The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (the Guidelines), which were discussed in a meeting in Rome in February 2014, make a serious attempt to include the role of women in small-scale fisheries, address issues of importance for women’s lives and livelihoods and attempt to ensure gender-sensitive policies and measures. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) played a significant role in this, highlighting during a series of regional consultations, the importance both of recognizing women’s role in the fisheries and fishing communities and of respecting women’s human rights and dignity in society. The CSOs also attended the technical consultations on the Guidelines where the text was negotiated. Further, they lobbied governments to adopt text proposals that defended the interests of small-scale fishing communities, including proposals on gender issues.