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Question: Despite decades of development, women are still denied equal

opportunities in different spheres of life. Do you agree with this statement?
If yes, what institutional changes and policies/actions, in your view, would
produce better results in attaining women empowerment?

Yes, despite decades of development, women around the globe women are still denied
equal opportunities in different spheres of Life. Leaders in different countries are
working on a series of legislative and socio-economic initiatives which includes the
creation of a healthy and enabling environment towards empowerment of women.
The economic development alone can not ensure the achievement of this goal.
Development must be balanced by a strong and equitable distribution of the resources
institutional changes, policy reforms and community actions that are aimed at creating a
justified society for the development of both the genders.

• Self worth and Dignity

Self-esteem is a core identity issue, essential to personal validation. Our self-esteem
develops and evolves throughout our lives as we build an image of ourselves through our
experiences with different people and activities. Experiences during our childhood play a
particularly large role in the shaping of our basic self-esteem. Women as compared to
men are victims of low self esteem. It limits their thinking, destroys their confidence and
binds them in an invisible cloak that restricts them from freely operating in the society.
Women in both the underdeveloped and developed countries have different self esteem
issues. Some times the society demands more then they can contribute and some times it
restrictions them. National Policies and communities women live in play a major role in
defining their self esteem .Policies must be shaped up and communities must come
forward with plans that can help boost the self esteem of the women through increased
educational opportunities, laws against domestic violence, property rights etc.

• Awareness Building
Despite the achievements regarding the awareness building attained through different
feminist movements, there is till room for more. Women need to be made more aware of
their basic rights which the law provides them. They need to know their importane, role
and impact at every level and the transformational changes that they can bring about in
the world. According to a UN survey women work more then 2/3 rd working hours of the
world and earn only 10% of the world income .Women need to be made more aware of
their rights so that we can achieve equilibrium in the society.

• Innovation in Education
According to a UN study Women make 2/3rd of the estimated 876 million adults of the
worldwide who can not read or write. Lack of education and poor quality of education
combined with the women low status creates a human development problem. Extensive
work should be done to promote the education among the women. Schools must be built,
books secured and teachers trained .Communities must confront the attitude and
assumptions that prevent the girls from attending and excelling in schools. Creative ways
should be sort out to change the view of the people about the value of education for both

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the genders and to foster an environment in which girls and women feel encouraged to
attend schools, colleges and universities.

• Reduce Child Marriages

The early marriages and early pregnancies among girls is one primary factor that forces
them to abandon school, fosters low self esteem, generate health issues and hinders them
from active participation in the community, The governments around the globe must put
a more effective check and implement harsher punishments and penalties to communities
and groups that encourage early child marriages.

• Capacity Building

It includes the training of women at all levels for self representation and sustainability.
There is a need for the initiation of capacity building programs in every country .Women
need to be better trained so that they can get involved in the development and
implementation of policies and programs that address their issues
An increase in the number of women participating in the various sectors will lay the
foundation of equality that is necessary for long-term peace. It is clear that the women
need to be supported in order to build their capacities so that they can participate actively
in the women’s rights struggle and pro-democracy movement.

• Network building

Regardless of the presence of numerous NGOs fighting for the rights of women there is
still a large gap present between the women and development programs especially among
the third world countries. Most of the times the women don’t have access or the
knowledge of the support groups that are present in their areas for their assistance. Today
a greater need is for a strong network building that not only provides support but also
information and assistance regarding different issues to women at the grass root level.

• Research and Documentation of Women Achievements for motivational

purposes

Our society has been structured in a way defines women as the keepers of the houses and
men as the bread winners; as a result the women success stories are limited in number. It
further adds to the incorrect perception building of the masses that women can not do
what men can .To raise the status, self image and to boost the morals of the women a
proper research, documentation and publicity is required. It will help change the thinking
pattern of not only the women but also the men which see women as weak and confine
them only to the houses.

• Policy reforms and political participation

New policy reforms should be made that ensure the political participation of the women
in policy formulation and implementation.

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Women need to be given a chance to represent what they think is best for them and what
can help save millions of other women from the social plight.

• Health issues:

Government should ensure and enforce new laws that give women more liberty in
deciding about their reproductive health. It should be the sole decision of a women and
not the decision of the family regarding the number of her children.

The word Women Empowerment helps us identify many issues; focus on a single issue
can not ensure its achievement. What is empowerment for the women of south might be
not a big issue for the women of the west. Thus it is difficult to define it, factors like self-
decision regarding education, participation, mobility, economic independency, public
speaking, awareness and exercise of rights, political participation etc are some of the
tools of achieving it. In short women empowerment is the breaking of personal and
social limitations.