Useful Information

The National Observatory for Women in Agriculture and Rural Areas
Launching Ceremony
Beirut October 28th, 2008
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE ROUND TABLE
 
Women before being producers are consumers and represent the warranty for a safe food production.  The conveners agree in defining the activities of NOWARA as a tool to sustain the good agricultural practices through the women activities in their territories; NOWARA is the answer to proceed in the quality agriculture. 
1 - Nowara represents a first occasion in the Arab Mediterranean Countries to empower the gender issue related to the agricultural sector; Nowara had the effect to animate a debate on the Lebanese territory on the role of rural woman, meanwhile it will activate the need to define the legislative tool and initiate the Parliamentary discussion on the importance to renew or revise the legislation frame for female employment and rural women rights;
 
2 - The Nowara Observatory is a tool to spread the policies of the Ministry of Agriculture and to promote initiatives that could support the establishment of youths and women entrepreneurship; in this orientation the participants of the round table wish the support of the Governmental authorities for the sustainability and action of Nowara.
 
3 - Nowara has to work at national level (local action) but with a Mediterranean perspective for the Arab world (global vision), Identifying programs and initiative of high impact that could spread the activities and allow the perception that Nowara targets women in remote rural area; in this regard the award to women workers and entrepreneurs should be used as a tool to promote Nowara in neglected rural areas.
 
4 - Nowara having a social and cultural dimension could play a role to animate a debate at the national level to enhance a lobby movement for the promotion of agriculture and rural territories integrating the civil society and the professional organization.
 
5 - Nowara with data collected on the rural areas and on rural women entrepreneurs could represent a service for the national organization and institutions to better plan actions and services to enhance the territory following integrating culture and environmental approaches.
 
6 - Nowara is considered an animation tool for the rural areas; through Nowara, pilot initiatives and “innovative” approaches could be transferred particularly to potential areas, meanwhile new approaches could be generated by the local operators; in this sense the collaboration of Nowara with Local Action Groups, locally established, will help the territory in searching new services for the sustainability of the local communities and mainly women.
 
7 - Nowara is considered a “didactic tool”, in this frame it is suggested to develop specific awareness programs at school level to bring this campaign to the family entourage. Animate a debate with local voluntary organizations to spread information about Nowara and involve   a large territory as much as possible should be one of Nowara target objectives in the near future.
 
8 - Nowara is a tool to encourage and facilitate through a specific assistance, contacts with foreign markets, opportunities to export rural women production and link to international exhibitions and commercial events where typical products and services existing in the Lebanese rural areas could be promoted, in this regard the cooperation with International non profit organization is required.
 
9 - Nowara with the activities to empower the role of women could represent a useful experience and a platform to develop promotion actions (through web or events) to enhance and sustain the role of women in the all Mediterranean Countries; the expectations of the round table is to utilize the achievements of Nowara in Lebanon in foreseeing the establishment of similar structures in other countries and hence create a network of experience among the Mediterranean culture.
 
10 - Considering the role that the Italian Cooperation is playing to sustain the empowerment of the woman with the published Guidelines elaborated with the Lebanese civil society (Municipalities, NGOs, etc.), and the willingness to activate mechanisms of economic support at territorial level to generate income of the rural woman, the participants wish the contribution from the Italian Cooperation in establishing and supporting concrete actions in sustaining Nowara.
 
11 – Apulia Region appreciates the establishment of NOWARA and identifies the Observatory as a tool for peace and prosperity in the area. Considering the initial difficulties that NOWARA has to face to implement its activities in the territory and taking into consideration the importance of collecting data among rural communities, Apulia Region intends to sustain, in the frame of its own cooperation programs, initiatives that could help the activation of NOWARA .
 
12 - The CIHEAM/IAM Bari will perform effort to involve Nowara in eligible programs of European Union and mainly the one that are focusing on network to promote and show the efforts of the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture that consider the role of the women in the rural areas as strategic for the development of rural territories.
 
13 - ONILFA, operating in Italy since 1997, has acquired a great and diversified field of experiences on the Italian rural territory and intends to share experience with NOWARA in activating a continuing assistance through web, exchange of visit in order to transfer know how, assure and build an international characterization and acquire innovative approaches.
 
14 – The IFAP representative proposes to assess the potential forms of collaboration with NOWARA to create a link with the organizations who are promoting the role of women in their Permanent Women Committee. IFAP offers its technical support through concrete actions to establish relationships among rural women of the Countries represented in the Committee.