WUNRN
RURAL WOMEN UN ISSUES PAPER CITES
MULTIPLE REFERENCES
ON POVERTY, HUNGER, DEVELOPMENT,
CHALLENGES
Commission on the Status of Women
Panel Discussion
"The empowerment of rural
women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current
challenges"
24 February 2011
ISSUES PAPER
I. Introduction
A panel discussion on "The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges" will be organized in the margins of the fifty-fifth session, in accordance with the methods of work of the Commission on the Status of Women (ECOSOC resolution 2006/9).
This discussion will be the first step in guiding the Commission’s approach to addressing this priority theme during the fifty-sixth session in 2012 (ECOSOC resolution 2009/15).
II. Background
Since the First World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975, significant
advancements have been made in awareness of and attention to gender equality
issues, women’s rights and the empowerment of women at global, regional and
national levels, with more and more explicit attention being paid to the
situation of rural women. Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) calls on States parties to
eliminate discrimination against rural women.1 The
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995 highlighted the need for
policies and strategies to improve the situation of women producers in rural
areas, increase their incomes and provide household food security.2 In 2000, the outcome of the twenty-third
special session of the General Assembly drew attention to the large number of
rural women working in the informal economy with low levels of income, little
job and social security, and few or none land or inheritance rights. It
emphasized the need for rural women’s equal access to productive resources,
such as land, capital, credit and technology, gainful employment, and
decision-making, as well as access to education and health services.3
The importance of addressing gender equality and empowerment of women for global economic and social development and the need for increased attention to rural areas are also recognized in key global frameworks for development such as the Millennium
1 United
Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378
2 Report
of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13),
chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
3 Resolution
S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.
Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),4 the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the
World Summit on Sustainable Development,5 the
Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for
Development6 and the 2005 World Summit
Outcome.7 In 2010, at the United Nations
High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, Member States
committed to accelerating progress in promoting gender equality and advancing
the economic, legal, and political empowerment of women through a range of
specific measures. They emphasized the promotion of the empowerment and
participation of rural women as critical agents for enhancing agricultural and
rural development and food security and pledged to ensure equal access for
rural women to productive resources, land, financing, technologies, training
and markets.8
4 See
General Assembly resolution 55/2.
5 Report
of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26
August-4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and
corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.
6 Report
of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey,
Mexico, 18-22 March 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and
corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 2, annex.
7 See
General Assembly resolution 60/1
8 See
General Assembly resolution 65/1.
Rural women’s needs and priorities have been addressed in various resolutions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and its functional commissions. In resolution 64/140, the Assembly recognized the crucial role of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty as well as the vital contribution they make to the well-being and development of their families and communities. The important role and contribution of rural women was emphasized in the Council’s 2010 Ministerial Declaration, which called for concerted action to support rural women’s economic empowerment. The Commission on the Status of Women has consistently addressed issues related to the situation of rural women, including in its fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The 2009 Gender and Agriculture Source Book by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) brought new attention to the important role of women in the agricultural production in addressing food and nutrition insecurity and promoting broad-based poverty reduction worldwide.
The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2012 provides a critical opportunity to review progress in implementation, further develop policy guidance and put forward key recommendations in this important area.
III. Critical issues
Rural women play a critical role in rural economies and societies in both developing and developed countries. Across regions rural women have proved that they are resourceful
9 United
Nations (2008). Women 2000 and Beyond. Rural Women in a Changing World:
Opportunities and Challenges. New York.
10 IFAD
(2010). Rural Poverty Report 2011. New realities, new challenges: new
opportunities for tomorrow’s generation. Rome.
11 United
Nations (2008). Women 2000 and Beyond. Rural Women in a Changing World:
Opportunities and Challenges. New York.
12 United
Nations (2008). The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008. New York.
13 A/64/190
and E/2009/72.
14 A/64/190
and FAO (2007), "Women and Food Security", Rome.
15 FAO.
(2009). How to feed the world in 2050. Rome.
16 United
Nations (2008). Women 2000 and Beyond. Rural Women in a Changing World:
Opportunities and Challenges. New York.
17 FAO,
IFAD, WFP High-level luncheon. "From Dialogue to Action: The Empowerment
of Rural Women in Agriculture," 29 June 2010.
and committed to new ways to improve their own lives, those of their
families and communities. Despite this knowledge and the attention given to
rural women in international frameworks, women in rural areas continue to face
serious challenges in carrying out their multiple roles within their families and
communities and their rights and priorities are often insufficiently addressed
by national development strategies and gender equality policies.9
It is estimated that at least 70 per cent of the world’s very poor people
live in rural areas. Rural poverty is the result of lack of assets, limited
economic opportunities and poor education and capabilities, as well as
disadvantages rooted in social and political inequalities. Rural women, in
particular, are often disproportionately held back by disadvantages rooted in
such inequalities.10 In many countries,
gender-based stereotypes and discrimination deny rural women equitable access
to opportunities, resources and services.11 This
means that rural areas in most regions of the world are farthest from achieving
the Millennium Development Goals.12 Policies
that enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment are therefore crucial for
rural development, poverty reduction and economic growth and the achievement of
internationally agreed goals and commitments for development.13
The global food crisis provided a serious reminder of the importance of
sustainable agriculture to food and nutrition security and development. It also
brought renewed attention to the significant role rural women play in
agriculture. In many parts of the world it is the main sector of employment for
women and in some regions women are responsible for a large proportion of food
crops.14 The role of rural women in
agriculture in developing countries is essential for ensuring food and nutrition
security and eradicating hunger.15 Many
rural women are not only food producers but they also have the primary
responsibility for food distribution at the household level. Women’s
contribution to food production and food security, however, continues to be
constrained by their unequal access to essential resources and technologies,
tools, assets and services, including land ownership and access to extension
services.16 It is critical that the
currently increased attention to food and nutrition security issues generates
equal benefits to women. To effectively tackle hunger, improved collection of
gender-sensitive data as well as targeted measures are needed to ensure that
women farmers have equal access to agricultural resources and an equal voice in
decision-making at all levels.17
18 FAO
(2011). Rural employment guidance material #1: Guidance on how to address rural
employment and decent work concerns in FAO country activities. Rome.
19 A/64/190
and report of the workshop on Gaps, trends and current research in gender
dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: Differentiated pathways out of
poverty, Rome, FAO, IFAD, ILO, 31 March-2 April 2009.
20 Marzia
Fontana with Cristina Paciello (2009). "Gender dimensions of rural and
agricultural employment: Differentiated pathways out of poverty - A global
perspective." Overview Paper presented at the FAO, IFAD, ILO workshop on
"Gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions of agricultural
and rural employment: Differentiated pathways out of poverty, Rome, FAO, IFAD,
ILO, 31 March-2 April 2009.
21 United
Nations (2010). The World’s Women 2010. New York
22 A/64/190
and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Global Land
Tool Network (2008), "Secure land rights for all", Nairobi.
23 United
Nations (2010). The World’s Women 2010. New York
24 United
Nations (2001). Positive impacts from incorporating gender perspectives into
the substantive work of the United Nations. New York: United Nations Office of
the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
25 A/64/190
and International Development Association (ODA) (2008), "Gender: Working
Towards Greater Equality", Washington, D.C., World Bank.
26 E/2010/4–E/CN.6/2010/2
Most of the rural poor, in particular women and youth, are represented in
the low-productivity employment segment of the rural economy both in
subsistence farming and agricultural wage labour and in non-farm
self-employment.18 Access to decent work
remains limited in both agricultural and non-agricultural work. Work is
generally more likely to be either unpaid or low-wage, informal, vulnerable,
and to lack social protection. For women, many barriers persist to their equal
access to decent work, including the lack of education and training,
transportation and child-care services, as well as constraints due to unequal
care and household responsibilities.19 Global
advances in information and communications technologies (ICT) could harbour
significant potential for facilitating rural women’s economic empowerment
through the acquisition of new skills and access to employment opportunities
and markets. Initiatives for measuring, reducing and redistributing the burden
of unpaid work are essential both for recognizing and making more visible the
agricultural and non-agricultural work of rural women and for increasing their
access to all forms of paid employment.20
Promoting and ensuring the full enjoyment of the rights of rural women and expanding their access to opportunities, resources and services requires comprehensive action at different levels. Rural women are less likely than urban women to own property. 21 It is estimated that rural women own less than ten per cent of property in the developed world, and two per cent in the developing world.22 In a number of countries women remain at a disadvantage due to inequality in statutory and customary laws on access to land ownership and other types of property and inheritance.23 Although evidence suggests that lending to women is more cost-effective when compared to men,24 significant barriers to women’s equal access to credit exist. In some regions it is estimated that women receive less than ten per cent of all credit going to small farmers and only one per cent of the total credit going to the agricultural sector.25 Microfinance and microcredit have been recognized as useful tools for providing opportunities for rural women to move out of extreme poverty. But even in these areas, women continue to face discrimination in access to credit, usually receiving smaller amounts than those allocated to men.26 Many
27 A/64/190
and United Nations (2009). World Survey on Women in Development: Women’s
Control over Economic Resources and Access to Financial Resources, including
Microfinance. New York.
28 United
Nations (2010). The World’s Women 2010. New York
29 United
Nations (2008). Women2000 and Beyond. Rural Women in a Changing World:
Opportunities and Challenges. New York.
30 A/64/190
31 E/2010/4–E/CN.6/2010/2
32 E/2010/4–E/CN.6/2010/2
33 A/64/190
and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2007), Indigenous
Women and the United Nations system: good practices and lessons learned, New
York.
country examples demonstrate the importance of capacity-building,
dissemination of information, gender-sensitive statistics, legal assistance,
mobilization and advocacy in enhancing women’s rights and access to productive
resources.27
Education and health are two other areas that require sustained attention.
Despite significant advances, in many countries, gaps remain between girls’ and
boys’ enrolment and participation in education with gender disparities being
far more severe in countries with greater rural and poor populations.28 Rural children and those with a mother with
no education are twice as likely to be out of school. In addition, illiteracy
among rural women remains an area of concern. While efforts have been made to
broaden the range of health services and quality of care, women living in rural
areas still face significant barriers to health care and reproductive health.
Fertility rates in rural areas are generally higher than those of urban areas
due to rural women’s lower access to education, family planning and healthcare
services. Rural areas also have some of the highest rates of maternal mortality
and obstetric fistula29. The HIV and AIDS
pandemic has increased the responsibilities of women in rural areas for both
productive and care work.30
There is also evidence indicating that rural women are exposed to high
levels of violence, especially indigenous women and those from ethnic
minorities, and that access to law enforcement, legal protection and services
remain limited or non-existent.31
In addition, although there has been progress in women’s participation in decision-making globally, the under-representation of women from rural areas in political and public life remains high in most societies. In some areas, discriminatory attitudes and practices at the local level limit the space for women’s political expression within their communities.32 Rural institutions, such as agricultural producer and rural worker associations, rural credit unions, women’s associations, water users’ groups and self-help groups, can play a critical role in contributing to rural women’s economic empowerment and public representation.
Women living in rural areas play an essential role to effectively mitigate and adapt to climate change and ensure more sustainable rural development. Rural women often depend on access to natural resources for food and fuel, and they are often more aware of the urgency to manage resources in a sustainable manner and to preserve biological diversity.33 Yet, insufficient attention has been paid to the gender equality dimensions of climate change, natural resource degradation and the impact of natural disasters.
These and other issues that impact the empowerment of rural women, including specific groups of women such as girls/young women, indigenous, older women or women with disabilities, need to be further examined. Lessons learned from various contexts that have produced tangible results need to be better shared and good practices scaled up.
IV. Format and outcome of the panel discussion
The panel will take the form of an interactive dialogue. Three expert panellists will make presentations of five to seven minutes. Member States, United Nations system entities and non-governmental organizations will be encouraged to share experiences, raise issues that should be considered within the theme, and/or respond to the panellists’ presentations. Interventions from the floor will be limited to three minutes. A moderator’s summary of the dialogue will be posted on the website of UN Women.
V. Issues for consideration in the discussion
To provide guidance in preparing for the fifty-sixth session, the following issues could be considered:
What
are the key areas where new and concerted policy measures and interventions are
necessary to make measurable and accelerated progress in rural women's
empowerment? What gaps need to be addressed? What is the role of different
stakeholders?
What
current challenges and emerging trends have an adverse impact on the situation
of rural women? How can those be addressed by different stakeholders?
How
can existing policy commitments to rural women’s economic, legal and political
empowerment be more effectively translated into concrete actions on the ground?
What
measures and strategies have been successful and how can those be scaled up?
What
are good practice strategies for gender-responsive rural development, poverty
and hunger eradication and food and nutrition security?