FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rev. Christopher Pollard212-370-7885 Ext. 30cpollard@holyseemission.orgNew York, NY, March 5 – Calling attention to the women in rural areas who “oftentimes work in deplorable situations against odds that defy imagination: long hours of unpaid work, unhygienic situations, poor nutrition, lack of access to water, limited access to healthcare, discrimination and exposure to violence, including against pregnant mothers” the Holy See today insisted that “women, and in particular rural women, should be given the recognition that is due to them and they should be able to make an impact on the world around them”.Ms. Dianne Willman, Attaché at the Holy See Mission, addressed this morning the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on behalf of Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.Ms. Willman welcomed “the present session of the CSW [as] an opportunity for experiences to be shared and best practices to be developed. Full respect must be accorded to the dignity of women, which is grounded in the very nature of being human and from which flow both rights and responsibilities”The Commission on the Status of Women is one of nine functional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The fifty-sixth session of the CSW, which commenced on February 27 at UN Headquarters in New York, concludes on March 9.For more information about the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations,please visit www.holyseemission.org, which contains also links to the Holy See Press Office.###