56th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women - The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges

The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from Monday, 27 February to Friday, 9 March 2012.

The drafted agreed conclusions about strengthening the participation and leadership of rural women in decision-making are the following:

1. Ensure the participation of rural women and women leaders of rural organizations in key decision-making and budget allocation processes at all levels of government and within rural institutions, including the planning and implementation of rural and agricultural policies and programmes; organize women-only consultations, and provide family-friendly support, such as child care facilities;
2. Implement targeted actions to increase women’s participation and leadership in national and local governments, farmers’ organizations and cooperatives through adopting temporary special measures such as quotas and benchmarks;
3. Increase the number of women in leadership positions in farmers’ and other rural organizations, through measures such as fair and transparent selection processes, and setting concrete targets and timelines;
4. Support the efforts of women’s organizations, rural organizations, trade unions and other civil society organizations that promote rural women’s rights, especially the efforts of rural and women’s organizations in resource mobilization, advocacy and capacity development to strengthen their effective participation in the policy processes at the national and local levels.

You can download here the Draft agreed conclusions presented by the Bureau.