Americas

Americas

UN chief calls for empowerment of rural women across world

07 March 2012 18:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Wednesday that the international community should work to support women and girls who live in rural areas across the world, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"On this International Women’s Day, let us commit to ending discrimination and empowering the world’s rural women," said Ban.

His statement came as he addressed a meeting on the theme " Empower Rural Women -- End hunger and poverty" to commemorate International Women’s Day. The international day is held on March 8 and in 2012 coincides with the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which is being held here from Feb. 27 March 9. Both the international day and the CSW session are focusing on rural women and girls as a theme.

Ban explained that equality and empowerment for women has made progress.

"Women are exercising ever greater influence in business," he said. "More girls are going to school, and are growing up healthier and better equipped to realize their potential."

He pointed to the increased number of women serving in governments around the world and within the UN system.

"But despite this momentum, there is a long way to go before women and girls can be said to enjoy the fundamental rights, freedom, and dignity that are their birth right and that will guarantee their well-being," said Ban. "Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world’s rural areas."

The secretary-general reported that rural women and girls make up one-quarter of the global population.

"They perform most of the unpaid care work in rural areas," said Ban. "And they are a major part of the agricultural labor force."

Nearly half a billion rural women are small holder farmers or landless workers, according to Ban.

"If they had equal access to productive resources, agricultural yields would rise, relieving as many as 150 million people from hunger," he said. "The discriminatory laws and practices that hold back rural women affect entire communities and nations. Countries where women lack land ownership rights or access to credit have significantly more malnourished children."

Additionally, said Ban, the issues facing rural women are important because they reflect the challenges still faced by women in general.

"Violence is pervasive at home and in conflict. In too many countries, sons are still the priority, and daughters are kept from school," he said. "And hundreds of thousands of women die each year in the act of giving life for want of basic obstetric care."

Ban urged governments, civil society and the private sector to see equality and empowerment for women "as a fundamental human right and a force for the benefit of all."

"The energy, talent and strength of women and girls represent humankind’s most valuable untapped natural resource," he said.