Overcome obstacles, put women in their due position – Isaura Nyusi at International Day of Rural Women celebration

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Overcome obstacles, put women in their due position – Isaura Nyusi at International Day of Rural Women celebration

7:27 CAT | 17 Oct 2016

File photo / Mozambique's First Lady Isaura Nyusi

Mozambique’s First Lady, Isaura Nyusi, on Saturday urged Mozambican women, particularly those living in the countryside, to devote themselves to selfless work in order to participate in the country’s development.

She was speaking in the district of Magude, in Maputo province, at a ceremony marking the International Day of Rural Women.

She recognized the difficulties rural women face in obtaining opportunities to contribute to the economy. These include illiteracy, limited access to financial knowledge, child marriages and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, all of which undermine women’s involvement in development related activities.

Other severe challenges facing women, she added, were the high rate of maternal mortality, domestic violence, and difficulties in obtaining treatment for such diseases as breast and cervical cancer.

But Isaura Nyusi was confident that all of these challenges can be met and overcome. “Can all of us together not overcome the obstacles, and put women in their due position?”, she asked.

She noted that an estimated 87 per cent of the country’s 13 million women are farmers. But their activities are mostly limited to small to medium sized plots of land. She added that only some 15 per cent of the country’s arable land is currently under cultivation.

“There is still much potential to be exploited”, she said, “and so we’re asking for more involvement by women”.

A representative of the Mozambican branch of UN Women was optimistic that, with activities tending to strengthen the presence of women in key development sectors, the sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the 2015-2030 period can be achieved. That, however, depended on enhancing the empowerment of women.

Maputo Provincial Governor Raimundo Diomba pledged that the government will do all in its power to grant land titles (DUATs) to rural women “so that they are able to produce more”.

Source: AIM