Women´s Empowerment has become a buzzword in the last years. Without the word empowerment, almost no proposal gets accepted anymore. But what does it actually mean? Are you really clear about the concept when you use it in your proposals? In this article, we will look at the detailed meaning of the word. We will also discuss when and how it is appropriate to use it.
The word empowerment basically means that a project or a process aims to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination within the target group. This concept is often used in reference to women. Specifically in male dominated societies, they often do not have the resources and abilities to make their own decisions about their life. Empowerment can be achieved through many different channels, i.e. economic empowerment or the shift of perceptions and attitudes.
Does your project empower women?
Many projects who work with or for women claim, that they empower women. But is this always the case? When reading proposals, one often gets the impression that the word is used in excess and not always in the right circumstances. Before using it, ask yourself if you really empower women, or if you “only” work for them. There is an important distinction between these two.
Many projects work for women and support them in their – often difficult – situations, but do not necessarily empower them on a greater scale. Sometimes, while supporting women in general, projects work within frameworks that are not empowering. If these frameworks arenot challenged, the project itself will not achieve the goal of empowering women. Empowerment has to happen on different levels, not only on the household level.
A good indicator for a project, that truly empowers women is if it is women driven. That means if women have developed it and it is run by women. If only the beneficiaries are women, but the entire board is made up of males, that does not paint a good picture. If most of the members of your organization are males, it is not women driven. Empowering women does not only mean to implement a project that would be good for them. It also means to be willing to transfer agency and decision-making power to them – that is true empowerment.
Economic empowerment or social empowerment
When you talk about women´s empowerment, you also have to consider on which scale you want to work. When you provide handicrafts training to women, you might achieve more economic independence for them. But are you truly empowering on a social level? With this task, women are confined to the home again and it has no huge income potential. Did the beneficiaries chose this training themselves and ask for it? Or did someone from the outside propose it? All these questions can lead you to a better understanding of empowerment.
While it definitely makes a lot of sense to work in fields like income generation or hygiene for women, truly working for empowerment also means to think about changing perceptions of women’s roles and challenging believes and prejudices. It might mean working on the policy level with an entire set of different stakeholders.
Maybe this article can serve as an eye opener for you to think about the words you use in your proposal and how you work with the beneficiaries of your project. Be careful of how you use words to be as precise as possible. If you still feel like your project is truly impowering for women on societal level, make sure you stress this sufficiently in your proposal. You can use it as a stand alone characteristic. If not, maybe you can work on some aspects and become better or see more clearly, what next steps could be.
Also read this article: 7 Tips for Proposals on Womens Issues
If you want to learn more about the power of words, please check this article as well: Changing language – Think twice about using these words in your proposal