Women’s Affairs: Training for rural women's development project

The opening ceremony of the “Central-Level Training for the Rural Women's Development Project” was held on Tuesday at Hotel Amara in Dekkhinathiri Township, Nay Pyi Taw.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Thet Thet Zin, Union Minister for Women's Affairs, stated that in Myanmar, the literacy rate for those aged 15 and above is 93.5% for men and 90.9% for women. The labor force participation rate for those aged 15 and above stands at 63.8% for men, while for women it is only 34.1%, indicating that female labor force participation remains low.

She added that the ministry has drafted a Rural Women's Development Project. Under the first phase of this initiative, the project will be implemented across 45 villages in the Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, Mandalay Region, and Shan State. She further explained that the Rural Women's Development Project will cover six key sectors: environmental sanitation and greening, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, nutrition and reproductive health, education, livelihoods and income generation and elderly care.

A total of 27 trainees - comprising staff from the Ministry of Women's Affairs and members of Township Women's Affairs Organizations from the Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, Mandalay Region, and Shan State are attending the two-day training course running from October 20 to October 21.