World Rural Development Day

  Women are the driving force behind rural communities , yet they have less access to resources and services than men. They're often overburdened with domestic tasks, while social norms prevent many from voicing their thoughts. Join the IFAD, the UN agency for rural development, and the Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir and sing for rural women so more people can hear why they matter. 

  Discover how rural entrepreneurs are transforming local challenges into scalable solutions . From seaweed fertilizers to mobile agri-learning tools, these innovators are driving climate resilience, inclusion, and sustainability—showcasing the power of community-led progress.

In Uruguay, Dronfies Labs with support from the UNICEF is piloting the use of drones to transport medical supplies such as medicines, blood samples and donated breast-milk from Tacuarembó Hospital, in the centre-north of the country, to the rural communities of Tambores, Curtina, and Ansina.  Learn more on how to strengthen health systems to reach remote communities

In Panama, Indigenous youth play a fundamental role in ensuring connectivity and developing digital skills in four producer organizations of the Ngäbe Buglé Indigenous Peoples.  The Digitalization of Panama’s mountain villages

The JEEViKA project in Bihar, India, supported by the World Bank, organised 1.8 million rural women into self-help groups. By 2016, 65 % of households increased their incomes by >30 % through credit access, sustainable farming and market linkages. Read the evaluation (World Bank 2017)

In a gesture both symbolic and strategic, the United Nations General Assembly by Resolution A/RES/78/326 declared July 6th as World Rural Development Day , reaffirming its unwavering commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . This declaration, steeped in the spirit of international solidarity, acknowledges the deep-rooted challenge of rural poverty and the necessity of addressing it as a precondition for achieving the broader goals of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Drawing from a lineage of global declarations and resolutions—from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda —the resolution seeks to shine a sustained light on the lives and struggles of those who till the soil, harvest the seas, and nurture the land in rural corners of the world. At its heart, the resolution confronts the disproportionate burden of poverty, hunger, and exclusion borne by rural communities—especially by women, Indigenous Peoples, and ...