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April 28, 2002
REVIEW: Learning from experience
BUILDING women’s capacities seeks to document contemporary experiences of development practitioners who are working to empower women from marginalized classes and sensitize men to gender issues.
The case studies included in the book focus on specific problems that confront women today. Be they efforts to promote self-help processes in health care, the training needs of women quarry workers, or the experience of men and women fish workers in gender sensitization, the issues that NGO workers face are common in all sectors.
In fact the experience of Indian workers listed in the book under review is quite relevant to Pakistan as well, given the many similarities between the two countries. The case studies can be adapted to our own needs. Thus the one on the Gram Panchayat carry a lesson for our newly elected female councillors, who are as unaware of their rights and the politics of male members as the women elected to panchayats in India. They were taught how to overcome difficulties and travel on a new road.
Another case study, which could also be applicable to us is about gender sensitization. This issue was taken up in a workshop, which was held in a community. The participants took it very seriously and their discussion created the necessary awareness in them.
Broadly speaking, the book should prove to be a guideline for those working at grassroots level in the slums areas. All case studies are based on practical work, and field experiences are again applicable in communities in Pakistan too.
As happens in India, women’s rights are violated in Pakistan also in spite of constitutional guarantees and the ratification of CEDAW by the government. The enforcement of international covenants and affirmative action for women’s uplift are not the priority of society. Social prejudices, age-old practices, economic dependence and lack of education lead to persisting gender inequalities.
How can we change this gender balance in favour of women particularly those who are poor and most downtrodden? The most crucial question for NGOs which emerges from this book is whether they can achieve this goal through their foreign funded programmes? Will this issue retain its edge in the integrative approach that is adopted or will it get subsumed under the broader development planning? The book tries to analyze this aspect of the matter through a constant input from the Indian women’s movement. This has given it richness and diversity. The writers have been very innovative and down-to-earth. As facilitators and agents of change they have brought creativity in their work.
The book also attempts to bring the experience of activists and NGO workers together, thus facilitating a process of mutual learning. We need to do that in Pakistan too otherwise the so-called “empowerment of women” will remain merely a slogan. We can share and learn from each other’s experiences. The road to women’s empowerment in the region is long and many such experiences for creating gender equality needs to be documented. The gap between theory and practice should be bridged. This calls for closer interaction between those who are working for women’s development and the activists in the women’s movement, who are concerned with the political dimension.
Building women’s capacities: interventions in gender transformation
Edited by Ranjani K. Murthy
Sage Publications, M 32 Market, Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi-110 048.
Email: marketing@indiasage.com
ISBN 0-7619-9586-2 383pp. Indian Rs280
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