IFAD Gender Awards 2015

IFAD Gender
Awards 2015
Honouring achievements in gender
equality and women’s empowerment
India, Ethiopia, Belize,
Republic of Moldova, Senegal

Asia and the Pacific
Tejaswini Maharashtra Rural Women’s Empowerment
Programme, India
This programme is unusual in that it focuses entirely on women’s
empowerment. Operational since 2009, it is being implemented by MAVIM, the
Women’s Development Corporation in the State of Maharashtra.
The programme has established sustainable three-tier grass-roots institutions
focusing on multiple forms of empowerment and financial inclusion.
The self-help group for savings and credit is the basic structure. Over 75,000
such groups have been promoted, reaching over one million women. The
village-level committee – with representatives of the self-help groups –
addresses social issues and influences local governing bodies to address
women’s needs. Community-managed resource centres – federations of selfhelp
groups – play a crucial role in micro-livelihood plans such as improving
production, marketing and value addition. The centres also promote value
chain approaches and partnerships with financial service providers. As a result
of improved confidence and training, women have participated actively in local
elections and community decision-making bodies.
The programme recognizes the importance of engaging with men to address
gender inequalities. Men’s groups formed at the village level address key social
issues such as joint property ownership, child marriage and sharing workloads.
Support systems to address domestic violence have been established, including
paralegal volunteer workers and links with the referral services and judicial
systems. Village-level committees organize “welcome the girl child” events to
reduce sex selection and promote girls’ education.
http://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/project/tags/india/1314/project_
overview
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©IFAD/Susan Beccio

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East and Southern Africa
Community-based Integrated Natural Resources
Management Project, Ethiopia
From the start of this project in 2010, it was recognized that land tenure security
stimulates investment in agricultural production and improves household
incomes. For this reason, land certification at the household level has been an
important objective. Within the target area, all women heads of households
have been issued with land certificates. Family land is also being registered and
certificates are issued with husband and wife as co-owners.
As a result, women’s self-confidence has increased. They are playing a more
active role in decisions regarding the use of land and of the income generated.
Land conflicts have been reduced and women report feeling less vulnerable
at the household and community level, including in the context of divorce.
Women have also received leadership training and are engaging more in
decision-making at the village and higher levels regarding the use of communal
lands and watershed management.
The project also supports livelihood diversification, which has resulted in
new income streams for women, people with little or no access to land, and
young people – including weaving, tannery, tailoring, beekeeping, poultry,
sheep fattening, tourism and orchards. The introduction of biogas stoves has
more than halved the time women spend fetching firewood and all household
members benefit from the light produced by the biogas. Other energy-saving
stoves are being promoted for very poor households without sufficient livestock
for biogas systems.
http://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/project/tags/ethiopia/1424/project_
overview
©Mburathi, Wairimu
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Latin America and the Caribbean
Rural Finance Programme, Belize
The programme has been working since 2009 to ensure that women have equal
access to the financial services that are being supported and strengthened. They
now account for 57 per cent of participants. A pre-financial training module
is used to introduce women to the basic concepts of financial literacy and
to motivate them to become members of credit unions. Training for young
people in how to draw up business plans specifically focuses on reaching young
women in rural areas. The trainers ensure that the language and examples used
are relevant to both women and men, and avoid stereotypes.
The programme has prepared a gender manual and trained credit union
staff to integrate gender awareness into all aspects of their work, including
a focus on sexual harassment in the workplace. The credit unions have
subsequently made their offices more gender-friendly – including children’s
play corners and waiting areas for pregnant women – and improved customer
confidentiality. Significantly, credit officers can no longer assume that women’s
assets are available to guarantee their husbands’ loans, and women’s financial
information is now treated as confidential. Most of the board and committee
members for the six unions taking part in the programme are women.
Since 2011, these credit unions have provided over 2,800 loans for a value of
US$2.7 million. Women have taken out 60 per cent of those loans.
http://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/project/tags/belize/1456/project_
overview
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©Belize Rural Finance Programme

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Near East and North Africa
Rural Financial Services and Agribusiness Development
Project, Republic of Moldova
This project became operational in 2011. It has achieved significant outreach
among young women in rural areas, offering them equal opportunities to
participate in and benefit from profitable economic activities. The project has
assisted some 2,000 borrowers, including more than 700 women.
In particular, women have accessed loans as microentrepreneurs and
made good use of related training activities. Indeed, young women make
up the majority of those trained in financial management and business
entrepreneurship, and in production technologies for vegetables and livestock,
including cattle and poultry. Evidence from the project shows that enterprises
managed by young women are achieving better results than their male
counterparts in terms of both profitability and asset accumulation.
Women are playing an active role as decision makers in the local public
governing bodies, and several are now managing irrigation schemes. Rural
households have also benefited from better infrastructure, including roads,
and gas and water supplies. This has improved access to social services such as
health and education. It has also resulted in significant time savings for rural
women and men, allowing them to spend more time engaging in productive
activities that improve their livelihoods. As a result of their increased incomes
and economic empowerment, women have been able to strengthen their
decision-making role and their social status.
http://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/project/tags/moldova/1562/project_
overview
©IFAD/Tatiana Mindru
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West and Central Africa
Agricultural Value Chains Support Project, Senegal
Since starting work in 2010, the project has successfully integrated women into
agricultural production, processing and marketing. It has also supported work
to increase women’s access to land within households and the community.
Women community leaders play a significant role during the negotiation
processes. With the greater security regarding their access to land, women’s
engagement in agricultural production has been significantly strengthened.
Through microprojects, women now have better access to training, inputs
and markets. Tools and equipment have reduced drudgery and improved
productivity. Women now represent 62 per cent of beneficiaries in market
access microprojects, 59 per cent in value chain development microprojects,
and 71 per cent of beneficiaries with vegetable gardens. They also account
for over one third of family farm advisers. To promote consumption of local
products, more than 800 women have been trained to process and cook
local cereals.
Over 20,000 women have benefited from leadership and financial management
training. They are now well represented in leadership positions of various
organizations: 52 per cent in farmer organizations and 46 per cent in their
federations, and 56 per cent in value chain round tables.
The good practices are being scaled up in a new project and used by the
Ministry of Agriculture as a reference point for other interventions. Villages
have also experienced strengthened solidarity and reduced rural exodus among
young participants.
http://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/project/tags/senegal/1414/project_
overview
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©IFAD/David Paqui

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In each of the five regions where IFAD works, the Gender Award
spotlights a programme or project that has taken an innovative
approach to addressing gender inequalities and empowering women.
This year’s awards celebrate operations in India, Ethiopia, Belize,
Republic of Moldova and Senegal.
IFAD’s Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment has
three interconnected strategic objectives:
• to promote economic empowerment for rural women and men
• to enable women and men to have equal voice and influence
• to achieve a more equitable balance in workloads between
women and men.
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Via Paolo di Dono, 44 - 00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 54591 - Fax: +39 06 5043463
E-mail: ifad@ifad.org
www.ifad.org
www.ruralpovertyportal.org
ifad-un.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/ifad
instagram.com/ifadnews
www.twitter.com/ifadnews
www.youtube.com/user/ifadTV
Contacts:
Clare Bishop-Sambrook
Lead Technical Specialist
Gender and Social Inclusion
Policy and Technical Advisory Division
IFAD
Maria Hartl
Senior Technical Specialist
Gender and Social Equity
Policy and Technical Advisory Division
IFAD
E-mail: gender@ifad.org