Ever since International Day of Rural Women on Oct. 15, we’ve been seeing even more than usual about the incredible women doing the bulk of our world’s rural work, including indigenous women and women in countries around the globe working in difficult conditions. Rural women keep our agriculture, economies, and indeed us running. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, rural women face increasing challenges; including access to health care, increased pressure during the pandemic, medical needs, and more. Still, rural women continue to work on the front lines. We've collected just a few stories about rural women--their amazing and tireless work; the unique challenges they face right now; their initiative and innovation; how they're changing and uplifting the world, and how we might all help support their needs, advocacy, and lives. Read on for more, and keep supporting our rural women and their power and work.

Speakers: COVID-19 Unfolded Opportunities for Rural Women to Act as Agents of Change, from The Nation—“The platform of rural women conference served as a place where voices of the representatives from over 100 districts of the country raised concerns for an inclusive response to manage disasters like the way Corona pandemic played unprecedented havoc with the local communities here in Pakistan.”

In Costa Rica, Rural Women Grow Their Own Businesses, from UNDP—“The recovery from COVID-19 and the safe path to Sustainable Development must have women and nature-based solutions at its centre if we are to emerge stronger and better from the challenges we face as humanity. This involves transforming the social norms of gender imposed by culture, norms that make invisible the role of women as essential agents of conservation, and their leading role in reducing the loss of nature”

Invest in Rural Women, Help Them Build Resilience to Future Crises, Urges UN Chief, from UN News—“Rural women play a critical role in agriculture, food security and managing land and natural resources - yet many suffer from ‘discrimination, systemic racism, and structural poverty,’ the UN chief said on Thursday.”

Opinion: The Name Game: How Women Get Erased in Rural India, from Thomson Reuters—“In rural villages, one can easily find women who have their husband’s name tattooed on their wrist. However, even if her husband’s name is stitched on her flesh, most often a woman does not say his name aloud. Traditionally, a husband is a godly figure and saying his name is considered disrespectful.”

Mobilizing Rural Women for a Food-Secure Future, from Politico—“As the world grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and looks at how to address other pressing challenges such as climate change and feeding a growing global population, it is more important than ever to mobilize the entire rural workforce — especially women — in ensuring a food-secure future.”

“Collectively, rural women are a force that can drive global progress.”—Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Rural women—their contributions, families, struggles and communities worldwide and how we can all honor, support and recognize them—were the focus of International Day of Rural Women, Oct. 15.

Rural women are often acutely in need of support, but they’re not the only ones who benefit from their empowerment. The key roles they play in their communities position rural women uniquely well to benefit those around them as they thrive. Yet even as the world has seen many advances in medicine, economics, production and more; the number of rural women living in poverty has risen.

Rural women make up about a quarter of the world’s population and produce about half of the world’s food, yet they own only 1 percent of the land. They are resilient, strong, hard workers—from the women who provide for their families each morning only to go out and work 12-hour days fishing or harvesting to the women in sub-Saharan Africa who, collectively, spend about 40 billion hours hauling water each year—yet they are undereducated and often receive little access to training or essential tools for their work.

Women also play pivotal, and sometimes desperately difficult, roles in their families. They are the most likely to be caregivers both for young and old family members, usually on top of their daily responsibilities. When food resources run scares, it is most often women in poor rural families who go hungry, giving food instead to their children and husbands.

International Day of Rural Women was established by the UN in 2007 and first observed in 2008. The observance raises awareness of the crucial role rural women play in the welfare of societies worldwide, and invites governments and organizations to pledge their support for these women, their families and their communities.

Simple measures can often go a long way. Providing women and girls with greater access to education can help for a lifetime. Less than half of school-aged girls in many rural communities attend school, and when family resources suffer, they may be pulled from school to help support the family. Women often have no chance to continue their education, but studies have shown that women with secondary educations tend to marry later, have fewer children and be less susceptible to domestic violence. When women are given access to skills-based training and agricultural resources it can greatly increase the productivity of their farms, helping to feed hundreds of millions worldwide.

When rural women win, everyone wins.

Through concerted and cooperative efforts to empower rural women; governments have begun to fight hunger, bolster economies, deal with natural disasters and rising food prices, support families and transform societies.

We would like to express our support of and admiration for the strides made and awareness raised through International Rural Women’s Day. It’s second only to our admiration for the women themselves. You are superheroes.

Learn more about International Day of Rural Women.