Summary

The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 64/140, reviews the activities undertaken by Member States and United Nations entities to empower rural women and contains recommendations for consideration by the Assembly.

I. Introduction

1 . In its resolution 64/140 on the improvement of the situation of women in rural areas, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the resolution at its sixty-sixth session. In response to that request, the present report provides an assessment of the situation of rural women, highlighting the efforts of Member States, 1 the United Nations system 2 and other actors to address the obstacles and challenges that impede progress towards the economic empowerment of rural women and to enable them to improve their lives and livelihoods. It contains recommendations for consideration by the Assembly.

2 . At the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals in 2010, Member States highlighted rural women as critical agents for enhancing agricultural and rural development and food security and pledged to ensure equal access for rural women to productive resources, land, financing, technologies, training and markets. 3 In the Istanbul Programme of Action (A/CONF.219/3), Member States reaffirmed those commitments.

3 . At its fifty-sixth session in 2012, the Commission on the Status of Women will consider the “Empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges” as its priority theme. In accordance with its methods of work, the Commission is expected to adopt a set of agreed conclusions on the priority theme that identify gaps and challenges in the implementation of previous commitments and make action-oriented recommendations in order to accelerate their implementation by all stakeholders.