The Critical Role Women Play in Society Development

By Virunga Community Programs

Women play a critical role in society. That cannot be disputed. For instance, they ensure the sustainability of households and communities.

In rural areas of Africa, women face different challenges in pursuit of their natural duties. And these challenges, sadly, have not been recognized. They contribute to a massive proportion in agricultural sector, which include formal work. They perform the bulk of unpaid domestic work and unpaid care within households and families in rural areas. In a nutshell, women make vital contributions to food security and nutrition.

However, women in rural areas of Africa still disproportionately from multi-dimensional social issues like poverty. According to http://www.un.org/en/events/ruralwomenday/,  

Even so, women and girls in rural areas suffer from multi-dimensional poverty. While extreme poverty has declined globally, the world’s 1 billion people who continue to live in unacceptable conditions of poverty are heavily concentrated in rural areas. Poverty rates in rural areas across most regions are higher than those in urban areas. Yet smallholder agriculture produces nearly 80 per cent of food in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and supports the livelihoods of some 2.5 billion people. Women farmers may be as productive and enterprising as their male counterparts, but are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets and high-value agrifood chains and obtain lower prices for their crops.

It further says structural barriers and discriminatory social norms continue to constrain women’s decision-making power and political participation in rural households and communities.

But we all can change the tide against all these challenges facing women. And it starts with you. 

Virunga Community Programs will continue supporting ways through which women can develop socially and economically. For Amelia Earhart said and we quote, “ Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others.