International Day of Rural Woman: To Empower and Celebrate the Rural Women

Recognizing the Rural Women by Celebrating the International Da

The first International Day of Rural Women was observed on October 15, 2008. The idea to celebrate the International Day of Rural Women is brought during the General Assembly in Beijing, China, in 1995. And, in 2003, during the World Summit in Geneva, a resolution was initiated for the development of information technology for women in rural communities. This international day was established by the General Assembly in its resolution on December 18, 2007, by recognizing the critical role of and contribution by rural women, particularly indigenous women, in increasing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eliminating rural poverty.

The resolution urged the member states to introduce measures that could bring improvement in rural women's lives by collaborating with the various organizations of the United Nations (UN) and civil society.

Policies and Programs to Empower Rural Women

Governments and society at large should pay attention to the needs of women and invest in them, empowering the rural women with political and socio-economic power by supporting them in their equal participation at all levels of decision making, considering them when formulating policies, bringing specific assistance programs for their development and providing advisory services to rural women to promote economic skills in banking and other financial products and procedures and business services as well as introducing laws ensuring that rural women are provided with equal rights to own land and other properties.

All of these promises are overseen, tracked and supported by the UN through its multiple agencies, such as UN Women, FAO, ILO, World Bank and IFAD, which will try to fight from different standpoints (women's rights, investment, training, etc.) for the goals and measures provided in the resolution.

The Theme: Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All

This year's theme for the International Day of Rural Women is "Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All". The theme highlights the important role that rural women and girls play in the food systems of the world. Women are involved from the production of crops to processing, making and distributing foods, and women's paid and unpaid labour feeds their families, communities and the world. Still, women are not having equal power with men, and thus, they earn less income and face higher food insecurity. Also, in rural areas, women and girls have less access to productive resources and assets, public services, like education and health care, and infrastructure, including water and sanitation.

In most cases, women form more than 40% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, with 20% in Latin America and more than 50% in some parts of Africa and Asia. Less than 15% of landholders are women. And, in some countries, more than 50% of girls living in poor rural households are married at the young age.
Further, the war in Ukraine is having a catastrophic impact not just on Ukrainian women but also on women and girls worldwide, especially women in rural areas. According to the latest UN Women report, the current interruption to the food and energy markets has only deepened gender inequalities, causing food insecurity, malnutrition and energy poverty. The resultant crisis in cost of living has endangered women's livelihood and well-being. This crisis is forced by the war's disruptions of oil and gas supplies and staple food commodities, as well as the steep increase in food, fuel and fertilizer prices.

Equal Opportunity for Rural Women to Play a Part in Community Development

With this International Day of Rural Women, let's recognize the work of these women in the food systems of the world and let's give equal opportunities for all in rural areas.

The critical role that women and girls play in bringing the sustainability of rural households and communities and improving rural livelihoods and overall well-being has been increasingly recognized worldwide. As women account for a significant proportion of the agricultural labour force, they make important contributions to agricultural production, food security and nutrition, land and natural resource management.

So, realising gender equality and empowering women is not only the right thing to carry out but also is an important part in the fight against poverty, hunger and malnutrition. By giving women the same opportunities as men could increase agricultural production by 2.5% to 4% in the poorest corners of the world and the number of undernourished people could be reduced by 12% to 17%.

Build on the Vision of the Feminist Plan

The International Day of Rural Women provides us an opportunity to pledge to a different way of organizing our world and to build on the vision of the "Feminist plan" and on the end result and various stakeholder commitments of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, so that women in rural areas benefit equally from their productivity.