8 March 2012 - Rural women and girls made up a quarter of the world's population, but often lost out in areas ranging from income and education to health and participation in decision-making, Secretary-General (SG) Ban Ki-moon said in a message on International Women's Day.

"Numbering almost half a billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, rural women are a major part of the agricultural labour force ... yet continue to be held back in fulfilling their potential," Mr. Ban said in the message, which was read at an UNMISS Juba event by UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan Lise Grande.

If rural women had equal access to productive resources, agricultural yields would rise by 4 per cent, the Secretary-General said, strengthening food and nutrition security and relieving as many as 150 million people from hunger.

"The plight of the world's rural women and girls mirrors that of women and girls throughout society – from the persistence of the glass ceiling to pervasive violence at home, at work and in conflict," Mr. Ban said.

Even those countries with the best records still differed in what women and men were paid for the same work, and saw continuing under-representation of women in political and business decision-making, according to the Secretary-General.

Echoing Mr. Ban's words, Hilde F. Johnson, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) in South Sudan, said in a statement that women and girls in South Sudan were suffering from lack of the most basic education and health services.

"More than 80 percent live in isolated rural communities," said Ms. Johnson. "The country is the size of France, with virtually no paved roads and none of the basic infrastructure even many developing countries take for granted. The challenges are immense."

Noting that today was the first International Women's Day in independent South Sudan, the SRSG said that one of the best things the new nation could do was to invest in women and girls.

"Evidence shows that they are among the greatest assets in the world's least developed countries. It is even more true for South Sudan," Ms. Johnson said.

The Day was also celebrated at UNMISS Juba with traditional dancing, musical shows, handicraft exhibitions and sports events.

The previous day, an UNMISS team visited pregnant and just-delivered women at Juba Teaching Hospital as well as female inmates at three Juba prisons.