October 15, 2014 - On this International Day of Rural Women, Canada reiterates its commitment to improving the lives and well-being of rural women around the world. Rural women play a key role in agricultural development, food security, economic growth and poverty reduction, while making essential contributions to their communities and their families. However, rural women represent a disproportionate number of the world’s poor and food insecure.
In developing countries, rural women comprise about 43 percent of the agricultural labour force, but discriminatory laws, cultural norms and social biases significantly reduce their access to land and other productive resources. These barriers limit women’s productivity, the agriculture sector and the broader economy. As well, rural women typically have less access to education, health services, resources and human rights, and are more vulnerable to the impact of natural and man-made crises and disasters.
To help reverse this trend, Canada supports projects that ensure small-scale women farmers have equal opportunities to develop and grow their farms. In Ghana, Canada’s support has helped 226 women farmers receive the skills, knowledge and information they need to increase their production, access local markets, and provide support and leadership to more than 6,000 women farmers across 115 communities.
Support is also provided for women’s economic empowerment, which can transform rural communities and have significant and lasting impact on sustainable economic growth. In the Philippines, Canada is helping to support approximately 12,000 women microentrepreneurs to successfully and sustainably grow their businesses through improved productivity, marketing, and compliance with safety and business regulations and standards, and connections to domestic and global markets.
In many developing countries, maternal mortality and morbidity continues to be high, especially in rural areas where access to health services is often limited. That is why Canada has made maternal, newborn and child health its top development priority. We focus on strengthening health systems so that women can receive the full continuum of care—from pregnancy to childbirth to early childhood. We also support the provision of family planning services to help women to decide on the number, timing, and spacing of their children. This has been proven to reduce maternal and newborn deaths, increase educational and economic opportunities for women, and lead to healthier families and communities.
On this International Day of Rural Women, Canadians can be proud of our Government’s efforts to improve the lives and well-being of rural women around the world.
Christian Paradis
Minister of International Development and La Francophonie
