Giving a Voice to Rural Women around the World

“To ensure young women instruction and education, empowerment, and fair compensation for their work” the UN established the International Day of Rural Women, which will be celebrated tomorrow, October 15th.

This Day, inaugurated in 2007, focuses on the exploitation of women who do a large part of the agricultural work in developing countries but are denied equal access to opportunities and resources.

“Supporting their emancipation—says the UN website—is not only vital for the communities in which they live; it is a global human and strategic imperative. Moreover, understanding their essential contribution in fostering global development is an important step towards gender equality. The role of rural women deserves to be reconsidered, both in human and social dimensions. Consequently, it seems appropriate to present policies that would eliminate discrimination and, at the same time, show their value for creating wealth. Furthermore, infrastructure and production programs will improve their living conditions and, if accompanied by a training course, enable rural women to adopt a sustainable, environmentally friendly, approach to production.”