International Day of Rural Women – 15 October 2023

The International Day of Rural Women was created in 1995 by WWSF in partnership with Civil society organizations at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and was declared an official UN Day in 2007 by the UN General Assembly. WWSF took the lead in mobilizing governments around the world and fundraised for the development the 15 O October campaign program.

Objectives:

• Mobilizing relevant NGOs and grassroots women’s groups, organizations, networks and international institutions, as well as the media, to commemorate the Day and celebrate Rural Women Leaders and their communities around the world.

• Raising awareness of rural women’s participation in the development process with a focus on their needs and rights, highlighting their contributions to sustainable development, household food security, safeguarding traditional knowledge, biodiversity, and peacebuilding and so much more.

• Sensitizing the public at large and lobbying governments on the crucial role rural women play in climate change management and to prioritize action for their support.

• Encouraging organizing local and national initiatives on the annual Day using the WWSF Call to action and Campaign Kit “17 Days of activism 1-17 October”; nominating candidates for the Prize for rural women and giving credit where it’s due.

• The 17 Days campaign includes the International Day of Rural Women 15 October, which is also the Day when prize-winners are celebrated in their local communities. WWSF yearly shares the profiles of the annual laureates widely to increase visibility, support and recognition for their work to advance rural communities.

New developmentsin 2023 – International Day of Rural Women – 15 October celebration in India!

We are happy to report that a first partner organization, Jai Jagat in India, created a national Prize for women’s creativity in rural life in partnership with WWSF on 15 October with selected five Laureates in Tamilnadu, South India. A prize ceremony, joined by CESI – Centre for Experiencing Socio Cultural Interaction, was organized with the prizewinners present sharing their work. We are happy about this news and hope that many other countries and NGOs start to selecting rural women leaders to bring visibility to their work and honor them for their creativity, courage and compassion to advance rural communities and respect their human rights for development, peace and well-being.

Annual posters