My colleagues from the UN
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
Achieving rapid poverty reduction and sustainable human development in Africa depends essentially on how fast the well-being of women is enhanced through socio-economic empowerment and sustained livelihoods.
Cultural practices which discriminate against women particularly on property inheritance (including land) also impede women social and economic empowerment. For instance, despite the fact that women constitute about 80 per cent of agricultural labour, yet credit to this sector disproportionately favours men.Based on available statistics from countries , the proportion of women living below $1.25 per day ranges from about 20 per cent in Egypt to about 70 per cent in Madagascar. In addition to low or lack of education, limited access to economic resources is one of the major reasons why poverty is prevalent among women especially those living in rural areas.
Although many countries have initiated policy and legal reforms (including affirmative actions) to address this imbalance, the implementation of such policies has not reached the majority of rural women because of poor legal literacy. Effort to empower rural women to be able to use the legal system and services to protect and advance their rights and interests is vital to women socio-economic transformation and development.
Furthermore, substantial proportion of women depends on the ecosystem, which is threatened by the emerging reality of climate change. Women in Africa, particularly in the rural areas, constitute the majority in providing labour for small scale farming, which is the main source of food, income and employment for rural dwellers. If the prediction on climate change becomes a reality, it will result in unpredictable weather patterns and most likely affect the quality of soils with negative consequences for the levels of food production and livelihoods.
Climate change is also threatening access to water in Africa. An extra two million people in sub- Saharan Africa are going to be affected by water shortages and the majority of these are women. Water collection, a task that typically falls on women and children in developing countries, could become increasingly burdensome.
As part of the efforts to collectively address the major impediments to women social and economic empowerment, UNDP, UNCDF and UN Women have been collaborating and working closely with African rural women and their associations. Our efforts over the past years have shown that increased legal literacy and better access to economic opportunities especially renewable energy (e.g. solar energy) can promote sustainable livelihoods for rural women. This has created opportunities for skills building, diversified livelihoods and leadership development for rural women.
This side-event speaks directly to the theme of this year's Convention on Status of Women (CSW), 'The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges'. It also aims at showing that with better target of beneficiaries and effective collaboration between development partners and national institutions, women economic empowerment can be realized in Africa.
This side event provides opportunity for people that have been contributing to the lives of rural women as well as beneficiaries of Multi-Functional Platform in Mali and Solar Energy Programme in Tanzania and Rwanda to share their experiences on how the Joint UN Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women has been transforming lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
We have organized the Panel into two parts. The first panel will address the conceptual and policy areas pertaining to women's access to productive resources. It presents an overview of the ongoing programming around the multifunctional platform, discusses successes and challenges associated with the Women's Green Business Initiative and highlights the importance of access to justice around these issues.
The second panel will give rural women the direct platform to share their experiences and how they have benefited from access to energy and productive resources. This includes African women who have been trained in the barefoot college and using and sharing their skills, women whose lives have been changed by the multifunctional platform, and other women who will share their experiences of empowerment and transformation as a result of access to renewable energy services.
I hope that through an improved understanding of the challenges and successes of rural African women in the green economy and further partnerships among institutions working on green economy, sustainable development, gender equality and climate change issues in Africa we can all work together to increase women access to productive resources in the short run and promote sustained rural women livelihoods and well-being in the long run.
I wish you all a fruitful discussion session. Thank you.