THE UNITED NATIONS
INTERNATIONAL
DAY OF RURAL WOMEN

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON 18
DECEMBER 2007 ON THE REPORT OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE
(A/62/433 (PART II))] 62/136.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SITUATION OF WOMEN IN RURAL AREAS

On the 18 December 2007, the United Nations declared that the 15 of October each year be proclaimed and observed as the ‘International Day of Rural Women’.

Resolution 62/136, ‘Improvement of the situation of women in rural areas’ was created by the UN General Assembly in recognition of crucial role that women and girls play in ensuring the sustainability of rural households and communities, improving rural livelihoods and overall wellbeing. This Resolution also outlined that women and girls in rural areas suffer disproportionately from multi-dimensional poverty. Women farmers may be as productive and enterprising as their male counterparts but are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets, and high-value agrifood chains and obtain lower prices for their crops.

Women account for about 40% of the global agricultural labour force, including informal work, and perform the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work within families and households in rural areas. They make significant contributions to agricultural production, food security and nutrition, land and natural resource management, and building climate resilience.

Structural barriers and discriminatory social norms continue to constrain women’s decision-making power and political participation in rural households and communities. Women and girls in rural areas lack equal access to productive resources and assets, public services, such as education and health care, and infrastructure, including water and sanitation, while much of their labour remains invisible and unpaid, even as their workloads become increasingly heavy due to the out-migration of men. Globally, with few exceptions, every gender and development indicator for which data are available reveals that rural women fare worse than rural men and urban women and that they disproportionately experience poverty, exclusion, and the effects of climate change.

The Resolution benchmarks and dictates environmental, political, socio-economic, consultation, inclusion, policies, investments, health, human rights, education, skills, resourcing and promotion is key to improve outcomes for Rural Women.