Project: Formal and informal networks in rural areas

06Mar2015

It has been said that women are the backbone of rural societies. Not only do they grow and process food, they make sure their families are well-fed and well-nourished. Too often, however, being the “backbone of society” simply means that rural women are the ones doing the backbreaking work.Too often, women are shut out of decisions that affect their lives, and those of their families. Too often, they cannot access credit and financial services, education and health.

 

For example, in the education realm we have a mixed picture. In sub-Saharan Africa, although there have been gains in primary education, gender inequality is in fact widening among older children. Whereas, the ratio of girls enrolled in primary school rose from 85 to 93 per 100 boys between 1999 and 2010, it fell from 83 to 82 and from 67 to 63 at the secondary and tertiary levels.

 

And too often, the basic human rights of women and girls are not respected.

 

Yet, as we all know, when women are empowered — socially, economically and politically — everyone benefits. Empowering women is indeed empowering humanity. Since the foundation of IFAD in 1978, the empowerment of women has been one of the cornerstones of our work.

And in the twenty years since the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, IFAD and the international community at large, have been influenced by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the global processes and agreements that have followed. 

 

Today, we have strong coordination mechanisms on gender issues among UN agencies and multilateral development banks. We have a vibrant collaboration amongst the RBAs -- as this joint celebration shows.   We have a UN system wide action plan. 

 

At IFAD, our gender policy is helping us  mainstream gender in all sectoral areas -- be it water, livestock or farming practice,  and we have put in place accountability measures.  We are committed to do more and better and have set ourselves more challenging targets in the new Results Management Framework for 2016-2018.

 

To reach rural poor women, who are often excluded, IFAD takes a two-pronged approach. We work to sensitize decision-makers at all levels -- including government, partners and project staff -- to empower women and their organizations. And we also work to sensitize people at the community level so that they see the benefits of a participatory approach that includes women.

Until recently, for example, a Nepali woman named Parvati lived in a one-room mud house. Social norms meant she could not work, leave her home or even answer the door. Parvati accessed a small loan from an agricultural cooperative supported by IFAD. She now operates a small mustard seed oil business, and manages 11 people.

 

We see time and time again, throughout the areas where we operate, that gender equality opens doors for entire communities to strengthen food and nutrition security and to improve their entire social and economic well-being.

 

To improve women’s social and economic status, we need more recognition for the vital role that women play in the rural economy.  Rural women need more opportunities to participate, to improve their skills, be involved in agricultural production, transformation and marketing. And of course, they need better access to assets.

 

To enable women to participate in social, political and economic activities, we need to improve rural infrastructure and services. We need to support their organizations. And we need to make sure they have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. 

 

To empower rural women and their families, we need to ensure that women have equal right to land and property. To expand the options of rural women and girls, we need to end gender-based violence and discrimination that inflict so much damage.

 

Let us all work together – as Rome-based agencies, as development partners, as governments -- to empower women to achieve food and nutrition security. For their sake, and the sake of their families and communities.