World Rural Development Day 2026; July 6th.

FORUM: "Shine a lasting light on the deep challenges of rural poverty." World Rural Development Day 2026. An estimated 80% of the world's poorest people live in rural areas and earn less than $2.15 per day. More than one billion people face severe multidimensional poverty, with more than half of them children. Half of the rural population does not have health insurance (compared to 22% in urban areas). Family farmers produce 80% of the world's food. Women make up 43% of the agricultural workforce but have limited access to land, credit, and technology. Rural areas are on the climate frontline, suffering from droughts, floods, and extreme heat. By 2024, 83% of urban residents had internet access, compared to less than 50% of rural residents. The challenge of resilience for rural communities—particularly women, indigenous peoples, and youth, who face the disproportionate burden of poverty, hunger, and marginalization—is too often overlooked. Let's highlight the important role these groups play in agricultural development, food security, and ecosystem management, and call for their empowerment through access to land, decent work, and inclusion in decision-making. By supporting an integrated approach to rural development that embraces traditional knowledge, gender equality, and digital inclusion, the resolution envisions a future where rural prosperity is no longer an elusive ideal but a global shared outcome. Rural development is not just about geography. It is about poverty, equity, food security, and sustainability. To address these challenges, investments in rural areas and in the the future of rural non-farm economies are needed to ensure no one is left behind. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #developmentpartners #Ruralareas, #Ruraleconomies, #Familyfarming, #RuralDevelopment, #Ruralcommunities, #6July, #SDGs, #worldruraldevelopmentday.

EVENT: On July 6th; The celebration of the World Rural Development Day 2026 serves as a call-to-action for governments and organizations to focus on the lives and struggles of the world's rural peoples who work the soil, nourish the seas, and nurture the land as a prerequisite for achieving the broader goals of economic, social, and environmental sustainability and to invest in rural resilience, gender equality, and sustainable agricultural progress. Register to participate!

WEBINAR: The Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas.

The general objective is to present the main messages, findings, and recommendations of the report Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Americas 2025–2026: A Perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting that agriculture can strengthen its contribution to agrifood systems through productivity improvements driven by adequate financing and by policy, institutional, financial, and technological innovations.

International Day of Rural Women 2023; October 15th.

 THEME: “Rural women, women with rights” International Day of Rural Women 2023. 

According to the latest FAO report, Rural women play a crucial role in agricultural and non-agricultural activities, which emerge as agrifood systems develop and economies change. There, women work as farmers, retailers, wage laborers, entrepreneurs, among other tasks. However, gender inequalities in agrifood systems cause women to be disproportionately affected by food and nutritional insecurity, monetary and time poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #15October, #ruralwomenday, #MujeresRurales #MujeresConDerechos.

EVENTS: Commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women 2023.  

The seminar will be held from on October 10th, 9:00 to 11:30, from FAO Santiago de Chile will seek to provide a regional overview of the advances and challenges that promote or obstruct the economic empowerment of rural women in all their diversity, and will make recommendations to strengthen the economic empowerment program for rural women and generate inputs for the FAO Regional Conference -LARC 38, the Regional Conference of ECLAC-UN Women, among other initiatives within the framework of the rural women's agenda in the region. In view of this situation, the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, in the framework of the Commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women and the strengthening of its program for the economic empowerment of this group, invites counterparts from government, civil society, academia, private sector and United Nations agencies to discuss and propose strategies for closing gender gaps in agrifood systems.

During the seminar, examples of legislation, policies and programs will be presented with a focus on what has worked and specific recommendations will be shared on how to make more and better interventions with and for rural women. From a vision of collective action, the seminar will seek to generate alliances and identify strategies and interventions with scalability potential, based on the agenda of rural women in the region, to accelerate rural women economic, social and political empowerment. The Seminar will begin with welcoming remarks by FAO, followed by thematic talks that will delve into the central aspects of sustainable rural development from a transformative gender equality approach, followed by a space for guided reflection, and ending with a session of agreements and closing. The interventions will incorporate success stories and review the strategies mobilized to bring about the necessary change towards an egalitarian welfare state.

Statement from the United Nations Secretary-General on International Day of Rural Women 2023; October 15th.

CAMPAIGN: “17 Days of Activism for the Empowerment of Rural Women Leaders and their Communities 1-17 October 2023”.

The “Rural women, women with rights” campaign, convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is a collaborative work initiative that joins efforts, articulates networks, and disseminates knowledge and positive experiences to promote the full autonomy of women in the rural world. Since 2016, this campaign has articulated government entities, civil society organizations and United Nations agencies around regional and national political advocacy actions, in favor of the empowerment of rural women.

2023 Registration Form for the 17 Days Campaign. Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF).

We wish to inform you that the WWSF secretariat has decided this year to skip our annual “Call to action – 17 Days of Activism 2023”, and share with you the publication: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet.

Excerpt of the Report : "Five key areas for urgent action".

1} Heads of State and Government should recommit to seven years of accelerated, sustained and transformative action, both nationally and internationally, to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.

2) Governments should advance concrete, integrated and targeted policies and actions to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and end the war on nature, with a focus on advancing the rights of women and girls and empowering the most vulnerable

3) Governments should strengthen national and subnational capacity, accountability and public institutions to deliver accelerated progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

4) The international community should recommit at the SDG Summit to deliver on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and to mobilize the resources and investment needed for developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those in special situations and experiencing acute vulnerability.

5) Member States should facilitate the continued strengthening of the United Nations development system and boost the capacity of the multilateral system to tackle emerging challenges and address Sustainable Development Goals-related gaps and weaknesses in the international architecture that have emerged since 2015.“

Rural Women, Women with rights regional campaign