Women Empowerment
Women bear primary responsibility for family
health, education and nutrition – yet, by tradition, culture and law they are denied the means, information and freedom of action to fulfill their responsibility.
A woman’s health, from the time she is in her own mother’s womb, is the most important factor in determining the health of her child.
With this knowledge, it is clear that traditional responses to child malnutrition, such as simply providing nutritional supplements to pregnant women, are both inadequate and ultimately futile.
When children are born malnourished and underweight, they are at severe risk in all areas of personal development, health and mental capacity. They are physically weak and lack resistance to disease. They face a lifetime of disabilities, a lowered capacity for learning and diminished productivity.
The
need is to increase opportunities for rural women to participate in, contribute to and benefit from the development of their families, community, society and economic activities with full human rights.
Women empowerment may be fortified by:
» Organisation of Women Self Help
Groups » Women's savings and micro credit
» Small enterprise development
Women and economic development
Leadership training and
ongoing support must be available for the development of the leadership skills women need and want — the ability to create a vision, to speak and listen powerfully, to build constituencies and to make things happen.
In order to achieve this, the following support system in required:
NGOs, women’s groups and other civil society organisations must form vibrant and active networks and alliances dedicated to advocacy and coordinated
Media has to play a very important role to make it a success. It must provide thorough and ongoing coverage of the historic process of building local democracy, with particular emphasis on the rarely told story of women’s successes as leaders.
Through its ongoing scrutiny and reporting, the media need to keep a spotlight on the actions of government officials in the implementation.
Ravindra Nath Srivastava,
2/413, Vivek Khand, Gomtinagar,
Lucknow-226010
Phone:09335814748
More reviews about the New York Times