Women demand gender-responsive rural policies

A women’s group, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 62 Bureau has tasked political leaders to strengthen and enforce laws, policies and regulations that prohibit discrimination against rural women and girls and enhance gender-responsive rural development policies.

A statement from the commission, signed by Jumai Ahmadu, stated that the call was made in a position paper presented at the commission’s 67th session held recently in New York, the United States of America.

Dr. Jumai said the 2018 session, with representatives from many countries in attendance, also called for full implementation of other relevant legal frameworks, along with comprehensive set of measures for realising gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

The position paper read in part: “The Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of its reviews, and the outcomes of relevant major United Nations conferences and summits.

“The ommission reiterates commitment to the aims of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Optional Protocols thereto, as well as other relevant conventions and treaties such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”

The commission also stressed “the urgency of eliminating structural barriers and discriminatory laws and policies, gender stereotypes and negative social norms to enable rural women and girls to respond to challenges and seize