States shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against peasant women and other women working in rural areas in order to ensure, on the basis of equality between men and women, that they fully and equally enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and that they are able to freely pursue, participate in and benefit from rural economic, social, political and cultural development. (From the Draft UN Declaration on rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas)
Women play extremely important roles in organizing their communities to ensure food security and sovereignty, and defending lands, territories and environments from destructive investments and development. They have assumed leadership of campaigns and movements for justice and rights in the face of grave threats to their lives and families.
Focus on the Global South recently paid homage to women who have innovated and co-created the foods, cuisines, and food systems that sustain the world, and make everyday life possible in an online exhibition entitled The Hands that feed us
