International Day of Rural Women — October 15
#RuralWomen #InternationalDayOfRuralWomen
Today, 15 October, the world marks the International Day of Rural Women — a day to honour the crucial role women play in ensuring the sustainability of rural households, communities and our food systems.
Rural women make up one-quarter of the world's population. Globally, one in three employed women works in agriculture. Yet in many countries, they remain the most excluded — living in poverty, shut out of leadership and decision-making, and lacking access to education, healthcare, public services, finance and land.
Still, rural women are a force to be reckoned with.
They manage agriculture and livestock production, feed families, protect natural resources, ensure nutrition, build climate resilience, and keep rural economies alive. Many are innovators, financially independent, and drivers of change.
According to the FAO, with improved technology and access to finance, women could increase plantation yields by up to 30% — reducing the number of undernourished people in the world by 17%. That is the power of investing in rural women.
The idea for this day was born at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It was celebrated as World Rural Women's Day until 2007, when the UN General Assembly officially established it. The first observance was on 15 October 2008 — the eve of World Food Day — and it has been celebrated every year since.
At WAELE AFRICA Foundation, rural women are at the heart of our work.
We see them — the smallholder farmer in Nasarawa, the market woman in Malawi, the herder in Borno, the fisher in the Niger Delta — working from dawn till dusk to feed nations. Empowering her means ending hunger, reducing poverty and building a resilient Africa.
Today we call for action:
Invest in rural women's access to land, finance and technology
Include them in leadership and climate decisions
Protect their rights, health and dignity
Celebrate their labour and leadership
To every rural woman in Africa: You feed the world. You hold the community together. You are seen, valued and essential.
Happy International Day of Rural Women!
#DayOfRuralWomen #EmpowerRuralWomen #WAELEAFRICA
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