The Hidden Backbone: Empowering Rural Women for Sustainable Development!

You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women.

She is a rural woman who works from daybreak until sundown, often beyond. She may run a small business, cultivate a field, or do both to support her family. Her days are spent collecting water and fuel and preparing food. She raises children and tends livestock.

Without rural women and girls, rural communities would not function. Yet women and girls are among the most likely to be poor, lack access to assets, education, healthcare, and other essential services, and be hit hardest by climate change. On almost every measure of development, rural women fare worse than rural men due to gender inequalities and discrimination.

The Plight of Rural Women

The literacy rate for women is lower than for men in India. During my visit to Nawada, one of Bihar's poorest districts, I witnessed the unparalleled plight of women. They are still deprived of good education, basic sanitation, hygiene, and opportunities to pursue their dreams.

There is a stark contrast between the conditions of rural and urban women. Women in metropolitan cities are busy building their careers and pursuing material happiness, overcoming cultural impediments. Fortunately, cities offer these possibilities, allowing women to put wings to their imagination and work hard. However, women in the hinterlands lack such opportunities and are often seen as commodities.

Child Marriages and Limited Opportunities

Around 1.6 million child marriages occur annually, translating to over 4,000 per day. Many girls do not get the chance to complete their studies and are married off soon after puberty, seen merely as baby factories. They start working as extended help for their mothers-in-law, preparing meals and caring for all family members. Often, boys in rural India are married off because their mothers need help, and a wife is seen as the best option since she doesn't charge for her services.

While clicking a picture of a woman making cow dung cakes, I was reminded that rural women are still cooking with cow dung cakes. Their lives begin and end in the kitchen, causing them to forget they have personal lives and needs. They feel that someone should care about their period pain and mood swings, but these issues are stigmatized, and they are often doomed during those days.

A Hope for Change

I hope for a new beginning, a new dawn where women are free from the burdens placed on their shoulders, able to experience the joy of life, listen to the whispers of silence, chirp like birds, and fly freely around the world without discrimination or threats to their lives.

Empowering rural women can help achieve sustainable development, improve economic productivity, and benefit individuals, families, and communities. Financial services and training can help women manage their finances, start businesses, and invest in income-generating activities. Social protection programs can also help ensure basic income and essential healthcare.

Women’s rights are human rights. Empowering women and girls is the only way to protect their rights and ensure they can realize their full potential.