Food sovereignty, including food and nutrition security2, along with sexual and reproductive health and rights3 are fundamental development issues, which until today remain a challenge across the region.
Based on the 2014 UNDP Human Development Report, there are 2.2 billion people (more than 15 percent) living in multidimensional poverty4 across the globe who are more likely to be femaleheaded households. Approximately 80 percent of the global population also lack comprehensive social protection, 12 percent (or 842 million) suffer from chronic hunger, and nearly half of workers (more than 1.5 billion) are in informal or precarious employment.5 The same report shows that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest multidimensional poverty headcount with 59.6 percent, followed by South Asia (53.4%), Arab States (15.5%), Latin America and the Caribbean (6.7%), and East Asia and the Pacific (6.4%). Poverty levels are consistently higher in rural areas across the regions; the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2014 shows that 85 percent of the MPI poor live in rural areas with Somalia having the highest proportion of MPI poor people (96.9%).
