A seminar entitled: Rural women and the sustainable development goals: Reality and perspective

In response to the International Day of Rural Women, CIFAL held in partnership with the Women’s Committee for Community Development in the Riyadh Region and the Observatory for Community Service and Social Responsibility a seminar entitled: Developmental Empowerment of Rural Women within the Framework of the United Nations Development Goals 2030.

The seminar took place on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, and was moderated by Dr. Jamila Al-Harbi, Assistant Supervisor of the Community Service and Social Responsibility Observatory, who referred to the partnership between CIFAL and the Women's Committee and the  Community Service and Responsibility Observatory at MU. She also highlighted the importance of talking about women in general and rural women and their valuable contribution in the field of development, an act which leads to economic advancement in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The first topic was addressed by Dr. Abeer Al-Otaibi, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, and explained the concepts related to rural women, reviewing the statistics and the programs related to them. Dr. Al-Otaibi explained that the majority of rural women depend on natural resources and agriculture to make a living, as they constitute more than a quarter of the world’s total population. In developing countries, rural women represent about 43% of the agricultural labor force, and they also produce much of the food available. This makes them primarily responsible for food security. Given the fact that 76% of those living in extreme poverty are located in rural areas, making sure that rural women’s access to agricultural productive resources contributes to reducing hunger and poverty in the world, and makes rural women an important element to develop communities.

Ms. Dalal Al-Osaimi, family and development advisor and social responsibility specialist, discussed the second topic entitled “The Contribution of Rural Women to Development". She mentioned statistics and comparisons, indicating that rural women represent approximately 43% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries and accelerate the pace of progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. 

Dr. Aisha Al-Bakri, Associate Professor of Education and Vice Dean of the College of Education in Zulfi, discussed the third topic of the seminar which focused on addressing the requirements for rural women’s contribution to achieving the sustainable development goals and the expected role of rural women to contribute to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the sustainable development goals. She said that women constitutes 49.2% of the total population of the Kingdom. This has encouraged the government to support women, develop their talents, and invest their energies to achieve the vision 2030. Dr. Al-Bakri also presented the rural development program (the Saudi countryside), including: development and production of Arabica coffee, beekeeping and honey production, cultivation and trade of roses, development and production of fruit, particularly pomegranates, figs and grapes, and support for fishermen and fish farmers as well as supporting small livestock farmers.