Improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas
A/RES/74/126
opportunities and their limited access or lack of access to quality education, health care services, justice, land, sustainable and time- and labour-saving infrastructure and
technology, water and sanitation and other resources, as well as to credit, extension
services and agricultural inputs, and expressing concern also about their exclusion
from planning and decision-making and their disproportionate share of unpaid care
and domestic work,
Emphasizing that rural women’s poverty is directly related to the absence of
economic opportunities and autonomy and the lack of access to economic and productive
resources, quality education and support services and of women’s participation in the
decision-making process, and recognizing that rural women’s poverty and lack of
empowerment as well as their exclusion from social and economic policies can plac e
them at increased risk of violence that can impede their social and economic
development, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,
Recognizing that, despite gains in providing access to quality education, rural
girls are still more likely than rural boys to remain excluded from education and that
among the gender-specific barriers to girls’ equal enjoyment of their right to education
are the feminization of poverty, child labour undertaken by girls, child, early and
forced marriage, female genital mutilation, early and repeat pregnancies, all forms of
violence, including gender-based violence, abuse and harassment on the way to and
from and at school, in their technology-mediated environment, the lack of safe and
adequate sanitation facilities, including for menstrual hygiene management, the
disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work performed by girls and
gender stereotypes and negative social norms that lead families and communities to
place less value on the education of girls than that of boys and may influence the
decision of parents to allow girls to attend school,
Recognizing also the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of
Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Secur ity 13 and
the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, 14
endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security, which embrace gender equality
as one of the main guiding principles of implementation in order to help to address
the ongoing disparities with regard to access to and control of land and other natural
resources,
Deeply concerned that climate change poses a challenge to poverty eradication
and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, threatens food security
and increases the risks of famine and adversely impacts the health and well-being of
rural women and their families, and that rural women and girls, especially in
developing countries, are disproportionately affected by the impacts of desertification,
deforestation, sand and dust storms, natural disasters, persistent drought, extreme
weather events, sea level rise, coastal erosion and ocean acidification and often have
limited capacities to adapt to climate change,
Recognizing that women and girls in rural areas may be particularly vulnerable
to violence because of multidimensional poverty and lack of access to social care and
protection services and, as applicable, employment opportunities, as well as negative
social norms,
1.
Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General; 15
2.
Urges Member States, in collaboration with the organizations of the
United Nations system and civil society, as appropriate, to continue their efforts to
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13
14
15
19-22221
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document CL 144/9 (C 2013/20),
appendix D.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document C 2015 /20, appendix D.
A/74/224.
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