Rural women’s Day: Its time to urbanise rural communities, says AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Boss
As the world celebrates Rural Women’s Day, development stakeholders should work together and urbanise rural communities, says Princess Gloria Akobundu, National Coordinator, Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development/ African Peer Review Mechanism ( AUDA-NEPAD/APRM),Nigeria.
This contained in statement signed by Abolade Ogundimu, media Assistant to C.E.O of AUDANEPAD/APRM Nigeria, made available to the media.
October 15 has been set aside by the United Nations (UN) to celebrate and call for better attention on rural women across the globe since 2008.
This edition has the theme ‘Rural Women and Girls Building Climate Resilience ‘.
According to the C.E.O, entire human world used to be in rustic state but civilisation and concentration of activities have greatly transformed many places to urban communities.
“Some areas have only got little or no development hence,they remain rural communities.
“Most of the food crops being consumed by the entire nation come from rural areas, we have more women and children living there.
“Therefore, our rural areas should be preserved with their people, not to be considered as places of despondency by their inhabitants and urban dwellers alike,” she said.
Akobundu noted that global statistics showed that one out of every three women in global workforce engages in agriculture, saying advocacy for better living and farming in the rural areas needed to be improved.
“The menial ways of farming and crop processing in many rural areas prevent most women and girls that take part in them from having huge turnover but with greenhouse farming and technology, they will be able to record better harvest.
“It is high time we urbanised our rural communities, focusing on women and other vulnerable groups to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030) and AU Agenda 2063.
“Governments cannot do it alone, there are investment opportunities in provision of basic infrastructures to teeming rural populace in Nigeria and beyond.
“Our rural areas host most of the nation’s mineral resources but lack or difficulties in getting certain infrastructures contribute gravely to high population density in the cities and urban centres,” she noted.
The National Coordinator urged all stakeholders in the chain of human community development including, technology innovators within and outside Nigeria to do more in enhancing better living for rural women and entire rural dwellers.
“Stakeholders should start coming up with solutions to daily arduous tasks of rural dwellers especially, women.
“Their inventions should focus more on how to further simplify processes like: sweeping, fetching water, cooking, accessing internet for easy learning and many more.
“Such solutions will not only help women and girls in rural communities but the nation by harnessing our landmass for greater development and reverse overpopulation in the city centres,” she said.
Akobundu reiterated the need for domestic and foreign investors to complement governments efforts in providing potable water, electricity, security roads and education to rural dwellers for the world to be a better place to live in.
“In the global context, serenity and human density indicates if an area or community is rural or urban but level of infrastructural development determines that in Africa and Asia.
“Rural community exists in every nation but availability of certain indices of development makes the difference.
“In some parts of Nigeria and other African nations, lack of basic needs like electricity, pipe borne water, motorable roads, health and educational facilities among others, prevent many populated areas from being called cities.
“In line with the mandates of AUDA-NEPAD/APRM,Nigeria, we will continue to support and accelerate empowerment of women and youths in the rural and urban parts of the country,” she concluded.
