Rural women's network

Strategic vision for the empowerment of the rural women:

In most of the developing countries today, more and more emphasis is laid on the need for development of women and their active participation in the main stream of development process. It is also widely recognized that apart from managing household, bearing children, rural women bring income with productive activities ranging from traditional work in the fields to working in factories or running small and petty businesses. They have also proven that they can be better entrepreneurs and development managers in any kind of human development activities. Therefore, it is important and utmost necessary to make rural women empowered in taking decisions to enable them to be in the central part of any human development process. The empowerment of women also considered as an active process enabling women to realize their full identity and power in all spheres of life.
Women active in family businesses and farms often have no professional status, independent remuneration or separate social security. This situation is almost the norm for couples seeking benefits for their business and family.
Women’s contribution to local and community development is significant, but rural women everywhere are in a minority in decision-making and planning, particularly at regional and national levels. This is in part due to women’s multiple roles and workload, but is also due to the persistence of traditional views about women’s and men’s roles in society.
The low level of participation by women in decision-making inevitably leads to biases in the priorities and policies pursued by development organisations. A balance participation by women and men in decision-making  is important for local democracy and for the quality of decisions taken on developments that affect the life and future of rural communities and economies.
Effective rural development creates a wider range of opportunities for high quality employment. This in turn opens up new employment prospects for young women, who might otherwise move away. Advantage can be taken of new and expanding sectors, such as telecommunications, local services, tourism and leisure services and environmental improvement. Making an impact on female employment in rural areas does not always call for actions targeted specifically at women. Identifying economic sectors that have development potential and that can make a special contribution to female employment is a way of integrating equal opportunities into rural development. A demand for appropriate and accessible training appears constantly in surveys and studies of women’s needs in rural areas. Women often represent an untapped resource, with a range of special aptitudes and skills ready to be developed and put to use in the formal economy. Many women already have vocational qualifications, which may need updating to prepare them to re-enter the job market. But the right support and encouragement is needed and, especially, training needs to be a realistic and practically achievable option.
Pre-training courses in personal development, confidence raising and basic skills allow women to discover their own strengths and abilities in a supportive environment before moving on to more vocationally-oriented training programmes. Such courses are often the genesis of networks of mutual support and practical action, leading to the setting up of co-operatives, small businesses or local services. Traditional views about the role of women and men can still affect the choices women make when pursuing vocational training. Instead of opting for conventionally female areas, positive action can be taken to encourage women to explore the possibilities offered by traditionally male domains. This broadening of roles can be stimulating to the individual and rewarding in both social and economic terms.