The UNFSS is scheduled for September this year and Meat Business Women said it was ‘imperative the meat sector has a seat at the table’.
The aim of the UNFSS is to draw on multiple stakeholders to deliver the latest global evidence-based and scientific approach, launch new commitments through coalitions of action, and mobilize new financing and partnerships’.
“The global meat industry is fragmented and I’m extremely concerned there isn’t an aligned global narrative ahead of the UNFSS which could result in negative ramifications for our industry,” said Laura Ryan, Meat Business Women chair.
“Meat Business Women is a global unifying community which brings the sector together. Holding dialogues are fundamental to getting the voice heard of our sector and the important role it plays for all,” she added.
To that end, Meat Business Women is planning an online summit on 14 April, with speakers including Christine Middlemiss, UK chief veterinary officer for DEFRA.
The purpose of the event is to ‘workshop solutions that feed directly into the UNFSS dialogue’.
Among the questions addressed in the planned dialogue will be:
- How can gender equality deliver a more sustainable meat industry?
- Who needs to be involved and what actions need to be taken to ensure the involvement and empowerment of women working in the sector?
- What impact could gender equality have on the action identified with within the UNFSS?
Mission
The mission of Meat Business Women is to ‘connect talented and dedicated professional women in every role within the meat industry, all over the globe’.
The group works in partnership with meat businesses to remove gender barriers in the sector. It aims to do this by focusing on perceptions, moving inclusion up the agenda, tackling the ‘broken career ladder’, strengthening networks and creating visible role models, and gender-proofing working practices and patterns.
Places for the online event can be booked via the organisation’s website.