 Gender in Development |
Issue 113 |
Caritas Bangladesh Empowering Women
"The feminisation of poverty is the tragic consequence of women's unequal access to economic opportunities. And it is getting worse. The number of rural women living in absolute poverty rose by nearly 50% over the past two decades. Increasingly, poverty has a woman's face" UNDP 1995:36
The alarming correlation between women and poverty is an issue that is at the heart of all development concerns. About 1.3 billion people live in poverty and over 70% of these are women. This is unequal and unfair. Unfortunately while there have been many advances in development in relation to women such as increased access to education and health, the gap between the number of women compared to men who are living in poverty is widening. We will now look at the case study of Bangladesh. In this country over 70 million people live in poverty, the majority of these being women. We will explore some of the reasons for this inequality and one solution to the problem that Caritas Bangladesh has implemented.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a country in Asia; it is bordered by India and Burma. The population is 144 million and the average life expectancy is 62. During some period in the year over 70% of the country is submerged by water. As a consequence, Bangladesh has a rich range of water bodies including lakes, ponds, rivers and estuaries. It is this wealth of water resources that has meant that fishing and aquaculture have developed as a major source of wealth for the economy. It is in this industry that Caritas Bangladesh has focused some of their programs that aim to empower women and improve their livelihoods. Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG 3) is about empowering women.
Reasons why women receive a lower wage and are more susceptible to poverty in Bangladesh
There are many complex reasons why women are poorer than men in Bangladesh. These relate to some of the social, cultural and religious situations in the country that mean that women have a much lower status then men. Women are often segregated and secluded from public domains. It is difficult for many women to find work outside the home. For those women that do find work they often receive substantially lower wages. With less money and substantially fewer rights women become trapped in cycles of poverty. However, Caritas Bangladesh has created some income generating programs that have helped women to gain employment and to fight against the poverty that burdens them.
Aquaculture Development Programs for Women
Caritas Bangladesh has initiated many development programs for women. Between 1998 and 2000 they helped 8603 women to adopt and implement aquaculture development programs.
The Aquaculture Program involves the following steps:
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Organising groups of women in rural areas and lending them money to set up fisheries. The money is paid back at low interest rates and over an extended period.
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Providing the group with skills to successfully run viable fisheries businesses to a profit.
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Educating the women about their rights in relation to their work and home life.
These programs that may seem simple have had enormous positive repercussions on women. In a report by Caritas Bangladesh it was found that by becoming involved in the Caritas Aquaculture Program women could:
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Contribute to the family income
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Ensure constant supply of much needed family nutrition
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Generate self-employment opportunities
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Uplift their socio-economic status
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Become more skilled
All of these consequences are essential stages in overcoming poverty. It is through such programs that the hope for women to free themselves from poverty lies. In the activities that follow you are asked to investigate and explore various other solutions to the growing number of women who live in poverty in our global community.
Activities across the curriculum
1) Use the statistics from the site below to create a poster that raises awareness about gender and poverty in our global community. Include statistics and images in your poster. Display the poster somewhere around your school
www.cafod.org.uk/about_cafod/what_we_do/
development/gender_and_women
2) Go to the following site and answer the questions below: www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/html/
womens_status.cfm
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List the 7 areas that are identified as reflecting gender inequality in our world.
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Identify the 12 critical areas of concern for gender and poverty.
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Read the information about the project in Nepal. Outline the key points about this project.
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In what ways is this project similar and different to the Aquaculture Development Program in Bangladesh?
English
Imagine that you are a 14 year old child growing up in Bangladesh and your mother has decided to become involved in an aquaculture initiative. A group of women in your local area are starting it up with the help of Caritas. Write a story about what your mother and her female friends do and how it gradually changes their lives and your own life. Think about how your mother is gaining confidence, earning more money to feed your family and how you now have hopes to have a career. To help you write the story look at the information at the following sites:
Science
1) Women in the world are much more susceptible than men to contracting HIV and AIDS because they have fewer rights and less access to education and health services. They are also often forced into unsafe sexual situations in order to survive. Compile a 500-word report on Women and HIV/AIDS. In your report include the following information:
- Facts about HIV/AIDS - such as how many people are suffering and have died, countries that are most affected
- Facts about women with HIV/AIDS
- Links between poverty and HIV/AIDS
- Possible solutions
To help you compile your report go the following sites:
www.womensedge.org/pages/referencematerials/
reference_material.jsp?id=73
www.unicef.org/aids/index_hivaids_girls_women.html
www.cafod.org.uk/about_cafod/what_we_do/
hivaids/hiv_and_aids_facts
www.undp.org/hdr2003/indicator/indic_65_1_1.html
www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/
application/php0i26kR.pdf
HSIE/ SOSE
1) Go to the following site:
www.womensedge.org/pages/referencematerials/
reference_material.jsp?id=43 and answer the following questions:
- How many people in the world live on less that $1 per day?
- What % of these people are women?
- How many people in the world are illiterate?
- What proportion of these people are women?
- How many women each year die of pregnancy related diseases?
- Where do the majority of these deaths occur?
- As a fraction, how much are women's wages in majority countries (previously called developing countries) compared to men's?
- Approximately how many hours each day do women spend collecting water and fuel?
- How many refugees and internally displaced people in the world are there?
- What % of these people are women?
2) What statistics from question 1 did you find surprising? Explain why.
3) Write a paragraph on the inequalities that exist between men and women in the majority world.
4) Why do you think many more women than men face poverty in our global community?
5) What does the term the 'feminisation of poverty' mean?
Religion
The following site has an excellent liturgy that was written for World AIDS day. Go to the site and read through the liturgy:
www.cafod.org.uk/resources/worship/
liturgies_and_services/parish_liturgies/
world_aids_day_2004
- Write down the 30 statements of 'witnesses'.
- Choose 5 women from 1 - 20 that you recognise and explain who they are.
- Write a 200-word reflection on the role women play in your global community, local community and home community? What do you think about their role? How can it be improved?
- Write a prayer to be read out in your class asking God to help the situation of women's poverty and inequality in our world.
1) Re- read the quote at the beginning of the backgrounder and discuss its implications for the future.
- What does the term the 'feminisation of poverty' mean?
- Why do you think the feminisation of poverty has occurred and continues to grow?
- How do you think we as a national community can work towards improving gender equality in our world in relation to poverty? This is one of the Millennium Development Goals agreed to in 2000. (MDG 3: promote gender equality and empower women) For more information about the MDGs and the Make poverty History campaign, visit:
www.caritas.org.au/education/mph.htm
Other Useful Sites
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www.bized.ac.uk/virtual/dc/
resource/glos1.htm is an excellent glossary of terms related to development. -
www.icrw.org/ is the international centre for research on women.
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www.focusintl.com/widnet.htm provides up to date statistics on women in development.