Commission for the Status of Women

The Commission of the Status of Women takes place each March at the UN headquarters in New York. This year is the 62^nd meeting of CSW with a theme of “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”.

This infographic from UN Women sets out some of the challenges faced by rural women. Out of the Box has observed these challenges in our work with women across the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Many rural women are involved in the agricultural sector – either in subsistence farming to feed their own families or in the informal economy with few rights or protections. Less than 13% of agricultural women are landholders due to legal systems and/ or traditional rights. This leaves women vulnerable with less security for their homes and income; less decision making power and less access to credit.

Limited access to primary health care, as well as reproductive health education and awareness increase rates of morbidity and mortality. This is exacerbated by poor access to reliable supplies of safe drinking water. Child marriage and adolescent pregnancy are more pronounced in rural areas where cultural traditions and economic circumstances still play a strong role in parental decision making.

Access to education for rural girls and young women is more difficult due to limited availability of quality schools. In a recent project with Misean Cara Out of the Box carried out an evaluation of schools in 6 African countries. Girls reported one of the key challenges was the fear faced by many in their daily long trek to school. There were reports of assaults and threats, and as a result, some schools had introduced boarding programs. This also allowed girls to focus on studies as they did not have to undertake household chores, and in could study in the evenings. There is well-established data that girls that access education have significantly increased opportunities to access employment or start their own businesses, avoid child marriage and be in a better position to make life choices.

In our work, Out of the Box support the empowerment of rural girls and women. We endorse UN Women’s list of requirements:

1. Decent work and social protection
2. Education and training
3. Sustainable energy and technology
4. Clean water and sanitation
5. Eliminating violence and harmful practices
6. Including women in decision-making and leadership
7. Increasing women’s climate-resilience