Improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas
A/RES/72/148
poverty and lack of empowerment as well as their exclusion from social and economic
policies can place 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 the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure
of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security 12 and the
Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, 13 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 sustainable development, threatens food security and
increases the risks of famine, 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,
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; 14
2.
Urges Member States, in collaboration with the organizations of the
United Nations system and civil society, as appropriate, to continue their efforts to
implement the outcome of and to ensure an integrated and coordinated follow-up to
the relevant United Nations conferences and summits, including their reviews, and to
attach greater importance to the improvement of the situation of rural women and
girls in their national, regional and global develo pment strategies by, inter alia:
(a) Creating an enabling environment for improving their situation and
ensuring systematic attention to their needs, priorities and contributions, as well as
gender equality and the empowerment of women, including through enhanced
cooperation and a gender perspective, and their full and equal participation in the
development, implementation and follow-up of macroeconomic policies, including
development policies and programmes and poverty eradication strategies, including
poverty reduction strategy papers, where they exist, aimed at implementing the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development; 10
(b) Pursuing the political and socioeconomic empowerment of rural women
and supporting their full and equal participation in decision -making at all levels,
including through affirmative action, where appropriate, including by promoting and
protecting the right to vote and to be elected and the rig ht to freedom of expression,
peaceful assembly and association, and through support for women’s and farmers’
organizations in which subsistence and smallholder women farmers are members,
labour unions, cooperatives or other associations and civil society g roups promoting
rural women’s rights;
(c) Promoting consultation with and the participation of rural women and, as
appropriate, girls, including those who are indigenous, those with disabilities and
older women, through their organizations and networks, i n the design, development
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12
13
14
17-22936
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 20 15/20, appendix D.
A/72/207.
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