2023-10-15 06:03:59
What does this date mean for Afammer?
Afammer was present at the IV Women’s Conference in Beijing in 1995, where we achieved that for the first time rural women had an international day so that their voice could be heard by the entire society. 28 years after that date we observe how our towns are losing inhabitants and how women globally only own 15% of the land. Progress has been made to achieve real equality of opportunity, but it remains insufficient.
What measures does Afammer demand in its manifesto for International Rural Women’s Day to move towards this equality?
Among the main points we ask for a global pact that ends the inequalities between rural and urban, and the inequalities and lack of opportunities for women that cause them to be the first to leave. In Spain, two out of every three people who leave the countryside for the city are women. Continue promoting job creation and entrepreneurship among rural women to promote their labor insertion, employability and social inclusion. Only in this way will it be possible to reverse depopulation and overaging in rural areas. Spain is the second European country with the highest rate of rural female unemployment, with 2.7 percentage points compared to the 1.1 unemployment rate in rural areas of Europe. That is, for every unemployed rural woman who wants to work, there are 0.79 men in the same situation.
How to promote the employment of rural women?
Promoting conciliation and co-responsibility in rural homes. Rural women dedicate 2 hours and 7 minutes a day more than men to household chores and unpaid care. Inequality in conciliation represents a cost of 38.5 billion euros, which is equivalent to 3.1% of GDP in 2019. Care of the elderly, or for example accompaniment to the doctor, or the notary, or any other service they need , is a line of employment for women in the rural world, as is home help or geriatric care. At Afammer we provide training to women to create footwear clinics in the towns, for the production of cheese, for wine tasting (a way to promote tourism through wineries), among other measures. Another line of employment is the feminization of the field, that is, the generational change, instead of being masculine, is feminine. In fact, we already have 30% of agricultural farms that are run by women.
The presence of women in decision-making positions in cooperative companies continues to be lower than that of men. How is female leadership being promoted?
Indeed, women only occupy 12% of decision-making positions in cooperative companies, only 9% are present on their governing councils and 4% are present in their presidencies. Progress is made, but slowly. Although we are better off than in Europe, the radical feminism that is currently being imposed harms women. Now it’s time to build the feminism of cooperation. Let us make men complicit in the advancement of equality.
Are Next Generation funds reaching you to train rural women in digital skills?
They are not reaching us in the same way as they are reaching training companies. The only program Afammer Madrid has signed with the Community of Madrid to train 4,000 women in digital skills, the “Prepara” program. On the other hand, we have a project that is Conecta Rural, aid that the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 has reduced by half this year and we do not understand why this cut when Afammer has always been a pioneering organization in training for women rural. When no one was talking about rural tourism we were already doing it, of the 77% of the rural houses in Spain, 55% are led by women thanks to us. What is the point then of Europe granting aid to train women in towns with less than 30,000 inhabitants? The courses we are giving in digital skills are thanks to private agreements that we signed with some companies and our workshops are full.
Is the wage gap reducing in the rural world?
Slowly. Ten years ago, Spain had a wage gap of 18%, today it is 14%. The average salary in a town can be 1,400 euros for a man and 1,000 euros for a woman having the same job.
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