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religious minorities; female heads of household; peasant; pastoralists; fisherfolk; landless;
migrant; and conflict-affected rural women are protected from intersecting forms of
discrimination and have access to education, employment, water and sanitation, health
care, etc.
Fully incorporate the right to decent conditions of work and the principle of equal pay for
work of equal value in their legal and policy frameworks, paying special attention to the
situation and labour force representation of rural women.
Address the root causes of trafficking by economically empowering rural women and by
raising awareness within rural areas on the risks of being lured by traffickers and the ways
in which traffickers operate.
Take steps to prevent and prohibit child and/or forced marriage of rural girls and women.
Safeguard rural women’s and girls’ right to adequate health care and ensure that quality
health care services and facilities are physically accessible and affordable for rural women,
including older women, female heads of household, and women with disabilities (provided
free of charge when necessary); culturally acceptable to them; and staffed with trained
medical personnel.
Protect rural girls’ and women’s right to education and promote rural women’s access to
technical knowledge on food harvesting techniques, preservation, storage, processing,
packaging, marketing and entrepreneurship.
Fully incorporate the right to decent conditions of work and the principle of equal pay for
work of equal value in their legal and policy frameworks, paying special attention to the
situation and labour force representation of rural women.
Ensure the active, free, effective, meaningful and informed participation of rural women
in political and public life, and at all levels of decision-making.
Take all necessary measures, including TSMs, to achieve rural women’s substantive
equality in relation to land and natural resources, and should design and implement a
comprehensive strategy to address discriminatory stereotypes, attitudes and practices
which impede their rights to land and natural resources.
Implement agricultural policies which support rural women farmers, recognize and
protect the natural commons, promote organic farming and protect rural women from
harmful pesticides and fertilizers. They should ensure that rural women have effective
access to agricultural resources, including high quality seeds, tools, knowledge and
information, as well as equipment and resources for organic farming.
Ensure the realization of the right to food and nutrition of rural women within the
framework of food sovereignty and that they have the authority to manage and control
their natural resources.
Promote transition to formal financial services and ensure rural women’s access to credit,
loans, matrimonial savings, insurance and domestic payment services, on the basis of
equality with rural men, as well as promote their economic, financial and business skills.
Prioritize rural women’s equal rights to land when undertaking land and agrarian reforms
and consider it as a specific and central objective of land reform.
Address housing as part of overall rural development and ensure that measures are
developed in consultation with rural women.
Ensure that rural women have access to essential services and public goods, including:
o Sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for
personal and domestic uses, as well as for agriculture/irrigation;
o Adequate sanitation and hygiene, enabling women and girls to practice menstrual
hygiene and access sanitary pads; and
o Sustainable and renewable sources of energy, extending on-grid services to rural
areas and developing solar energy and other sustainable energy sources with lowcost technology.
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