scholarly journals Donor-Funded Women’s Empowerment in Tajikistan: Trajectories of Women’s NGOs and Changing Attitudes to the International Agenda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Kluczewska
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Capitalist Economy ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Empowerment Model

AbstractThis article investigates internationally funded women’s empowerment initiatives in Tajikistan. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent Tajik civil war (1992–1997), this newly independent, Muslim-majority country has experienced an influx of foreign aid, including in the field of women’s rights. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the article analyzes the growth and diversification of local, Western-funded women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) between 1991 and 2020, paying attention to their leadership and aims, as well as changing perceptions of donors’ interventions. It is argued that, initially, local activists were supportive of international projects, which promoted gender equality by supporting women’s integration into the new, capitalist economy. In the last decade, however, an increasing conditionality of funding and deteriorating donor-NGO relations has fueled local contestations of the international agenda. The donor-enhanced women’s empowerment model, which fosters individual responsibility and self-reliance, is increasingly criticized for aggravating the conditions of local women in the context of a growing economic insecurity characterizing the local capitalist economy. Against this resentment, an alternative women’s empowerment model, advancing gender equity based on complementarity of male and female social roles and stressing the importance of family as a safety net against economic precarity, is gaining prominence locally.

Women Entrepreneurship in MENA and Europe

2018 ◽  
pp. 30-51
Author(s):  
Işın Çetin ◽  
Hilal Yıldırır Keser
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Spatial Econometric ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Spatial Econometric Models ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Specific Influence

Women entrepreneurs greatly benefit from the development of economies on both the local and national level. They employ themselves as well as people in the community. Today, microcredit, as part of the microfinance system, has become one of the most successful economic development tools for aid agencies and non-governmental organizations all over the world. Within this framework, this chapter discusses 1) the importance of women to economic development; 2) the significance of microfinance practices for women's empowerment; and 3) the specific influence of microcredit on women's empowerment in Asian and European countries, as determined by spatial econometric analysis with respect to different microfinance variables for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and European zones. Using data from 1990-2016, and employing panel spatial econometric models to analyze the changes in women's empowerment over the years, the study has observed that the microfinance indicators are statistically and economically effective in promoting women empowerment in both MENA and European regions.

The Role of Social Entrepreneurship in Women's Empowerment

2021 ◽  
pp. 243-260
Author(s):  
Duygu Acar Erdur
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Rights Issue

This chapter discusses the role of social entrepreneurship in one of the long-lasting challenges of all cultures, women's empowerment. Empowering women is critical for development, and more importantly, it's a human rights issue. However, especially in developing country contexts, governments, international and non-governmental organizations may fall short to address the issue effectively. In this respect, social entrepreneurship may be an alternative to offer inclusive solutions. This chapter aims to generate a deeper understanding of how social entrepreneurship creates social value about women's empowerment. Following the qualitative methodology, a successful entrepreneurial initiative in Turkey, Çöp(m)adam is examined. Findings demonstrate that Çöp(m)adam contributes to both women's economic and psychological empowerment.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and its threat to refugees in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-266
Author(s):  
Emery Manirambona ◽  
Laura Wilkins ◽  
Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Refugee Community ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Data Driven Decisions

Although it is widely accepted that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has adversely affected the Global South’s most vulnerable refugee communities, they have received little attention. There have been gaps in testing, which is fundamental to treat and isolate patients and make data-driven decisions to protect the refugee community. Therefore, it is imperative to holistically implement policies to curtail COVID-19 in refugee camps to ensure that refugees are safe and protected from the pandemic. Processes for timely diagnosis and treatment, quick isolation and contact tracing are essential to keep refugees safe. Furthermore, it is crucial to encourage protective behaviours and raise awareness about hygiene and social prevention to dampen disease transmission. Refugees in the Global South have been disproportionately affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, facing financial hardship and social injustice throughout. Refugees in Africa have also faced threats to their security, being subjected to torture, disappearance, or even killings in their host countries. The pandemic has exposed gender inequalities, with females being the most affected, and health inequities in the refugee community in Africa. There is a need for international organizations like the African Union, United Nations (UN) agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders to take serious action regarding the refugee situation in Africa. Food aid for refugees in Africa should be increased as quickly as possible and refugees’ security must be guaranteed. Of equal importance, there must be justice for the death or disappearance of refugees. It is imperative to end discrimination against refugees and support the promotion of gender equity.

Labor, the UN and the Cold War

1957 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Karan Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
World Federation ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cold War

One of the significant structural differences between the organization of economic and social work under the League and under the United Nations is the extent to which non-governmental organizations (NGO's) have been allowed to participate. NGO's have been granted far greater privileges in the UN than they enjoyed in the League. Initially, they were formally recognized in Article 71 of the Charter, which gives the Economic and Social Council the right to make “suitable arrangements” for consultation with them. While defined in differing ways during different periods, consultative status under this article has, subject to various conditions, always included the right to participate in the debates of ECOSOC, its commissions and committees, and to propose items for inclusion in their provisional agenda. NGO's have made extensive use of these privileges. Their use, however, as well as the entire record of NGO action in the UN, has been inseparably linked with the cold war. Russian demands at San Francisco for privileges for the newly created, communist-controlled World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) were a contributing factor in the decision to include Article 71 in the Charter. The initial definition of this article resulted primarily from the interaction of pressures by the Soviet Union and the WFTU and the western response.

Doing gender activism in a donor-organized framework: Constraints and opportunities in Kyrgyzstan

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Pares Hoare
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Doing Gender ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
International Donors ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
And Gender

Providing support to “civil society” in the form of funding to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) became a central aspect of development engagement in Kyrgyzstan and other post-socialist countries in the 1990s, seen as a means of ensuring “good governance,” promoting participation, and providing a safety net of sorts to those who were left vulnerable by the market reforms that followed the collapse of Communism. Since then, donor engagement in Kyrgyzstan has led to the development of a thriving NGO sector, taken to embody “civil society” and to be a sign of the country's democratization, in comparison to its neighbors. However, this sector is dependent on support from international donors, and faces increasing hostility for supposedly representing outside interests, rather than effectively addressing the needs of the Kyrgyzstani population. This is particularly the case in regard to work on women's rights and gender equality. Based on interviews with 16 self-described activists working on gender issues, this paper explores what it is like to “do” gender activism in this practical and discursive environment. For my respondents, activity in the NGO sector emerges as not only a process that goes far beyond the straightforward implementation of donor agendas, but also one that does not necessarily “fit” with dominant understandings of what constitutes civil society activism.

scholarly journals Divulgação de informações sociais Relativas a Gênero pelas empresas Brasileiras Signatárias dos Women’s Empowerment Principles

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Manuel Salgueiro Rodrigues Júnior ◽  
Marcelle Colares Oliveira ◽  
Isadora Maria Aragão Roberto Alves Marcos ◽  
Gabriel Ramos Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
High Level

Given the presence of women in jobs that are less prone to benefits, it is natural for organizations to seek to encourage gender equity. Of particular note is the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) initiative, developed by the UN. We analyzed the 99 companies based in Brazil whose CEO signed the Declaration of Support for WEP, assuming that WEP signatories have a high level of dissemination of information on practices implemented seeking gender equity.

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