March 1,2005

Call by Rural Women Worldwide

Today women from four continents called for a platform for action for rural women that will not only promote specific positions but that would make their voices to be heard. As one noted, most of the world’s women live in rural areas. Many face extreme poverty. Yet they are underrepresented in policy arenas.

Meeting at an NGO session at the current Commission of the Status of Women meeting at the United Nations, women spoke of the urgency of land issues, food security, domestic violence, equal participation in governance among many others.

The session, "Toward a Platform for Action for Rural Women: Beijing + 10," was organized by the Rural DevelopmentLeadership Network (RDLN), a multicultural social-change organization based in New York, working primarily in the U.S. with emerging leaders in poor rural areas. Five RDLN participants led off the discussion with comments on their own work and issues. These women included Julie Moss, Native Women’s Cooperative Project, who recently completed two terms as Treasurer of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; Shirley McClain, Executive Director of the North Carolina Hunger

Network; Anita LaRan, Executive Director of Helping Hands/Mujeres Unidas in northern New Mexico; Shirley Sherrod, Director of Georgia Operations for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives; and Evelyn Conley, Native Women’s Cooperative Project,

who recently served as Assistant to the Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. The session was moderated by Starry Krueger, President of RDLN.

RDLN will circulate notes of the session and provide an opportunity for further input into the proposed Platform for Action for Rural Women.

Contact:

Rural Development Leadership Network

P.O. Box 98, Prince St. Station

New York, NY 10012

(212)777-9137/Fax (212)477-0367

http://www.ruraldevelopment.org