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UN REPORT HIGHLIGHTS DISADVANTAGES
FACED
BY WOMEN IN AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT
21 January 2011 – Women
continue to reap less benefits from employment in agriculture than men in rural
areas, and the recent global financial and food crises have slowed down
progress towards gender equality in farming-related labour, three United
Nations agencies said in a
joint report unveiled today.
According to the report, compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), women face discrimination that limits both their economic productivity and their personal development.
The
report – entitled “Gender
dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: Differentiated pathways out of
poverty” – notes that women need access to education, training,
credit, markets, technical assistance and labour protection. They also need
equal, secure access to land and other assets and “social capital,” including
the ability to participate equally in farmers’ organizations.
It
says that with access to the advantages that are available to men, women can
increase their contribution to national development and poverty reduction.
Given
that 70 per cent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people
live in rural areas, raising rural women’s economic participation is crucial
for achievement of the global poverty reduction and social development targets
known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the report
adds.
“It
is interesting to observe that 90 per cent of the wage gap between men and
women in developed or developing counties is unexplained; in other words, it is
attributed to gender discrimination,” the report says.
“With
job losses and cuts in spending on social services and infrastructure, women’s
care burdens and unpaid work have intensified, and their financial contribution
to household food security is likely to decrease,” the report says. ‘This is
particularly dramatic for female-headed households.”
According
to the report, the enormous economic contribution of women’s unpaid work must
be recognized and measures implemented to reduce and redistribute the burden of
housework in order to reap better rewards for women.
Public
works programmes can support gender equality in rural employment, especially if
beneficiaries are genuinely involved in designing them, the report notes,
adding that promoting quality female education in rural areas and reducing
gender gaps in primary and secondary schooling could improve women’s access to
decent employment.
The
report recommends policy measures to address the many gender differences in
rural employment. The measures should include legal reforms that promote gender
equality; social safety nets; assistance to organizations supporting farmers,
women and youth; child care programmes; education; and better access to
information and labour markets.