15 October 2011: In his message to mark this year’s International Day of Rural Women, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said women are critical to addressing hunger, malnutrition and poverty, and contributing to food security and economic growth, but they lack equal access to opportunities and resources.

Ban cited rural women’s contribution to sustainable development, as well as to movements for democracy, human rights and peace. He stressed that up to 150 million individuals would benefit from investing in rural women, and that children would gain better access to health services, education and nutrition. He called upon partners to recognize the contributions of rural women and eliminate discrimination against them in law and in practice, to ensure that laws and policies are responsive to their needs and to facilitate their equal access to resources. Investing in rural women would “help drive sustainable development,” he noted. He stressed the need to remember their “untapped potential to generate results” in preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet emphasized that in order to end hunger and improve food security, women need to be empowered through equal access to resources and opportunities. She highlighted that women represent 70% of the agricultural workforce, comprising 43% of agricultural workers worldwide. She called for changes in laws and institutions to ensure women’s access to land and other resources.

Bachelet noted that the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), scheduled for 27 February-9 March 2012, in New York, US, will focus on the theme “empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”

The International Day of Rural Women was celebrated globally on 15 October 2011. [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [Statement of UN Women Executive Director] [IFAD Press Release] [Website of 56th Session of CSW]