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212 Rig hts of Ru ral Women: examples f rom Latin America Aída González Martínez, Mexico As a diplomat for the Mexican Government, I have been associated with the CEDAW Convention from its very first beginning. Not only was I responsible for the organization of the First UN World Conference on Women (Mexico, 1975), which endorsed the preparation of the Convention , but also, as a representative of Mexico to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), I participated in the 1976 session of the CSW in which drafts of the Convention were discussed. I then had the privilege to be nominated and then elected to serve as a member of the CEDAW Committee from 1982 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2004. When CEDAW was adopted by the General Assembly in December 1979, several States’ representatives raised questions about the inclusion of a specific article that referred only to rural women. The reason for such an inclusion, however, dates back to discussions and conclusions of the First UN World Conference on Women, which had highlighted the multiple forms of discrimination suffered by rural women around the world. As early as 1975, the World Plan of Action, adopted by this Conference, emphasized the specific need of such women, who made up “just over half of the female population of the world,” for access to health-care services, including adequate nutrition and other social services. Recommendations therefore underlined the need to guarantee adequate investments in public health and educational programs and facilities (United Nations 1976, paras. 139, 111, and 147). In addition, the Conference adopted a resolution whereby governments were urged to identify needs and to elaborate and apply, with greater financial and policy aid, programs of rural development , especially those that will benefit women and to ensure legal equality and the economic rights of women within rural families as an essential part of all rural development progress. The substance and language of Article 14, which was formulated with the assistance of many countries as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), address many aspects of discrimination in rural women’s lives, particularly in developing countries all over the world. Such discrimination may be more intense rights of rural women: examples from latin america l 213 if these women dwell in poorer parts of rural areas or if they belong to indigenous groups. Article 14 guarantees to rural women the protection of their human rights under the entirety of the Convention’s provisions thus reinforcing all other provisions for the benefit of rural women. Actions and Strategies Adopted in Several States Parties While examining the initial and subsequent periodic reports of States Parties from Latin America, the Committee noted the conditions of rural women’s suffering in various countries. Customs, attitudes, beliefs, and traditions still persist in Latin America—as they do elsewhere—rooted in various social and cultural histories and practices, especially of both indigenous and imported religions. They discriminate against women in general, but women in rural or farming areas are specifically vulnerable regarding their limited access to health care, especially reproductive health services, education, employment, land ownership, and community decision-making processes.These women also are not recognized for their contribution to food production and, thus, to the family and community economy in general. Despite women’s central work in sowing and harvesting , gathering firewood, and carrying water, such work is overshadowed by other responsibilities traditionally assigned to them, including child-rearing, care of ill or elderly family members, house-cleaning, food preparation, and other tasks. In dealing with Latin American States Parties ’ reports, the Committee also recognized the efforts of respective governments to raise standards of living for rural populations in general and to eliminate specific forms of discrimination that affect rural women. In several cases, the Committee found that the implementation of Article 14 was limited, to a large extent, by general economic factors—including scarce state resources—that made it almost impossible for the State Party concerned to provide health and sanitary services; expand electrical networks and access to water, transport, and communications; or create a road and irrigation infrastructure. In the following paragraphs, I will give a few examples of some measures adopted by States Parties to improve respect for as well as to protect and fulfill the human rights of rural women. As indicated in its initial report, Bolivia’s Office of Social Promotion for Women Farmers is directly responsible for the recognition of the rights of rural women...

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