Role Of Rural Women

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges. The Commission will agree on urgent actions needed to make a real difference in the lives of millions of rural women. Rural women constitute one-fourth of the world's population acordng to UN WOMEN (2012). They are leaders, producers, entrepreneurs and service providers, and their contributions are vital to the well-being of families, communities and economies, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Rural women account for a great proportion of

For instance, recent UN Women research shows that the proportion of women without identification cards is as high as 80 percent in some villages in rural Egypt, which hampers their access to health, education, pensions, application for property title or deed, and other social services in addition to their ability to vote.

According to Clack (1992), the migrant labour system has always existed not only in Africa but also around the world. The experience is similar across cultures in compromises members of a rural community or traditional society who due to various pressures, be they, ecological social politic or cultural are forced off the land to go and obtain and sell their labour on the market in a urban environment. Most women been left by tey spouses due to migrant labour inorder for them to get greener pastures that can help them to fend for the

But the political and economic crisis has brought rising poverty and social decline in its wake. The 2003 Poverty Assessment Study Survey II showed a substantial increase in poverty; between 1990 and 2003 the poverty rate rose from 25 per cent to 63 per cent.

As in most countries, rural households record a higher poverty rate than urban households. Most farm proceeds and production are inadequate and food shortages are rising. Households are depending increasingly on remittances and emergency aid yet the social welfare cant manage to cater for everyone.

The National infrastructure has depreciated Near 40 per cent of the road network is in poor condition, water and sanitation coverage is very poor, and railway freight traffic has dropped by more than half since 1990, effectively segregating rural communities from