‘Time is now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives’ is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), which is celebrated around the world on 8 March 2018.

Women around the world face several obstacles to improving their lives. For young women from rural areas, for example, these challenges are tied to socio-economic and cultural contexts. Often, their access to education and training opportunities is limited and they have to develop innovative ways to voice such concerns with an impact on an education policy that is guided by the fundamental principle of gender equality.

This is one reason why young rural women in India, Indonesia and the Philippines are taking part in an action-research project developed by the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL). The project provides them with the skills and competencies needed to seek the needed evidence to inform educational reform in their communities. This initiative is enabling young women in rural areas to continue learning, and improve their livelihoods and the health of their families.

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