In view of marking the 15 October, International Day of Rural Women

Association Vesta reminds of the need for improvement of the position of rural woman in BiH

A woman is a key actor on whom the survival, revival of rural communities and rural development in general depend. Due to this, the woman should have a central place in affirmation of the importance of the village and quality of life in rural communities. Even though it is the women who largely contribute to rural development as a whole, their position and problems they face, staring from the basic livelihood needs, to long-term interests in the overall development, remain at the margins of the processes and policies at the state, entity, as well as local level.

A separate article of the UN CEDAW Convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women relates to the improvement of the position of a rural woman. As a signatory of this Convention, BiH is obliged to work on advancing socio-economic situation of rural women, their access to resources, market and information, as well as access to basic infrastructure and public services.

In view of marking the 15 October, the International Day of Rural Women, Association Vesta from Tuzla appeals to state, entity and local authorities/ decision makers to systematically approach elimination of stereotypes and limitations which are the basis of inequality in relation to the role, status and position of rural women in political, socio-economic and cultural sense.

If we aspire to create a society of equal opportunities, it is very important to ensure that the local and other levels of governance take into consideration the issue of gender in the processes of developing strategies, polices and financial projections. Eliminating gender-based inequality is, for a rural woman, not only a moral and legal right, but a precondition for socio-economic development and growth.

It is certain that, for serious steps towards strengthening the position of rural women, it is necessary to ensure recognition of the problem by all development stakeholders and obtain comprehensive support which will secure more equal participation of rural women in all socio-economic processes. In recent years, the UN and EU development policies and programme makers are especially interested in the issues related to the contribution by the rural women to agriculture and the overall rural development.

With the aim of ensuring contribution to strengthening the role of the civil society in promotion of human rights and democratic reform in BiH, in the domain of gender equality and enhancing the role of women, the Association Vesta implements the project 'Rural women for socio-economic strengthening and equal participation in the local development plans'. The project is realised with support of the USG Special fund form women empowerment projects, US Embassy Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For additional information, please contact the project assistant Alem Sinanović on 035 36 36 90; or email: alem@vesta.ba.