Gender and Political Participation in the Traditional Political System of the Village: A Study on the Khasi tribe of Mawkynrew village in Meghalaya

The article is a study on the political participation at the village level by both the male and female members of Mawkynrew village in Meghalaya. Meghalaya is inhabited by three major tribes and the Khasi tribe is one of the three tribes. The political system is still based on a traditional system of political administration at all village and locality levels. This political system allows the people to elect a chief and other members for the village council’s office. Traditionally, only male members are allowed to hold the traditional office of village administration. Therefore, the article will highlight the participation of both the gender groups in the village and how changes have taken place over the years. The paper will also attempt to study the factors or determinants that are influencing gender participation in the political system of the village, particularly that of the women in the village.

Gender participation in fisheries for sustainable livelihood in the coastal region of Ondo State, Nigeria

This study examined gender participation in fisheries and sustainable livelihood in the coastal areas of Ondo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents and the study area. Data were collected from 100 fisher folks from Ilaje and Ese-Odo Local Government Areas (LGAs), using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Kruskal Wallis test (KWt) was used to determine the level of livelihood diversification among the fisher folks. The most prominent roles of men in the study area are fishing both offshore and inshore (66%), boat owners (61%), and gear preparation (56%). On the other hand, the participation of women in fisheries is mostly sorting of fish caught (81%), salting for processing (79%), washing of fish and fishing gears (69%), and smoking (66%). Women also dominate fish distribution and marketing activities which include transporting of fish from home to the market place, display and bargaining. The result of the Kruskal Wallis test (KWt) revealed that the main occupation of the different groups is fishing, where the married class was the most predominant group. For gender, fishing remains the most engaged main occupation with more male than female at 0.01 level of significance. Key words: Sustainable Livelihood, Fisheries and Gender

Role of gender participation in urban household energy technology for sustainability: a case of Kathmandu

Sustainability has endured as a global topic in terms of quality of life and energy-saving for an equalized system. Households represent one of the most energy-consuming sectors globally and are expected to increase tremendously in the future. Women have higher responsibility in the household energy use in most societies. However, their participation and impacts have been less prioritized in the sustainability concept regarding energy perspective. In contrast, most development studies reveal that women's participation in managing resources can positively impact women and policy management. However, women's active participation and influences on social, economic, and environmental contexts are mostly ignored in energy-related decisions, disregarding women's productive activities. Thus, this study evaluates the gender role in urban household energy in three contexts of economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainability pillars. This study is exploratory research based on questionnaire survey, interviews, observation, and air quality tests to apprehend appropriate data. The study revealed that the lower-income group uses a larger share of their monthly income for household energy with unclean cooking fuel. It has an impact on low-willingness to participate in new energy technology purchases. The use of electrical appliances and income has a moderate correlation (r = .48). However, Kathmandu urban households are eager to use electric cooking, but urban women have insufficient knowledge, information, and less affordability for new technology. The city's sustainability level is still low (47 scores) from a gender perspective, and it suggests the city needs a long way on the sustainability route. The study concluded that innovative technical interventions and women's financial power are essential, including the subsidy policy to reduce inequality between low and high energy household share variation and elevate gender participation. The gender mainstreaming approach in energy policy can increase women's participation in energy technology to get a clean environment and reduce the nation's financial burden of importing fuel.

Gender Participation in the Fisheries Sector of Lake Taal, Philippines

Lake Taal is a source of livelihood and provides for more than 2,000 sustenance fisherfolk. Fish production of the open water fisheries has dwindled over the years with the continuous decline of fish catch, which can be attributed to unsustainable fishing practices such as illegal fishing, overfishing, pollution, and the expansion of aquaculture activities in the lake. Women, as a sector, constitute almost one half of the economically active population in Lake Taal. Men and women performed different roles at different stages of fish capture or fish culture. In terms of their economic and social value, the participation of women in pre- and post-production activities are significant. This study assessed the level of gender participation in the fisheries sector of Lake Taal. Specifically, it determined the roles of men and women in the different fishing activities and described the fisherfolk’s socioeconomic profile. A total of 407 randomly selected respondents were interviewed in 11 barangays from eight municipalities in Lake Taal, represented by 54% male and 46% female, consisting of 214 fishers, 76 fish vendors, four processors, 51 helpers, and 62 fish cage or fish pond owners, managers, and caretakers. Profiling of the socioeconomic status was done to assess families’ living conditions and constructed primary data based on household’s present roles, activities, responsibilities, access to and control over resources, problems, and constraints of men and women. The roles of both men and women in fisheries were categorized into three sectors: capture, post-harvest, and aquaculture.

GENDER PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVITIES AND DECISIONS OF VEGETABLE CULTIVATION IN SURKHET, NEPAL

A study was conducted in Surkhet, Nepal in 2020 to identify and assess the gender participation in various activities and decisions of vegetable cultivation. A total of 120 vegetable farmers were selected; 30 farmers from four different municipality. The results revealed that most of the vegetable farming activities are done jointly, whereas, laborious and taxing activities like ploughing and spraying pesticides were exclusively done by male, and sowing/ raising nursery, picking/harvesting, and marketing of farm produce were predominantly done by female. Regarding the decisions related to vegetable cultivation, majority of the decision were joint decision; consent of both male and female. However, male had greater authoritative power, and female performed supportive role. Gender sensitization, awareness in society, education for women, and extension services should be provided for empowerment and capacity development of women by government and related organizations. This will help to widen the parochial outlook of women, which will ultimately enhance their participation in decision-making process.

Implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Gender Participation

An economic development needs to know whether there is concrete implication of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) on participation of gender, as this has been a key concern in many countries. The paper established implications of 4IR using descriptive techniques and sample T-test. The review concludes that implication of 4IR to gender participation in Tanzania is that women participated more than men in agricultural production and unpaid domestic activities. Inversely, men participated more on productive works than women while gender balance exists in professional and skilled works. The review further notes that the influencing factor on GP is level of education associated with skill and profession. Then to balance GP, the review recommends increasing education to women and gender sensitivity.