...1.1 INTRODUCTION The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges’ Rural women constitute one-fourth of the world's population acordng to UN WOMEN (2012). They are leaders, producers, entrepreneurs and service providers, and their contributions are vital to the well-being of families, communities and economies, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Rural women account for a great proportion of the agricultural labour force, produce the majority of food grown, especially in subsistence farming, and perform most of the unpaid care work in rural areas Block (2010). Agriculture provides a livelihood...
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...Mekelle University Institute of Environment, Gender and Development Studies Department of Gender and Development studies A Research Proposal On An Assessment on the role of micro and small enterprises on economic empowerment of women: a Survey of Women operated Enterprises the case of Mekelle city, Tigray In Partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the Masters Degree in Gender and Development Studies By: Tsega Ymesel January, 2015 Mekelle, Ethiopia Table of Content Table page 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Background 2 1.2 Statement of the Problem 4 1.3 Objective 5 1.3.1 General Objective 5 1.3.2 Specific Objectives 5 1.4 Significant of the Study 6 1.5 Scope and limitation 6 1.6 Organization of the Paper 6 3. Methodology and Materials 7 3.1 Description of the Study Area 7 3.2 Research Method and Procedures 8 3.2.1 Data type and Source 8 3.2.2 Study Design 8 3.2.2.1 Sampling 8 3.2.2.1.1 Sample frame 8 3.2.2.1.2 Sample Size Determination 8 3.2.2.1.3 Sampling Techniques and sample Size 8 3.2.3 Data collection and Instruments 9 3.2.4 Variables of the study 9 3.2.5 Data Processing and Analysis 9 3.2.6 Model Specification 10 REFERENCE 12 1. Introduction There are different ways of defining the term small and micro enterprises in different countries. The base for defining is depends on the number...
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...Group Assignment Critical Review of a Proposal Assessment of Role of Micro and Small Enterprises on Economic Empowerment of Women: A survey of Women Operated Urban Agriculture Enterprises in Wukro Woreda, Tigray Group Members 1. Bersabeh Elias 2. Dagmawit Meried 3. Kalkidan Amdie 4. Kalkidan Wubie 5. Maria Alemu June 21/2014 Addis Ababa Content Introduction ? i. Title page * The title page did not have a page number (which is correct) * The purpose of the research was clearly specified as : A Research Proposal Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies * Name of the researcher is stated: * Advisor and co-advisors are mentioned * Place, Month and year (December 2011) is also mentioned ii. Acronyms Abbreviation should have come before/at the beginning of the proposal next to title page. (The abbreviations are in alphabetic order, which is correct) The following abbreviations are used in the proposal but not found in the list of abbreviations FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization FDRE – Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia HIV/AIDS – Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immuno- Deficiency Syndrome MFI – Micro Finance Institution MSE –Small and Medium Sized Enterprises NAP-GE – National Action Plan for Gender Equality NGO – Non Governmental Organization REWA – Revolutionary Ethiopian Women’s Association UN –...
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...Empowering Women Deanna Lindsey Sociology of Developing Countries 28 May 2012 Why is it important that we empowering women in developing society? Why is it important that women are empowering in any society? How has empowering women change societies and the economic landscape of these countries? Why some countries have been slow to empower women in their countries? This paper will address these questions and other areas as it relates to the empowerment of women. Empowering means “To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority”. So when you hear the phrase “empowering women” what comes to mind? Initially I had no clue, it was until I read articles that I fully understood what it meant. Political empowerment, Economic empowerment, and Social empowerment is what empowering women is all about. I’ve only listed a few of the categories, but some countries and or societies treat them as mutually exclusive to women. The first article I read emphasis the importance’s of education among women. Educating women would be one of the first steps toward empowerment. Education helps with social development and improves your well-being. Yet there are still place that excluded young girls from a formal education. The benefits of women being educated greatly outweigh them being illiterate. With education empowerment among women; they better informed on health matters which can lead to deduction in population and child mortality rates. Educated...
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...status of women which is amply reflected in global debates over the issue of women empowerment: the unequivocal nucleus for all forums seeking to lift the traditional veil and impart a more meaningful existence to woman : the inseparable companion, the ever caring mother, the doting wife, who has since times immemorial been relegated to the background. This paper attempts to analyze the status of empowerment of women and highlight the issues and challenges they are in. It tries to analyze the need of women’s participation in the political process, social, economic and the overall developmental progress of Ghana largely to be judged on the basis of their political awareness, their capability of decision making in a male dominated society, their consciousness about various issues concerned with women viz. providing education to girls, health , nutrition, fighting against dowry, inclusion in the society, economic freedom, etc. It looks into the dynamism of the process whereby women empowerment is achieved and seeks to analyze whether participation of women does in fact translate into concrete women empowerment : a state where women are able to carve a niche for themselves in the traditional male bastion and successfully find a forum for effective redressal of women related issues or whether increased political participation of women, is but an eyewash , an essential dexterous jugglery of numbers with no female empowerment ramifications whatsoever. MEANING OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT ...
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...community level and has being playing a major role in eradicating poverty particularly in the rural India today. I have searched research paper published in twenty-first century and reviewed them to find out research gap in this field. The literature is reviewed briefly as under: Research papers on self help group’s attempts to explain the process of women’s empowerment and find out its effectiveness in their lives. I feel that women empowerment is a much broader issue that needs to be studied and observed for a longer time frame and thus most of them lacks confidence about future. Panda (2009) made a experimental outline under which...
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...NGO Promoted Microcredit Programs and Women's Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh Introduction: Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in rural Bangladesh are reaching out to poor women with collateral-free credit programs aimed at both alleviating poverty and increasing women's status. The present study investigated the hypothesis that participation in credit-related activities by NGO credit members leads to greater empowerment of credit members compared to nonmembers. Objectives: To measure the status of empowerment of rural women (both members and non members of the micro-credit organization) in the selected areas To ascertain the factors related to empowerment of women and To assess the role of the micro-credit organizations in empowering rural women in Bangladesh The main objective in this paper was to determine the important factors that contribute to women’s economic success in microcredit programs Women Empowerment: 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. 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...
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...contexts which determine what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman/man and girl/boy in these specific contexts. Gender roles are learned through socialization processes; they are not fixed but are changeable. Gender systems are institutionalized through education systems, political and economic systems, legislation, and culture and traditions. In utilizing a gender approach the focus is not on individual women and men but on the system which determines gender roles / responsibilities, access to and control over resources, and decision-making potentials. It is also important to emphasize that the concept of gender is not interchangeable with women. Gender refers to both women and men, and the relations between them. Promotion of gender equality should concern and engage men as well as women. In recent years there has been a much stronger direct focus on men in research on gender perspectives. There are three main approaches taken in the increased focus on men. Firstly, the need to identify men as allies for gender equality and involve them more actively in this work. Secondly, the recognition that gender equality is not possible unless men change their attitudes and behaviour in many areas, for example in relation to reproductive rights and health. And thirdly, that gender systems in place in many contexts are negative for men as well as for women – creating unrealistic demands on men and requiring men to behave in narrowly defined ways. A considerable amount of interesting...
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...Vol. 9, No. 2, (Fall 2013) 09-22 Women Empowerment Through Microcredit: Step Towards Alleviating Feminization of Poverty Sara Wali Qazi* Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) Karachi Dr. Manzoor Isran* SZABIST Karachi Dr. Samina Isran* Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur Dr. Nadeem A. Syed* SZABIST Karachi ABSTRACT Purpose - The study explores and evaluates the women‟s experiences with microcredit facility for the purpose of women empowerment. While there is a mutual understanding and general consensus on closer nexus between women empowerment and microcredit, women are disempowered for variety of reasons such as lacks of financial resources, being a member of patriarchy society, misinterpreted religious concepts about her role and position in the society, and cultural restraints. However, microcredit, globally promoted as a “miracle cure” for the financially weak, especially women who face so many problems accessing microcredit for variety of reason, which have been discussed in detail in this study. Methodology/Sample - This is qualitative study with inductive approach, and interpretive philosophy which allow the existence of multiple subjective perspectives and construction of knowledge. Women who availed microcredit from microfinance institutions (MFIs) were selected for the research study. The data was congregated through in-depth interviews and stopped at saturation level. Through phenomenological analysis, women lived experiences were analyzed. Findings...
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...THE EFFECTS OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS ON WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN KENYA: A SURVEY OF MERU COUNTY A Research Project Submitted to the School of Human Resource Development in Partial Fulfillment for the Award of the Degree of Executive Master Of Business Administration of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology JULY 2013 CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1.1 Background information Several studies show that access to microfinance contributes to poverty reduction, particularly for women participants, and to overall poverty reduction at the village level. It also contributes to women empowerment, including higher levels of mobility, political participation and decision making. According to the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign 2001 Report, 14.2 million of the world’s poorest women now have access to financial services through specialized microfinance institutions (MFIs), banks, NGOs, and other nonbank financial institutions. These women account nearly 74 percent of the 19.3 million of the world’s poorest people now being served by microfinance institutions. Most of these women have access to credit to invest in businesses that they own and operate themselves. Microfinance programs have been deemed to have the potential to transform power relations and empower the poor—both men and women. As a consequence, microfinance has become a central component of many donor agencies’ and national...
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...Political Empowerment of Women: Comparative Study of South Asian Countries Amna Mahmood A South Asia is a home of variety of cultures, languages and religions. Here we can find a number of variations in customs, value systems and ways of life. But one thing is common among all the cultures and regions of South Asia that is gender discrimination. Women traditionally are considered subordinated to the male and this remained a prominent feature both in the rural and the urban areas. In urban areas a little improvement is due to enhanced level of education and economic independence in women. There is very less distinction of educated and uneducated as that of religion in this regard. The situation is improved with regard to political empowerment especially with the allocation of 33% seats in local government in South Asia but in most of the cases this change is not satisfactory. The real empowerment would be achieved only if it would be accompanied by the social and economic empowerment. For that purpose, society has to be changed at large. Such change cannot be materialized only through any coercive legislation or strong state action in the blink of an eye. But the fact remains there that in societies where all the changes start from top to bottom these measures along with a strong political will can stimulate a change to improve the situation gradually. This paper discusses the measures taken by different governments in South Asia to achieve the goal of political empowerment and participation...
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...2. Women Empowerment in Modern India Dr. Shruti Singh For centuries women were not treated equal to men in many ways. They were not allowed to own property, they did not have a Share in the property of their parents, they had no voting rights, and they had no freedom to choose their work or job and so on. Gender inequality has been part and parcel of an accepted male-dominated Indian society throughout history. Women were expected to be bound to the house, while men went out and worked. This division of labor was one of the major reasons why certain evils like 'Sati Pratha', ‘PardahSystem', 'Child Marriage', 'Dowry System', etc. took birth in our society. The traditional Indian mentality assumes that the place of women is mainly concentrated to the household activities like kitchen work and upbringing of the children. There is systematic discrimination against women economically, socially, politically and culturally more so, in India. These discriminations & disabilities are practiced at all levels day in & day out. Women Empowerment is the ability of women to exercise full control over their actions. This means control over material assets, intellectual resources and even over their ideologies. It involves, at the psychological level, women's ability to assert them which has, so far, been constricted by the 'gender roles' assigned to them especially in a culture like India which resists changes. This essay throws light upon the different challenges that are faced by Indian...
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...27, No. 2, July-December 2012, pp.439-458 Role of Civil Society in Empowering Pakistani Women Shehzadi Zamurrad Awan F.C College University ABSTRACT Civil society in Pakistan has been playing its role in social, economic and political empowerment of women. Unfortunately, despite of the emergence of vibrant print/electronic media, wide-spread network of women related non-governmental organizations and the focus of political parties on women related issues; a large segment of female population is still struggling hard for the equal status. However, it is pertinent to state that the notion of women empowerment is deeply linked with an over-all change in patriarchal structure of the society, on one side and the truthful understanding of religion (Islam) on the other. We cannot neglect this reality that the growing trend to provide equal opportunities of education and employment to women has contributed to their welfare, but not effective through to make a dent in their over-all well-being. In spite of the fact that more representation is given to the women in legislatures, neither have they suggested remedies for the grievances and dismal plight of women, nor they could suggest the broad framework to improve the role of female socio-economic and political in Pakistan. KEY WORDS: Civil Society, Pakistan, Woman, Welfare, Gender, NGO Introduction This paper intends to establish a linkage between the issues of women empowerment and the contribution of the civil society, to...
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...her students as well through changing the syllabus. And they were all shocked because all of the sudden the lesson was not familiar. All of her students questioned her even the head of the school questioned her. Some of her students were popular in their place and they can command whatever they wanted. One of what was not clear to Ms Watson was that at early age even not yet finished on their studies get married and worst was get arrange marriage. It was not clear to her that the role of women in the place was when they get married, they get married and they can no longer do anything but to be a good wife to their husbands. This was also became a challenge to her so when she found someone who wanted to pursue law in Yale, she helped this student, but it was not easy because some students believe that she was ruining their tradition and crashing their culture. So Ms Watson pursue her helping and pursue making new beliefs that women are not born just to get married in due time and just be a good wife. Women needed to speak for their own and they should know that they also have their own rights not dependent to what tradition say or what family tell. At the end of the story of the movie, the students learned what she fought for. She...
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...Deloitte (2013b) is a global company which provides comprehensive accounting services in a range of areas such as: auditing; taxation; consulting; risk management and financial advising. Gender discrimination is prevalent in workforce environments with senior management in companies being male dominated. Deloitte (2013a) understands that inspiring women is integral in the success of their company, knowing that productivity can be increased through using women as an under-utilised resource. Removing glass ceiling barriers for women is important for their status and recognition. Deloitte (2013a) is following this initiative, being a market leader in empowering women. This report will explain that leadership, motivation and human resource strategies have been used by Deloitte to effectively manage its employee’s behaviours through their vision of empowering women. This report will explain that culture in the Asian and Middle Eastern countries play a role in determining the strategies that a company can use. There will be an analysis critiquing the strategies that Deloitte have used, whether they have adopted the correct strategies and what strategies they should implement in the future. “Leadership is the process by which a person exerts influence over other people and inspires, motivates and directs their activities to help achieve group or organisational goals” (Waddell, Jones & George, 2011, p. 172). Deloitte motivates and manages its employees through using the leadership...
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