I  waited for Women’s Month to arrive so that I could raise  issues affecting the majority of women  in rural areas.
Hypocrisy and  hollow speeches characterise this public holiday  year after year.

The plight of rural women persists. When their sophisticated counterparts in urban areas demand gender representation and roles in senior management positions, rural women plead for basic services such as water and healthcare.

It is a month undeserving of celebration if there are women who are still destitute and vulnerable to abuse.

The economic independence of rural women, the improvement of educational opportunities and the eradication of violence towards them will only be realised when concrete empowerment programmes are implemented.     

 It is fallacious to assume that our supposed  top 20 rating in terms of women advancement  applies to women in rural communities.

 What they call for is government backing to advance  projects to harness skills for sustainable living.
 There is certainly a need for government to  commit itself to the development of rural women.