CSW 62: Economic empowerment of rural women and girls
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The priority theme of the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) is 'Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls'.
Women for Water Partnership has been actively involved in the preparation of this annual event at UN headquarters, this year held from 12-23 March, and participated in a range of (side) events. The 62nd session concluded with a robust agreement by UN Member States to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls, "highlighting the urgency of empowering and supporting those who need it most and have, for too long, been left behind." |
Women representative of the Netherlands to the UNGA Willemien Koning, spoke during the event on Gender equality, Women farmers influence in decision making processes and the empowerment of rural women and girls.
"We need smart farming, new technologies in order to increase agriculture product-ivity and to contribute to a more efficient use of resources, a more efficient way of using water. Women have a big role to play in this field. Women need a solution and women are part of the solution!" (Full speech) |
WfWP President Mariet Verhoef-Cohen delivered on March 15th the keynote speech for a debate on economic empowerment of rural women and girls, convened by WfWP itself, in collaboration with the Government of Brasil, Soroptimist International, and the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPWI).
"I am delighted to talk to you about economic empowerment of rural women and want to thank the Brazilian mission for their efforts to make this event possible.
Rural women, who are you/they? Rural women make up over a quarter of the total population of the world, so 25%. We often treat or envision rural women as a homogenous group and that is not correct.
There is a lot of diversity between rural women in the world as well as in a country or even in a village. Rural women may be farmers with or without ownership rights, or workers, pastoralists, fishers, etcetera. They also may be girls, parents, widows, indigenous women, women with disabilities and women of diverse sexual orientations, they may be rich or poor….. Their diversity is huge.
There are also commonalities. For example, most rural women work long hours and many of their activities are not defined as “economically active employment” in national statistics but they are essential to the well-being of their households and communities. In many settings women face constraints in accessing and controlling key productive resources such as land, water, natural resources and to services such as credit and extension and they have to cope with inadequate or inaccessible infrastructure. They face wage discrimination in rural labour markets and work without remuneration on family farms. Moreover, climate change increases the burden of water and food collection.
This picture is rather bleak; however women are also leaders, experts and partners to change that situation, without saying that they are the only ones responsible to change their situation. Other stakeholders should also play a role, like governments to create the conditions for women to participate in an equal manner in decision making bodies or to integrate equal rights in laws, rules and regulations, favorable for women to own land and other resources….. or financial institutions to ensure that women also get a piece of the cake. In this speech I would like to focus on the role of women.
In the experience of Women for Water Partnership water is an economic driver and a good entry point for empowering women. Our partnership consists of 27 member organisations spread all over the world and we have many good examples of empowering processes. I will mention two impressive examples.
The first story is of Mwhihoko Women Group in Kenya. During the implementation of the water and sanitation project, the women learned how to deal with local authorities to get things done and to get their voices heard. Unfortunately, they were cheated by the project manager who build a training centre on his own land with project money and provided rainwater harvesting tanks half the size they paid for. A real crisis, but the women turned this crisis into an opportunity, learned from their failures and showed strength. They decided they would buy their own land to build a training centre and raised the money to purchase a hectare. They approached the Council to buy land and worked with a solicitor to deal with the legal aspects. In the end it was a success story; although the journey was tough going, the women had their own property and learned a lot. Now, they are embarking on economic ventures and follow a training programme in agricultural techniques and marketing.
A second example is Tegemeo Women Group, our member in Tanzania. They had similar experiences as the Mwhihoko women and also had to deal with corrupt practices of the project manager. Thanks to their perseverance the water project ended successful. The women now prominently participate in all decision-making processes on water and sanitation in their area. And since they have water, they are taking the next step at the moment. They have their own savings & credit system for investments in businesses and they are being trained in managing small scale businesses, marketing and agricultural practices.
What I have not yet mentioned is that both women’s organisations- like many rural women - are living in areas with bad roads and poor transport facilities, while good infrastructure is essential for enabling women’s greater participation in institutions as well as mobility to access input and output markets, to health services and formal and informal education opportunities.
Despite the absence of good transport, both stories are very good examples of empowerment of rural women, also they show that it is a struggle, a matter of perseverance and support to gain more economic independence as well as getting more influence in decision making processes.
What if….., rural women have equal access as men to resources, like water, assets, services and economic opportunities, coupled with full participation in decision-making institutions,… I am sure they become a key driving force for the socio-economic development of rural areas.
Thank you for your attention."
"I am delighted to talk to you about economic empowerment of rural women and want to thank the Brazilian mission for their efforts to make this event possible.
Rural women, who are you/they? Rural women make up over a quarter of the total population of the world, so 25%. We often treat or envision rural women as a homogenous group and that is not correct.
There is a lot of diversity between rural women in the world as well as in a country or even in a village. Rural women may be farmers with or without ownership rights, or workers, pastoralists, fishers, etcetera. They also may be girls, parents, widows, indigenous women, women with disabilities and women of diverse sexual orientations, they may be rich or poor….. Their diversity is huge.
There are also commonalities. For example, most rural women work long hours and many of their activities are not defined as “economically active employment” in national statistics but they are essential to the well-being of their households and communities. In many settings women face constraints in accessing and controlling key productive resources such as land, water, natural resources and to services such as credit and extension and they have to cope with inadequate or inaccessible infrastructure. They face wage discrimination in rural labour markets and work without remuneration on family farms. Moreover, climate change increases the burden of water and food collection.
This picture is rather bleak; however women are also leaders, experts and partners to change that situation, without saying that they are the only ones responsible to change their situation. Other stakeholders should also play a role, like governments to create the conditions for women to participate in an equal manner in decision making bodies or to integrate equal rights in laws, rules and regulations, favorable for women to own land and other resources….. or financial institutions to ensure that women also get a piece of the cake. In this speech I would like to focus on the role of women.
In the experience of Women for Water Partnership water is an economic driver and a good entry point for empowering women. Our partnership consists of 27 member organisations spread all over the world and we have many good examples of empowering processes. I will mention two impressive examples.
The first story is of Mwhihoko Women Group in Kenya. During the implementation of the water and sanitation project, the women learned how to deal with local authorities to get things done and to get their voices heard. Unfortunately, they were cheated by the project manager who build a training centre on his own land with project money and provided rainwater harvesting tanks half the size they paid for. A real crisis, but the women turned this crisis into an opportunity, learned from their failures and showed strength. They decided they would buy their own land to build a training centre and raised the money to purchase a hectare. They approached the Council to buy land and worked with a solicitor to deal with the legal aspects. In the end it was a success story; although the journey was tough going, the women had their own property and learned a lot. Now, they are embarking on economic ventures and follow a training programme in agricultural techniques and marketing.
A second example is Tegemeo Women Group, our member in Tanzania. They had similar experiences as the Mwhihoko women and also had to deal with corrupt practices of the project manager. Thanks to their perseverance the water project ended successful. The women now prominently participate in all decision-making processes on water and sanitation in their area. And since they have water, they are taking the next step at the moment. They have their own savings & credit system for investments in businesses and they are being trained in managing small scale businesses, marketing and agricultural practices.
What I have not yet mentioned is that both women’s organisations- like many rural women - are living in areas with bad roads and poor transport facilities, while good infrastructure is essential for enabling women’s greater participation in institutions as well as mobility to access input and output markets, to health services and formal and informal education opportunities.
Despite the absence of good transport, both stories are very good examples of empowerment of rural women, also they show that it is a struggle, a matter of perseverance and support to gain more economic independence as well as getting more influence in decision making processes.
What if….., rural women have equal access as men to resources, like water, assets, services and economic opportunities, coupled with full participation in decision-making institutions,… I am sure they become a key driving force for the socio-economic development of rural areas.
Thank you for your attention."
