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While women account for about half the population of rural areas, they have always been considered as vulnerable populations of the community. Considering empowerment and its effective factors can increase their participation in livelihoods and increase their ability to help increase their family income. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the factors and drivers that affect the empowerment of rural women. The present research is a descriptive-analytical one. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire and interviewed with rural women in Zanjan. The statistical population includes rural women in Zanjan city (N = 43559). Using Cochran's formula and quotient sampling, 381 women over 20 years old were selected as samples. Data were analyzed using one-sample t-test and binary logistic regression tests. The results showed that among the 29 variables in the study, 14 variables significantly had a significant relationship with the empowerment of rural women in Zanjan. Accordingly, economic factors (0.1171), psychological (0.197) and personal factors (109.10) had the most effects on empowerment of rural women (dependent variable). The results of this study can be used to identify the factors affecting the empowerment of rural women and removing the barriers related to it in the villages of the region and in general in the villages of the country.

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Access, plays an important role in rural development as there is a meaningful relationship between rural development and access to infrastructure services. Villages that have less access to essential services, especially transport, faced with a lot of structural and socio-economic constraints, which are obstacles to sustainable rural development. The present study seeks to examine the accessibility and the factors affecting it. Accordingly, it is considered with descriptive-analytic research method. The statistical population of the study, consisted of villages in the central District of Tabriz County (52 villages) that there needed data were gathered from rural municipals. After validity and reliability of the research, in order to evaluate accessibility, we used the Dematel technique and ANP, then to assess the role of different elements in accessibility of rural areas, we used SEM in Amos software. Initial results of Rural Accessibility Survey showed that the Mayan Sefli village had the highest accessibility and the final result of the research are determining the role of factors in rural accessibility based on factors such as distance from the city, service centers and social status of the village are more effective than other factors in accessibility.
Key words: accessibility, rural services, analytical network process, structural equation modeling, Tabriz County.