GENDER

EQUALITY &
WOMEN
EMPOWERM
ENT
Merin Jacob

MSc Extension

GOVT. College for women, TVPM

Definition of Women
Empowerment
– Empowerment of women is a process whereby the powerless or
disempowerment gain a greater control of resources and decision making
(Narayana- 1998)
– Empowerment is a process by which people, organizations or groups who are
powerless, become aware of the power dynamics at work in their life context.
(M.C Whirter- 1991)
– Empowerment women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation, when
women are empowered, society with stability is assured (A.P.J Abdul Kalam)
Empowerment is possible
by :-
– Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies
– The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres
– Equal access to participation and decision making
– Equal access to women to healthcare, quality education at all levels, career and
vocational guidance employment
Quatitative & Qualitative
Indicators
– An indicator is a single figure that summarizes a large amount of information
– Indicators can be quantitative or qualitative, a distinction based on information
type, use and interpretation
– Quantitative indicators focuses on the countable details like percentages, wages
rates etc.
– Qualitative indicators captures people experiences, behaviors, opinions,
attitudes & feelings.
Dimensions of empowerment

As women empowerment is vast field, with a pyramid of indicators, it should be

important to focus on its prominent dimensions also:-
– Economic Distribution
– Education
– Governance
– Health
– Media
Economic Contribution
Gender sensitive economic indicators reveal human capital utilization gaps and
market inefficiencies. Economic contribution ensuring women have equal access to
financial and development opportunities empowers women
Education
This dimensions is the most important measures of women’s status and gender
equity. Education equips girls and women with knowledge to make informed decisions.
Education be a benchmark progress, to lower fertility rate, improved nutrition, increased
use of health service.
Governance
By the proper governance women's participation in decision making process
become more empowered in political level. This concept of women empowerment is
embedded in protection of women's rights
Health
It is the populations well being. A women's ability to lead a healthy and productive life
is crucial for a country's wellbeing also. In general, women tend to live longer than men and
have lower mortality rates than men
Media
It is a space which helps to express the right to freedom of opinion and expression. But
the situation is communication system such as media does not guarantee that their opinions
will be expressed equally that their participation in the media will be mainstreamed
National Policy for
Empowerment of Women
2001
– This policy brings about advancement, development and empowerment of
women
Objectives of the policy are :-
 creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for
full development.
 the de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women
 equal access to women to healthcare, quality education at all levels, career
and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupation etc.
 Contd..
 Strengthening of legal systems aimed at elimination for all forms of
discrimination against women
 Changing social attitudes and community practices by active participation and
involvement of both men and women
 Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process
 Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and girl
child
 Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society and particularly
women's organizations
UN and women empowerment:-
important events

 Women conference at Mexico – 1975

 International women year - 1975
 Women decade - 1975-1985
 Conference at Copenhagen – 1980
 Conference at Nairobi – 1985
 Conference at Beijing – 1995
 Gender equality development peace for the 21st centaury at New York – 2000
 Review analysis of Beijing Conference – 2005
 Collecting reviews about the working of the countries - 2015
CEDAW- The Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women
– This was an important agreement about the equality between the men and
women, with the idea of ending the discrimination faced by all women.
– The United Nations accepted CEDAW on 18 December 1979. As of 2010 186
countries have ratified CEDAW
History of CEDAW
 1946- with a group of expert belonging to various governments to ways to improve
the standards if women known as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
 1949- 1962 –The CSW develops a number of agreements that protect women's
right to their nationality and also their rights in politics and marriage
 1965- 1967 – The CSW starts to prepare an international agreement called
declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against women
 1975- this year is made the UN international women's year
 1976- 1985 – UN agrees that it needs a convention
 18 December 1979- CEDAW is agreed by the United Nations General Assembly
Articles of CEDAW
 CEDAW has totally 30 articles. These articles explain what girls and women's
rights are and what governments should do to end discrimination.
 Articles 1-16 outline the different things which governments do to end
discrimination against women
 Article 17-22 set up a committee of international experts called CEDAW
committee
 Article 23-30 mentions about the UN and government should work together to
make sure the rights of all girls and women are protected
Gender mainstreaming
– It is an approach to policy making that takes into account both women's and
men's interest and concerns
– It is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any
planned actions
– It means integrating a gender equality perspective at all stages and levels of
policies, programs and projects
Gender Budgeting

– It means preparing budgets or analyzing them from a gender perspective

– It is a powerful tool for achieving gender mainstreaming so as to ensure that
benefits of development reach women as such as men
– It mainly aims at dealing with budgetary gender inequality issues, including
gender hierarchies and the variances between women's and men's salaries