CEDAW/C/GC/34 50. States parties should fully incorporate the right to decent conditions of work and the principle of equal pay for work of equal value into their legal and policy frameworks, paying special attention to the situation and labour force representation of rural women, in line with general recommendations No. 13 (1989) on equal remuneration for work of equal value and No. 23. 51. States parties should strengthen local rural economies, including through the promotion of social and solidarity economies, and create local employment opportunities and livelihoods for rural women in the context of sustainable development. They should review relevant laws, regulations and policies that limit rural women’s access to decent employment and eliminate practices that discriminate against women in rural labour markets, such as not hiring women for certain jobs. 52. States parties should further ensure rural women’s rights to employment by: (a) Facilitating the transition of rural women from the informal to the formal economy, including in the agricultural sector, through the implementation of Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204) of the International Labour Organization, ensuring opportunities for income security and improved livelihoods; (b) Expanding opportunities for rural women to run businesses and other enterprises, including through microcredit facilities; (c) Improving rural working conditions, including by providing paid maternity leave; setting living wages, with urgent attention to the informal sector, and taking steps to prevent sexual harassment, exploitation and other forms of abuse in the workplace; (d) Protecting the rights of rural women workers to bargain collectively to ensure decent working conditions; (e) Protecting the occupational health and safety of rural women by taking legislative and other measures to protect them against exposure to harmful chemicals. They should receive information about the health and environmental effects of the use of and exposure to chemicals, in particular hazardous chemicals, pesticides and other products used in agriculture and in extractive and other industries. States parties should develop and implement public awareness programmes on those effects and on alternatives and ensure that no use, storage or disposal of hazardous materials or substances takes place without the explicit consent of rural women and their communities; (f) Providing social security to rural women, including in cases of sickness or invalidity; (g) Promoting rural women’s active and effective engagement as producers, entrepreneurs, suppliers, workers and consumers in local and global value chains and markets, including by promoting capacity development on quality assurance and standards and public procurement; (h) Providing childcare and other care services in rural areas, including through solidarity and community-based care services, in order to alleviate 16-03601 15/25