The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 to 23 March 2018. The theme is Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. For the empowerment of rural women of all ages and girls to be realised through sustainable development, there must be more than a superficial commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Soroptimist International believes that the following require priority measures for action to enable rural women and girls to achieve gender equality and empowerment:

• Policies and programmes to take a life-course approach to education and employment for rural women and girls, recognising and understanding that access to learning is a human right at all ages, and that women and girls living in rural areas have different needs at different times in their lives;
• Work with local partners to improve facilities to afford women and girls living in rural areas education that is accessible, of the highest standards and include gender appropriate and sensitive sanitation facilities and safe environments;
• Develop:

o             Policies and programmes which involve rural women in the management and provision of accessible, safe and effective water and sanitation resources;

o             Policies and programmes which provide quality, affordable, universally accessible health care and education, including sexual and reproductive health and rights;

o             Policies and programmes which lead to the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination, ensuring that the implementation of all requirements of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women are achieved;

o             Policies and programmes which reduce the unpaid work burden by providing improved access to infrastructure facilities including time and labour-saving technologies;

o             Policies and programmes which provide rural women and girls with financial, employment, and land security, as well as securing a place in decision-making forums, encouraging more female leadership in organisations pertaining to food and agriculture through mentoring opportunities and training;

o             All those policies and programmes need a clear gendered budget to realise those goals with transparent and ethical monitoring;

o             Policies and programmes to ensure access to affordable, appropriate technologies and vocational training for its usage;

• Improve and prioritise appropriately disaggregated and internationally comparable data collection, encompassing process and outcome indicators.

 

Click here to view the full statement.

Soroptimist International has released this statement along with the support of:

Armenian International Women’s Association

Associated Country Women of the World

Association for Farmers Rights Defense

Days for Girls

Federation for Home Economics

Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas

Graduate Women International

International Alliance of Women

International Council of Women

International Federation of Business and Professional Women

International Longevity Centre Global Alliance

International Women’s Rights – Manitoba

Make Mothers Matter

National Alliance of Women’s Organisations

National Council of Women of the United States

Pacific Women’s Watch New Zealand

Servas International

Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues

Solar Cookers International

Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem

Widows for Peace Through Democracy

Widows Rights International

Women for Water Partnership

World Federation for Mental Health

Zonta International