Discussion on the recommendations of the project "The socioeconomic status of rural women in central and Eastern European Countries" and from the project on rural women and youth in Spain

Discussion on the recommendations of the project "The socioeconomic status of rural women in central and Eastern European Countries" and from the project on rural women and youth in Spain

78. The Recommendations from the participants for addressing the particular needs and problems of European rural women were:

· development of mechanisms such as workshops, seminars and community policies to foster the participation of women in agricultural families, their access to land and political participations on local levels;

· strengthening the importance of the community approach in coping with the critical issues concerning rural women;

· establishment of European Community and national policies to address the urgent needs of rural women;

· creation of environment for coping with unemployment in rural areas;

· improving women's awareness of their rights through gender sensitive education;

· providing technical support to existing extension services and retraining of extension workers in order to be able to act as agents of change in rural areas, as community leaders and/or facilitators;

· creation of opportunities for rural women by developing local groups and the approach to rural development based on people's participation;

· development of international and regional solidarity with rural areas in Eastern Europe.

79. The Recommendations specifically for the Working Party, in view of its immediate assistance to rural women in Eastern Europe, were:

· to facilitate the development of an effective legal environment in Eastern European countries from the business, social and political viewpoints;

· to facilitate the development of effective strategies for changing the behavior and attitudes of Eastern European women by combining bottom up with top down approach to rural development, by creating political and legal frameworks and cultures conducive to business;

· to facilitate the establishment of partnership (bilateral cooperation) and networks with Western European countries in order to assist East European countries in their efforts to develop training programmes and seminars conducive to rural development based on the mobilization of local resources and entrepreneurship;

· to assist dissemination of the results from research to rural women through a workshop;

· to obtain and disseminate information on the current international and national assistance to rural women in East European countries;

· to urge international organizations, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations to support activities aiming at improving the socio-economic status of rural women at the grass root levels.

80. The Regional Representative for Europe, Mr. Zjalic, recommended obtaining verification of the results of the project "Analysis of the Socio-Economic Status of Rural Women in Selected Central and Eastern European Countries" from the respective governments. He also recommended transforming the recommendations from the 7th Session into the national plans of actions for addressing the problems identified and priority needs of rural women in Eastern Europe.