Working with Women in Poverty

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Working with Women in Poverty

Nine innovative schemes in one volume

There is a trend towards increasing feminization of poverty. Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty in the world, 70 per cent are women. The situation is closely linked to women's subordinate status in society, in general, and the family, in particular. Women's low status limits their access to education, credit, productive employment and basic social services. Lack of access to such opportunities, in turn, severely hampers women's HRD.

It is unfortunate that poor women, who constitute a large proportion of the population of the developing ESCAP region, are not able to contribute their full potential to development. Moreover, the present situation, in which they are systematically excluded from an equal share in the outcome of development, requires serious remedial action. The perpetuation of the present situation will impose a high cost not only on women themselves but on society as a whole.

For each round of the ESCAP HRD Award, a theme is selected that reflects a critical area of human resources development in the region. The 1994 Award had as its theme "HRD for women in extreme poverty." It was felt that the plight of women in poverty should be highlighted in order to direct greater attention to the need to promote gender equity and women's empowerment as primary considerations.

The experiences of nine of the top applications for that round of the Award have been collated into a publication "Working with Women in Poverty." It features the approaches of the top applicants for the 1994 round of the Award. These nine individuals and organizations were short-listed by an international jury vested with the responsibility of selecting the Award-winner.

Each of the programmes undertaken on behalf of women described in the book points to the importance of a demand-oriented approach, whereby specific efforts are devoted to stimulating women's opportunities and capabilities to utilize available services and facilities. It has become increasingly clear that the conventional supply-side efforts in HRD are unlikely to produce the intended results. The mere provision of services, facilities or resources -- training programmes, health care schemes or credit facilities -- by no means ensures their full or effective use by the target groups.

The work of the following nine organizations and individuals are listed in the book:

Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Bangladesh, Winner of the 1994 ESCAP HRD Award
Rosa Tudela Palacios, Northern Mariana Islands
Anila R. Dholakia, India
Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC), India
Self-Employed Women's Association, India
Coalition of Services for the Elderly, Inc., Philippines
Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women, Philippines
Family Planning Association of Pakistan
Local Weaving Development Project, Appropriate Technology Association, Thailand

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