Communicating Gender for Rural Development
Communicating Gender for Rural Development
The FAO-Dimitra Project, a participatory information and communication initiative whose goal is to improve the visibility of rural men and women, recently launched “Communicating gender for rural development: Integrating gender in communication for development”. This handbook is designed for all development practitioners (not only communication/information specialists) and was born out of the observation that all too often, gender is overlooked in the design of communication initiatives for development in rural areas and that rural populations, women particularly, are rarely viewed as primary sources of information.
The handbook explains that communication for development initiatives in rural areas must take into account the different realities faced by men and women and foster dialogue between them. This is important to prevent the risk of reaching only the most powerful groups, men, which can lead to the perpetuation or even reinforcement of inequalities. By the same token, creating initiatives for women exclusively can fail to enlist pivotal support from men—or even antagonize them and reinforce women’s marginalization. Both approaches defy the initiative’s initial participatory purpose and preclude change.
See also
- FAO
External links
For more information on the FAO Dimitra report – Communicating Gender for Rural Development – read the following articles: