Livelihoods Improvement Project for the Himalaya

MEGHALAYA ( IFAD COVERAGE ) NERCORMP COVERED OTHER STATES

IFAD GENDER ACTION PLAN 2003 -2006 IFAD's goal is to empower poor rural women and men in developing countries to achieve higher incomes and improved food security. Based on the recognition of the role of both men and women in agriculture economy and rural development, IFAD commits to promote gender equality and empower women. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are considered both as objectives and as instrument for poverty reduction

IFAD GENDER ACTION PLAN expand women’s access to and control over fundamental assets strengthen women’s agency improve well-being and ease workloads

OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSESSMENT To assess to which extent IFAD gender mainstreaming strategy impacted in IFAD’s supported projects in the mountain How it has improved the capacity to reach women and men, How it empowers women, How it achieves equitable benefit for women and men.

Methodology Used Assessing Project Documents, Project Objectives AR,Baseline. Interviews & Field Visits Analysis of the interviews and comparative analysis with the IFAD’s Gender Mainstreaming strategy

Main Findings were Baseline Gender Strategy Access to Meaningful Resources Strengthening Women Agency Alleviate Women Workload Missing Links Emerging Issues

Access to Meaningful Resources Project funds controlled locally & used for local priorities Impressive improvement in local infrastructure & services Reduced dependence on money lenders; increased access to bank & private credit; increased self-confidence & solidarity among women; ownership of substantial assets; increased respect & voice in community institutions; investment in farm & non-farm enterprises, children’s education Commercial plantations on jhum lands seem to be controlled by men with unclear impacts on poor women’s future access to jhum lands

Strengthening Of Women Agency Women gained voice in community level planning & decision making Women’s SHGs ended isolation & built solidarity Increasing recognition by men of the importance to involve women in decision making

Women Agency Majority of women in project villages members of SHGs as well as all village community organizations All SHGs members of SHG federations Women acquired account keeping & managerial skills Individual women, SHGs & their federations running several enterprises

SHGs IMPACT Increased respect for women’s contribution to community well being Women’s increased confidence levels in articulating their needs Changes in gender division of labour – “Men’s domestic work burden has increased” Women’s collective action against violence against women and alcoholism

Alleviate Women Workload Reduction of women’s drudgery by decreasing workload Access to clean and potable water Decrease water-borne diseases provided women privacy while improving overall health and sanitation in the villages

Water Pump, Rain Harvesting, Crèche Stone Breaking Shed, Coffee Pulpier , Low Cost Medicines, Low cost Toilets , Washing Place Village Mule Community Health, Fuel efficient Stove, Kitchen Garden & Composting

MISSING LINKS Some specific issues mountain women are facing are addressed: but welfare approach or empowerment one? Are we giving too much stress on savings and loan ? Inclusion of poor families . Although women’s participation increased in community institutions, women are still greatly dependent on men in the household Additional creative interventions to tackle gender inequalities need to be experimented FOOD SECURITY : Address more to be more focused /Cash Crop

EMERGING ISSUES CLIMATE CHANGE Did you observe any changes related to the weather in the last 15 year? Which ones? How those changes affect the mountain livelihood? How mountain people adapt to those changes?

MRDS INSTITUTIONS Reduce Workload LIVELIHOOD SVCC

PROVIDING DRINKING WATER

SANITATION Convergence With Line Depts.

GENDER STRATEGY OF MRDS • Reducing women’ drudgery with improved technologies . • Gender Sensitization to men. • Ensuring good representation of women in PMU, DMUs, NGOs and CBOs. • Intensive Training on Gender Perspective . • Building Gender Concern into all aspects .

Loop in the Rest of the TEAM If we organize a gender workshop, we are more likely to attract only participants who are already aware of the problem and are in favour of solutions. We should include gender awareness and generating gender balance strategies as a specific topic in all our training sessions, and integrate it with other sectors, then we are more likely to include persons who should hear the message. We should start at the very beginning.

Gender Mainstreaming Establishing adequate accountability mechanism for monitoring of progress within the organization as well as programmatically. The identification of issues and problems within the organization should focus on gender differences and disparities wherever they exist. The Organization should ensure equity forms an essential element of all Project Planning ,implementation and monitoring with specific indicators to measure progress that has taken place . All reports and evaluations should include a specific focus on the Gender Component. Gender Analysis should form part of gender mainstreaming effort.

MRDS Focus on promoting women SHGs especially of poorer households, incentives to SHGs . • Identification of issues – representation in the BOD, Maternity Leave etc, and addressing them, Staff gender balance. • Monitoring of women & men in SHGs purpose of loan & the trend etc. • Follow up of Gender Mainstreaming Training.

Contd… HuGs Team work together with existing AWWs/ASHAs for reaching out to all in the Community. Activity Analysis is be carried out together with the Sector Analysis being done in all Clusters. Confidence Build – Going to meet Bank Officials, Decision to take loan on their own ,lobbying for Schemes , Fighting against Alcoholism , Corruption in Government Officials ,Aware of entitlements.

Future Interventions • Water still a problem for most women. • Converge with NRHM, Agriculture ,PHE ,Social Welfare, NREGA & other line Department. • Women to be actually more active in VECs. • Skill Development and Capacity building in for women.

GM PROCESS IS GRADUAL • We are looking for a day when women are made to represent in all important positions now hold by only men . • These women will lead the have a say in the development of their own state . • Women & Men share equal responsibility and a woman is not denied the opportunity just because the home is considered a place for her .

We are all in it TOGETHER ….

THANK YOU !