Jamaica will join other countries around the world to observe October 15 as International Rural Women’s Day. The theme for 2010 is "Building a Sustainable Future with Rural Women".

As part of the efforts to commemorate the Day the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) on the Mona Campus at UWI will stage an exhibition at the UWI, Mona Main Library.  The IGDS supports this global observance and commends the work of rural women, and the institutions that support them in building the Jamaican economy and contributing to family and social life.

 The impact of Tropical Storm Nicole, and news of increased levels of poverty, highlight the special vulnerability of rural women to natural hazards, poverty and unemployment.

Building a sustainable future with rural women requires political will and commitment to ensuring that this group of women are empowered to lead and influence the process of their development.  President of  the Jamaica Network of Rural Women Producers,  Mildred Crawford was one of 29 women from six Caribbean countries who  graduated from an IGDS-organised leadership training course entitled ‘Advancing Transformational Leadership for Gender Justice in the Caribbean’ held in Antigua and Barbuda in July. This project is funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), executed by UNIFEM, implemented by the IGDS Mona and supports the Caribbean Institute for Women in Leadership (CIWIL). 

Jamaica’s support to the sustainable future of rural women is consistent with our commitments to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

The IGDS, through its programme of teaching, research, and public service, seeks to build awareness and to support action to promote the social, political and economic development of both women and men.