Empowering Women as Key Change Agents

http://www.thp.org/what_we_do/program_overview/empowering_women?
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Women bear almost all responsibility for meeting basic needs of the family, yet are
systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they need to fulfill this
responsibility.

The vast majority of the world's poor are women. Two-thirds of the world's illiterates are
female. Of the millions of school age children not in school, the majority are girls. And today,
HIV/AIDS is rapidly becoming a woman's disease. In several southern African countries, more
than three-quarters of all young people living with HIV are women.

The current world food price crisis is having a severe impact on women. Around the world,
millions of people eat two or three times a day, but a significant percentage of women eat only
once. And, now, many women are denying themselves even that one meal to ensure that
their children are fed. These women are already suffering the effects of even more severe
malnutrition, which inevitably will be their children's fate as well. The impact of this crisis will
be with us for many years.

Studies show that when women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits.
Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and
incomes increase. In short, communities become more resilient.

The Hunger Project firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an
essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty. Wherever we work, our
programs aim to support women and build their capacity.

The results of these programs include:

• By providing women food farmers easy access to credit, adequate

training and instilling in them the importance of saving, THP's Microfinance
Program enables women to engage in income-generating activities to
increase their incomes and invest in their families and communities.

• More than 920,000 people have taken the HIV/AIDS and Gender
Inequality Workshop, in which they not only learn the facts of AIDS, but also
confront and transform the gender-based behaviors that fuel the pandemic.

• In India, our Women's Leadership Workshop has empowered 75,000

women elected to local councils to be effective change agents in their villages.
They are forming district- and state-wide federations to ensure that their voices
are heard at top levels of government.
 • In Bangladesh, we catalyzed the formation of a 300-organization
alliance that organizes more than 800 events across the country each
September in honor of National Girl Child Day, a day to focus on eradicating all
forms of discrimination against girl children.

indiapopular.com/women/essay-on-women-empowerment-gender-
discrimination

Today there are lot of things that is happening in the name of women empowerment in India and lot of
resources are spent in this direction. Keeping this in mind it is crucial to have a reality check on what is
happening on paper and what is the actual ground situation. It has to be understood that unless we
change the basic social attitude which cultivates gender inequality and gender bias we would not be
able to achieve much in terms of women empowerment in India.

It is worthwhile to ponder on the fact that we are one of the worst in terms of worldwide gender
equality rankings. In India women are discriminated and marginalized at every level of the society
whether it is social participation, economic opportunity and economic participation, political
participation, access to education or access to nutrition and reproductive health care.

Gender disparity is high, crimes against women are increasing and violence against women is all time
high and in most cases go unreported. Dowry related problems and death is increasing and is
profoundly manifesting in the urban population.

Workplace harassment of women is another phenomenon which is rapidly increasing as more women
join the workforce. Early age marriages are still taking place in large numbers and the number of girls
going to school is abysmally low. Moreover majority of the girls who join the school drop out by the
age of puberty to get married and live a life of drudgery. Female foeticide and infanticide is starring the
nation as one of the biggest social crisis.

All this is happening despite the fact that there are number of programmes and policy initiatives that is
being run by the government and other bodies. The year 2001 was declared as the National policy for
empowerment of women. So it is time to ask the question whether we are moving in the right direction
and where are we in terms of the paper actions and the actual ground realities.

Somewhere we have to make a beginning and it’s always better if we make the initiation at our own
self. We can strengthen this mass movement for the “rise of womanhood” by bringing about the
necessary changes in our own life as felt by our inner self. Further we can transmit the new thinking to
others who care to listen. A small step today will definitely lead to a giant leap tomorrow.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/empowering-women-quotes.html

If a woman can only succeed by emulating men, I think it is a great loss and
not a success. The aim is not only for a woman to succeed, but to keep her
womanhood and let her womanhood influence society. - Suzanne Brogger

http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/education-is-the-foundation-for-
womens-empowerment-in-india-prospects-challenges-and-remedies-1451741.html
EDUCATION IS THE FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA:
PROSPECTS, CHALLENGES AND REMEDIES

Mr. D.Sambangi

Senior Associate Professor & Head

Department of Social Work, Kodaikanal Christian College, Tamil Nadu, India

Education is a potent tool in the emancipation and empowerment of women. The greatest
single factor which can incredibly improve the status of women in any society is education.
It is indispensable that education enables women not only to gain more knowledge about
the world outside of her hearth and home but helps her to get status, positive self esteem,
and self confidence , necessary courage and inner strength to face challenges in life.
Apparently it also facilitates them to procure a job and supplement the income of family
and achieve social status. Education especially of women has a major impact on health and
nutrition as an instrument of developing a sustainable strategy for population control.
Moreover educated women can play an equally important role as men in nation building.
Thus there is no denying fact that education empowers women. Indeed the different
organs of the United Nations and experts on women‘s liberation argue for women’s
education as the basic step to attain equality with men.

One of the recommendations of National Policy on Education (1986) by the Government of

India is to promote empowerment of women through the agency of education and it is
considered to be a land mark in the approach to women’s education of illiterate. The
National Literacy Mission is another positive step towards eradication of illiteracy in the age
group of 15-35 years. Women’ education has assumed special significance in the context
of India’s planned development, as it is incorporated in every Five-year plans as the major
programme for the development of women. Universalization of elementary education,
enrolment and retention of girls in the schools, promotion of balwadies and crutches,
raising number of schools and colleges of arts , science, and professional for girls ,
politechniques, girls hostels, multipurpose institutions and adult education programmes
are some of the steps being taken by both central and state governments in India to
boost-up women’s education

WOMEN’S EDUCATION: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

In spite of the forceful intervention by a bastion of female privilege, feminist critics,

constitutional guarantees, protecting laws and sincere efforts by the state governments
and central government through various schemes and programmes over the last 62 years
and above all , the United Nation’s enormous pressure with regard to the uplift of the
plight of women in terms education is still in the state of an enigma in India for several
reasons. The 2001 Census report indicates that literacy among women as only 54 percent
It is virtually disheartening to observe that the literacy rate of women India is even much
lower to national average i.e. 65.38 .The growth of women’s education in rural areas is
very slow. This obviously means that still large womenfolk of our country are illiterate, the
weak, backward and exploited. Moreover education is also not available to all equally.
Gender inequality is reinforced in education which is proved by the fact that the literacy
rate for the women is only 54% against 76% of men as per 2001 Census.

Table -1 The Literacy Rate in India 1901-2001

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------

Percentage of Literates to total population

Year Persons Males Females

1. 1901 5.3 9.8 0.7

2. 1911 5.9 10.6 1.1
3. 1921 7.2 12.2 1.8
4. 1931 9.5 15.6 2.9
5. 1941 16.1 24.9 7.3
6. 1951 16.7 24.9 7.3
7. 1961 24.0 34.4 13.0
8. 1971 29.5 39.5 18.7
9. 1981 36.2 46.9 24.8
10. 1991 52.1 63.9 39.2
11. 2001 65.38 76.0 54.0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------

Source: Census of India, Government of India (2001)

According to the Table-1 the pre-Independence time literacy rate for women had a very
poor spurt in comparison to literacy rate of men. This is witnessed from the fact that
literacy rate of women has risen from 0.7 % to 7.3 % where as the literacy rate of men
has risen from 9.8 % to 24.9 % during these four decades. During the post-independence
period literacy rates have shown a substantial increase in general. However the literacy
rate of male has almost tripled over the period e.g 25% in 1951 and 76 % in
2001.Surprisingly the female literacy rate has increased at a faster pace than the male
literacy during the decade 1981 -2001. The growth is almost 6 times e.g. 7.9 % in 1951
and 54 % in 2001. From this analyse one can infer that still the female literacy rate (only
half of the female population are literates) is wadding behind male literacy rate (three
fourth of the male population are literates).The rate of school drop outs is also found to be
comparatively higher in case of women. This higher rate of illiteracy of women is
undoubtedly attributing for women dependence on men and to play a subordinate role.
The lack of education is the root cause for women’ exploitation and negligence. Only
literacy can help women to understand the Indian’s constitutional and legislative provisions
that are made to strengthen them. Thus promoting education among women is of great
important in empowering them to accomplish their goals in par with men in different
spheres of life.

THE ROOT CAUSES FOR LOW LITERACY AMONG WOMEN IN INDIA

Women education is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. No single factor or cause can be

held responsible for very low literacy rate of women in India. Subsequently it is associated
with combination of many factors including social, cultural, economic, educational,
demographic, political and administrative and so on. The following are the some of the
important factors which could be attributed for the present poor state of affairs of
womenfolk in education.
The Lower Enrolment: The lower enrolment of girls in schools is one of the foundational
factors which stand as stumbling block for women empowerment in India. Reliable sources
indicate that more than 50 % of the Non-Starters (those who have never been to school)
are girls. According to the latest statistics, two out of every ten girls in the age group of
6-11 are still not enrolled in schools.

Higher drop-out rate among girls from schools: The incidence and prevalence of drop
–outs among girls especially in rural, tribal and slums areas seem to be quite high.
According to available sources, occurrence of drop-out and stagnation amongst girls is
nearly twice that of boys all over India

Girl Child as Second Mother: In many families girl children play the role of second
mother by shouldering the responsibilities of household work such as looking after the
sibling, fetching water, collecting firewood, bringing fodder for cattle, cleaning and cooking
etc. In rural India especially in poor families this traditional sex role makes girl child
handicapped and conditioned by the attitude of mother and the family and discourages girl
child to go school as it becomes secondary

Bonded Labour System: This social evil is a quite discouraging phenomena which stand
as barrier for girl’s education in rural areas for the underprivileged families of washer men
and agricultural labour , scheduled caste and scheduled tribes.

Cast System as a Barrier; Children belonging to low caste families are forced to learn
skills and work ways and not encouraged to go to school due to various factors in the
sphere of strict instruction /threat from high caste communities for their selfish motives of
keeping them as domestic servants and child labourers in the farms or factory.

Dowry as cordon: Dowry system and other social practices act as main causes of the
neglect of the girl child and discrimination against girl child including the deprivation of
right of education. In many families especially poor and down-trodden think that if their
daughters are educated more, they have to accumulate more assets and properties to
provide as dowry in large proportion at the time of marriage, so prefer rather to either
stop their children with average education and so on but never higher education. This
prevails more in underprivileged families and communities

Child Labour Practice: A large segment of child population in India is engaged in child
labour practices. According to UN sources India is the most child labour populous nation in
the globe with more than 50 million child labourers indulged in beedi works , carpet
making , bricks, mining , quarrying ,glass, bangles, match and fireworks, gem polishing
,handloom works. zari, embroidery ,coir industry, domestic works, construction etc. In
most of these industries girl children are preferred for high productivity and low cost.

Poor School Environment for girls: In general the school environment for girls in India
is not really interesting and encouraging. The subjects taught in schools are also not
related to the environment of girl children. The methods of teaching are mostly out –
dated, rigid and uninteresting. There are still hundreds of schools with poor basic
amenities such as drinking water, latrine and toilet facilities, improper building, and
inadequate number of teachers’ especially female teachers preferable for any parents for
safety of their girl children from different types of exploitation and abuse.
Female age at marriage: There is high association of female literacy with female age at
marriage. By and large the female age at marriage of 18 ( recently 21 years ) as
prescribed by various legislations not at all followed in India .It is very much ignored and
neglected by the families of parents with low literacy and illiteracy background. This
obnoxious practice discourages female children to continue their schooling and higher
education as they enter into family life at the early age which is not advisable from the
physical and mental health point of view and also of social development.

Inferiority, subservience and domesticity: The female child in Indian culture especially
in rural, tribal and poor families is expected to develop the qualities of inferiority;
subservience and domesticity which place sever limitations on her education and
development

Poverty as a Barrier: In many poverty stricken families, children especially girls are
considered as economic assets as they bring income for livelihood as well to save from
economic crises due to death or incapacity of parents (sick/ handicapped/aged)

Ineffective Law Enforcing Machinery: Indian constitution and various legislations

pertaining to education to children assure free and compulsory education all children of
this nation but unfortunately the enforcement machinery fail to discharge its duties and
responsibilities to the satisfaction of the public interest and welfare of women

Demographic Factors: The high population growth rate, rapid urbanisation, migration etc
also attribute immensely for the poor literacy level of women and girls in India

Poor Political Will and Conviction: Government officials, policy makers, politicians etc
of our country have neither political will nor conviction for the empowerment of women in
general.

REMEDIAL MEASURES FOR IMPROVING THE LITERACY LEVEL OF WOMEN IN

INDIA

The following measures can be considered for bringing phenomenal change in the plight
women’s education and empowerment in India

1. Ø Since the prevailing situation of poor or less enrolment of girls in schools closes
the doors for development and prosperity of future generation of women,
concerted efforts must be initiated jointly by the government, parents and civil
society to achieve universal enrolment for girls without any compromise. The
enrolment can be made even mandatory for every girls by the government in the
realm of compulsory education. .

• The Ministry of Education both at Centre and State level should work out strategic
steps to stop firmly the ongoing high drop –outs among girls especially in rural,
tribal and slums areas with the serious involvement of voluntary organisations in
every locality to realize zero drop-out among girls.

• The poverty stricken families can be identified through proper research and
necessary poverty alleviation services be provided to strengthen the income
thereby to enable the families to send their children to schools and colleges
without much financial difficulties
• Bonded Child labour and Child labour practice must be abolished with strict
administrative measures and the relieved children form bondage should be
integratedinto schools with suitable defence social mechanism.

• Appropriate steps should be taken by the educational authorities with the

participation of communities in order to bring the girl children to the main stream
of education and development at every level including family and community.

• The female child in every Indian family irrespective of socio-economic status

should be moulded to overcome the challenges of inferiority; subservience and
domesticity which place sever limitations on her education and development. Every
family irrespective its socio-cultural and economic background can take it a
challenge to bring up their girl children as dignified human being with
empowerment in physical , mental, economic and social dimensions of life.

• The Midday meal scheme and other educational supportive services like free text
books, Note books , Fee uniforms , Free Bicycles, Free bus , scholarships Free bus
pass and so on as done in the state of Tamil Nadu can be provided in all states
and union territories to lift up the literacy level among girls

• As social evils like dowry, child marriage , caste system and other practices
deprive rights of education for children belonging to poor and underprivileged
families and communities, they should eliminated through well-designed packages
of mass awareness programmes and social welfare measures with full support of
public, political parties, NGOs and government agencies.

• The electronic and print media can play significant role in building a good and
positive image about girls and women in general in the society by giving no focus
for such advertisements and news fetching commercial gain at the cost of
depicting women as an object. This would help in changing the society ‘s attitudes
towards girls and their roles to treat every girl or woman as human being with self
respect and dignity.

• Government, voluntary sector and philanthropic organisations and individuals

should come forward to provide free education for poor girls and provide free
hostel facilities for girls studying in schools and colleges in every state of India.
This will certainly encourage children of poor families to pursue good and higher
education without much impediments

• The schools of social work, departments of women studies, Women Universities

and other educational institutions in hand with NGOs and social service
organisations such as Rotary Clubs , Lions Clubs , women lib organisations
associations can work together to improve the educational status of the womenfolk
in this country on mutual respect and understanding.

• The parents of children belonging to poor, underprivileged families must be

specially educated with proper social formula to help them to understand the
significance of education for their girl children as foundation for empowerment

• Government, NGOs and public should work hand in hand to implement the
minimum age at marriage (21and above) Awareness should be created to
 institutionalise it as a traditional practice cut acrossing castes, religions,
community etc.

• Government officials, policy makers, political parties and others should have
adequate political will and conviction to empower women in India without double
standard mind

• The law enforcing machinery should be made really effective with efficient
monitoring vigilant system to implement the constitutional and legislative
provisions and administrative measures to assure free and compulsory education
for all children of this nation without any gender discrimination.

REFERENCES

1. N.L.Gupta(2003)Women’s Education Through Ages,Concept Publications Co,New Delhi.

2. R.K.Rao(2001) Women and Education, Kalpaz Publications, Delhi
3. S.P.Agarval(2001),Women’s Education in India(1995-98)Present Status, Perspective, Plan,
Statistical Indicators with Global View,Vol III Concept Publications Co, New Delhi.
4. Hamilton Roberta (1978) Liberation of Women, London, George Allen publishers
5. Jaya Kothai Pillai (1995)Women and Empowerment ,Gyan Publishing House , New Delhi
6. Government of India, Census of India 2001

1. Saraswathi Mishra, Status of Indian Women, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 2002

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Articles_Women_Empowerment.html

Empowerment is probably the totality of the following or similar capabilities:

• Having decision-making power of their own

* Having access to information and resources for taking proper decision
* Having a range of options from which you can make choices (not just yes/no, either/or.)
* Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making
* Having positive thinking on the ability to make change
* Ability to learn skills for improving one's personal or group power.
* Ability to change others’ perceptions by democratic means.
* Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-initiated
* Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma

Abstract
This paper examines the place of education as a catalyst for women empowerment in Nigeria. The
paper, using primary and secondary sources of data, has shown that in spite of all the laudable goals
and objectives of education, Nigerian women still suffer a lot of constraints and inhibitions which
militate against their personal and national development. The paper therefore recommends, among
others, the involvement of women in educational policy formulation, extensive enlightenment
campaigns, the discarding of stereotypical division of work into men’s and women’s job, and women
must organize themselves to meet the challenges of a positive and meaningful role in the struggle for
personal and national emancipation, development and progress.
INTRODUCTION In all countries of the world, education is recognized as the
cornerstone for sustainable development.. It is a fulcrum around which the quick
development of economic, political, sociological and human resources of any country
resolves.

In India the empowerment process has already begun. We are now, witnessing a
steady improvement in the enrollment of women in the schools and colleges and even
in the professional colleges. The reproductive health status and general health status
are better, when compared to their health status in the earlier decades. Especially, the
primary health strategy, has improved the general health status of rural women,
(majority of Indian women live in the villages} resulting in higher average
expectation of life. Due to increasing awareness among the parents, child mortality
rate has come down. In this decade women are entering into the job market in
increasing number and also venturing to become entrepreneurs. They are entering
even into the non traditional sectors like the police, defense, administration, media
and research fields. 26 laws have been enacted so far to protect women from various
crimes. The recent Law on the “protection of women against domestic violence”

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satisfies the long pending demand of the women activists. In the political field, the
reservation for women in local administration is a step towards political
empowerment. When 33% reservation for women in parliament becomes a reality,
Women’s voice will be heard in the highest forum of democracy and greater number
of women will participate in the law making process. That day women of India will
reach zenith in their empowerment process and their concerns will be expressed
loudly and clearly to the world and the” suffering in silence decades” will come to an
end.

Set back in the empowerment process

Yet, the missing women problem is causing concern. Continuation and deterioration
of the problem indicate that everything is not alright with Indian women. Women are
not allowed to be born (feticide) and if born not allowed to live (infanticide). When
they manage to survive, they are made to live without dignity due to various types of
crimes against...

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, or economic strength of individuals
and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

Contents [show]

Definitions
The term empowerment covers a vast landscape of meanings, interpretations, definitions and
disciplines ranging from psychology and philosophy to the highly commercialized self-help industry
and motivational sciences.
Sociological empowerment often addresses members of groups that social discrimination processes
have excluded from decision-making processes through - for example - discrimination based on
disability, race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. Empowerment as a methodology is often associated with
feminism: see consciousness-raising.

Marginalization and empowerment

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July
2007)

"Marginalized" refers to the overt or covert trends within societies whereby those perceived as lacking
desirable traits or deviating from the group norms tend to be excluded by wider society and ostracized
as undesirables.

Sometimes groups are marginalized by society at large, but governments are often unwitting or
enthusiastic participants. For example, the U.S. government marginalized cultural minorities,
particularly blacks, prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Act made it illegal to restrict access to
schools and public places based on race. Equal opportunity laws which actively oppose such
marginalization, allow increased empowerment to occur. They are also a symptom of minorities' and
women's empowerment through lobbying.

Marginalized people who have no opportunities for self-sufficiency become, at a minimum, dependent
on charity or welfare. They lose their self-confidence because they cannot be fully self-supporting. The
opportunities denied them also deprive them of the pride of accomplishment which others, who have
those opportunities, can develop for themselves. This in turn can lead to psychological, social and even
mental health problems.

Empowerment is then the process of obtaining these basic opportunities for marginalized people, either
directly by those people, or through the help of non-marginalized others who share their own access to
these opportunities. It also includes actively thwarting attempts to deny those opportunities.
Empowerment also includes encouraging, and developing the skills for, self-sufficiency, with a focus
on eliminating the future need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the group. This process can be
difficult to start and to implement effectively, but there are many examples of empowerment projects
which have succeeded.[citation needed]

One empowerment strategy is to assist marginalized people to create their own nonprofit organization,
using the rationale that only the marginalized people, themselves, can know what their own people
need most, and that control of the organization by outsiders can actually help to further entrench
marginalization. Charitable organizations lead from outside of the community, for example, can
disempower the community by entrenching a dependence on charity or welfare. A nonprofit
organization can target strategies that cause structural changes, reducing the need for ongoing
dependence. Red Cross, for example, can focus on improving the health of indigenous people, but does
not have authority in its charter to install water-delivery and purification systems, even though the lack
of such a system profoundly, directly and negatively impacts health. A nonprofit composed of the
indigenous people, however, could ensure their own organization does have such authority and could
set their own agendas, make their own plans, seek the needed resources, do as much of the work as
they can, and take responsibility - and credit - for the success of their projects (or the consequences,
should they fail).

Numerous critical perspectives exist that propose that an empowerment paradigm is present, Clark
(2008) showed that whilst there was a degree of autonomy provided by empowerment, it also made
way for extended surveillance and control, hence the contradiction perspective (Fardini, 2001).

Women Empowerment
The empowerment of women, also called gender empowerment, has become a significant topic of
discussion in regards to development and economics. Entire nations, businesses, communities, and
groups can benefit from the implementation of programs and policies that adopt the notion of women
empowerment.[1] Empowerment is one of the main procedural concerns when addressing human rights
and development. The Human Development and Capabilities Approach, The Millennium Development
Goals, and other credible approaches/goals point to empowerment and participation as a necessary step
if a country is to overcome the obstacles associated with poverty and development.[2]

Measuring Gender Empowerment

Gender empowerment can be measured through the Gender Empowerment Measure, or the GEM. The
GEM shows women’s participation in a given nation, both politically and economically. Gem is
calculated by tracking “the share of seats in parliament held by women; of female legislators, senior
officials and managers; and of female profession and technical workers; and the gender disparity in
earned income, reflecting economic independence.” [3] It then ranks countries given this information.
Other measures that take into account the importance of female participation and equality include: the
Gender Parity Index and the Gender-related Development Index (GDI),[4]

Ways to Empower Women

One way to deploy the empowerment of women is through land rights. Land rights offer a key way to
economically empower women, giving them the confidence they need to tackle gender inequalities.
Often, women in developing nations are legally restricted from their land on the sole basis of gender.
They encounter tremendous barriers to claim the land that should rightfully be theirs. Having a right to
their land also gives women a sort of bargaining power that they wouldn’t normally have, in turn; they
gain the ability to assert themselves in various aspects of their life, both in and outside of the home.[5]
Another way to provide women empowerment is to allocate responsibilities to them that normally
belong to men. When women have economic empowerment, it is a way for others to see them as equal
members of society. Through this, they achieve more self-respect and confidence by their contributions
to their communities. Simply including women as a part of a community can have sweeping positive
effects. In a study conducted by Bina Agarwal, women were given a place in a forest conservation
group. Not only did this drive up the efficiency of the group, but the women gained incredible self-
esteem while others, including men, viewed them with more respect.[6] Participation, which can be seen
and gained in a variety of ways, has been argued to be the most beneficial form of gender
empowerment. Political participation, be it the ability to vote and voice opinions, or the ability to run
for office with a fair chance of being elected, plays a huge role in the empowerment of peoples.[7]
However, participation is not limited to the realm of politics. It can include participation in the
household, in schools, and the ability to make choices for oneself. It can be said that these latter
participations need to be achieved before one can move onto broader political participation.[8] When
women have the agency to do what she wants, a higher equality between men and women is
established. It is argued that Microcredit also offers a way to provide empowerment for women.[9]
Governments, organizations, and individuals have caught hold of the lure of microfinance. They hope
that lending money and credit allows women to function in business and society, which in turn
empowers them to do more in their communities. One of the primary goals in the foundation of
microfinance was women empowerment. Loans with low interest rates are given to women in
developing communities in hopes that they can start a small business and provide for her family.[10] It
should be said, however, that the success and efficiency of microcredit and microloans is controversial
and constantly debated [11]

Economic Benefits of Women Empowerment

Most women across the globe rely on the informal work sector for an income.[12] If women were
empowered to do more and be more, the possibility for economic growth becomes apparent.
Eliminating half of a nation’s work force on the sole basis of gender can have detrimental effects on the
economy of that nation.[13] In addition, female participation in counsels, groups, and businesses is seen
to increase efficiency.[14] For a general idea on how an empowered women can impact a situation
monetarily, a study found that of fortune 500 companies, “those with more women board directors had
significantly higher financial returns, including 53 percent higher returns on equity, 24 percent higher
returns on sales and 67 percent higher returns on invested capital (OECD, 2008).” [15] This study shows
the impact women can have on the overall economic benefits of a company. If implemented on a global
scale, the inclusion of women in the formal workforce (like a fortune 500 company) can increase the
economic output of a nation.

Barriers of Women Empowerment

Many of the barriers to women empowerment and equity lie ingrained into the cultures of certain
nations and societies. Many women feel these pressures, while others have become accustomed to
being treated inferior to men.[16] Even if men, legislators, NGOs, etc. are aware of the benefits women
empowerment and participation can have, many are scared of disrupting the status quo and continue to
let societal norms get in the way of development.[17]

The process of empowerment

The process which enables individuals/groups to fully access personal/collective power, authority and
influence, and to employ that strength when engaging with other people, institutions or society. In other
words, “Empowerment is not giving people power, people already have plenty of power, in the wealth
of their knowledge and motivation, to do their jobs magnificently. We define empowerment as letting
this power out (Blanchard, K)." It encourages people to gain the skills and knowledge that will allow
them to overcome obstacles in life or work environment and ultimately, help them develop within
themselves or in the society.

Empowerment includes the following, or similar, capabilities:-

• The ability to make decisions about personal/collective circumstances

• The ability to access information and resources for decision-making
• Ability to consider a range of options from which to choose (not just yes/no,
either/or.)
• Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making
• Having positive-thinking about the ability to make change
• Ability to learn and access skills for improving personal/collective
circumstance.
• Ability to inform others’ perceptions though exchange, education and
engagement.
• Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-
initiated
• Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma
• Increasing one's ability in discreet thinking to sort out right and wrong

Workplace empowerment
One account of the history of workplace empowerment in the United States recalls the clash of
management styles in railroad construction in the American West in the mid-19th century, where
"traditional" hierarchical East-Coast models of control encountered individualistic pioneer workers,
strongly supplemented by methods of efficiency-oriented "worker responsibility" brought to the scene
by Chinese laborers. In this case, empowerment at the level of work teams or brigades achieved a
notable (but short-lived) demonstrated superiority[18]

Empowerment in the workplace is regarded by critics as more a pseudo-empowerment exercise, the

idea of which is to change the attitudes of workers, so as to make them work harder rather than giving
them any real power, and Wilkinson (1998) refers to this as "attitudinal shaping". However, recent
research suggests that the opportunity to exercise personal discretion/choice (and complete meaningful
work) is an important element contributing to employee engagement and well-being. There is evidence
[19]
that initiative and motivation are increased when people have a more positive attributional style.
This influences self-belief, resilience when faced with setbacks, and the ability to visualize oneself
overcoming problems. The implication is that 'empowerment' suits some more than others, and should
be positioned in the broader and wider context of an 'enabling' work environment.

Empowerment to employees in the work place provides them with opportunities penda to make their
own decisions with regards to their tasks. Now-a-days more and more bosses and managers are
practicing the concept of empowerment among their subordinates to provide them with better
opportunities.

In Management:

In the book Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, the authors, Ken Blanchard, John P. Carlos,
and Alan Randolph, illustrate three simple keys that organizations can use to effectively open the
knowledge, experience, and motivation power that people already have. The three keys are that
managers must use to empower their employees are: share information with everyone, create autonomy
through boundaries and replace the old hierarchy with self-managed teams.

Share information with everyone – this is the first key to empowering people within an organization.
By sharing information with everyone, you are giving them a clear picture of the company and its
current situation. Another strong point that this brings is trust; by allowing all of the employees to view
the company information, it helps to build that trust between employer and employee. Create autonomy
through boundaries – this is the second key to empowerment which also builds upon the previous one.
By opening communication through sharing information, it opens up the feedback about what is
holding them back from being empowered. Replace the old hierarchy with self-managed teams – this is
the third and final key to empowerment which ties them all together. By replacing the old hierarchy
with self-managed teams, more responsibility is placed upon unique and self-managed teams which
create better communication and productivity.[20]

Economics and empowerment

In economic development, the empowerment approach focuses on mobilizing the self-help efforts of
the poor, rather than providing them with social welfare. Economic empowerment is also the
empowering of previously disadvantaged sections of the population, for example, in many previously
colonized African countries.[21]

References

• Blanchard, Kenneth H., John P. Carlos, and Alan Randolph. Empowerment

Takes More than a Minute. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1996. Print.

• Thomas, K. W. and Velthouse, B. A. (1990) Cognitive Elements of

Empowerment: An 'Interpretive' Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation.
Academy of Management Review, Vol 15, No. 4, 666-681.

• Stewart, Aileen Mitchell. Empowering People (Institute of Management).

London: Financial Times Management, 1994. Print.

• Wilkinson, A. 1998. Empowerment: theory and practice. Personnel Review.

[online]. Vol. 27, No. 1, 40-56. Available from: Emerald on the World Wide
Web:
http://hermia.emeraldinsight.com/vl=2601464/cl=84/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/c
w/mcb/00483486/v27n1/s3/p40. Accessed February 16, 2004.

http://www.unfpa.org/gender/empowerment2.htm
Empowering Women through Education

"Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge,
skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process."

—ICPD Programme of Action, paragraph 4.2

Education is important for everyone, but it is especially significant for girls and women.
This is true not only because education is an entry point to other opportunities, but also
because the educational achievements of women can have ripple effects within the family
and across generations. Investing in girls' education is one of the most effective ways to
reduce poverty. Investments in secondary school education for girls yields especially high
dividends.

Girls who have been educated are likely to marry later and to have smaller and healthier
families. Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and know how to
seek it for themselves and their children. Education helps girls and women to know their
rights and to gain confidence to claim them. However, women’s literacy rates are
significantly lower than men’s in most developing countries.

Education has far-reaching effects

The education of parents is linked to their children's educational attainment, and the
mother's education is usually more influential than the father's. An educated mother's
greater influence in household negotiations may allow her to secure more resources for her
children.

Educated mothers are more likely to be in the labour force, allowing them to pay some of
the costs of schooling, and may be more aware of returns to schooling. And educated
mothers, averaging fewer children, can concentrate more attention on each child.

Besides having fewer children, mothers with schooling are less likely to have mistimed or
unintended births. This has implications for schooling, because poor parents often must
choose which of their children to educate.

Closing the gender gap in education is a development priority. The 1994 Cairo Consensus
recognized education, especially for women, as a force for social and economic
development. Universal completion of primary education was set as a 20-year goal, as was
wider access to secondary and higher education among girls and women. Closing the
gender gap in education by 2015 is also one of the benchmarks for the Millennium
Development Goals.

http://www.sdpi.org/help/research_and_news_bulletin/march_june_06/wome_e
mpowerment.htm
Women's Empowerment through Education

Dawood Mamoon
dawood@sdpi.org

T he Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are often criticised on the basis of their idealistic targets. In this
context some view MDGs as yet more capitalist rhetoric with the likes of the WTO and the Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers. Nevertheless, there is not much controversy over the stand the MDGs have taken regarding many
urgent development issues.

One such issue is women’s empowerment. The 3rd MDG has rightly acknowledged that the key to this goal lies in
educating women: "Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all
levels by 2015". Though the timeframe is arguably too strict, the goal is legitimate. Furthermore, Article 10 of the
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) specifically provides that “women shall
not be discriminated against and shall have equal opportunities in the field of education.”
Despite this recognition, education for women continues to be a low priority and remains under-funded in most
countries in the South. Women and girls tend to receive fewer resources, less encouragement and little assistance in
accessing their right to an education. Despite great emphasis among the intelligentsia and policy makers on the
education of women, progress towards equal opportunities for the education for women in the South is still dismal.
Who is to blame for the failure of this MDG which sought to empower women?

Since the MDGs were primarily a Northern initiative, one probable answer is that MDGs were never followed up with
the vigour and spirit in which they were proposed. Donor initiatives are still focused on pro-growth strategies and
macro-economic stability in the South, and as an outcome at the governmental level in developing countries, only lip
service is paid to the larger developmental agenda.
As yet there is no significant policy in any of the developing countries which specifically caters to gender issues and
women’s rights in general, although there are some notable exceptions in South Asia, such as Sri Lanka and the
Indian state of Kerala. Women's education aside, developing countries even find it difficult to allocate sufficient
resources to primary or secondary education as a whole. In most developing countries, funds are channelled to
higher education, rather than to primary or secondary, in an attempt to increase the skilled labour force which is
expected to bring significant international outsourcing from developed countries. Since education is already skewed
and has a significant male bias in the South, the focus on higher education only exacerbates this male bias.

Gender inequality in education leads to a bias in skill accumulation and therefore earnings in favour of men,
particularly once (a) the Southern economies open up to international competition or (b) significant international
outsourcing from North to South takes place. This has been the case in India and China where returns to skilled
labour have increased primarily to the benefit of men amid international trade and outsourcing since most women in
both countries are still uneducated and marketable skills are still male-dominated.

As yet there is no sign of reversal of this situation in favour of women, despite a lot of government rhetoric articulated
in the Southern media. The problem is that traditionally the trend in developing countries has been for policies to be
pro-growth and market-oriented. Though at present most developing countries are channelling resources towards
poverty alleviation, the old trends still prevail and undermine the wider developmental agenda in the name of macro-
economic stability. The impression is that much of the talk of channelling resources to the development sector in the
South is basically to satisfy donor demands: thus action is widely absent, especially in areas where the donors are
less active. Gender equality in education is one such area.

However for the anti-capitalist, pro-socialist lobbies the equation is much simpler. They find no surprise in the
apparent failure of the development agenda of gender equality dictated by the North. According to them, the problem
does not lie in the fact that women earn less than men on average, or that more women than men are uneducated -
the real problem is the lack of economic security for the household as a singular unit in the wake of international
competition and depletion of social capital and social safety nets.

According to the pro-socialist stance, women have been exposed to the demands of capitalism, and are exploited
because they are less equipped to benefit from the pro-market forces. The limitation faced by capitalism is that it
does not distinguish between male and female, as all are labour.
The increasing gender inequalities in education under a capitalist, pro-market oriented system have been an "indirect
prophecy" of socialism, as it suggests that free markets further deepen existing inequalities between the haves and
have-nots, as it is inherent to the capitalist system that major gains can only accrue to the powerful.

Though the widening inequalities between various sections of the population in the contemporary global economic
system has been widely accepted by proponents of the free market paradigm, they still believe in the efficacy of a
trickle-down effect from the rich to the poor if a significant development strategy is in place. This is the essence of the
PRSPs and the MDGs. However, the slow pace of progress in most areas of the development sector in many
developing countries, as well as the persistent neglect of inequalities at the policy level in the South, have caused
doubts about these strategies.

What, then, is the way forward, specifically with respect to gender? The issue here is not only one of rights but also of
choice. To get high quality education is the right of every individual, irrespective of gender, and it should be the free
choice of women either to stay in the household or to work outside or to retain some combination of both. Socialism
suggests that the household work done by women should be recognised as economic activity. However, this also
means that socialism limits women’s choices by over-emphasising her role in household work.

Actually, neither socialism nor capitalism has been able to accommodate free choice for women. If she wishes to,
she can work in the market place or in the household as both should be considered ‘labour’ and it is her right to retain
both options. Economic returns to education should not only be attributed to markets but also to household labour.

Education is generally seen in monetary terms in the capitalist economic theory. However, the trend is changing, and
the qualitative dividends of women’s education are increasingly discussed in development theory. Although research
has shown that higher education among women leads to significant decreases in child mortality and fertility rates,
mainstream economics still talks about education in terms of market skill value which accrues higher monetary
dividends.

This means that a woman who gains higher skills through education has only one option if she wants to gain
monetary returns from her education and that is to enter the labour force. If she decides to stay at home, her choice
would bring no monetary value as there is no ‘value added’ associated with household work. This paradigm is the
prime cause of the apparent neglect of women’s education in the South where most women work in the household.

Growth strategies will be seriously jeopardised if they do not prioritise the education of women. This can be done by
finding direct linkages between women's education and processes of growth. In other words, if we could show that
countries will benefit more from trade if their female populations are educated, policy makers would be more inclined
to focus on women’s education.

The Concept of Empowerment

There was consensus among the participants that "empowerment" has become one of
the most widely used development terms. Women' s groups, non-governmental
development organisations, activists, politicians,
governments and international agencies refer to empowerment as one of their goals.
Yet it is one of the least understood in terms of how it is to be measured or observed.
It is precisely because this word has now been one of the
fashionable concepts to include in policies/programmes/projects that there is a
need to clarify and come up with tentative definitions. Furthermore, the particular
implications of empowerment of women is an area that needs to be discussed.
1. Definition
The nature of empowerment renders it difficult to define. On the one hand, it is
often referred to as a goal for many development programmes/projects. On the other
hand, it can also be conceived as a process that people undergo, which eventually
leads to changes. Nelly Stromquist, for instance, defines empowerment as "a process
to change the distribution of power both in interpersonal relations and in institutions
throughout society" while Lucy Lazo describes it as "a process of acquiring,
providing, bestowing the resources and the means or enabling the access to a control
over such means and resources". Given the above, the term is therefore more relevant
to the marginalized groups the p o o r, the illiterates, the indigenous communities
- and of course, cutting across these categories, the women.
From the discussion, it was also clear that empowerment can be observed at diff e r e
n t levels. The above-mentioned definitions already point to interpersonal relations
and institutions as possible sites of empowerment. Namtip Aksornkool looks at the
individual level when she cites Paz's definition of empowerment as "the ability to
direct and control one's own life". But it is clear from Ms. Aksornkool's presentation
that such an individual empowerment of women is attained in relationship to the larg
e r s o c i e t y. Citing Depthnews, she writes that "it is a process in which women gain
control over their own lives by knowing and claiming their rights at all levels of
society at the international, local, and household levels. Self-empowerment means
that women gain autonomy, are able to set their own agenda and are fully involved in
the economic, political and social decision-making proc e s s " .

To add to the already complex nature of

empowerment, it was also pointed out that it
is difficult to come out with a general definition
since it can be somehow determined by
the respective cultural contexts. The relativity
of empowerment, although in a diff e r e n t
sense, is one of the important features discussed
in Ms. Lazo's paper. She argues that
"empowerment is a moving state; it is a continuum
that varies in degree of power. It is relative...
One can move from an extreme state of
absolute lack of power to the other extreme of
having absolute power".
As articulated in some of the papers,
empowerment can have four components:
cognitive, psychological, economic and political.
According to Ms. Stromquist, the
cognitive component would include the
"women's understanding of their conditions
of subordination and the causes of such
conditions at both micro and macro levels of
society. It involves acquiring new knowledge
to create a different understanding of gender
relations as well as destroying old beliefs that
structure powerful gender ideologies." The
psychological component, on the other hand,
would include the "development of feelings
that women can act upon to improve their
condition. This means formation of the belief
that they can succeed in change efforts."
These two components are exemplified
in Ms. Anita Dighe's presentation of the
Nellore experience, where a literacy campaign
contributed to the anti-drinking campaign.
She writes that "women have picketed the
arrack (local liquor), marched unitedly to the
district collector's office and organized a
"dharna" to ensure that auctions are not allowed
to take place, they have become strengthened
in their conviction that it is only such
united action that can bring any change".
The economic component "requires
that women be able to engage in a productive
activity that will allow them some degree of
autonomy, no matter how small and hard to
obtain at the beginning'' (Stromquist). The
case study of Ms. Lazo demonstrates how
socio-economic aid (through granting of
revolving funds, marketing assistance and
product development) has helped in the setting
up of micro-enterprises run by women.
In contrast, Ms. Dighe's presentation stresses
that while the cognitive and psychological
components of empowerment are evident in
the Nellore experience, the economic component
might be more difficult to demonstrate
as "income-generating activities, however,
are difficult to implement because they are
risky, time-consuming and hard to sustain".
The political component would encompass
the "ability to organize and mobilize for
change. C o n s e q u e n t l y, an empowerment
process must involve not only
8
individual awareness but collective
awareness and collective action. The notion
of collective action is fundamental to the aim
of attaining social transformation"
(Stromquist). It follows from the above components
that empowerment allows women to
have choices, which in turn means relative
strength and bargaining power for them.
While it is clear that women can be empowered
individually, the feminist vision is one
where women are able to articulate a collective
voice and demonstrate collective strength.
It was also stressed that incorporating the
feminist perspective in the concept of empowerment
implies a long-term redesigning of
societies that will be based on democratic
relationships. The paper of Ms. Dighe talks
about empowerment as dealing with strategic
rather than practical gender
2. Indicators of Empowerment
Understanding that empowerment is a
complex issue with varying interpretations in
d i fferent societal, national and cultural
contexts, the participants also came out with
a tentative listing of indicators.
At the level of the individual woman
and her household:
• participation in crucial decision-m a k i n g
processes;
• extent of sharing of domestic work by
men;
• extent to which a woman takes control
of her reproductive functions and
decides on family size;
• extent to which a woman is able to
decide where the income she has ear
ned will be chanelled to;
• feeling and expression of pride and
value in her work;
• self-confidence and self-esteem;
• and ability to prevent violence.
At the community and/or organisational
• existence of women's organisations;
• allocation of funds to women and
women's projects;
• increased number of women leaders
at village, district, provincial and
national levels;
• involvement of women in the design,
development and application of tech
nology;
• participation in community pro
grammes, productive enterprises,
politics and arts;
• involvement of women in non-tradi
tional tasks; and
• increased training programmes for
women; and
• exercising her legal rights when
necessary.
At the national level:
• awareness of her social and political
rights;
• integration of women in the general
national development plan;
• existence of women's networks and
publications;
• extent to which women are officially
visible and recognized; and
• the degree to which the media take
heed of women's issues.
3. Facilitating and Constraining Factors
of Empowerment
Empowerment does not take place in a
vacuum. In the same way that Ms. Lazo talks
about women's state of powerlessness as a
result of "a combination and interaction of
environmental factors," one can also discuss
the conditions/factors that can hasten or hinder
empowerment. As above, the listing is a
preliminary one based on the discussions.
Facilitating factors
• existence of women's organisations;
• availability of support systems for
women;
• availability of women-specific data
and other relevant information;
• availability of funds;
• feminist leadership;
• networking; favorable media coverage;
• favorable policy climate.
9
Constraining factors
• heavy work load of women;
• isolation of women from each other;
• illiteracy;
• traditional views that limit women's
participation;
• no funds;
• internal strife/militarization/wars;
• disagreements/conflicts among
women's groups; ustructural adjustment policies;
• discriminatory policy environment;
• negative and sensational coverage of
media.
Strategies for the Future
Empowerment through education is
ideally seen as a continuous holistic process
with cognitive, psychological, economic and
political dimensions in order to achieve
emancipation. Given the complexity of political,
societal and international interrelations,
one has to systematically think about the strategies
and concrete proposals for future
action if one hopes to achieve such a goal.
A set of strategies on education, research/
documentation, campaigns, networking,
influencing policies, training and media was
developed by the participants. As can be seen
from the listing, the strategies are inter-related
to each other.
a. Education
The formal and non-formal education
systems would need to be considered. It
would be important to analyze the gender
content and to ascertain the manner in which
it is addressed/not addressed in the educational
system. On the basis of the analysis, curriculum
changes would need to be brought
about. Likewise it would be important to reorient
the teachers on gender issues so that
overall gender sensitisation in the educational
system could be brought about.
In concrete terms, this would mean:
• reorienting and reeducating policy
makers;
• securing equal access for boys and girls
in education;
• holding workshops/seminars for teachers;
• revising teaching materials;
• producing materials in local languages;
• implementing special programmes for
women in the field of Adult Education;
• incorporating issues such as tradition,
race, ethnicity, gender sensitisation,
urban and rural contexts in the programmes;
• raising awareness on the necessity for
health care;
• politicising women to show them how
macro level mismanagement is responsible
for their loss of jobs; and
• focusing on parents as role models.
b. Research/Documentation
The importance of doing participatory and
action research was underscored. It was
considered important to organize workshops
to train grassroots women to conduct participatory
research where they could develop
skills to critically analyze their existing
conditions. This will facilitate their organizing
for collective action.
While participatory research was considered
to be important, it was recognized that
traditional quantitative research was also
necessary. The guiding principle, however,
was to share the results with the women in a
language and manner that was understandable
to them.
Research as a strategy would therefore
entail:
• disseminating information;
• producing and disseminating information
leaflets regarding women's rights;
• referring to women in all national and
UN statistics;
• collecting oral history of women;
• documenting and analyzing successful
and failed programmes of the women's
movements;
10
• analyzing successful advocacy cases in
order to learn about the arguments that
persuade policy makers;
• collecting cross-cultural case studies;
• constantly evaluating research; and
• involving women as agents (instead of
objects) of research.
c. Campaigns
If one is to have an effect in society, it is
important to undertake campaign and lobby
activities that will put the issue of gender in
the minds of the legislators, policy-makers
and the larger public. This will therefore
• pushing for a dialogue between stake
holders;
• raising gender issues within the national
policy arena;
• pressuring to upgrade women's bureaus
(which are a result of the UN Decade
for Women) into ministries of women's
affairs;
• lobbying for sex-equity and affirmative
action legislation;
• lobbying for "counter structural adjustment
policies;" organizing pressure
groups (like "Greenpeace");
• using consumer power for boycotts;
securing access to information;
• demanding child care centers; and
• producing videos and CDs, T-Shirts etc.
d. Networking
Through networking, it would be possible
to share experiences and learn from one
another. In this manner, understanding and
solidarity among women's org a n i s a t i o n s ,
development org a n i z a t i o n s
(governmental/non- governmental) and multilateral
agencies could be forged. This would
therefore entail networking at the national,
regional and international levels. Moreover,
at the international level, South-South linkages
were considered to be particularly
important.
• organizing at least one meeting a year
of gender sensitive organizations;
• bringing together donor agencies,
governments and NGOs;
• setting up a north-south dialogue and
collaboration;
• setting up a south-south cooperation
and exchange;
• linking women's movements all over
the world;
• establishing alternative credit schemes
that offer women access to funds.
e. Training
In our societies, there is a gender division
of labor which dictates the kind of training
one acquires. If one talks about women's
empowerment, it is important that women
have access to the different training opportunities
previously denied them. This therefore
means:
• preparing for jobs that are usually not
open to them;
• providing income-generating projects
that are market-oriented (not
welfare-oriented projects); and
• training capable female leaders at all
levels.
f. Media
Considering the attitudinal barriers in
traditional societies and the role which
the mass media play in reinforcing them, the
following strategies were advanced:
• organizing mass media campaigns to
raise awareness;
• creating a social climate friendly to
women's issues;
• resisting the tendency to send women
back to the kitchen; and
• disseminating information about conferences
that will take place in the
coming years.
Evaluation of the Seminar
As reflected in the preceding discussion,
the seminar moved step by step to meet
the objectives set out from the beginning. The
participants were not only able to learn from
11
each other's experience but also collectively
reflected on the concept of empowerment.
Furthermore, they were also able to
identify concrete proposals that they can take
back to their organisations and implement, as
well as to identify possible areas of collaboration
with others.
The seminar also left the participants
with the feeling that they were not alone in
their work and, in fact, are part of a larger
movement whose combined efforts can push
for women's empowerment worldwide.
In terms of the conceptualisation of
empowerment, some participants would have
preferred that a more concrete definition of
empowerment and its indicators were ready
to be taken back. They commented that the
concept of empowerment has not yet been
completed. Others, instead, were glad that a
simplistic definition of empowerment had
been avoided and that the discussion of the
issue will be further elaborated when they get
back to their organisations.

http://www.unfpa.org/gender/empowerment.htm

Empowering Women
Despite many international agreements affirming their human rights, women are still much
more likely than men to be poor and illiterate. They usually have less access than men to
medical care, property ownership, credit, training and employment. They are far less likely
than men to be politically active and far more likely to be victims of domestic violence.

The ability of women to control their own fertility is absolutely fundamental to women’s
empowerment and equality. When a woman can plan her family, she can plan the rest of
her life. When she is healthy, she can be more productive. And when her reproductive
rights—including the right to decide the number, timing and spacing of her children, and to
make decisions regarding reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence—are
promoted and protected, she has freedom to participate more fully and equally in society.

Understanding gender equality and women's empowerment

Gender equality implies a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities,
outcomes, rights and obligations in all spheres of life. Equality between men and women exists
when both sexes are able to share equally in the distribution of power and influence; have equal
opportunities for financial independence through work or through setting up businesses; enjoy
equal access to education and the opportunity to develop personal ambitions. A critical aspect of
promoting gender equality is the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and
redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage their own lives.
Women's empowerment is vital to sustainable development and the realization of human rights
for all.

Where women’s status is low, family size tends to be large, which makes it more difficult
for families to thrive. Population and development and reproductive health programmes
are more effective when they address the educational opportunities, status and
empowerment of women. When women are empowered, whole families benefit, and these
benefits often have ripple effects to future generations.

The roles that men and women play in society are not biologically determined -- they are
socially determined, changing and changeable. Although they may be justified as being
required by culture or religion, these roles vary widely by locality and change over time.
UNFPA has found that applying culturally sensitive approaches can be key to advancing
women’s rights while respecting different forms of social organization.

Addressing women’s issues also requires recognizing that women are a diverse group, in
the roles they play as well as in characteristics such as age, social status, urban or rural
orientation and educational attainment. Although women may have many interests in
common, the fabric of their lives and the choices available to them may vary widely.
UNFPA seeks to identify groups of women who are most marginalized and vulnerable
(women refugees, for example, or those who are heads of households or living in extreme
poverty), so that interventions address their specific needs and concerns. This task is
related to the critical need for sex-disaggregated data, and UNFPA helps countries build
capacity in this area.

Key issues and linkages

• Reproductive health: Women, for both physiological and social reasons, are more
vulnerable than men to reproductive health problems. Reproductive health
problems, including maternal mortality and morbidity, represent a major – but
preventable -- cause of death and disability for women in developing countries.
Failure to provide information, services and conditions to help women protect their
reproduction health therefore constitutes gender-based discrimination and a
violation of women’s rights to health and life.
• Stewardship of natural resources: Women in developing nations are usually in
charge of securing water, food and fuel and of overseeing family health and diet.
Therefore, they tend to put into immediate practice whatever they learn about
nutrition and preserving the environment and natural resources.
• Economic empowerment: More women than men live in poverty. Economic
disparities persist partly because much of the unpaid work within families and
 communities falls on the shoulders of women and because they face discrimination
in the economic sphere.
• Educational empowerment: About two thirds of the illiterate adults in the world are
female. Higher levels of women's education are strongly associated with both lower
infant mortality and lower fertility, as well as with higher levels of education and
economic opportunity for their children.
• Political empowerment: Social and legal institutions still do not guarantee women
equality in basic legal and human rights, in access to or control of land or other
resources, in employment and earning, and social and political participation. Laws
against domestic violence are often not enforced on behalf of women.

• Empowerment throughout the life cycle: Reproductive health is a lifetime concern

for both women and men, from infancy to old age. UNFPA supports programming
tailored to the different challenges they face at different times in life.

Experience has shown that addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment
requires strategic interventions at all levels of programming and policy-making.