Resolution adopted in Avignon at the GA of the ICW, May 2022

(Original in French)

Noting that many rural women still remain socially and economically marginalized,

Alarmed by the health, economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that have worsened the situation of rural women,

Aware of the role of rural women in promoting social development, food resilience and the reduction of poverty in rural areas,

Reaffirming that they are workers, daily or seasonal workers, family workers confronted with gender disparities and unequal access to income,

Aware of the constraints that rural women face in accessing the main factors of production, including land, water, financing and technical support,

Reaffirming that the activity of many rural women remains informal and not very valued within society,

Aware that with the increasing impacts of climate change on food resilience, and the role of women in the provision of food and water for their families, means they should be given more support,

Recalling the Beijing Platform for Action and that the realization of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 program requiresputting more emphasis on the rural development,

THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN CALLS ON ITS AFFILIATED COUNCILS TO URGE THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS TO TAKE MEASURES TO:

• Update the legal arsenal to guarantee the protection of the economic and social rights of rural women;
• Promote the creation of mini projects and integrated projects by structuring the informal rural economy;
• Encourage the integration of rural women’s businesses into the formal economy;
• Strengthen rural women’s and girls’ access to productive assets, resources and economic opportunities;
• Promote rural women’s empowerment for inclusive economic growth;
• Strengthen rural women’s skills by supporting them in the creation of micro and small enterprises;
• Promote gender equality and work for the economic empowerment of rural women to enable them to enjoy their fundamental rights and increase their contribution to sustainable development;
• Use new technologies for the economic and financial empowerment of rural women;
• Promote innovation and create systems for the protection and valorization of rural women’s work;
• Encourage rural women micro-entrepreneurs to organize collectively into cooperatives and professional groupsto develop production and