Nora McKeon studied history at Harvard and political science at the Sorbonne before joining the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. She held positions of increasing responsibility there, culminating in overall direction of the FAO’s relations with civil society.

A major area of her work over the years was strengthening civil society/social movement participation in field programmes and in policy dialogue at all levels, with particular attention to organizations of small food producers (peasant farmers, artisanal fisherfolk, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, etc.) as the mandated representatives of those most affected by food insecurity and poverty yet most distant from decision-making mechanisms.

She now divides her time between research and activism around food systems, peasant farmer movements and UN-civil society relations. She coordinates a program of exchange and advocacy with African and European small farmers’ organizations and is closely involved in the current reform of global food governance.

Respondent Judith Wedderburn Country Director, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Jamaica

Judith Wedderburn is the Director of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Jamaica. She has been a longstanding activist in gender and development in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean for over 20 years. In her capacity as a gender and development specialist she has facilitated workshops and provided training and advice on policy-making to numerous organizations in the public, private and NGO sectors. She has presented at regional and international conferences on a range of issues, some of which include: gender and trade in the Caribbean and gender and development policy in the Caribbean. Judith is also a member of Development Alternatives for Women of New era (DAWN Caribbean), the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), and the Association of Caribbean Economists. She has also been an active member of Women's Media Watch (Jamaica) since its inception in 1987, and is currently Board member on several NGOs.

Full program
buildingglobaldemocracy.org/content/rio-workshop-programme

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Camera credit Bill Brydon