Women's empowerment

The project objective was to strengthen the citizenship and democratic skills of women. With virtually no access to civic information and limited opportunities for women to participate in political life including access to positions that involve decision-making, especially in rural areas, the grantee aimed to raise awareness among local authorities and strategic civil society organizations in Haiti, so they would become more engaged in promoting a culture that recognizes the role of women in society, fostering in women and men alike a new perspective on their political participation. The project was implemented in twenty rural communes, notably in very remote, virtually ignored sections of Haiti, which lacked basic, educational and health services. With regards to its objective, the project was fully aligned with current government priorities, and in the context of elections, it recognized the need for women to participate fully in the electoral process, as well as in political affairs and to become aware of their civil rights and rights as citizens.

The project objective was to strengthen the citizenship and democratic skills of women. With virtually no access to civic information and limited opportunities for women to participate in political life including access to positions that involve decision-making, especially in rural areas, the grantee aimed to raise awareness among local authorities and strategic civil society organizations in Haiti, so they would become more engaged in promoting a culture that recognizes the role of women in society, fostering in women and men alike a new perspective on their political participation. The project was implemented in twenty rural communes, notably in very remote, virtually ignored sections of Haiti, which lacked basic, educational and health services. With regards to its objective, the project was fully aligned with current government priorities, and in the context of elections, it recognized the need for women to participate fully in the electoral process, as well as in political affairs and to become aware of their civil rights and rights as citizens.

The project objective was to strengthen the citizenship and democratic skills of women. With virtually no access to civic information and limited opportunities for women to participate in political life including access to positions that involve decision-making, especially in rural areas, the grantee aimed to raise awareness among local authorities and strategic civil society organizations in Haiti, so they would become more engaged in promoting a culture that recognizes the role of women in society, fostering in women and men alike a new perspective on their political participation. The project was implemented in twenty rural communes, notably in very remote, virtually ignored sections of Haiti, which lacked basic, educational and health services. With regards to its objective, the project was fully aligned with current government priorities, and in the context of elections, it recognized the need for women to participate fully in the electoral process, as well as in political affairs and to become aware of their civil rights and rights as citizens.

The project aimed to enhance the capacity of civil society organizations at local level to influence the government budget and expenditure process, with particular emphasis on the social sector. The initiative took place in a governance environment where there is no tradition of using the budget as a means of holding the government accountable, at national or local levels, even in the Parliament. This project represents one component of the grantee’s broader effort to draw public and media attention to the importance of budget-making, while building the capacity of civil society to engage with government on budget matters, thus enhancing public accountability. The emphasis on the budget for the social sector was particularly relevant as a step towards drawing attention to, and seeking to improve, the situation of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Increasingly, the responsibility for administration of the social sector budget, including health and education, as well as social protection, rests with the municipalities. The selection of the Urban Councils and Women’s Assemblies as the focus for strengthening the role of civil society in monitoring the performance of municipal government was a relevant and appropriate choice, given the project objectives.

The project aimed to raise women’s awareness of their rights as citizens, while also increasing the participation and representation of women in political life. To this end, the project aimed to increase the capacity of selected women’s NGOs in all seven regions of the country. The grantee developed a training-of-trainers’ (ToT) manual and a training guide; organized and delivered a ToT course in 14 centres, two in each region of the country; and encouraged the 350 graduates of the ToT program to each deliver training courses themselves, utilizing the manual and training guide. Deep gender disparities continued to exist in Turkish social and economic life, and many women were quite unaware of their rights as citizens. The project was directly relevant to this problem, as it sought to enhance the capacity of women activists, who were engaged with improving the lives of other women, by enhancing their knowledge of the concepts of gender equality, of women’s rights as citizens, and of practical measures which might be taken to enable women to defend themselves against injustice.

The project aimed to raise women’s awareness of their rights as citizens, while also increasing the participation and representation of women in political life. To this end, the project aimed to increase the capacity of selected women’s NGOs in all seven regions of the country. The grantee developed a training-of-trainers’ (ToT) manual and a training guide; organized and delivered a ToT course in 14 centres, two in each region of the country; and encouraged the 350 graduates of the ToT program to each deliver training courses themselves, utilizing the manual and training guide. Deep gender disparities continued to exist in Turkish social and economic life, and many women were quite unaware of their rights as citizens. The project was directly relevant to this problem, as it sought to enhance the capacity of women activists, who were engaged with improving the lives of other women, by enhancing their knowledge of the concepts of gender equality, of women’s rights as citizens, and of practical measures which might be taken to enable women to defend themselves against injustice.

The project aimed to raise women’s awareness of their rights as citizens, while also increasing the participation and representation of women in political life. To this end, the project aimed to increase the capacity of selected women’s NGOs in all seven regions of the country. The grantee developed a training-of-trainers’ (ToT) manual and a training guide; organized and delivered a ToT course in 14 centres, two in each region of the country; and encouraged the 350 graduates of the ToT program to each deliver training courses themselves, utilizing the manual and training guide. Deep gender disparities continued to exist in Turkish social and economic life, and many women were quite unaware of their rights as citizens. The project was directly relevant to this problem, as it sought to enhance the capacity of women activists, who were engaged with improving the lives of other women, by enhancing their knowledge of the concepts of gender equality, of women’s rights as citizens, and of practical measures which might be taken to enable women to defend themselves against injustice.

The project aimed to raise women’s awareness of their rights as citizens, while also increasing the participation and representation of women in political life. To this end, the project aimed to increase the capacity of selected women’s NGOs in all seven regions of the country. The grantee developed a training-of-trainers’ (ToT) manual and a training guide; organized and delivered a ToT course in 14 centres, two in each region of the country; and encouraged the 350 graduates of the ToT program to each deliver training courses themselves, utilizing the manual and training guide. Deep gender disparities continued to exist in Turkish social and economic life, and many women were quite unaware of their rights as citizens. The project was directly relevant to this problem, as it sought to enhance the capacity of women activists, who were engaged with improving the lives of other women, by enhancing their knowledge of the concepts of gender equality, of women’s rights as citizens, and of practical measures which might be taken to enable women to defend themselves against injustice.

The project aimed to raise women’s awareness of their rights as citizens, while also increasing the participation and representation of women in political life. To this end, the project aimed to increase the capacity of selected women’s NGOs in all seven regions of the country. The grantee developed a training-of-trainers’ (ToT) manual and a training guide; organized and delivered a ToT course in 14 centres, two in each region of the country; and encouraged the 350 graduates of the ToT program to each deliver training courses themselves, utilizing the manual and training guide. Deep gender disparities continued to exist in Turkish social and economic life, and many women were quite unaware of their rights as citizens. The project was directly relevant to this problem, as it sought to enhance the capacity of women activists, who were engaged with improving the lives of other women, by enhancing their knowledge of the concepts of gender equality, of women’s rights as citizens, and of practical measures which might be taken to enable women to defend themselves against injustice.

The project sought to address a gap in Mozambique’s political life - the low level of women’s participation - by focusing on enhancing the position of women elected representatives in Provincial and Municipal Assemblies, while also nurturing the constituencies of women at community level and bringing the two groups together. In focusing its operations in two Northern provinces, the two principal project implementing partners were able to draw on their prior experience of working there. Yet, despite the local knowledge available to the two partners, the project design failed to take adequate account of local characteristics and underestimated the risks to project implementation. The project strategy was built on some unwarrantable assumptions. Adjustments were made to planned operations, including a broadening of the beneficiary groups, to involve men as well as women, and recognition of the need to involve the Executive as well as the Assembly representatives in activities. Yet, despite this, initial design problems had a significant impact on the feasibility of achieving anticipated results within the project timeframe.