The discourse on governance is intricately intertwined around the role of citizens in influencing the forces that govern their lives. Agency, engagement and participation of citizens make governance inclusive. Inclusive governance implies equal participation of both men and women. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments have accorded Indian women an opportunity for political representation. Despite such provisions, most face constraints in pursuing a political career due to various personal, social and institutional reasons.
Political representation in numbers alone cannot be a sufficient mechanism for women to exercise their agency. Years of discrimination have incapacitated them to articulate the priorities of their constituency and influence decision-making. Gendered identities and practices limit their capacities to articulate and act upon their claims and concerns. Male elected representatives and government officials have reservations about the potentials of women elected representatives to govern, as they are also by and large ignorant of administrative processes.
PRIA’s experience has shown that women who want to enter the political arena at the grassroots level lack the self-confidence to speak up in public, lack information and knowledge of political processes and survival strategies in politics, and are unable to fight social constraints. To be effective leaders, women need skills, knowledge and information to articulate their concerns and influence decision making as per their concerns. PRIA’s commitment towards the broader objectives of gender equity, women’s empowerment and social justice within the Constitutional agenda of local self-governance was the basis for undertaking this project.
To strengthen women’s leadership through capacity building by providing them opportunities for systematic learning, facilitating such learning and supporting capacity enhancement on an ongoing and sustained basis to facilitate meaningful participation of women leaders.
Mobilising women leaders to network around common issues, interests or concerns and articulating their common concerns and priorities in meetings to influence district level planning and implementation.
Gender awareness
Building agency of women leaders so that they participate and articulate their concerns and priorities and ensure that women’s issues are reflected in the manifesto/agenda of the contesting candidates in panchayat and municipal elections.
Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat
Training needs assessment (TNA) conducted to identify the different needs of the women leaders for their effective participation in the political arena. Primary stakeholders (women elected representatives and non-representatives) as well as secondary stakeholdesr (male elected representatives, civil society organisations, community based organisations, NGOs, media personnel and government institutions) were involved in the assessment. Multi-stakeholder dialogues and group discussions were chosen as the participatory methods to conduct the TNA.
A curriculum for capacity building was designed with four steps ranging from local to district to national level exposure.
Animators and state coordinators identified potential women community leaders (women elected representatives and non-representatives)
A series of eight local level workshops were organised in all four states for initial orientation on the roles and responsibilities of women leaders in governance. Further identification and selection of women leaders for advanced level of education for political empowerment at state level then took place.
A series of one day gender sensitisation workshops was organised across all four states with the women who were shortlisted to attend further state level trainings.
A three day state level residential workshop was organized at the state capitals for potential women leaders identified at the local level workshops. These workshops enhanced specific skills of the leaders on communication, interfacing, campaigning and planning other than building their perspectives on various issues of governance and gender. This helped identify and select leaders for further advanced level of training for political empowerment of women leaders at the national level.
The final selected women leaders attended the “National School”, five day training at Delhi. This was not only a platform for the women leaders to summarise learnings from earlier workshops, but also helped address personal skill building in the larger context of leadership from which emerged successful public figures.
Curriculum for capacity building developed.
225 women spread across 4 states oriented on roles and responsibilities of women leaders in governance.
153 women leaders trained on communication strategies, interfacing, campaigning, planning and building perspectives on various issues of governance and gender.
153 women leaders are gender sensitised.
77 women leaders completed training at the National School and were ready to go back to their respective villages and work towards their political ambitions.
Strong networks of women leaders at state level formed.
Capacity building of women, especially elected representatives, is a key area for intervention if women are to become more active at the local level.
Strengthening the network of women leaders through sustained efforts at the field level will help all women get support to practice and demonstrate their skills as change agents.
Campaign mode of awareness raising instead of face to face training will help cover greater numbers.
Since each woman has specific needs, it would be more beneficial to have women train in smaller groups on issues like gender, personality development, etc.
There is a need to focus on stress management, family support and counseling and handling of character assassination attempts as these affect the women far more.
Mandakini Pant. “Empowering Women in Leadership Positions in Governance" in Vikas Vani, Vol. V, Issue 2, April-June 2011. ISSN0974-8083
Martha Farrell and Mandakini Pant. “Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership: Pedagogical Challenges” in Participation and Governance, Vol. 2, No 2.
SDC, DVV International