The Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA) commemorated the 2016 International Women’s Day (20th October) by organizing a public forum under the theme “Rural women in the front line in defense of climate change through nature conservation and development,” which was attended by approximately 350 women from the eleven chiefdoms of the Inkhundla. Representatives from the Tourism and Environmental Affairs Ministry as well as the Agriculture Ministry were invited to share knowledge regarding the country’s climate policies and agriculture’s potential to alleviate poverty. The women in turn raised concerns over the devastating impacts of industrial systems of agriculture as well as GMOs, the urgency of protecting seed sovereignty from corporate power and the need to tackle climate change. Finally, the women made the connection between the intimate violence they face and the greater economic and political violence they experience in public and at work, urging the state to quickly pass the domestic violence bill. Photo credit: Rural Women’s Assembly
