15 October is the International Day of Rural Women! #Ruralwomen play a catalytic role in the achievement of transformational economic, environmental and social change. UN Women calls for action on the glaring inequality of women in the agricultural workforce and is developing programmes that empower rural women worldwide. Get stories and facts from our #Beijing20 package on women and poverty HERE. The last few years have seen historic achievements in reducing the number of people who … [Read more...]
Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas
January 1, 2014 by
UN Women: National Program on the Promotion of Green Inclusive Production Chains Managed by Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas … [Read more...]
International Day of Rural Women celebrated OCT 15!
October 14, 2013 by
The first International Day of Rural Women was observed on 15 October 2008. It recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.” Rural women play a critical role in the rural economies of both developed and developing countries. In most parts of the developing world they participate in crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and … [Read more...]
CEDAW, “General discussion on rural Women” (contribution call)
July 20, 2013 by
On the occasion of its 56th session, to be held in Geneva from 30 September to 18 October 2013, on 7 October 2013 the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold a half-day general discussion on rural women (article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women). The aim of the half-day general discussion is to commence the Committee’s process of elaborating a "General Recommendation on Rural Women". The purpose of the general … [Read more...]
LaPaz – BOLIVIA, Rural Women are Taking Action!
March 23, 2013 by
This month, I was on a design mission for ASAP-ACCESOS programme in Bolivia, and I got the chance to participate in a meeting of rural women that the IFAD country office organized in La Paz on March 15th, in collaboration with FAO, WFP, UNIDO, UN-WOMEN and PRAIA. The objective of the one-day event was to share, disseminate and replicate successful experiences of Bolivian women. Almost 80 participants came to present their managerial experiences that resulted in economic returns, to describe … [Read more...]
Morocco celebrates as Soulalyates women succeed in land rights
February 12, 2013 by
In the spring of 2012 the Moroccan Government granted men and women equal rights to benefit from incomes and profits gained from their land in a new order from the Ministry of the Interior. In the past, discriminatory laws had long deprived rural women of the Soulayates ethnic group of land ownership and benefits in Morocco. Women had campaigned hard with the support of UN Women for their inheritance and property rights, so the new ruling was a historic victory. The 2012 ruling underlines … [Read more...]
Women at a self-help group meeting in India
February 9, 2013 by
ROME, Italy – When Ratnamma, a soft-spoken woman from a poor rural community in India, noted that all five of her children have been educated – two of them at university level – the audience, understandably, erupted into applause. Yet hers is just one among many, perhaps millions, of similar stories lived by women and their families in several Indian states. Such stories are possible because the Government of India and its international partners decided to think big. Equally important, they … [Read more...]
Tanzanian women take matters into their own hands, pooling resources
January 17, 2013 by
“You need to join forces if you want to stand strong,” explains Batuli Massawe, a 46-year-old mushroom farmer who has become a respected entrepreneur due largely to training and solidarity lending in the community of Morogoro, 190 km west of Tanzania’s capital. In a country where agriculture provides the main source of livelihood for a large majority of the population — accounting for more than two-thirds of employment and almost half of Tanzania’s GDP — the the agricultural sector is … [Read more...]
We-conomy is the future of our world, Invest in Women
December 8, 2012 by
The future of the world economy lies increasingly in female hands “WHY can't a woman be more like a man?” mused Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady”. Future generations might ask why a man can't be more like a woman. In rich countries, girls now do better at school than boys, more women are getting university degrees than men are and females are filling most new jobs. Arguably, women are now the most powerful engine of global growth. In 1950 only one-third of American women of working … [Read more...]
Cooperatives: Empowering women farmers, improving food security
November 16, 2012 by
Cooperatives: Empowering women farmers, improving food security Rural cooperatives and farmers’ organizations play a crucial role in the eradication of hunger and poverty. One of the ways they achieve this is through their vocation to empower small agricultural producers, and in particular women farmers. Empowering women farmers improves food security for all Women comprise on average 43% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries and produce the bulk of the world’s food … [Read more...]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – ‘speaking out about gender equality’
May 25, 2012 by
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been speaking out about gender equality in the international arena since at least 1995, when she delivered a forceful message on women’s rights as human rights at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. So it was no surprise that the rights of rural women figured prominently in her remarks last week at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security. Organized by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and held in Washington, DC, … [Read more...]
Ethiopia by Task-Shifting Procedures, Saving Women’s Lives
March 2, 2012 by
Finding ways to deliver for women where doctors are in short supply TIGRAY REGION, Ethiopia — “We are all looking to you to be a window of hope to reduce the unnecessary death of mothers and newborns during pregnancy and delivery in rural Ethiopia,” said Dr.Tedros Adhanom, the Minister of Health, as he handed over degrees to the first graduates at Ayder Hospital of his country’s programme in Integrated Emergency Surgery and Obstetrics. The first graduating class of the new … [Read more...]
