Ntankah Village Women Common Initiative Group: A Model for Rural Women

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Ntankah Village Women Common Initiative Group
A Model for Rural Womens EmpowermentBy Sasha
Hart

• Research Question What strategies does Ntankah
  employ to empower Cameroonian rural women? How
  does the group promote and create the conditions
  necessary for rural womens empowerment?
• Presented at the Making Equal Rights Real
  Conference, May 1, 2010 , McGill University

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Cameroonian Rural Women A Disadvantaged
Population

• Higher rural poverty rates
• Women earn 50 less than males
• Trapped in the informal sector of economy
• Oppressive socio-cultural traditions
• Lack of political representation (only 9)
• Lack of access to resources and information
  Illiteracy
• HIV/AIDS prevalence rates twice as high among
  women
• Landlessness

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Empowerment Conceptualized A Literature Review

• Empowerment Defined
• A process (rather than a single intervention)
• A goal involving an increase in agency, power,
  ability
• A Multi-dimensional Process
• Internal (ie personal transformation/
  self-esteem) External (ie structural barriers)
  change
• Strategic gender needs (ie structural root
  causes of womens subordinated status)
  Practical gender needs (ie basic and immediate
  human needs) Moser 1989
• Stages of Empowerment
• Position of oppression ? Conscientization ?
  Political action ? Change Carr 2003

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Womens Groups in CameroonNew Empowerment
Approaches Needed

• Work of Cameroonian womens groups often not
  comprehensive enough to meet both the practical
  and strategic gender needs outlined by Moser
  Fonjong 2001
• While the level of poverty among women has been
  reduced as a result of NGO work, there has been
  no real change to their subordinate status, and
  therefore, more measures are needed to tackle
  the root causes of gender inequalities and remove
  barriers hampering womens involvement Fonjong
  2001

Case Study Is Ntankah a model?
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Methodology

• Selection of case study International
  recognition participatory strategies evidence
  of success (meeting both practical and strategic
  gender needs)
• Data collection
• 48 Interviews (semi-structured individual focus
  groups) with group members, group leaders,
  project supervisors, local leaders
• Program Observations

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RESULTS Ntankahs Strategic Empowerment Approach

• Focus To improve the long-term socio-economic
  conditions of members in particular and women in
  general

ACTIVITIES (Targeting both practical and
strategic gender needs)
Practical Gender Needs Strategic Gender Needs
Educational workshops Group farming Retail products (soap-making etc) Njangis savings Funded Projects i) Environmental Protection (cane rat piggery) ii) Cassava and maize mills (Village Pride) Education/ rights sensitization Local-to-local dialogues Emotional support peer learning Advocacy initiatives (ie WLLA, home-based care) Test case litigation Community service orphans/ AIDS/ widows Male partnerships
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RESULTS Ntankahs Strategic Empowerment Approach

• Activities target practical strategic gender
  needs and out of these flow internal external
  transformation

Internal Transformation External Transformation
Self-esteem fostered through participatory strategies environment where everybody feels valued safe space to share Rights-Awareness (active claiming Improvement in emotional well-being Application of skills learned Farming improved More self-sufficient Networking with other womens groups (CAGWEESA) enables peer learning and increased mobility Self-esteem/Confidence gained to confront husbands, challenge gender roles in household, take matters to court Change in husbands attitudes Females elected to traditional councils for 1st time Re-teaching of skills to community members
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Obstacles

• Resources
• Lack of finances (to apply skills learned/sustain
  certain activities)
• Lack of adequate farming technology (tools,
  fertilizers)
• Low prices received for produce
• Environmental
• Poverty (prevents some women from participating)
• Long distances (to farm, market, cassava mills)
  Bad roads
• Conservative forces
• Organizational
• More Follow-up on training needed
• Punctuality
• Some members not as committed/active
• Director plays too much of central role
• Governing structure
• Illiteracy not being tackled
• Corruption accusations gossiping

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Lessons Learned

• Empowerment Process
• Dynamic nuanced non-linear Womens
  empowerment is an on-going process that must be
  achieved via multiple routes, on multiple
  different levels, and by engaging multiple
  different actors
• Importance of education (knowledge
  transference/conscientization) self-esteem
  collective action
• Diversified range of activities needed to tackle
  practical/strategic gender needs and to
  effectuate internal/external change
• Possible outcomes self-esteem, self-sufficiency,
  and gender equality

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Lessons Learned

• Self-esteem
• Pivotal to the empowerment processas an end in
  itself, and also a means to spur external change
• Self-esteem building should be a specific target
  in empowerment initiativesKnowledge
  transference/conscientization/ awareness futile
  without self-esteem
• Self-esteem building is a slow process
• Other lessons
• Education/sensitization can increase civic
  participation (women began actively claiming
  rights once they were sensitized about them)
• Peer support function of community-based womens
  groups