For the second year in a row, CFUW was awarded the distinct honour of having our Oral Statement selected to be read in General Discussion – Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62 2018), 12th meeting, 21 Mar 2018 – Follow up to Economic and Social Council resolutions and decisions (E/CN.6/2018/10 and E/CN.6/2018/11) [item 5]. At CSW, this is equivalent to receiving the Academy Award! It spotlights our organization and provides a platform to voice our reaction to the Draft Agreed Conclusions member states to the UN are there to finalize. Because we had made contact with the Chair of the session, H.E. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason (Ireland), at the beginning of the week, it is noted that there was name recognition in her voice as she invited CFUW to present the oral statement!

In our series of successes, CFUW also hosted a Parallel Event, an event sponsored by the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). This was moderated by our VP International Relations, Cheryl Hayles. The panellists, Teri Shaw of CFUW, Paulette Senior of the Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF), Collette Prevost of the YWCA and Dr. Joshipura of All India Women Conference (AIWC) presented on the “Opportunities and Challenges of Rural Women in the Global Community”.CFUW’s point of view was based on the Executive Summaries from both Rural Women Surveys (individual members and community organizations) completed in January and February of 2018.

Another significant accomplishment for the CFUW brand was VP International Relations, Cheryl Hayles’ role as a guest panelist on the International Alliance of Women’s (IAW) Parallel Event; “Rural Women’s Empowerment, Strategies and Challenges of Women’s NGOs”. She had the privilege to be interviewed with the UNCSW62 “Woman of Distinction” Sizani Ngubani. This was a second opportunity to share the voices of women who live in rural areas.

We distributed our position paper, “Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Rural Canada’s Women and Girls” to our Canadian politicians. MP Sheila Malcolmson, B.C., complimented CFUW as she stated we have well researched papers.

The Executive Summaries of the Rural Women Surveys (Individual and Community Organizations) were shared with 3 Federal Ministers and the Canadian Team working on the draft Agreed Conclusions.

The intention is to influence the outcome document with our findings and to engage in the conversation with stakeholders. The aforementioned documents were requested by several stakeholders. In a very understated manner, CFUW had collected primary data that became helpful to Canadian Ministers and NGOs in their deliberations!

VP International Relations met with the Canadian Federal Minister of the Status of Women, Ms. Monsef, at the Canadian Permanent Mission to the UN. The conversation with the minister was most insightful. While at the Reception hosted by the Canadian Ambassador to the UN for Canadian Non-Government Organizations both the President and VP International Relations established contact with other like minded organizations
………..

The CFUW delegates were asked to reflect on the 4 questions, one of which was “ I wished to attend because..

The whole report is available here:    UNCSW62 Report

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Who am I, a poor, rural, Zulu woman who did not have an opportunity to get formal education but made it her responsibility to educate herself, to be receiving such an honour and speaking to such prominent and very powerful women?

I guess the answer is that, in spite of what appears to be our differences, I am you…and you are me. And each of us, in our own way, in our respective countries, has been fighting for the same thing: the inalienable rights of women and girls living in the rural areas, of  indigenous girls and women and gender equality.

And I think I can say one thing for sure: We have all been silenced too often, been rejected too often, been ignored too often, cried too much, witnessed too much, and suffered too much. Do you agree?

Some even accuse us of working too hard, loving too much and giving too much. Yet few know that we also receive too much. With every step we take on the journey towards gender equality, no matter how small, we receive an immeasurable amount of joy.

And as different as we may seem, we are intimately and forever bound together because, like Oprah and Viola and Ruth and Liz and Malala and Maya and Rosa..and Eve (who is now here in NY), and you and you and you…… and so many more, each one of us,… in spite of being shut up, in spite of being warned, in spite of being mentally, emotionally, and often sexually and physically abused, and as in my case, in spite of being crippled, and over and over again threatened with death, we have…PERSISTED.

And we will continue to persist, insist and RESIST,

Like countless nameless women in my village,… like Nonkululeko Zulu who tried to resist…but 3 men were too many. Nonkululeko was orphaned at 4, beaten and raped at 14, and forced to marry the old man who was one of the 3 who beat and  raped her in exchange for 8 cows, given, of course to her uncle, since women could not own property.

I visited Nonkululeko often and shaking with fear, she would tell me that being with “her husband” made her relive that terrible night over and over again. She confided in me that she was working extra hard to be able to buy the 8 cows and give them to this man in order to run away with her two children. But before she could, she was pregnant again with her third child.

In 2015 Nonkuleko committed suicide and left 3 beautiful children behind. I stand here today with her, and millions of other indigenous wotmen who are by my side and in my heart, saying ………. NAMI FUTHI meaning #MeToo in isiZulu.

I am aware that here in the United States you are doing the same, with the #MeToo movement.

As in most African nations, we have been saying nathi futhi – ……actually ‘WeToo’…. for over fifty years.. We too, NATHI FUTHI, deserve to have the right to land, inheritance and property, which in most situations is solely given to men. Although it is estimated that between 75-80% of the African Continent is cultivated by women, we only own about 2% of the continent’s land.

We too, nathi futhi,  need to be protected by the constitutions of the world, and not silenced by corrupt male community, traditional leaders and national parliamentarians. We too, NATHI FUTHI, must have water…….. and not to have to wake up at 1o’clock in the early morning to dig holes in sand on the side of the rivers and often wait for at least seven hours  to get a 20-25 – litre bucket of water.

We,too must be heard and protected against rape, torture, killings, forced marriages and sex trafficking and not be silenced  with violence nor threatened because we are poor and have nothing.  We,too demand food to nurture ourselves and our children, and have access to health care and medicine and hospitals. We,too must be able to defend ourselves against gender based violence perpetrated against us mainly by our spouses and our boyfriends and ALL men, who are more than happy to give us HIV for their sexual satisfaction.  We too have a voice and it’s our turn!! And we invite all honorable men to join us. SEKUYITHUBA LETHU meaning  IT’S OUR TURN.

But permit me to go back in time. My journey, my #MeToo, as a human rights activist began 64 years ago when I was 8. I remember it as if it were yesterday.

It was 3:00 a.m. since I had to get up early to get my siblings dressed for school. I started taking care of when I was 6.  Our school was a two and a half hour walk away. I was shaking, huddled underneath my mum’s bed, completely hidden by two blue and yellow scratchy blankets. Tightly pressed to my ears was a little radio, for fear I would be arrested for listening to the forbidden Radio Freedom…….of former Rhodesia which is now Zimbabwe and Radio of former  which is now Mozambique. The muffled voice of the radio announcer warned: “Smith (referring to the state president, Mr. Ian Smith) is killing  innocent people every day at 7p.m. by butchering them”. Those were people who were perceived to not respect the 7:00 p.m. curfew. I remember crying and once it was safe to creep out from under the bed, declaring my resolution to my mum, which by the way has never changed, “This is horrible. I must travel to all the African nations and learn from women how to defend ourselves from this kind of oppression.” My mum must have thought at best that I was cute, or at worst, that I was crazy when she told me and impatiently cried that we barely had enough to eat…and besides no one from our community had ever dared leave.

At that time indigenous women were not allowed to own property or even speak in community meetings where men were present. Women were often beaten up by their spouses (who were usually migrant workers only coming home in December for the holidays.) Some young girls were kidnapped, tortured, raped and drugged, in the name of ukuthwala and forced into abusive marriages to much older men in exchange for between four and eleven  cows.

But that was the past and although much is still to be done, we are here to celebrate the present and the ongoing accomplishments of our powerful and courageous Zulu sisters and daughters , who now number 50,000 and make up RWM, The Rural Women’s Movement, which stands for our right and power to evoke change, that a single voice has the ability to declare an iniquity, and that each time a woman or a girl stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.
I began by recruiting 4 indigenous young women. Zulu indigenous women and girls started having workshops where proud women, who suffered in silence, could openly acknowledge and share their hardships. Awareness was the first step in fighting back. The second step was to influence the policy making processes so women would know their constitutional rights.

We have continued to hold workshops on leadership skills, self-respect and basic agriculture. I don’t consider myself a leader, but a facilitator, a guide. Since each village and each situation is different and has different needs, we RWM create leaders who are empowered to solve their own unique challenges. We worked with women to recognize their power…to believe in it, to trust it, honor it, and then take action. We still have a lot to do, but I am proud to tell you…. As a direct result of the RWM’S interventions:

Ukuthwala, the abduction, torture, rape and forced marriages of girls as young as 13 years of age, has been eradicated in two indigenous communities. We are currently celebrating seven years and nine months of Zero tolerance for forced marriages.

Sexually transmitted diseases have decreased by approximately 15%, teenage pregnancy has decreased by approximately 10%, children no longer die in childbirth, the number of school drop-outs has decreased from 20% to approximately 2%. Parents, including fathers and uncles are now prioritizing school for their daughters rather than trading them off for marriage in exchange for between 4 to 8 cows.

RWM has currently worked with 450 women who increased their income and 750 rural women have become “better organized and mobilized to effectively lobby against and tackle legislation policies and practices that discriminate against women’s socio-economic and cultural well-being.”

Women are now effectively participating in the policy-making processes, as they partner with other women who are not members of RWM, by sharing their own experiences and knowledge.

The RWM was instrumental in declaring the Communal Land Rights Act11 of 2004 unconstitutional and enshrined in gender bias. We also tirelessly fought against the Traditional Courts Bill of 2008 and the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act of 2003. The latter bill would have created a separate legal system for the 18 million women living in the former Bantustans, making them second class citizens. In the two communities RWM eradicated ukuthwala. No longer can men throw women off the land they have worked and toiled for decades, if their spouses or fathers die. Thanks to our work, men no longer confiscate and make their own what is rightfully owned by indigenous women and girls.

Yesterday, girls like Nonkululeko had no hope, today, like I previously mentioned, we have eradicated ukuthwala.

Yesterday, girls,  couldn’t study because it was assumed that they will take their families’ wealth to their spouses’ families or they had to bring up their siblings and fetch water, look after members of the families who are bed-ridden.

Today education is prioritized for girls, even by their fathers and uncles. Yesterday girls did not know how babies came into the world, today they know about biology and how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies. Never, never and never will any young woman or girl be abducted tortured, raped and  forced into marriage in these two communities.

So for Nonkululeko who will always be in my heart, and for all the innocent girls and women who have and continue to suffer, I dedicate today. And like Oprah recently proclaimed  A NEW DAY IS UPON US. We know changes take time and they don’t come about by one person, but a community of sisters willing to stand up for what is right.  And since we are talking about a NEW DAY and Oprah, she highlighted the magnificent men who have joined the #MeToo movement. Today, as I stand before you, I too thank those magnificent men and pray for a paradigm shift in my country and world, where hand in hand, men and women, boys and girls, can walk towards the light. (As ….said…it is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb.)

So, we have come full circle. What would I say to that little frightened but determined little girl, who had no formal education or mentors and who made such an absurd declaration to her Mama 66 years ago?

This is what I would tell her, beautiful innocent child, “Never forget that above all out are WORTHY. You are limitless. All that matters is that you know your purpose and you keep going never give up.

Your journey would not be easy and it will have many detours…but that doesn’t matter.

Your journey will often be arduous and painful, but that doesn’t matter either.

Your journey will test who you are

At times, it will feel like you want to give up and no one is listening. Not even that matters.

You will make mistakes – and stumble, but that’s how you will learn.

Its OK to be imperfect and NECCESSARY to be humble and vulnerable. Look the nay sayers in the eyes and tell them you don’t care about their opinion. If you do what you know is right, if you stand up to the oppressors and for the vulnerable, that is all you can do. Be aware of all your feelings, even the scary ones. Have compassion for others…..AND OURSELVES

 Ask for help when you need it and know we cannot achieve our dreams by ourselves. We need a community. We need to have someone who will listen to us when we think we are so tired we can’t move. We need to have someone who will take care if us when we have been emotionally….. and yes, physically beaten up.

And above all, we need to love ourselves and trust that somehow, one day we WILL achieve our goals. KNOW THIS IS YOUR SACRED JOURNEY and the spirit of all the women who came before you and with you.”

To My DEAREST MAMA – Nomaswazi Ngubane who raised me and supported me in my work until she passed on in 2014.  I would like to say to her spirit and that of my GRANDMOTHER – Mabuso Khanyeza:

“You remember Mama, Gogo what I talked about when I was 6.? I am here!!! At the NGO CSW62 in New York City, And it’s the beginning of a new day when an indigenous, poor  little girl from iMbubu Community of KwaZulu Natal…..is speaking to 1000 women from different countries and they are LISTENING ……Dear Mama, I didn’t let you down….. and it’s just the beginning.”

I thank you all for your attention.

To the International Alliance of Women. Mine is to say I do not have a word to thank you for nominating me for this prestigious award. Joanna……. when I received your email message informing me that the IAW would like to nominate me for this award I wanted to say please do not nominate me because I didn’t think  I could become a winner for such an award. But I ended up saying to myself I don’t want to disappoint them because there is no harm in nominating me even if I don’t make it to the top of the list – would still be something important for my history to be nominated by an international women’s organization.

Surprise, surprise – I was browsing the students’ internet for news and I came across an article – Sizani Ngubane is the winner of the NGO CSW62 Woman of Distinction Award and could not believe my eyes.

Thanks once more. With much love.

The post Sizani Ngubane’s speech on CSW62 Consultation Day, March 11 2018 appeared first on International Alliance of Women.

Honourable Chair,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ministers, and civil society members

I am speaking here today on behalf of the Canadian Federation of University Women and the International Alliance of Women. We welcome the opportunity to address this assembly and we acknowledge the privilege that we have to do so.

Rural women and girls are among the world’s most marginalized populations. They have consistently been at the bottom of development measures, and are still facing overwhelming gender inequalities and discrimination.

At this point in history, there is an urgency for member states, in collaboration with civil society, to make gender equality comprehensive. Rural women can no longer be excluded from the conversation, particularly racialized women, Indigenous women, migrant women, women from gender and sexual minorities, and women with disabilities.

Based on the research we have conducted among rural women and community organizations, the transportation gap and the lack of available public services are undeniable challenges that clearly influence a woman’s experience in rural settings. Rural women are challenged with reduced access to training, education, employment, childcare services as well as health and mental health services; all essential determinants in women’s empowerment. Moreover, the isolation, the limited access to safe transportation and support services also increases women’s vulnerability to violence.

Strategies to reduce or remove the barriers and to increase the availability of resources and services for women and girls must be prioritized when developing public policy and programs targeting rural and remote areas.

We urge member states to adopt the following recommendations:

• Address mobility barriers by improving public transportation infrastructure and technology infrastructure to increase access
• Create incentives for professional workers to work in rural regions and increase the presence of community based solutions to challenges
• Increase funding to ensure comprehensive, accessible health and mental health services; including sexual and reproductive health
• Ensure that women and girls in rural and remote areas are legally protected, with fair laws, from any form of violence
• Guarantee core-funding for shelters and affordable housing
• Ensure access to quality public education at all levels, including early learning and affordable childcare services to enable rural women to access education opportunities, re-training and employment.

We stay attentive to the outcome of this meeting in generating concerted actions within member states, and we salute the dedication of country representatives, but especially the relentless work of women’s organizations across the world in advancing rural women’s rights.

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Annually CFUW participates in an International Women’s Day Project to highlight progress towards women’s equality in Canada and world-wide. It raises awareness about SDG #5 and the ongoing challenges and opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements.  We believe by celebrating International Women’s Day with gusto we send a strong message that women will not be silenced, ignored or dismissed.

This is the seventh feature in the series of nine Theme Days (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, World Day to end Human Trafficking, International Literacy Day, International Day of the Girl Child, National Day of Remembrance of Violence Against Women – Canada, International Women’s Day, Earth Day, and 50/50 Day).  This initiative provides a critical opportunity to discuss the interconnectedness of the SDGs to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. As well, we aspire to highlight the intersectionality of women’s issues and the need to engage all stakeholders in the conversation.

Achieving the 2030 Agenda is a challenge to all, and requires action at all levels. Recognizing that the priority theme of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women this year is “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”, our contributors have focussed on experiences of rural women.  We hope you can connect to and extend the conversation beyond your circle.

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Her Story is Important

I met her when she came in to register her daughter for kindergarten in public school.  She made an impression as a woman of spunk because her ball cap had a marijauna leaf embroidered on it.  This is not something you see in this setting everyday.

Her child started senior kindergarten. The only formal social situation she has been engaged in since she arrived in Canada.  Twenty new classmates and two unfamiliar teachers to get acquainted with.  Being a bright and curious child she picked up things easily.

Back to her black skinned mother, who was working the night shift at a factory and felt herself lucky because she had found a man to take her in and pledge to help her and her daughter get oriented in Canada.  This twenty three year old mother had recently immigrated from a small island in the Caribbean to live with her sister, go to nursing school and raise her daughter in the snowy land of hope.  The relationship with her sibling collapsed shortly after her arrival.

Into the school term I received a call on Thursday from her saying she was in a hotel because she had been removed from where she was living due to domestic violence.  There were no beds available in the women’s shelter in town so the police put her up in the local motel.  This single mother, with no support over the week end was moved to a shelter 175 km north of the urban area where she had settled.  A rural area unfamiliar to her.  She had no family connection there, no advocate and no input into the decision to transfer her and her daughter to a rural shelter.

The chances of securing an affordable apartment in town were slim but with her permission, I applied for subsidized housing for her and her daughter.  Somehow she made it back to town to live with another single mother who also has a child.  She pays $660 a month for one room.  One has to keep in mind that her daughter did not attend school for 3 weeks while she was being bounced from motel to shelter to a one bedroom accommodation.

When they finally settled back in town she was outside the boundary of the school her daughter attended.   To get to “her” school she would have to take two town buses and spend an hour, return trip, each day on the town bus.  That would cost her $81 a month.  $81 more than any other student in our school had to pay to get to school.   Bussing is free to get to school if a family lives more than 1.3 km away from school.  This was too much for a twenty three year old mother who works the night shift to get her five year old child to school every day!  Understandably she decides to register her daughter at the neighbourhood school.

The registration secretary told her she had to have proof of address to register her child.  She had just moved into the one room arrangement and had no lease agreement or other documentation that she lived in that area.  Despondent and beaten, because she did not know her human rights, she decided to send her daughter back to the island of her birth to live with her father.

Four weeks after the report to the police of the physical and emotional abuse from her intimate partner, three moves and loss of time at work, her daughter was on a flight back to the Caribbean.  Loss of dignity, loss of her child, and loss of her savings to pay for the plane fare, all in less than one month.

This got me to thinking that this story could have had a different outcome.  A young woman who has no clue what her rights are is vulnerable to injustices that will change the course of her life.  1) She should have never been sent to a shelter in a remote area because she does not drive and had no advocate or services appropriate for her case.  2) Schools need to have provisions for registering families that are coming out of a shelter and do not have documents to show proof of address.

I can only image that the day she put her child on the plane was the lowest day of her life.  It certainly was a low day for the small group who knew her story!

She has since returned to work. Her supervisor kept the job open for her while she was away.  Two thumbs up for the supervisor! She says she feels like there is community there and is happy working there.

Why is her story important to tell?  Her story is important because women without support from family or friends sink into a cycle of dysfunction.  The biggest concern is will she ever be able to overcome and realize her dream of becoming a nurse. If she were rich, financially independent, educated and had community she would have been able to establish herself in a home, start her studies in nursing and support her child.  Instead she has to depend on a system that did not have her in mind.  Her dream remains in embryo.

She reminds me of Maya Angelou who told the following story to an audience at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, “In 1945 the United Nations was advertising for simultaneous translators.  I wanted so badly to be a simultaneous translator, the only trouble was, I was poor, black, pregnant, seventeen and uneducated”.  Maya Angelou went on in June 1995, to deliver her poem, “A Brave and Startling Truth”, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. I hope this young woman’s story in the end will be as inspiring.  The same way my cousin and I were excited to go hear Dr. Maya Angelou speak I wish that she will have an audience hanging on her every word and that her daughter will grow up to be phenomenal as well!

Cheryl Hayles

VP International Relations, Canadian Federation of University Women,

Vice President North America, International Alliance of Women

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 The Challenge of being a Rural Woman in Canada

The plight of rural women and their struggles are not well understood by those who live in larger urban areas around the world. This is perfectly evident to those  who have experienced both rural and urban life in Canada and abroad. Certainly there are wonderful advantages in Canada for lovers of animals and nature, an unpolluted and healthy environment, a slower, relaxed and quiet life style, the satisfactions of  a close-knit, friendly and caring community, and of producing one’s own safe food, all mentioned in a survey.

CFUW sent this survey to all clubs in Canada designing it to collect data on members’ perceptions and experiences in preparation for the Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW62) and its theme of challenges for rural women. The answers were illuminating.

In response to the question “What are the two greatest challenges to life in rural communities?” the majority listed transportation as their number one problem. Almost all the other answers were variations on this. Many pointed out that long distances cause a lack of access to services, health services being number one. (This has been exacerbated by the closing of hospitals in smaller towns and specialists become increasingly limited to urban “hubs”). Others listed in order of frequency were: lack of access to employment, education opportunities, social, recreational and cultural opportunities as well as child care.

The second highest category was also linked to the distance involved in keeping in touch with others, the physical isolation and loneliness being mentioned by a majority of the respondents to this question. This included the lack of access to mental health services, affordable access to hi-speed internet and Wi-Fi as well as the insecurity involved in the time required to get emergency help in the case of fire, sickness or injury, and especially for women, crime and violence against women.

Economics was the next highest challenge. Limited choice in shopping for essentials such as groceries, the high cost of car maintenance necessary to access essential services, the higher costs of hydro, garbage disposal, septic systems and snow removal were included. Longer work hours with less return, and the lack of vacations or holidays were challenges as well as affordable housing.  (Access to affordable housing or land purchase is decreasing with urban sprawl taking over former farm land. This has led not only to lack of housing but to increasing property taxes in rural areas as they become annexed to large municipalities.)

The last category with fewer comments was more nebulous but certainly important. This was a general feeling that the work and life of rural women were neither understood nor appreciated by the general public and even the government.  There is a prevailing feeling of discrimination, stereotyping, sexism or patriarchy, and lack of appreciation or support for the rural population.

This is especially true in regards to public transportation for rural areas where trains and buses were rated “accessible with challenges” or “inaccessible” by the majority. In my own area there is the feeling that rural areas are neglected while large cities and urban metropoles receive a disproportionate amount of transportation funding.

Another problem in my own rural area, but not included in the survey, is the anguish of many local families whose elementary and high schools are also being centralized in large urban areas. This marginalizes the rural families. Their very vocal protests decry the long school bus ride, the distance involved making it difficult for rural families to attend school events. The necessity of catching the school bus home makes it impossible for rural students to attend after-school sports or events, or to join clubs including drama, and music. This further marginalizes rural families. Their argument that their local rural schools provide a sense of community and serve as community centres for both recreation and meetings, consistently falls on deaf ears and their schools are closed. A similar situation exists when small hospitals in rural areas are closed, leading to a loss of security for those with transportation issues, especially in winter when rural roads may be closed.

In order to foster and encourage the rural woman, we need solutions, especially to the problem of transportation for the young, the elderly, those with disabilities and those who cannot afford cars. Our clubs can make a difference. For example, CFUW Stratford in Ontario won a CFUW award for advocacy for its work on re-establishing train service for their rural area.

The St. Thomas CFUW club also supported a public meeting on transportation. From that has grown a large transportation committee headed by the Health Care Centre.  Along with the VON, the Health Care Centre provides volunteer drivers for health appointments, but, being widely unknown, the service is under-utilized. This is a problem all across Canada borne out by the results of the survey. The overwhelming majority of the answers to the question on accessibility of volunteer drivers was “Don’t know” or “No information on this.” The local committee is working on acquiring a computer program for shared rides by commuters from rural areas to the city, as well as a centralized telephone number (perhaps a reference librarian) with an explanation of service organizations’ programs for affordable rides from volunteer drivers. Uber is not generally accessible in rural areas.

The transportation issue also presents a problem for rural members in CFUW. Not only does travel to meetings become challenging, travel to provincial, national and international meetings is difficult and expensive. This results in less voice and fewer votes than the larger clubs in urban areas. Their district representatives have longer distances to travel between clubs making personal visits and communication more difficult, especially in areas where computer access is limited.

Hopefully, the data from this survey, shared with an executive summary, will inspire CFUW clubs everywhere to share the information, to become more aware of rural issues, and to participate in advocacy and programs to further empower rural women and girls throughout Canada.

Nancy Mayberry, Ph.D., Member of the International Relations Committee, Canadian Federation of University Women 

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Rural Women Survey for Organizations, sister survey to the Rural Women Survey 

This survey was conducted by CFUW January 15 – February 15, 2018.  Community organizations in Africa, India, United States of America and Canada responded to the questions.   Of the 85 responses, the majority are from the provinces of British Columbia – representing multiple communities, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick.  The 3 international responses came from Rwanda, USA – a Native American Band and India.

The survey had 24 questions.  However, only two will be high lighted at this time.

Question:
How you define a rural woman?

“In our context, a rural area is a place or area with no modern or better infrastructure for example; no access to modern roads, running/piped water, no modern markets or shopping malls, schools, hospitals. A rural woman in this case is one who hails or lives in the kind of place explained above. A rural woman in our context depends on agriculture for food in her household and is limited to access to modern development processes”.   Rwanda

“Women who live a place that is defined by its geography and its challenges. Having to travel (long distances) to access services therefore, where the risk of isolation is high because of roads, weather, natural disasters, etc.”.  Canada

“As varied as a city woman”.  Canada

“A woman living in a both peaceful (and risky) environment –is quite isolated with limited access to convenience, safety and support”. Canada

Question:
What are the opportunities in living in a rural community?

“More laid back, not the same hustle and bustle of city life, cheaper accommodations. People know each other or at least know off others”.  Canada

“There can be a tremendous amount of community support for anyone experiencing a crisis. It can create a strong sense of ‘belonging’ which is important for health”.  Canada

“Women can feel more supported by organizations that work together to provide wrap around services. Oftentimes, they will be remembered by service providers and addressed by name (rather than number or can’t recall them because the organization is too big)”. Canada

“Rural areas may be good if girls, women, boys and men had access to all services. In the absence of those services as it is today, I don’t see any opportunity of living in our rural areas”. India

“Inherently rural women are having basic specialized traditional skill with family background. Physically they are fit and fine who can work very hard”.  Rwanda

In summary, it is clear that a rural community provides both opportunities and challenges for women and girls.  In attempting to isolate the markers of each we found that the opportunities are related to a well developed sense of community created through interaction with others, culture and nature.  Unfortunately, the challenges are all related to isolation and lack of gender based services which if they were community based would increase empowerment and promote a heightened state of emotional, physical and mental well-being.

Cheryl Hayles

VP International Relations, Canadian Federation of University Women

Vice President North America, International Alliance of Women

The post International Women’s Day March 8, 2018 appeared first on International Alliance of Women.

Rural women comprise 1 in 4 people worldwide and they constitute a large share of the agricultural workforce. They play an essential role in ensuring food and nutrition security, eradicating rural poverty and improving the well-being of their families.

Yet, they continue to face serious challenges as a result of gender-based stereotypes that deny them equitable access to opportunities, resources, assets, and services.

The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is intrinsically linked to the lives of women and girls globally, including that of rural women who are vital to its success. The goals to end hunger, achieve food security, and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture as well as the goals to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment are particularly focused on rural women.

It is intrinsically recognised that poverty is heavily concentrated in rural areas and that substantial progress towards achieving the SDGs depends heavily on improving agricultural and rural development.

Improvement in agricultural performance has the potential to increase rural incomes and purchasing power for large numbers of people in rural areas.

Thus more than any other sectors, agriculture can uplift people on a mass scale. A virtuous cycle of reduced hunger, increased productivity, increased income and sustainable poverty reduction can be started.

If rural women had equal access with men to productive resources such as seeds, tools and fertilizers, they would increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30%. This would raise total agricultural output from 2.5 to 4% reducing the number of malnourished people from 17 to 12%.

Rural women are key agents for achieving the transformational, economic, environmental and social changes required for sustainable development. What are the main challenges women and girls are facing today and what should be done? 

Leadership, decision-making and voice

The under-representation of rural women in political and public life is high in most countries. States should establish quotas and targets for rural women’s representation in decision-making positions.

When women are engaged in producers and traders’ associations, cooperatives, labour councils and financial institutions, they can lobby for their views to be heard, for their needs to be met, and for their rights to be respected.

Institutional arrangements are needed to support the participation of women in policy-design, implementation and evaluation as part of decision-making processes.

Equal access to and control of land and other rural productive resources, technology, markets, and financing

States should ensure that national laws and policies guarantee rural women’s right to land including upon divorce and separation and their right to inheritance in both customary and statutory systems. It is estimated that rural women own less than 10% of property in the developed world and 2% in the developing world. Ensuring rights to land is vital for rural women’s economic empowerment.

Priority should be given to raising women’s awareness of their rights, forcing legislation and increasing women’s access to legal assistance.

Women’s access to financial services including savings, insurance and credit is essential to allow them to benefit from economic opportunities in rural areas. Access to micro-finance can increase women’s investment in technologies such as solar panels to generate electricity as well as agricultural technologies to enhance the profitability of their businesses.

Promoting rural women’s employment, decent work and social protection

While being livelihood source for 86% of rural women and men, and a job generator for 1.3 billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, agriculture alone cannot reduce poverty.

States should ensure and expand the equal access to opportunities for employment and decent work in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

They should facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal sector including through promoting and strengthening women’s economic opportunities in micro and small enterprises, sustainable social enterprises and cooperatives. These enterprises and cooperatives can be established in several different sectors: transport, storage, infrastructure, local service sector, tourism, trade, agribusiness, the rural industry.

States should establish or expand national social protection systems with a gendered perspective to provide basic social protection and social support measures for rural women of all ages. They should also take measures to ensure sustainable long-term financial support for such systems. Social protection floors should also be recognised by states as the provision of a systemic base to address poverty and vulnerability.

Unpaid care work, infrastructure and service delivery

The most important barriers that strategies of rural development and employment generation programs face concerning rural women and their access to decent work is unpaid care work, the unequal sharing of care, and other household responsibilities.

Women account for more than half of the total burden of work. However, women’s paid market activities represent only 1/3 of this work compared to men who represent 3/4 of this work. Time spent by women in domestic responsibilities limits their opportunities to participate in the labour force or to engage in economic activity and entails missed opportunities to attend school.

States should reduce unpaid care work through investment, infrastructure and labour saving technologies that are focused on household care tasks to help rural women to reconcile work and family responsibilities.

Measures are also needed to increase access to health facilities, education, training and other support services.

Unpaid care work should be valued and made visible to policy-makers in order to become the subject of policy attention and investment in rural areas.

States should implement policies favourable to burden sharing and challenge gender stereotypes that prevent men from contributing to unpaid care work.

Data Collection

The need to improve the collection of data disaggregated by sex, age, rural, urban areas as well as gender-sensitive indicators is imperative. The analysis and use of data are critical for gender-responsive policies in rural areas, (design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation).

To meet the above challenge of closing the gender gap, efforts have to be undertaken to empower women and girls in rural areas. We, therefore, call on member states to:

Increase investments and infrastructure, essential services, indigenous, traditional and new technologies and productive capacities in rural areas to reduce rural women’s unpaid care work and enhance their sustainable livelihoods.

Recognise and support women as actors in climate change adaptation, mitigation, disaster risk reduction, and resilience strategies (protection of water, food, fuel energy, and livelihoods).

Strengthen gender-responsive accountability mechanisms to ensure that rural women and their organisations can influence policy formulation, implementation, and monitoring at all levels of government with a view to enabling rural women to hold all duty bearers to account.

Prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against rural women and girls including harmful practices.

As to the role of civil society, IAW welcomes the recently adopted GR 34 on rural women which interprets Article 14 of CEDAW in the context of the Convention as a whole.

GR 34 is particularly helpful to women’s organisation and civil society more generally as it is an important tool with which government’s accountability can be checked.

The post IAW statement for CSW 62: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls appeared first on International Alliance of Women.