MULTAN (Dunya News) – International Day of Rural Women is being marked on Sunday in Pakistan like other countries to acknowledge “contribution of women in the economic uplift of country and society.”
The United Nations designated October 15 as “day of rural women” to recognise “the critical role and contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”
This year's theme of the day is “Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All”, which highlights the essential role that rural women and girls play in the food systems of the world.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf, in his message on this day, called for renewed commitment to support rural women as their empowerment is inevitable for sustainable development.
The dedication and hard work of these women in agriculture, food security and rural development have been backbone of progress, he added.
The Speaker underscored the need to recognise the contribution and resilience of rural women and take concrete steps to ensure their well-being including provision of better healthcare and education facilities.
Pakistan’s economy is dependent on agriculture. In south Punjab, more than 70 million population is associated with agriculture and women play an active role in the field.
In the cotton growing belt of the southern Punjab, there is a record production of cotton this year which could not be possible without women’s participation.
According to Cotton Research Centre, the department preferred women for sowing various crops, including cotton.
Rural women also played their part in producing hand-made embroidery items like bed linen and traditional dresses which are in great demand abroad and helped the country earn foreign exchange.
HWA CONCERN
Meanwhile in Sindh, the Hari Welfare Association (HWA) expressed concern at the failure of federal and provincial governments to safeguard the rights of rural women in Pakistan.
HWA President Akram Ali Khaskheli said in a statement that Ehsaas and Benazir Income Support programmes have failed to enable rural women to become self-sustaining.
“These programmes provide financial aid but do little to empower women to build livelihoods of their own,” he added.
He expressed disappointment on government failure to implement the Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Act (SWAWA) passed in 2019.
“Unfortunately, more than three years have passed, and no steps have been taken to enforce this law, which is vital to the rights of women involved in farming, livestock, fisheries, and related sectors. The law grants right to equal pay, right to form union, the right to a written contract, and access to social security and welfare benefits,” Khaskheli continued.
He said complex bureaucratic procedures and lack of will on the part of government impeded its implementation.
Moreover, rural women were also denied access to education, as there was no infrastructure like educational institutions, female teachers and societal norms controlled by feudal and tribal systems.
He called on federal and provincial governments to prioritize the well-being of rural women.
THE DAY
The first International Day of Rural Women was observed on 15 October 2008. This new international day, established by the General Assembly in its resolution 62/136 of 18 December 2007, recognises “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”
For that reason, the resolution urges the Member States, in collaboration with the organizations of the United Nations and civil society to implement measures that could improve rural women's lives, including the ones in indigenous communities.
Governments and society need to pay attention to their needs and invest in them, pursuing the political and socio-economic empowerment of rural women and supporting their full and equal participation in decision-making at all levels, take them into account in their policies, developing specific assistance programs, and advisory services to promote economic skills of rural women in banking, modern trading and financial procedures and providing microcredit and other financial and business services, or designing laws to ensure that rural women are accorded full and equal rights to own land and other property, just to name a few.
All of these commitments are supervised, followed and supported by the UN through multiple agencies, like UN Women, FAO, ILO, World Bank, or IFAD, who try to fight from different perspectives (women's rights, investment, training...) for the goals and measures mark in the resolution.