NIRWN - Northern Ireland Rural Women's Network ____________________________________________________ Northern Ireland Rural Women's Network is a regional network established to articulate the voices of women in rural areas. It is jointly funded by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and the Department for Social Development (DSD). NIRWN has six key objectives: - Increasing the voice of rural women through giving them a voice at Policy level - Playing an advocacy and lobbying role on behalf of rural women - Capacity Building and Group Development for rural women - Encouraging women in decision-making and providing representation for rural women - Information and networking opportunities for rural women - Working within the Women's Centres Regional Partnership to give a voice to rural women's centres The Network, through its programme of work, will highlight the valuable contribution rural women make to the rural development agenda. Rural women's activities have been the backbone of rural community life, in terms of supporting farming and families and preserving the social capital of communities. This activity has often been viewed as a secondary activity which is not recognised or valued at the decision making or policy level. Rural women have also been instrumental in taking risks, particularly in sensitive areas such as community relations and again a large percentage of this work has gone unrecognised or has not had the policy voice to support its development.