MPRLP UPDATE SERIES NO.
7
GENDER
JANUARY 2011
Raising gender
awareness
in tribal
communities
In many communities in Madhya
Pradesh, there are significant gender
inequalities. Women do a significant
amount of work, especially in
agriculture, but participate less in
household decisions and control of
spending. By and large, women are
also excluded from community affairs.
MPRLP works with communities and
Gram Sabhas (village assemblies) to
create an understanding that gender
concerns both women and men. This
means giving equal opportunities
(equality) and encouraging fair
treatment according to people's needs
(equity). Depending on circumstances,
MPRLP focuses on activities either for
women only or for women and men.
Building gender sensitivity
MPRLP is raising sensitivity to gender
issues by various means. Legal literacy
camps make women more aware of
their legal rights and entitlements in
relation to government schemes. On
exposure visits, women go to villages
where equality and equity are being
encouraged so they are able to see
what can be achieved.
In the Gram Sabhas, women are more
numerous, more active and more vocal
than before, and women Panchayat Raj
representatives are beginning to fulfil
their responsibilities independently.
“Gender concerns both
men and women”
Raising awareness
of gender
 39,490 people attended 700
gender sensitisation events.
 109 events for International
Women's Day.
Many such women have been elected
Panch and Sarpanch – heads of village
communities and village councils.
The women fought hard in the
Bardwara village Gram Sabha to have
MPRLP is working with the Gram
community bathrooms built for them.
Sabhas to design financial guidelines
© MPRLP/Sandeep Khanwalkar
that target poor and destitute women
and self-help groups, while the Gram
Sabhas are now disbursing more funds
to women for livelihood activities. The way ahead
Encouraged that their interests and
concerns are being addressed by the  Build capacity (focusing on
Gram Sabhas, women are putting community).
forward more proposals for funding.  Strengthen women's position
Women constitute around 47% of the (literacy, leadership,
beneficiaries and 40% of the funds convergence with government
have been given to women. schemes and link with
financial services).
Addressing practical needs  Promote health, hygiene and
nutrition (coordination with
and building assets total hygiene campaign, village
health committees and
MPRLP addresses women's practical awareness of child health).
needs too, such as reducing their  Reduce the work load and
workload by constructing village water drudgery (smokeless chulhas,
points and protecting their health by fibre sheet and promotions of
introducing smokeless cooking stoves. advanced tools for agriculture).
MADHYA PRADESH RURAL
LIVELIHOODS PROJECT
MPRLP also makes efforts to help
women build up household assets and
to get more control over them.
Training courses in skills such as
growing vegetables, tailoring and
poultry rearing help women start small
individual and group enterprises.
Women are also now taking part in
technical training events, such as
those about better agricultural
practices, which were previously only
attended by men.
Self-help
MPRLP motivates women to organise
themselves into self-help groups which
support their members and help them
save small amounts regularly. As a result,
women's capacity has been increased
tremendously, and in recent elections, a
significant number of women were
elected Panch and Sarpanch.
As well as income and savings activities,
the self-help groups are addressing social
and development needs such as
nutrition, health and education, and
supporting development schemes at the
village level, such as the Anganwadi
child- and mother-care centres. They also
support immunisation programmes.
Helping women
build assets
 1020 women in Anuppur
trained to make agarbatti
(incense sticks).
 650 women now producing
agarbatti commercially.
 100 women have started
making sisal handicrafts and
114 have started making rope.
 310 women are now
commercial poultry producers.
 74% of 3584 new self-help
groups formed since 2007 are
women's groups.
“Women's capacity has been increased tremendously”
Activities such as chicken rearing,
Achievements running grocery shops, cultivating
vegetables, making bangles and other
 Community members and types of adornment and running flour
project facilitation teams mills are empowering women and
shared best practices on increasing their income. That means
women's empowerment issues they and their children are becoming
during 133 exposure visits. better fed, more resistant to disease and
 2703 women participated in better educated.
158 leadership training courses.
 42,000 women are linked to
government empowerment
schemes.
 351 awareness camps, 656
health camps, 42 legal literacy
camps.
 24,160 women provided with
information on health and
personal hygiene.
Empowering women
Contact
Women now make up more than Telephone: +91-(0)755-2766812,
a third of those who attend Gram Sabha 814, 815
meetings. By holding meetings and Fax: +91-(0)755-2766818
awareness camps on the role women can Email: mprlp@mprlp.in
play in Gram Sabhas and village Website: www.mprlp.in
development, MPRLP has encouraged
more women to take part in village affairs. MPRLP is a Government of Madhya Pradesh initiative
funded by the UK Department for International
MPRLP has also run leadership Development (DFID).
development courses to empower women This publication does not necessarily represent the
from less well represented socio- views of the Department for International
economic groups. Continuous awareness Development.
programmes are improving gender
relations and men are playing a
supportive role.