1. What is the situation of gender equality in the rural
sector?
Some 70 per cent of the world’s poor are concentrated in rural communities.
These are communities that rely on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and
livestock to make a living. Within these communities, the poorest of the poor
are often women and young girls who lack regular and decent employment, and who
may face hunger and/or malnutrition, and poor access to health, education and
productive assets. Although gender inequality varies considerably across regions
and sectors, there is evidence that, globally, women benefit less from rural
employment, whether in self- or wage-employment, than men do.
2. Why are women in rural areas generally poorer and face worse
living conditions than men?
There are various reasons. For starters, women are disproportionately
employed in low-quality jobs, including jobs in which their rights are not
adequately respected and social protection is limited. Another reason related to
the above is that women tend to get paid less than men (around 25 per cent less,
to be more precise). That doesn’t mean they work less, on the contrary. The
problem is that much of the work they do is not valued and remunerated
accordingly. In fact, most rural women are unpaid family members. This not only
lowers their labour income but also is likely to increase their stress and
fatigue.
3. What are the causes of women’s disadvantaged
position?
Gender inequalities in rural employment exist and persist because of a range
of interlinked social, economic and political factors. However, there is a
specific cause that outweighs all others: the invisible but powerful role of
social institutions that disempower one sex above the other. These include
traditions, customs and social norms that govern the intricate workings of rural
societies, and which act as a constraint on women’s activities and restrict
their ability to compete on an even footing with men. We’re not saying that
urban-based women are not faced with poverty … but that the context of rural
communities places an added strain on equal opportunities.
4. Can you give some examples of these traditions and
customs?
Yes: here’s one example that will sound true to anyone who has lived and
worked in isolated rural areas; the commonly held view that it is a woman’s
obligation to work in the home, cooking, cleaning, and looking after children
and the sick and the elderly. Here’s another: the belief that women are less
able to manage assets. The idea that women have to obtain their husbands or
guardians permission to leave the house. Or even social - sometimes legal -
restrictions that do not allow women to have any property or inheritance rights.
These practices are extremely difficult to eradicate and are detrimental to
women’s capacity to develop as productive members of society; they stifle
women’s economic empowerment.
5. Why does gender inequality in rural employment
matter?
First and foremost, because not providing women with equal opportunities is a
violation of their human rights. Second, because we will not eradicate extreme
poverty (as called for by the MDGs) until we acknowledge the fact that women are
disproportionately represented among the poorest of poor in rural areas. Third,
and this is something that not only applies to rural areas, gender equality
makes great economic sense. It is well established that educating and providing
women with opportunities to take part in skilled paid employment provides
benefits to their families and communities in the form of lower fertility rates,
decreased child mortality, improved child health nutrition and levels of
education. Finally, the fight against child labour will be almost impossible to
win unless parents (mothers and fathers) can produce or earn sufficiently to
ensure their family’s livelihoods.
6. Is the global economic crisis having a specific impact on women
in rural employment?
The financial crisis arrived at a time when many people in developing
countries were already facing hardship because of the food and fuel crises. It
is hard to quantify the impact of the current crisis in terms of gender
equality, but certain trends can be predicted. For example, it is plausible to
anticipate that in most countries women will be expected to assume the primary
responsibility for acting as safety nets of last resort and for ensuring that
their families will survive. At the same time, rural women’s unpaid work burdens
are likely to further intensify, especially in low-income households and
especially when State-run facilities (even the few that actually reached rural
areas) are cut as part of austerity measures. Also, it is possible that rural
women, more than rural men, will be increasingly offered precarious employment
with poor prospects and that their children’s health, as well as their own
health will deteriorate. During Mexico’s 1995 crisis, for example, infant
mortality rates increased most in the areas where women’s work participation
increased, with girls being affected the most.
7. What is the ILO doing to promote gender equality in rural
areas?
A lot! Women face inequalities in all the pillars of Decent Work: standards
and rights at work, employment creation, social protection and social dialogue.
That’s why for the ILO gender equality is a cross-cutting issue. The ILO has
implemented a number of projects that promote gender equality in rural areas.
One of them is the
Cooperative Facility for Africa, which promotes cooperative
development across the continent. The ILO recently organized a participatory
workshop at the Cooperative College of Kenya to discuss strategies for
encouraging women’s participation on co-operative boards. The ILO’s
Women's Entrepreneurship Development Programme is in its third and final phase. The aim of this
project is to enhance economic opportunities for women by carrying out
affirmative actions in support of women starting, formalizing and growing their
enterprises, and by mainstreaming gender equality issues into the ILO's work in
enterprise development. In
Timor-Leste, the ILO is supporting the Institute for Business Support
(IADE) and the National Directorate for Rural Development (NDRD) of the Ministry
of Economy and Development in boosting local economic development, enhancing
government service delivery and creating quality employment in rural areas by
expanding market access for MSEs, strengthening local contractors and improving
the provision of business development
services.
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