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Activities promoting women have always been part of the project work of FES. In the mid 80s the Department of International Cooperation of FES initiated several pilot projects with women as the exclusive target group. Accordingly "Promotion of Self-Help Initiatives for Disadvantaged People" was conceptualized as a pilot project in India in late 80s with focus on women.
"Women in India suffer on two counts - first, because the society as a whole is impoverished, and second, because they are women" (Kumar, Shiva, 1996, UNDP's Gender-Related-Development Index: A Compilation for Indian States)
Given the social, political, and economic marginalisation of women it was felt that promotion of self-help initiatives at grassroots level and simultaneously facilitating sustainable social transformation processes at the macro level could improve the living conditions of women. In order to ensure sustainability of project initiatives and their role in transforming social structures, activities at the micro-level are aimed at influencing policy change at the macro level.
The Project is thus committed to strengthening women's empowerment. It endeavors to develop and support innovative programmes in a participatory manner with partner organizations. The activities facilitate the interaction between different stake holders represented by Non-Government Organisations, Policy makers, Research institutes, Activists, Politicians, Media practitioners, and Citizen's groups. Over the years networking and policy advocacy have emerged as a crucial input across issues in the programme activities. In keeping with these changes the project is now called Women's Promotion - Advocacy and Empowerment. Besides this, gender concerns are addressed as a cross cutting issue in all FES India programmes.
Issues dealt by this Unit are :
Social and
Economic Security
In India 91% (290 million people) of the total work force continues to be engaged in agricultural activities, manual labour and small service industry. This represents the so-called unorganised or informal sector. Labour laws are not applicable and social security measures are inaccessible to this sector. Almost 96% of the female work force is dependent on the informal sector for a source of income. Unequal access to school and vocational education, lack of control over economic resources (land ownership rights, lack of control over means of production) further impacts on the socio-economic status of women in the country. Improving the living conditions of women is thus an important objective for our work. The FES collaborates with partner organisations (Youth for Action, AIFWA, Nidan, NASVI, Centre for Women's Development and Research) to facilitate the organising process towards this objective and by engaging various stakeholders in dialogue to address these issues.
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Development Induced Displacement
In order to improve the socio - economic situation of women it is essential to focus on specific groups which are disadvantaged. In the context of growing industrialization and the incumbent exigencies of development, many such groups are facing displacement. Thus, the objective of supporting strategies to overcome disadvantage gains special significance. As various studies have proved that there is differentiated impact of large scale development projects on women and men, this aspect needs to be reiterated time and again while addressing this issue. FES, with partner organisations like ISED, supports dialogues and engagements which try to build a policy framework which is not only just but also gender just.
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Women's Participation in Political Processes
The constitution of India guarantees to all Indian women equality before the law. Political equality for women and men is an inalienable principle within this context. This equality includes not only equal right to franchise but also sharing power of decision making and policy making at all levels. The actual participation or even representation of women in various political institutions, specially in the decision making positions does not reflect the equality principle so far. Women's representation in Parliament is 8 per cent , in state legislatures in most states the representation is lesser still. At the local level in urban and rural local bodies one third representation of women has been achieved. This is a direct result of the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Act which has made it mandatory. Supporting initiatives and building consensus which result in such constitutional and institutional support is a major thrust area for FES supported activities on this very important issue. Our partners in this endeavor are SOHARD, SCRIA, CDSA, URC amongst others.
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Political Education of Young Women and Men
Despite being the largest democracy in the world, a vast majority of women and men in India have a great apathy towards politics. Such apathy specially amongst the youth, is a cause for grave concern. There is a general sense of disillusionment with all political parties and leaders, which spreads across regional boundaries. Several organizations accept that they are engaged in 'social work'. However, most of them see themselves as 'apolitical' - which simply seems to mean steering clear of political party affiliations! FES in collaboration with partner organizations ERC, Vacha and others tries to address this apathy of young women and men to politics.
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