Topic: 2024-Gender Equality in Rural Areas
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Monia Abbas
Topic: 2024-Gender Equality in Rural Areas
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Monia Abbas
Gender equality in rural areas refers to the fact that women who live in rural areas where there is not a large population have less opportunities for things like work, and decision making power. Living in an area where there is not a large population means that there are limited job opportunities and in turn when men take the majority of jobs it causes their female counterparts to feel as though their contribution is not valued or making a difference. It ends up hindering multiple things such as not only their personal goals but also the development of the community as a whole.
When it comes to women’s rights, there are a multitude of things to take into consideration from education to work and salaries. “Women and girls who live in rural areas, as well as women from the Roma community have less access to services than those living in urban areas, particularly services for disabled people and those with mental health issues.” as is said by the United States Children Fund when conducting research on Greece’s GDI or Gender Development Index. There are many things that come to mind when rural areas are thought of and that is traditional expectations, limited economic opportunities, and access to services. Traditional expectations refer to the generational norm that women are homemakers and caretakers, limited economic opportunities such as a lack of jobs, access to services such as lawyers or education. When mentioning education, it should be stated that in rural areas of the EU, the share of female early leavers from education and training fell from 11.2% to 8.3% between 2013 and 2023, while the share of male early leavers fell from 15.3% to 11.2%.
This issue is not one that is new or recently discovered. As rural areas are known for being areas of lower population it is unfortunately expected that there is a high chance that gender equality does not look as liberal as it does in more urban areas. Greece believes that there first needs to be an increase in the schools and hospitals that are built in rural areas to increase the services that women have access to. Along with that, encouraging and giving women leadership roles will increase economic growth and contribute to breaking gender norms. They will also act as role models for the next generation, hence breaking the older traditional roles given to them.
