In 2018, the United Nations proposes to commemorate March 8, International Women's Day, under the slogan "Now is the time: Rural and urban activists transform women's lives." Under this approach, we call to reflect on the urgency of empowering and intensifying the efforts of access and permanence in education, at all levels, of girls and adolescent women living in rural areas, who are more exposed to violence, discrimination and also the worst forms of child labor.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, women living in rural areas are more affected by poverty, lack social protection, decent jobs, do not have facilities to reconcile work with care work, and are more vulnerable to the effects of poverty. climate change. They represent 29% of the workforce and are responsible for more than 50% of food production , according to FAO.

The participation of rural women in the workplace does not yet reach the same conditions and opportunities as rural men or women in urban areas. To curb this chain of inequality, girls and adolescent women in rural areas need targeted social protection, training and differentiated care that allow them to overcome the gender barrier and avoid resorting to child labor, especially in its worst forms, as an activity for their livelihood or as an alternative to escape from situations of abuse and physical and psychological violence.

According to the ILO and ECLAC, although the highest percentage of child labor in Latin America and the Caribbean corresponds to male boys and adolescents, the percentage of female girls and adolescents who perform domestic chores as their main occupation, be it child domestic work in households of third parties or tasks without remuneration in the own home, is considerably higher than that of men.

In rural areas, the activities that are usually assigned to girls and adolescent women limit their access to knowledge and new ones that allow them to develop skills to, in the future, enter the workforce in a safe and remunerated way.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through several of its Goals such as gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), the reduction of inequalities (SDG 10), among others, commits and requires countries to bridge these differences and implement comprehensive and efficient responses that protect those most at risk of being left behind, such as female girls and adolescents, especially those living in rural areas.

State action continues to be insufficient to facilitate rural girls access and stay in school and in higher education cycles; to create protected and stable work opportunities for adolescent girls and young women and advance on the path towards sustainable development in the region.

“Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls are pending tasks of our time and constitute the greatest human rights challenge in the world. Investing in women is the single most effective way for communities, businesses, and even countries to prosper. The participation of women makes peace agreements stronger, societies more resilient and economies more vigorous ”. - António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations

Girls and adolescent women are a key link in achieving and maintaining a sustainable and just region. For this reason, it is urgent to promote reforms that put an end to discriminatory, violent and exclusionary practices towards women in the various stages of their development, in their different ethnic groups, in their areas of origin or residence and in their work spaces and daily life.