Gender equality is essential to achieve FAO’s mandate of a world free from hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. The Organization recognizes that persisting inequalities between women and men are a major obstacle to agriculture and rural development and that eliminating these disparities is essential to building sustainable and inclusive food systems and resilient and peaceful societies.

In alignment with the priorities set by the international agenda, the FAO gender equality policy, first endorsed in 2012, provides the Organization with a corporate framework to orient its technical and normative work towards clear gender equality objectives relevant to its mandate. The Policy recognizes that a gender-responsive organizational environment is necessary to achieve progress towards these objectives. It, therefore, includes a set of minimum standards for gender mainstreaming to ensure that gender dimensions are adequately addressed in all organizational functions, from results-based management to staff learning and evidence generation. Recognizing that all staff has a role to play in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Policy establishes a shared accountability framework that clearly outlines responsibilities for its implementation across the Organization.