Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty & Democratisation – Research
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: July 22, 2005
Introduction
to the Research Programme Consortium on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts:
Gender, Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out’
The
Central Research Department of the Department for International Development
(DFID) has awarded a five-year grant (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2011) to a Research
Programme Consortium (RPC) on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender,
Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out’ as part of their
Factors that Enhance Women’s Empowerment Research
Programme.
This RPC, led by the Southeast Asia
Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong, will undertake an
innovative research programme that will generate new knowledge for achieving
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the fuller implementation of the Beijing
Platform for Action in Muslim contexts. In particular, research outcomes will
contribute significantly to the attainment of MGD3 (Promote gender equality and
empower women) as the basis for enabling MDG1 (Eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger), MDG5 (Improve maternal health) and MDG8 (Develop a global partnership
for development).
The RPC believes that developing a deeper and more
nuanced understanding of women’s empowerment is the key to designing effective
pro-poor and equity focused policies. Defining ‘empowerment’ as an increased
capacity to make autonomous decisions that transform unfavourable power
relations, the RPC posits that conventional interventions fail to empower women
effectively, because these tend to ignore the power structures that stand
between women and state institutions. To address this gap, the RPC focuses on
meso-level forces that construct the gender systems within which women’s
empowerment necessarily occurs.
The RPC’s five-year research
programme focuses on women’s indigenous strategies of empowerment in Muslim
contexts, because:
-
Women’s endeavours to assert their rights in such contexts
are often
suppressed by violence. -
Women’s empowerment
through indigenous strategies is a culturally appropriate countervailing force
at this time when political groups are disempowering women so as to
construct closed constituencies. -
Women’s
empowerment in such contexts would promote democratisation
from the inside out.
Pinpointing ways whereby
good
governance could empower women and lead to poverty reduction, the
research will
result in:
-
Innovative analyses of poverty and women’s economic
empowerment -
Policy recommendations for governance that would be genuinely
responsive to women’s needs on the ground -
A
strong articulation of voices and demands for accountability and change from
within society, catalysing processes that could increase personal choices,
decision-making powers, and access to resources -
New development initiatives with
women’s organizations at local, national and international
levels. -
A
range of multi-media products for diverse audiences
Research will be undertaken
in China, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan as nodal countries, as well as on
cross-border research. In addition, exploratory research will be initiated in
other countries, including Turkey. Aside from the Southeast Asia Research
Centre, City University of Hong Kong (lead organisation) the Pakistan research
team includes the following institutions:
-
Department of Community
Health Sciences, Aga Khan University -
Shirkat Gah – Women’s
Resource Centre -
Simorgh Women’s Resource
and Publications Centre
In addition to this
research team, the WEMC RPC hopes to collaborate and work closely with existing
networks and groups, as well as identify and ally with individuals engaged in
related endeavours.
The RPC Director is advised
by an inter-disciplinary Consortium Advisory Group (CAG) that is independent of
the RPC lead organisation, with a clearly defined role for assuring quality
control in the RPC programme implementation. In addition to having two
representatives of DFID on the CAG, the RPC’s confirmed CAG members
are:
Noeleen Heyzer,
Director of UNIFEMYakin Erturk, UN
Special Rapporteur on Violence Against WomenElizabeth Croll,
Professor of Chinese Anthropology, Vice-Principal of the School for Oriental
and African Studies, University of LondonBina Agarwal, Professor
of Economics, Institute of Economic Growth, Dehli University
The CAG will meet formally
at least once a year. It will review and endorse the RPC’s annual report before
submission to the CRD. The RPC also envisages country-based Research Advisory
Committees (RACs) in the four nodal countries to complement the CAG.
Country-based Partners/Associates will identify potential RAC members.
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