MESSAGE
ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY FROM SECREATRY GENERAL BAN KI- MOON

"Gender
equality and the empowerment of women are gaining ground worldwide. There are
more women Heads of State or Government than ever, and the highest proportion
of women serving as Government ministers. Women are exercising ever greater
influence in business. More girls are going to school, and are growing up healthier
and better equipped to realize their potential.

Despite
this momentum, there is a long way to go before women and girls can be said to
enjoy the fundamental rights, freedom and dignity that are their birthright and
that will guarantee their well-being. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the
world’s rural areas. Rural women and girls — to whom this year’s International
Women’s Day is devoted — make up one quarter of the global population, yet
routinely figure at the bottom of every economic, social and political
indicator, from income and education to health to participation in
decision-making.

Numbering
almost half a billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, rural women are
a major part of the agricultural labour force. They perform most of the unpaid
care work in rural areas. Yet rural women continue to be held back in
fulfilling their potential. If rural women had equal access to productive
resources, agricultural yields would rise by 4 per cent, strengthening food and
nutrition security and relieving as many as 150 million people from hunger.
Rural women, if given the chance, could also help end the hidden development
tragedy of stunting, which affects almost 200 million children worldwide.

Discriminatory
laws and practices affect not just women but entire communities and nations.
Countries where women lack land ownership rights or access to credit have significantly
more malnourished children. It makes no sense that women farmers receive only 5
per cent of agricultural extension services. Investing in rural women is a
smart investment in a nation’s development.

The plight
of the world’s rural women and girls mirrors that of women and girls throughout
society – from the persistence of the glass ceiling to pervasive violence at home,
at work and in conflict; from the prioritization of sons for education to the hundreds
of thousands of women who die each year in the act of giving life for want of basic
obstetric care. Even those countries with the best records still maintain
disparity in what women and men are paid for the same work, and see continuing
underrepresentation of women in political and business decision-making.

On this International
Women’s Day, I urge Governments, civil society and the private sector to commit
to gender equality and the empowerment of women – as a fundamental human right
and a force for the benefit of all. The energy, talent and strength of women
and girls represent humankind’s most valuable untapped natural resource."