Cameroon is getting set to commemorate the 29th edition of the International Day of Rural Women on the theme “Rural Women and Import-Substitution: Opportunities and Challenges”.
A picture of how the day and weeks to the day will look like was being painted during a preparatory meeting at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family this 1st October, 2024 in Yaounde.
Chairing the conclave, the Secretary General of the Ministry, Moussa Awoudou, highlighted the importance of this year’s celebration as well as the theme chosen.
The Secretary General noted that the theme is in line with the National development priorities contained in Cameroon’s Vision 2035 operationalised in the National Development Strategy (NDS30).
Furthermore, he highlighted that the theme also resonates with SDG2 to end hunger and achieve food security, SDG5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, SDG8 on promoting productive employment and decent work for all and SDG15 on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns.
In all, Cameroon’s theme, according to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family aims at encouraging the contribution of women in rural communities towards the import-substitution policy.
This will help reduce the country’s dependence on imported products, while promoting local consumption.
This year’s theme also moves towards engaging development partners to support rural women as they work towards import-substitution.
Activities earmarked in build up to October 15, the International Day of Rural Women include: an agro-industrial forum for rural stakeholders, a coffee debate on the theme of the day, trade fairs showcasing the work of rural women, educative talks on access to land ownership and finances anancapacity-building sessions, amongst others.
All these activities were discussed during this first preparatory meeting so as to get precise dates and modalities for their implementation all in a bid to showcase and upgrade the work of the rural woman in Cameroon.
Eleanor Ayuketah Ngochi
