From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Panama: Rural women neglected by govt
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 09:15:39 GMT

/** reg.panama: 21.0 **/
** Topic: IPS:Rural women suffer **
** Written  6:24 pm  Jan 19, 1993 by jbinder in cdp:reg.panama **
From: James Binder <jbinder>
Subject: IPS:Rural women suffer

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: PANAMA: Rural women suffer from government neglect

an inter press service feature

by david carrasco

panama city, jan 15 (ips) -- the panamanian society and
government have all but neglected the needs of women living in
the country's rural areas, non-governmental organisations say.

poverty-stricken and lacking in education, these women now
find themselves in a rapidly deteriorating work and social
environment with hardly a chance for improvement, said a study by
the ngo 'fundacion para la promocion de la mujer' (foundation
from the advancement of women).

enriqueta davis, who did the study with the help of the united
nations food and agriculture organisation (fao), said the women
usually suffer from health problems because they spend their
meagre incomes on their families rather than on themselves.

she says the women are a productive force always on the
lookout for ways to improve their situation. but they are often
excluded from community decisions and the country's political and
economic mainstream, she stressed.

''we are moving backwards when it comes to dealing with the
condition of panamanian women,'' she stated, adding that the
government's recent neoliberal economic policies dismantled
social programmes set up in the 1970s.

of panama's 2.4 million inhabitants, over 45 percent live in
the rural areas. of this number, about 75 percent subsist below
the poverty line, experts say.

for women in rural areas, daily chores include attending to
their homes, feeding their children, planting crops, sewing,
breeding cows and chickens, and selling home-made products for
additional income.

but despite their importance in a mainly agricultural society,
the panamanian government has not given much thought to policies
which would benefit them, the study said.

panamanian researcher marcelina samaniego said poverty and the
lack of job opportunities have driven many of these women to the
cities where they sooner or later meet the same fate.

according to panama's 1990 population census, over 50 percent
of the people who moved to the country's urban areas were women.

the davis study reveals that over 24 percent of the rural
women are employed as household help, while about 20 percent
engage in community, social and personal services. almost 18
percent are into farming, fishing and hunting. (more/ips)

panama: rural (2)

davis stresses that rural and indigenous women play an
important role in the economy which is not always appreciated
because their daily activities are not reported in government
registries. they are often only referred to as ''housewives''.

in 1983, fao recognised that some censuses used concepts and
methods which did not consider a big part of panama's rural
population as economically active.

illiteracy is another common problem among rural folk and
davis says over 25 percent of the women here have never gone to
school. of this number, over 44 percent are indigenous while less
than four percent live in the urban areas.

davis counts this as proof that farmers and indigenous folks
are facing a difficult economic and social situation.

a report by the centre for the development of women (cedem),
which was done with the help of the u.n. women's development
fund (unifem), showed that some 52 percent of rural women
included in the panamanian economy's informal sector earn less
than 100 dollars monthly.

cedem president alma montenegro said these women sell food and
other home-made products in busy urban streets. but though they
bring home additional incomes, they seldom have land or property
titles in their names.

about 30 percent of women in urban areas who work in the
informal sector get less than 45 dollars a month.

in rural areas, where a family of five would need over 200
dollars to survive every month, about 70 percent of the women
earn a monthly salary of 175 dollars.

said davis: ''a definite policy and scientifically-prepared
plan of action is badly needed to stop the deteriorating
condition of our women.'' (end/ips/trd-sp/dc/ls/cir/93)

** End of text from cdp:reg.panama **