development must uphold the rights of rural women, underscoring their role as key actors, and fully acknowledging the economic value of their paid and unpaid work” (CEDAW/C/GC/34). The same source (CEDAW/C/GC/34) declares that State Parties should: • “Recognize rural women’s crucial contributions to local/national economies and to food production, as well as to the well-being of their families and communities, including contributions through unpaid care work and work on family farms. • Ensure that rural women engaged in unpaid work and/or in the informal sector have access to non-contributory social protection. • Ensure that labor saving and environmentally sound technologies, including agricultural, irrigation and water harvesting technologies, and technologies to reduce the burden of unpaid domestic and productive work, are available and accessible to rural women and create enabling environments that improve their access to technology, including ICT, in rural areas.” ILO Convention No. 156 -- Convention concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities, 1981 This International Labor Organization Convention that was held on 3 June 1981, applies to men and women workers with responsibilities in relation to their dependent children and other family members who need their care and support, where such responsibilities restrict their possibilities of preparing for, entering, participating in or advancing in economic activity (Article 1). It was recommended in the Convention that: “The competent authorities and bodies in each country shall take appropriate measures to promote information and education which engender broader public understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers and of the problems of workers with family responsibilities, as well as a climate of opinion conducive to overcoming these problems” (Article 6). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) ICESCR, which was ratified on 16 December 1966 and put into force on 3 January 1976, declares that “the States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant” (Article 3). Article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also recognizes the right to opportunities to gain a living by work which one freely chooses or accepts (ohcr.org). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Adopted and ratified on 16 December 1966 and put into force on 23 March 1976, the ICCPR recognizes the inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family. Article 3 also reiterates the equal rights of men and women stating that, “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.” Furthermore, Article 23 pronounces that appropriate steps shall be undertaken “to ensure equality of rights and responsibilities of spouses as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution” (ohcr.org). 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which was adopted in 1995, states its determination “to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of all humanity.” Article 15 of the Beijing Declaration states that “Equal 19