International Women's Day

08 March 2012

A mother and child in a community run garden in Molia, Niger. Photo: David Ohana/ OCHA.

This year, International Women’s Day focuses on the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.

“Invest in rural women. Eliminate discrimination against them in law and in practice. Ensure that policies respond to their needs. Give them equal access to resources. Provide rural women with a role in decision-making.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Learn more about UNDP's work to empower women >

Our Stories

Mangoes in mali: Changing lives and a nation's economy

On a spring day in southwest Mali, a group of Malian women holding corners of a blue and turquoise cloth turn their heads to the sky. In seconds, the green mangoes that hang from the tree branches above will be prodded by a stick, knocking them into the colorful cloth. Anyone who has tried a Malia more

UNDP-IKEA partnership helps women change rules in India

For most of her life, Shiela Devi had few options. Growing up in an impoverished village in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, she ate her brothers' leftovers, did chores at home while they went to school, and married at age 15. At 35, Shiela was completely illiterate, had no source of income, more

Burundi: Returning to a normal life after war

Some mornings Espérance Nibigira, 35, wonders how she will find the energy to begin the day. As a combatant in the north-west of Burundi during the civil war that raged between 1993 and 2005, resulting in 300,000 deaths, she suffered an accident on the battlefield that left her disabled and sufferin more

Our Videos

The Glass Ceiling

a 30-minute documentary depicts the challenges women face when seeking public office in Thailand.

UNDP talks with the Rwandan Speaker of the Parliament Ms. Rose Mukantabana

With 56 percent women in the Parliament Rwanda is first in the world for women parliamentarians.

Statement by UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark

"Rural women account for nearly half the agricultural labor force and are custodians of traditional knowledge about the land and their local environment. Backed by small development investments, rural women can lead the way in building food and nutrition security for their families and communities, and thus in building resilience to future extreme weather events."