Women: the ABC of food security.

While the 1996 World Food Summit Plan of Action was being approved, a companion NGO (nongovernmental organization) Forum provided opportunities for rural women from 29 countries to relay their perspectives and recommendations. The Rural Women's Workshop was organized by four NGOs: Isis International-Manila, La Via Campesina, the People-Centred Development Forum, and the Women's Food and Agriculture Working Group. Isis International-Manila seeks to create spaces, facilitate processes, and disseminate information for rural women to voice concerns, network, and plan responses. The La Via Campesina network operates in Latin American and the Caribbean where it applies a strong gender perspective to all of its activities. Ultimate progress on the World Food Summit Plan of Action can be evaluated using the ABCs of food security: does the program or policy assure 1) access for women to the total means of production; 2) benefits for women; and 3) community-based resource management and sustainable agriculture.