empowering women : socio-economic development in...

12
Empowering Women : Socio-economic Development in Post-Conflict Tajikistan Hermine De Soto February 23, 2004

Upload: leque

Post on 19-Jul-2018

213 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Empowering Women : Socio-economic Development in

Post-Conflict Tajikistan

Hermine De SotoFebruary 23, 2004

Who is Targeted – Why?

Single Mothers and their familiesQualitative Poverty Study for the PRSP suggested this is the community’s most vulnerable groupObjective is to address multi-dimensional problems of these households and enable them to succeed in obtaining employment and/or starting micro-enterprises

Desired Outcomes

Decreased malnutrition and other health problems among women and their familiesIncreased incomes and employmentHigher education rates among members’ childrenBody of data to be used for scaling up purposes and for tracking association development/progressLower levels of corruption

Tools and Methods:CDD Approach- First Year

Hired field staffConducted Community Needs AssessmentTrained community members for additional needs surveysDetermined initiative groupsProvided trainings in various areas to increase skill level and competency:

! Community Mobilization, Credit, Business Management, Community Proposal Writing, NGO Development, Computer/Office Training

Tools and Methods:CDD Approach- First Year

Further efforts to develop association and foster independence:! Women take first loan, Oct. 2003! Development of strategic plan for how to organize

association! Establishment of resource library and Women’s

Association Newsletter! Humanitarian aid secured; monitoring taught! Site exchange visits within Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan! Weekly Thursday night discussions implemented! Hiring and training of child-care providers! Women begin their own jobs/business; training in

social enterprise development

Tools and Methods:CDD Approach- Second Year

Expansion of social enterprise development:! On-going market research! Business plan development! Bakery training/development! Poultry farm! Children’s clothing line! Educational seminars for children

Tools and Methods:CDD Approach- Second Year

Continued capacity building and more engagement with local level governance! Women leaders respond to requests for training, access

to information and other resources! Collaborate with male counterparts on community

issues, i.e. water management! Women leaders are developing a community business

plan for a health clinic! On-going civil society and community development

which includes: fund-raising for community projects, conflict resolution, teambuilding, and professional communication

Tools and Methods:CDD Approach- Second Year

Second phase of organizational development for Women’s Association! Membership requirements, rights, and responsibilities! Development of advisory board and strategic plan! Continued participatory monitoring and evaluation

using the following evaluation methods: ! Semi-structured interviews, key-informant interviews, focus

groups, community mapping, direct matrix and pair-wise ranking and scoring, and “pocket-charts” exercises

! Project expansion and replication

How are Voices being Strengthened

TrainingEducationPartnership experienceOn-going Civil Society and CDD trainingEngagement in community development

What has Worked

Women’s Association/Center was established in one of most difficult parts of Tajikistan

Patience, trust building, and showing respect to local culture was most important step for success

Challenges

Women were initially afraid, lacked self-esteem and did not trust one another

Social cohesion was very weak

Recommendations

Address entire community (not just main stakeholders)Ensure buy-in from local secular and religious leadersMaintain local/cultural sensitivityKnow the community before project begins and foster trust and support from 2/3 community leadersUnderstand in depth the community needs and get whole community involvedAddress social/psychological dimension