Taking women into account : lessons learned from NGO experiences

NGO field projects that offer replicable lessons learned in working with women are presented: the Regional Oils project of Appropriate Technology International in Tanzania and Zimbabwe; the Warmi and Woman-Child Impact projects of Save the Children in Bolivia; the Women in Development (WID) Initiatives in Agroforestry and Integrated Aquaculture programs of CARE in Guatemala; and the Northwest Thailand AIDS Awareness project and Women"s Empowerment project of the Chiangmai Provincial Centre for Non-Formal Education (CNE) and Laubach Literacy International in Thailand. The projects reflect the diversity of U.S. NGO projects in regard to region, sector, scale (ranging from national or regionwide to the village level), and type of working relationship (i.e., through their own field-based organizations or indigenous partners). To differing degrees, all the projects viewed women as both participants and beneficiaries and took women"s needs, contributions, and constraints into account. Cross-cutting lessons learned from these projects are as follows. (1) Project designs that take account of poor women"s significant economic roles and responsibilities, assign economic value to women"s time, and build on women"s ongoing activities are more likely to succeed than those that do not. (2) Providing access to credit responds to a real need among poor women. However, women also need complementary services, such as new technology training and extension services, if their enterprises are to grow and become more profitable. (3) Participatory techniques, properly implemented, can be very effective in building community support for a wide range of development activities. (4) It is both strategic and practical to involve men along with women in community-based development projects, even those focused on women"s needs. (5) A WID component added to an ongoing project can be very effective in enhancing women"s participation. More specific lessons are included in the individual case studies. Also includes references.