3. PARTICULAR ISSUES PERTAINING TO EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AND GIRLS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS The second part of this report will focus on a number of issues that are inextricably linked to the empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas and will highlight the strategies NHRIs around the world pursue in this regard. The common denominator of all initiatives for the empowerment of women and girls in general, and those living in rural areas in particular, is to remove barriers which hinder women and girls from exercising their fundamental rights. These barriers may be legal, social or economic in nature, and in all cases they mean that women and girls are being put in a situation of greater vulnerability. One important role of NHRIs is to remind the government to take action to eliminate inequalities and their root causes, as was done by the NHRI of Serbia when it criticized the government for not having acted in a systematic manner to eradicate gender-related stereotypes against women and girls in general and those living in rural areas in particular: parenthood is seen as the responsibility of women, the availability of child care services is inadequate, especially in rural areas; women are engaged in unpaid work activities; the average income of men is higher than the average income of women, both in the public and private sector; the female labour force is concentrated in the sectors with lower wages and, as a result, women have lower pensions. 3.1 EMPOWERMENT THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING Women and girls living in rural areas continue to be underrepresented in leadership and decisionmaking processes at all levels and their interests are not being adequately taken into consideration in legal frameworks, development policies and investment strategies. As a consequence, the realization of women’s voice, agency and rights is critical for the empowerment of women and girls who live in rural areas20. The following examples showcase different strategies and activities that NHRIs have put into place in order to promote and increase the participation of women living in rural areas in public and political forums. - - - - 20 The “Vaane” (meaning: we can) campaign, which was launched in 2015 by the Maldives branch of the non-profit organization International Foundation for Electoral Systems, is now being run by the NHRI of the Maldives. The main objectives of the campaign are two-fold: 1) to encourage women to participate in public and political life, and 2) to encourage men to be proponents of women’s rights. The NHRI of Zimbabwe has a thematic working group on Women’s participation in decisionmaking and politics. The Nepalese NHRI has created capacity building programs for newly elected women in local bodies. The Colombian NHRI’s delegation for agrarian affairs has advocated for public policies pertaining to women in rural areas (1) to include mechanisms which highlight the value and contribution of rural work to overall development; (2) to contribute to their empowerment in the execution of all plans and programs and (3) ensure equal participation of men and women in social and community organizations which execute these policies. After having conducted an extensive study on the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality in Local Self-Government units, the NHRI of Serbia, in 2018, will publish a Special Report and recommendations aiming to improve the participation of women in these units. In 2017, the NHRI of the Philippines conducted a forum-workshop on empowering rural women amidst disaster and crisis situations with the participation of community leaders from diverse rural communities representing women in rural sectors, namely women farmers UN Doc A/70/204, supra note 6, p. 6. 8