Women Empowerment Volume 1
Political, Economic and Legal Empowerment: Initiatives from Different Countries
Anita Brandon (Ed.)
by Md. Mamun Habib , Anita Brandon (UNFPA, India), Talia Esnard (University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago), George Mathew (Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, India), N V Madhuri (Centre for Gender Studies, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India), Sweety Pandey (Centre for Gender Studies, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India), Vanishree Joseph (Centre for Gender Studies, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India), Rajesh Kumar Sinha (Centre for Social Audit, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India), Rajiv Ranjan Prasad (NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India), Tamara Martsenyuk (University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine), Amrita Nandy (Center for Higher Studies and Research, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka, Bangladesh), Naznin Farhana (Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India), Piyali Sur (Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India), Maya Lynum-Walker (University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA), Shikha Vasishta (Bennett University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India)
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“Women Empowerment Volume 1 - The Political, Economic and Legal Empowerment: Initiatives from Different Countries,” edited by Ms. Anita Brandon and published by Vernon Press, USA, is a collection of eleven articles contributed by authors of repute drawn from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America.
The articles, carefully written, depict the ground reality in patriarchal societies and tell in a compelling manner stories of individual women leaders who have battled against odds and emerged triumphant. These stories of hope are refreshing and inspiring as they chronicle the achievements of women leaders in all walks of life. Contributors have not lost sight of praxis even while analysing different theories of women empowerment and gender equality. The role of institutions, government agencies, civil society organizations and public policy has also been carefully documented and analysed by different contributors.
This compendium of carefully selected and edited articles should be of great interest to women leaders, activists, researchers, as well as lay readers interested in understanding and addressing issues related to women empowerment and gender equality.
Sunil Kumar
Prolific Writer on Policy Issues
Former Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India and now Visiting Faculty, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune & Member, Pune International Centre, India
Both volumes represent a range of initiatives and case studies aimed at promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality across different settings in various countries. It starts with where the editor Anita Brandon explains how she contributed in her home State Rajasthan to the reserved minimum of 33% of seats for women in local governments through the 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1992 in India. However, translating the Amendments into action turned her lifelong focus. Apart from her own firsthand experiences, it also resulted in searching for how other institutions in and outside India arrive at full participation of women in local institutions. It is amazing how she managed to show and analyse so many cases, and they turn out to be excellent documents for both Practitioners and Researchers interested in deepening their understanding, but also to find practical approaches for Women’s participation at all levels, including the poor and not least of traditional communities. She deserves a love compliment from all the women she managed to reach out to and give them a voice.
Ms. L.M. Maarse
Formerly with SDC, India and also worked with FAO, IFAD and other International Agencies
Team Leader in above International Agencies and now a Retired Rural Development Practitioner, The Netherlands
The development truism that if the SDG 5 gets the attention it deserves, most of the other SDGs would automatically be realized is well illustrated by the beautiful anthology of experiences from diverse countries at different stages of development and even during conflict times, as in the case of Ukraine. It shows how the agency of women gets strengthened through development and social initiatives ingrained in the public policy of nations, with the support of UN agencies and NGOs, complemented by civil society actions mainly through women’s collectives; it captures the multifaceted concept of empowerment in an easy and attractive way. It covers the whole gamut from theory and concept to individual case studies and also ranges from basic livelihoods to more ambitious enterprises to human development, both education and health, social development, especially for elders and marginalized groups, and ultimately, legal and political empowerment, particularly at the grassroots level in Local Governments.
The beauty of these two Volumes is that they expound the concepts in simple language and illustrate them through caselets and experiences, and list out initiatives from a wide range of countries which can strengthen women’s empowerment in different ways. The most fascinating and promising one seems to be the Self Help Groups of Women federated into a larger collective working as equal partners with elected Local Governments and creating a demand for development from below, almost forcing positive responses from different levels of Government. It would not be wrong if the two Volumes are described as textbooks of theory, policy and practice.
S.M. Vijayanand
Former Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, India;
Former Chief Secretary, Kerala, India
This volume on Women Empowerment is a showcase for readers interested in case studies on Women Empowerment in the Political, Economic, and Legal Contexts from different countries across the world. The case studies here are presented under four sub-themes.
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Dr. Ranjana Kumari
Director, Centre for Social Research, New Delhi
Prologue: Introduction to the Book-Volumes on Women Empowerment: Inspiring Initiatives from Across the World
Anita Brandon
Editor
Focused Introduction to Volume 1: Political, Economic and Legal Empowerment: Initiatives from Different Countries
Anita Brandon
Editor
Dedication
Chapter One
Women Empowerment and Local Governments
George Mathew
Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
Chapter Two
From Self-Help Groups to Elected Women Representatives: A Study of Gender-responsive Governance
N V Madhuri
Centre for Gender Studies, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India
Sweety Pandey
Centre for Gender Studies, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India
Vanishree Joseph
Centre for Gender Studies, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India
Chapter Three
Role of PRI-CBO Convergence in Enhancing Women’s Participation in Gram Sabha (Village Assembly)
Rajesh Kumar Sinha
Centre for Social Audit, NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India
Chapter Four
Models of Women Empowerment: Best Practices from Different Sectors
Rajiv Ranjan Prasad
NIRDPR, Hyderabad, India
Chapter Five
Women Empowerment in India: Initiatives and Impact
Anita Brandon
Former Professor, SIRDPR, Rajasthan, India and now Senior Consultant, UNFPA, India
Chapter Six
Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Implementation in Ukraine
Tamara Martsenyuk
University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
Chapter Seven
Developing ‘Shepreneurs’: Evidence from South Asia
Amrita Nandy
Center for Higher Studies and Research, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Md. Mamun Habib
Independent University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chapter Eight
Rising Above the Social Barriers: State of Women Entrepreneurship in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Naznin Farhana
Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India
Piyali Sur
Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India
Chapter Nine
Ways to Enhance Livelihoods and Employment Choices for Women through Mentoring
Maya Lynum-Walker
University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Chapter Ten
Between Growth and Social Value: Repositioning Women Entrepreneurs in the Caribbean
Talia Esnard
University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
Chapter Eleven
Gender Equality and Human Rights: A Legal-Political Approach
Shikha Vasishta
Bennett University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
About the Contributors
Index
Prof. Dr. Anita Brandon is the author of the Prologue and the Focused Introduction to Vol.1 and Vol.2, and Editor of both these volumes on Women’s Empowerment. She has a Ph.D. in Social Science from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, and also has a P.G. Diploma in Human Rights Law from the National Law School, India University, Bangalore. She has been a Professor of Practice, promoting human resource development at several state and national training institutions of eminence. Her areas of research and training are: mainstreaming gender in development, Panchayati Raj, decentralized governance, rural development, tribal development, human development, and human rights. She is a Member of the International Sociological Association, Research Committee 32, on Women, Gender, and Society. In her experience spanning 40 years as a thought leader and mentor, she has trained students, teachers, trainers, administrators, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and elected representatives and officials of PRIs. She has also been invited to give gender sensitization training to women members of parliament, policy planners and senior government officers. She has edited and authored several books, journals, and training publications. She is an expert member of an Advisory Committee for empowering women elected leaders of PRIs, constituted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. She has been assisting UNFPA India as a Senior Consultant, after her superannuation as a Professor in July 2020 from SIRD&PR, Rajasthan, India. She holds equal felicity in writing and speaking in English and Hindi and is a sought-after expert for addressing participants in conferences, workshops, and trainings of reputed organizations at global, national and state levels. She has facilitated many Training Projects supported by UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA, The World Bank and SDC for Capacity Building of PRIs and GRG- Gender Responsive Governance in India. She is also a regular speaker on mass media (TV and Radio) on areas of her interest.
Women Empowerment, Shepreneurs, Sheros, Local Governance, Gender Equality, Women's Rights as Human Rights, Mentoring and Leadership Development for Women Empowerment, Political, Economic and Legal Empowerment of Women-local and global initiatives
See also
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Women Empowerment Volume 1
Book Subtitle
Political, Economic and Legal Empowerment: Initiatives from Different Countries
ISBN
979-8-8819-0311-4
Edition
1st
Number of pages
264
Physical size
236mm x 160mm
