International Federation of Agricultural Producers (1)
	WORLD RURAL WOMEN'S DAY
	OCTOBER 15, 2000

At the beginning of the new millennium, the United Nations has declared the Year 2000 the International Year for the Culture of Peace. Also, the Organization of African Unity has declared this year the Year of Peace, Security and Solidarity in Africa. Consequently, the achievement of lasting peace will guide the deliberations and projects of international organizations in the coming years.

For this reason, the IFAP Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture has decided to focus on the theme "Rural Women Voices for Development and Peace" for World Rural Women's Day on October 15, 2000. We will highlight the participation by rural women in these two complex, inextricably linked processes.

- Statistics in a nutshell

- Peace and development are inextricably linked.

- Inequalities among rural women, an obstacle to the attainment of peace and development

- The proliferation of AIDS is having a devastating effect on development and the maintenance of peace

- Gender equality is an essential component of the peace and development process

- Suggested initiatives in conjunction with WRWD 2000

- Notes

STATISTICS IN A NUTSHELL

It is extremely hard to accurately assess the number of countries engaged in conflicts, because of diverging definitions of what constitutes a conflict.

According to the recent Report on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, the UN is currently present in 14 countries. However, the organization does not intervene in all conflicts.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute mentions 27 major conflicts, i.e. conflicts that have caused at least 1000 deaths since the outset, in the "SIPRI Yearbook 1999: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security".

Since 1970 on the African continent alone, there have been more than 30 wars, most of them internal conflicts.

Defending peace in the new millennium must be a priority action the world over.

World Rural Women's Day 2000 will also focus on the worldwide AIDS epidemic. The figures speak for themselves. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (2), the total number of adults and children suffering from HIV/AIDS stands at 34.3 million. This appalling statistic can be broken down as follows:

In light of conflicts and the spread of HIV/AIDS - two major problems in the new millennium - the IFAP Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture must support rural women in their fight against poverty and the spread of the AIDS virus, and in their struggle to achieve peace and sustainable development.

Peace and development are inextricably linked.

Peace and development are inextricably linked. There can be no lasting peace without economic and social development, just as the development process cannot be implemented without first establishing a climate of peace.

When a nation experiences instability because of internal conflicts such as political upheaval and civil war, or conflicts between states, such as war and embargoes, the development process is hampered or even halted. All conflicts have dramatic consequences for a country's or a region's economic and social development, i.e. economic and political instability, breakdown of decision-making structures, destruction of infrastructure, loss of human life and displacement of populations, paralysis of health and education services, and so on. When conflicts arise, emergency aid is essential to ensure the survival of the people; there is no time or resources to engage in development. Only after restoration of lasting peace does it become possible to engage in development initiatives.

Similarly, the implementation of a development process promotes the establishment of peace. Development contributes to the maintenance of peace by facilitating the improvement of economic and social conditions, the elimination of poverty and all forms of discrimination, a reduction of inequalities within and between nations, and investment by individuals in the improvement of their day-to-day lives.

Peace and development are therefore two processes that are unquestionably inextricably linked.

Inequalities among rural women, an obstacle to the attainment of peace and development

Today, women in agriculture face widespread inequality . This is evident in their unequal access to resources and raw materials (land, credit, agro-inputs, and so on), to education, training and general knowledge and, as a result, to technology, to services that facilitate their everyday work, and to marketing networks, among others. (3).

The differences in the treatment accorded men and women are also reflected in shortages of capital and manpower in farm operations managed by women. Women must make do with what they have and often alter the operating system or the selection of crops (or both) in order to get by. These adaptations can have significant repercussions, i.e. smaller harvests, which threaten food supplies, production of crops with lower nutritional value, adoption of environmentally harmful farming techniques, and a reduction in activities that generate off-farm income, i.e. impoverishment of families.

These inequalities prevent women - except at the cost of enormous effort - from assuming their basic role in respect of the survival and management of the family unit, for the well being of families and their communities.

In addition to these problems, it has been observed that the rural male population is declining steadily the world over. Depending on the country in question, this can be explained by various factors such as the search for income outside the farming sector or enlistment in the armed forces during conflicts. This decline in the rural male population is leading to an increase in the number of rural households headed by women. Consequently, it is essential to eliminate the obstacles facing women engaged in farm work.

One major difficulty facing rural women is access to raw materials, resources and marketing networks, which are essential for bolstering farm output.

Women farmers are facing numerous obstacles in all fields economic (for example, the lack of disposable income), legal (for want of individual status, they are consigned to the role of farmers' wives and are unable to obtain access in their own names to existing farm services), social and cultural (the weight of certain social traditions, standards and rules hamper women's autonomy) and from the standpoint of credit, inputs and agricultural equipment. This problem is all the more acute since the number of farm households headed by women is growing steadily.

In the long term, these inequalities are leading to significant uncertainty concerning food supplies, malnutrition and poverty. They are impeding the socio-economic development of the society in general, and of women in particular. Furthermore, the factors mentioned earlier are a threat to peace in that poverty, political instability and conflicts are unquestionably linked.

It is at this point that development programs come into play. While considerable progress has been noted, even today, many agricultural development programs are not geared to the real needs of rural women. Too often, rural women are still regarded as farmers' wives, even when they are actually operating the farms.

All too often, rural women are invisible partners in development. It is essential to consider them as key participants in development and the maintenance of peace. Do they not ensure, in times of war and in times of peace, the survival of their families and, consequently, of future generations?

For this reason, they must be given the physical and technical means and the training they need to ensure the food security and the nutritional needs of their families and communities.

The proliferation of AIDS is having a devastating effect on development and the maintenance of peace

Over the past two decades, the appearance of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been an event of unprecedented seriousness.

From the outset, it may seem surprising to deal with this theme in conjunction with World Rural Women's Day focusing on agriculture, women, peace and development. However, it is inconceivable that rural women do not take into account this epidemic, bearing in mind its pervasive character, the populations affected (90% of AIDS victims are living in the developing nations, 70% on the African continent alone, and rural areas are heavily affected), and the disease's alarming consequences.

In many societies, women are facing serious social, economic, cultural, moral and religious barriers to access to information on the disease, to protective measures and to medication to slow the disease's development in the event of contamination. Moreover, women transmit the virus when giving birth, and so have an especially important role to play in fighting the propagation of AIDS.

Failure to make available in the developing countries protective measures and multidrug therapy means that economic interests are overshadowing worldwide health issues. These inequalities with respect to AIDS must be overcome and international agencies and pharmaceutical laboratories must allow everyone access to protective measures and treatment.

The economic, social and political consequences of extensive HIV contamination, especially in certain regions of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, are readily apparent and indeed alarming.

• The devastation of the labour force is eroding human capital. Unlike other diseases, AIDS is not confined only to the poorest, or least educated, members of society. Teachers, political leaders, the elite, military personnel and the police are also affected by it. The result is reduced national productivity, curtailed social, health and even education services, a reduction in the number of intellectuals, and so on.
• Future generations will be hard hit. The estimated number of children orphaned through AIDS stands at over 9 million, out of a worldwide total of 13 million orphans who live in the streets and often suffer from the disease themselves. Present and future family and community structure and stability are being destroyed.

The AIDS virus is causing serious demographic problems. It is a significant factor in economic and social crises and, consequently, is contributing to political instability in many countries.

At the same time, conflicts and crises favour the propagation of the virus through a reduction in or the absence of health and education services in times of conflict, the scarcity of physical and financial resources, population shifts, and recourse to systematic rape as a weapon during certain conflicts. A number of studies have revealed an increase in the number of individuals infected with HIV during wars, especially through the medical observation of refugees.

Consequently, it is impossible at present to dissociate war and the spreading of HIV/AIDS, just as it is impossible to overlook HIV/AIDS when development programs are implemented.

It is extremely important to target women through specific programs. Mothers can later transmit the knowledge gained to their children. In addition, it is essential for the survival of future generations to change attitudes. AIDS affects society as a whole and inequalities between the sexes, societies and continents must be eliminated to fully halt the epidemic's spread.

Gender equality is an essential component of the peace and development process

Lasting peace and sustainable development will result for the establishment of genuine dialogue between men and women. Such dialogue will bring together individual and collective knowledge, and share values and behaviour, which are essential components of the peace and development process.

Furthermore, lasting peace and sustainable development depend to a great extent on changes in values and attitudes that hamper the achievement of human equality. This process in turn demands a genuine change in attitudes towards underprivileged or under-appreciated socio-economic groups.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved without political stability. Thus implementation of truly participatory democracy, predicated on equality between men and women, i.e. equal rights and opportunities, access to education, employment, the decision-making process, resources, health care services, and so on is essential.

By defending their rights and combating discrimination and inequality, women encourage society to alter its perception of their roles and so participate in the peace and development process at the local, national and international levels.

Rural women cannot however, single-handedly change current trends. Governments, national or international bodies, farm organizations, NGOs and other agencies working with rural women must also adopt the appropriate measures to help achieve true equality between men and women that will lead to the enhanced well-being of all individuals.

SUGGESTED INITIATIVES IN CONJUNCTION WITH WORLD RURAL WOMEN'S DAY 2000

• Read and discuss this document and share with us your comments and suggestions with a view to advancing the debate on women's participation in the peace and development process.
• Take advantage of World Rural Women's Day on 15 October to organize events to publicly draw attention to the contribution of rural women to society, to the importance of the equality of the sexes as well as to recognition of women's roles, functions and initiatives in respect of development and peace.
• Make proposals to national governments, institutions and the representatives of intergovernmental organizations concerning genuinely equal rights and opportunities for women in general and for rural women in particular.
• Ask your government to:
  • officially recognize World Rural Women's Day;
  • strengthen macro-economic policies and infrastructure that foster the development or rural areas, and especially the economic activities of rural women;
  • take into account women's issues when elaborating policy to support rural areas, in consultation with representative farm organizations.
• Work with the authorities in your country to do everything possible to reduce inequalities among countries with respect to access to protective measures and HIV/AIDS treatment.
• Encourage the media to participate in the celebrations. Media visibility of World Rural Women's Day is crucial to the event's success and to the recognition of rural women the world over.

NOTES

(1) IFAP is an international farmers? organization that brings together national farm organizations the world over. It maintains close relations and partnerships with the leading intergovernmental organizations that play a role in farm and rural development. The IFAP Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture is a permanent discussion group devoted to the development of farm women?s activities, the recognition of their rights and the broadening of representation for women within farm organizations.

(2) Figures are drawn from the "Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic", June 2000.

(3) Such inequalities vary strikingly from one country to the next and must, therefore, be examined in a national perspective.