*************************************************************************** The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women Secretariat. *************************************************************************** AS WRITTEN STATEMENT BY THE NETWORK OF RURAL WOMEN ASSOCIATIONS PRESENTED BY CHIEF ( MRS) BISI OGUNLEYE AT THE 4TH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN BEIJING -13 SEPTEMBER 1995. Madam President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Allow us to join our voices with others in thanking the Chinese Government and the Chinese women in particular for their hospitality. We are also indeed very grateful to the Secretary General, Mrs. Gertrude Mongella and the secretariate for this opportunity given to the rural women of the world. Trully, this is the first time the rural women are seen and heard on a platform like this. We are no longer invisible and voiceless. Your Excellencies, allow me to explain what we mean by rural women. Rural women are knowledgable and endowed with skills, talents and creativity. They are hard working producers who are not poor but impoverished. -60-70% of the world's poor are rural women who are mothers of more than half of the new generation. -Rural women are primary managers of the earth's natural resources: 500 million marjority of them live on eroding hillsides: 200 million in the rain forests and another 850 million on dry land in danger of desertification. -Over half of the world's people still live in rural areas and are responsible for more than half of the world's production from farms or from community based enterprises or micro enterprises. Therefore, world rural women who are mostly farmers and micro entrepreneurs ..... PRODUCE MOST OF THE FOOD, MANAGE MOST OF THE EARTH'S NATURAL RESOURCES, CREATE MOST OF THE JOBS IN THE RURAL AREAS AND CARE FOR MOST OF THE NEXT GENERATION. Despite all this, they remain unrecognised, voiceless, invisible, powerless and impoverished. They remain poor because of socio-economic and cultural structures that keep them entrenched in poverty. Furthermore they continue to suffer from the injustice of globalization which is characterised by exploitation of the natural resources, loss of traditionally used formulae and technics through patent rights and the use of modern insensitive approaches to rural technology. Your excellencies, the rural women are very much aware of the economic problems in the world. However, for those in Africa, Asia and countries going through transition, we ask the international financial institutions such as the World Bank to respect the peoples' existing socio economic structures and to provide safety net funds to releave the suffering of rural producers and micro entrepreneurs. As a matter of urgency we would also like these financial institutions to finance directly rural technology, farm mechanization and preservation of farm produce and initiatives. This we believe will lessen the burden of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) on our rural women. Madam president ,at the GO forum held during the ongoing fourth world conference on women at Huairou, rural women from all regions of the world met and strategized on how to implement the Platform for Action, determined to take responsibility for their own economic and social empowerment and decided to place before you the follow up programme they have adopted to execute with the support of you all. 1) The rural women's bank for sustainable development has just been launched. 2) A special stamp for fair trade for rural women's products is now available for all continents of the world. 3) An annual prize for rural women's creativity and empowerment has also been launched . At the First World Women's Conference in Mexico, rural women were mentioned, but never seen nor heard. In Nairobi, Rio, Cairo and Copenhagen, rural women were mentioned, seen, but never heard. At last, in Beijing, rural women are finally seen, heard and listened to. With this opportunity therefore, along with the above Plan of Action, we have a vision of establishing the 15th of October as World Rural Women's Day, preceding World Food Day on the 16th of October as the most practical way of recognising and acknowledging rural women as the main food providers of the world. We are convinced that you will rally round our vision and commitment so as to achieve concretely the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women. In conclusion, Madam President, allow me to echo the request of the rural women all over the world who contribute 60 to 80 per cent of the world's wealth and are now asking for only one per cent of every annual budget as a token contribution to the implementation of the initiatives they have put before you. Indeed, the rural women are full of hope by the high number of First Ladies, women Prime Ministers and women Ministers who are present in Beijing. The rural women are now challenging you—ALL OF YOU—to use your good offices and positions not only to convince your various governments but also to lobby hard for the inclusion of the one per cent request in the 1996-7 annual budget and the voices of rural women at every level of decision-making Finally, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we the rural women of the world are committed to the eradication of poverty and the mobilisation of resources at our own level to implement the recommendations and strategies we have set before you towards achieving the goals of the Platform for Action. We further believe that from Beijing we will be able to create a new society based on justice, love and respect for human dignity. As our strong allies in the field of action, rural women of the world now await your commitment and strategies. Thank you very much. Contact address: Chief Bisi Ogunleye, PMB 809, Akure-Ondo State, Nigeria. Telephone: 234 34 231 945. Fax: 234 34 231 633