Position Paper Country: The Republic of Colombia Committee: UN Women Topic Area: Women Empowerment in Rural Areas

Position Paper
Country : The Republic of Colombia

Committee : UN Women
Topic Area : Women Empowerment in Rural Areas
Women all over the world who live in rural area, no matter in what country they are, live
in many limitations. Starting from the limitations of being prosperous, to the limitation of getting
equal rights. Internal surroundings of rural area play big role in this case. In almost every rural
areas, women are detained with entrenched patriarchal norms that set men higher than women so
that believe men as breadwinners and women only as housewives take care the household and
serve the husband and the family. In most communities, poor women are likely to be more
disempowered than their male neighbors.1 Furthermore, the norm that has become a cultural
tradition is followed by the concept that women do not need higher education, making women
have no other way in their lives. The rural area sectors they lived in many countries are very
diverse, ranging from large-scale and well-developed agriculture to family-operated companies,
ownership of small land that can be dedicated to subsistence production and / or market
production.2 Again the limited access to essential public service, worsen the conditions of
women in rural area. They have less access to healthcare which is very important especially,
when it comes to maternity things. Also, they are limited to education, make young girls have
less knowledge until they are mature. Next, speaking about job, a lot of women work in
agricultural sectors as the main economy sectors in rural area. If it’s not in agricultural sectors,
women often became low paid labor. As live in rural area with conservative communities,
women have no chance to stand out to speak their rights. Women struggle a lot, facing inequality
and disability.
Therefore we need to end these problems, empowering women is believed as the right
way to overcome what happen to women in rural area. It is important to empower rural women
because, they are the key agents for development.3Empowering them is essential, not only for the
well-being of individuals, families but also for rural communities. Women’s empowerment is
defined as “women’s ability to make strategic life choices where that ability had been previously
denied them4. Various international action has been done to support women empowerment. For
example The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Plan of Action outlines 12 ﬁelds of action: poverty,
rights to education and vocational training, healthcare, violence against women, women and
armed conﬂict, economy and employment, decision making and leadership, advancement of
women, women's human rights, media, environment, and rights of girl children.5
1
Wold Bank Grup, Women’s Empowerment in Rural CommunityDriven Development Projects, retrieved from
http://ieg.worldbankgroup.org/sites/default/files/Data/Evaluation/files/lp_genderincdd_01272017.pdf at 9:25 pm, 27
september 2018.
2
UN DAW, UNIFEM, The situation of rural women within the context of globalization, retrieved from
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/rural-2001/rural_2001_report.pdf at 9:25 pm, 27 September 2018.
3
UN Women, The role of women in rural development, food production and poverty eradication, retrieved from
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/rural-women-food-poverty/2013 at 9:18 pm, 27 September 2018.
4
ICRW, Inovation for women’s empowerment and gender, retrieved from https://www.icrw.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/10/Innovation-for-Womens-Empowerment.pdf at 10:15 pm, 26 September 2018.
5
Brawijaya Model United Nations, Study Guide UN Women
Besides that, as a commitment to support women empowerment The Republic of
Colombia has taken many actions. Colombia considers that the access of girls and women to
education, without discrimination, must be consolidated as a tool to achieve empowerment and
equality in the first place.6 Protecting women against violence is implanted by programs such as
The Policy Women Builders of Peace and Development and The Plan for the Defense of Rights
of Women in the Judiciary, which offer specific tools to address gender-based violence. 7 In The
Commission on Status of Women, Colombia introduced the resolution on women’s economic
empowerment and co-sponsored by 65 states.8 Colombia has more women in relevant decision-
making positions than ever before. 9In 2011, 32% of the cabinet were women, compared with
12% in 1998; in 2014, 19.9% of parliamentarians in the Lower House and 22% in the Senate
were women, compared with 11.7% and 6.9% respectively in 1997.10
As a commitment to strengthen women empowerment, The Republic of Colombia
proposes several constructive in long term, which are:
1. Promoting the empowerment of women through educational programmes, both
formal and non-formal education. Educate rural women done by government and
NGOs. Government has to prepare education access in rural area as the platform
for women to develop their self.
2. Making economic development agenda to widen job opportunities in rural area.
By advancing the economic sector to become modern so that there’s equal job and
equal pay both for men and women.
3. Strengthening law enforcement against discrimination and violence against girls
and women. Increase fines, make controlling and complaining system that
implemented by the local government.
6
ODI, Progress Despite Adversity Women’s Empowerment And Conflict In Colombia, retrived from
http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/julyhls/pdf10/colombia_en.pdf at 10.00 pm, 29 September 2019
7
ibid
8
ibid
9
ODI, Progress Despite Adversity Women’s Empowerment And Conflict In Colombia, retrived from
https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9744.pdf at 10.00 pm, 29 September
2019
10
ibid

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