The government, together with agencies under the One UN family, has organised a forum to discuss a new initiative aimed at economically empower women in rural areas.Sonia Gujral, from the World Food Programme, said the initiative was launched globally in October, last year, in Rome and will cost $35 million (about Rwf22 trillion).The project will run for five years, with each country receiving $1 million (about Rwf640m) annually. "We need to help rural women to break through to the top by training them in life skills, equipping them with materials, educating them on various opportunities and facilitating market for their products,” Gujral said.The programme will run in seven countries; Rwanda, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Nepal, Niger, Liberia and Kyrgyzstan.Each country will develop a tailor-made programme.The Minister for Gender and Family Promotion, Oda Gasinzigwa, said women are central to the development of rural areas and to the nation as a whole.She said women account for a significant proportion of the agricultural labour force, play a key role in food production, especially in subsistence farming, and perform most of the unpaid care work in rural areas.Gasinzigwa said the challenges facing rural women have been increased by the combined impact of the recent economic and financial crisis, the unstable energy and food prices, climate change, the lack of investment in rural development and agriculture, and demographic changes."Eighty per cent of women in Rwanda are rural-based, so we have to ensure that they have access to the new farming technology, access to markets, and information to uplift their standards,” Gasinzigwa said.FAO Country Representative Attaher Maiga said it is time to scale up investment in food and nutrition security in rural areas.