Jamaica will join other countries around the world to observe October 15 as International Day of Rural Women which has been celebrated since 2008. The commemoration recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women and girls in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.
 
An education forum will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 10:30am at St. James Gibraltar Anglican Church Hall, Endeavour District, Gibraltar, St. Ann to observe International Day of Rural Women.  The event takes place under the theme, Vision 50/50:  Rural Women and Resilience to Poverty - Tackling Climate Change and Rural Poverty for Sustainable Development.
 
The Forum will highlight the multiple challenges faced by the poor in rural spaces and recognize the pivotal role that rural women play in shaping the resilience of these spaces. Additionally the occasion will be used to share ideas for an action research project that seeks to improve the livelihoods of poor rural women and their families and their ability to adapt to climate change over the next 50 years.
 
The public forum is organized by Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies (SALISES,) UWI, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs (BWA) in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), and the Jamaica Network of Rural Women Producers (JNRWP). 
 
The focus on rural women is in accordance with the Gender Sector Plan of Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan as well as the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) multi-year programme of work for 2010-2014 which will have ‘The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges' as its priority theme during its fifty-sixth session in 2012.
Jamaica’s support to the sustainable future of rural women is consistent with its commitments to the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 
 
The IGDS and SALISES, through its programme of teaching, research, and public service, in collaboration with the BWA and JNRWP seek to build awareness and to support action to promote the social, political and economic development of both women and men.