Rural women and girls 25 years after Beijing - Critical agents of positive change

Globally, rural and indigenous women fare worse than rural men and urban women and men on almost every indicator for which data are available. Although they share common challenges such as rural location and gender-based discrimination, rural women and girls are not a homogeneous group. The opportunities and constraints they face differ across their lifetimes, contexts and circumstances, and are influenced by location, socio-economic status and social identities associated with attributes such as indigenous origin and ethnicity, age, disability, migrant or refugee status.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, also known as “Beijing + 25”, provides an excellent opportunity for governments, civil society, the United Nations system and all development actors to take stock of progress made towards gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

This document highlights key facts as well as some good practices from the members of the IANWGE network in the thematic areas of education; food security and nutrition; health; access to and control over land and other productive resources; leadership, decision-making and public life; social protection and services; care and domestic work; gender-based violence; and resilience in the context of climate change and fragility.