of these sites, women were also encouraged to gather food. There are however some issues seen in this stage and aspect of the WFP food security program for women (WFP, 2004, p. 3). For one, consultations in the selection of food distribution points were seen in about 48% relief sites only. In these sites where consultations were seen, women were not actually consulted. In instances when ration cards were issued to women in their names, they were also the heads of the households. Otherwise, they were made to rely on the food rations of their male family members. These women were also not properly informed that they were not actually required to render services in exchanged for such food rations (WFP, 2004, p. 3). In any case, abuse was seen in some areas with food rations being exchanged for some form of hard labour or service. In terms of women’s participation in the food distribution committees and other programme-related activities, favourable results were seen in terms of women participation in the food distribution committees (Humanitarian Reform, n.d, p. 3). Women were well-represented as executives and as members. Women also represented in about half of the FFT activities and were executive levels in about 80% of these sites. However, the women participants in beneficiary-level committees were often not present and their participation in food distribution committees was also not very high (WFP, 2004, p. 3). Only 38% of the women made up half of the representatives and executive levels members. Leadership training for women involved in committees was not sufficient for the activities. In order to ensure that both genders are mainstreamed into all programming activities, policies have been implemented in different country offices. Gender-related areas and data have already been identified in 67% of countries offices (WFP, 2004, p. 3). Most of these data identified indicate the presence of sex-disaggregated data. In effect, the gathering of data has not been as prevalent as was hoped in the program policy; however, data gathered indicate the need to address gender-related issues in most countries and in most territories. Finally, in terms of contributions made to environments which acknowledge the role which women play in securing food security, in most country offices, gender focal persons are clearly designated; all country offices have come up with strategies which address the key roles which women play in ensuring food security (WFP, 2004, p. 4). Moreover, most policies and groups involved in their implementation have identified the details of gender issues. An issue often identified in this advocacy is based on the fact that these advocacy messages are often not translated into local languages and they are not distributed to local communities. In effect, these advocacies lack the necessary details which help ensure their believability and relate-ability in each local setting (WFP, 2004, p. 4). In areas like Africa, food security is tied in with their culture and their traditional treatment of women. Most women in these areas need cash and have persistent needs for food, not just for themselves but for their families and children as well (Miles, 2007, p. 32). However, these women are also very much affected by pseudo-development. As African governments seem to advocate for their rights, including their rights to food security, the fact that these women are treated as property always seem to affect the process of securing their rights. Women in these regions are treated as properties to be passed from fathers to husbands and from family to family in order to ensure the conduct of household chores and other pertinent activities (Miles, 2007, p. 2). Women are often negotiated for ‘brideprices.’ In this practice, males negotiate with each other in order to gain or ensure profitable results from women negotiated between them. These women are also excluded from land ownership. Therefore, even as these women are often made to work on the lands in order to provide for their families, they are not allowed to own these lands. In effect, whatever gains are seen from land use does not accrue to them by right and by their labour. The property would still be based upon their male family members. In the end, they do not have the right to claim the fruit of their labours. Conclusion The discussion above indicates the different issues seen in the policy of the UN and the WFP in ensuring food security for women. Gains have been seen in the different activities set forth by the agencies; however, various issues in their implementation have also been seen. Most of these issues have risen from the traditional subjugation of women’s roles. Moreover, the difficulties in implementation have also been seen in rural areas and in developing countries where issues on poverty and the traditional roles of women have dominated for millions of years. This discussion was able to reveal the different gaps in the implementation of the policy and these gaps have to be filled in and issues resolved in order to ensure better gains for women in terms of food security. Works Cited Babu, S. & Sanyal, P. (2009), Food security, poverty, and nutrition policy analysis: statistical methods and policy applications, London: Academic Press Chaturvedi, P. (2002), Women and Food Security: role of panchayats, California: Concept Publishing Company Global Food Security (2004), Advancement of Rural Women in the Beijing Plus 10 Era: Programs and Policies, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.globalfoodsec.net/static/text/FAO_regional_consultation.pdf Humanitarian Reform, (n.d), Gender and food security, food distribution and nutrition in emergencies, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.humanitarianreform.org/humanitarianreform/Portals/1/cluster%20approach%20page/clusters%20pages/Gender/Gender%20Toolkit/E_GH_07_FoodIssues.pdf International Food Policy Research Institute (2000), The key to food security: Looking into the household, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pubs/ib/ib3.pdf International Journal for Rural Development (n.d), UN: Rural women face increasing inequality, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.rural21.com/366.0.html Kisamba-Mugerwa, W. (2001), Empowering low income women for enhanced food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, IFPRI, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://conferences.ifpri.org/2020conference/PDF/summary_kisambamugerwa.pdf Miles, C. (2007), “Because women are property”: Issues of Gender, Food Security, Property Ownership, Quasi-Development and Religion in Sub-Saharan Africa, George Mason University, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.religionomics.com/carrie/Articles/Miles%20Women%20as%20property%20submission.pdf Rand, J., Watson, G., & Oxfam America, (2007), Rights-based approaches: learning project, USA: Oxfam Rao, N. (2008), "Good women do not inherit land": politics of land and gender in India, London: Berghahn Books Stotz, D., Joergensen, A., & Gautam, B. (2004), Reflections and Experiences from the Gender Activities of the Rural Community Infrastructure Works Programme (RCIW), Women and Food Security, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.cconepal.org.np/uploads/publications/files/RCIW%20Women%20Report.pdf Women’s Refugee Commission (2011), Cooking Fuel Saves Lives: A Holistic Approach to Cooking in Humanitarian Settings, viewed 01 May 2011 from www.womenscommission.org/.../672-cooking-fuel-saves-lives-livelihoods-development-a-food-security World Food Programme (2002), Enhanced Commitments to Women to Ensure Food Security, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.wfp.org/sites/default/files/Gender%20Policy%20%282003-2007%29%20Enhanced%20Commitments%20to%20Women%20to%20Ensure%20Food%20Security.pdf World Food Programme (2011), WFP Activities, viewed 01 May 2011 from http://www.wfp.org/countries/Bangladesh/Operations Read More