Building women's economic and social empowerment through enterprise : an experimental assessment of the Women's Income Generating Support (WINGS) Program in Uganda (original) (raw)

Women in Development Mobilize Grassroots Enterprises to Reduce Household Poverty

International Journal of Civic Engagement and Social Change, 2016

This study examines the roles African women played in reducing household poverty through local enterprises that resulted in feeding their families, sending their children to school and contributing to community development. Their determination was to implement and invest in self-help enterprises in order to counter the incidence of household poverty and eventually bring about social change. A literature review section distinguishes theoretical from empirical approaches to study poverty and leads this study to some important conclusions. The results paint a picture that explains a world in which women live in poverty as they face gross inequalities and injustices from birth to death—from poor education, poor nutrition, vulnerable and low-pay employment, and acts of discrimination that women are likely to suffer throughout their entire life.

Promoting Women's Economic Empowerment: What Works?

Policy Research Working Papers, 2014

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

The Potential of Women’s Organization for Rural Development in Sierra Leone

2013

Organizations are among the preferred outlets women use both to voice societal prejudices against them and to showcase their potential for rural/community development. There is an increasing advocacy for gender equality, women's empowerment and the integration of women folks into the socioeconomic , political and cultural fabrics of society. Girl-child education and women-based capacity building programs such as micro-finance, entrepreneurship, political activism, etc. have surfaced prominently on these women's empowerment efforts. In this study, a questionnaire-driven survey is conducted in two districts in southern Sierra Leone. The survey covers 36 influential women in 36 town-level communities in the country. The study analyzes the personal and organization characteristics of the women in relation to social perceptions and rural/community development. A large percent of the women surveyed are educated, married and belong to social organizations. In addition to other social/development organizations, women's organizations are also present in each of the surveyed communities. Most of the women organizations are local in nature and operate entirely on funds raised from within the local communities. This display of organizational ability of the surveyed rural women shows a significant perceptional shift towards recognizing women folks as productive counterparts in our societies. This trend also psychologically strengthens the women community to take on tangible responsibilities that were ones meant for men only. The analysis also shows that rural women hold managerial and other administrative positions in the organizations which are strongly oriented towards various forms of rural/community development. This is a significant positive deviation from the traditional perception which has unduly confined the women folks to the backyard for centuries now. This trend not only has the potential of benefiting the millions more women languishing in the developing world, but will also help affected countries to realize full national potentials of their God-given human resources.

Moyo and Francis Women Empowerment Pula Paper.pdf

In this paper we present a review of secondary data on women empowerment in the rural areas of South Africa. The review reveals that information as well as material, financial and social resources needed for empowering women are often lacking. Yet, information and economic resources determine the achievement of proper nutrition, good education, participation in decision-making processes and politics. Also, better engagement of grassroots communities accelerates the unlocking of women's potential, boosts their self-esteem and effectively mobilizes the support of crucial stakeholders within their areas of residence. Although considerable progress has been made in creating an enabling environment for women empowerment, there is still need for improving the dissemination of information and developing viable economic empowerment models for women, in particular those in rural areas. We conclude that for women to benefit meaningfully from the empowerment initiatives of the South African government it is imperative to involve women and their communities, in particular men and local leaders, at all stages of the project cycle.

Confidence, Capacity Building and Cash: Achieving Sustained Impact for Ultra‐poor Women

IDS Bulletin, 2015

Understanding poverty and how to measure and eradicate it has evolved over the last 20 years to incorporate a multidimensional focus. The experience of Women for Women International (WfWI), a USbased non-profit organisation that works with women survivors of war in eight countries, shows that while economic inputs are crucial for moving above the US$1.25/day poverty line, a more holistic approach is needed for ultra-poor women in conflict-affected situations to achieve this goal. This article analyses WfWI's 12-month social protection training and cash transfer programme for ultra-poor labour-constrained women in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The programme helps women obtain skills and resources to graduate from poverty and promote overall wellbeing for their families and communities. We first provide background on social protection programmes in conflict settings, then outline data collection methodology and the WfWI core programme, and lastly, we discuss our findings and opportunities for further analysis.