Women’s Empowerment Arising from Women’s Empowerment Arising from Violent Conflict and RecoveryViolent Conflict and Recovery

Life Stories from Four Middle-Income Countries

Patti Petesch, Mercy Corps and World Bank ConsultantMay 23, 2011

http://microlinks.kdid.org/library/womens-empowerment-arising-violent-conflict-and-recovery-life-stories-four-middle-income-cou

Origins of the studyOrigins of the studyMoving Out of Poverty: Rising from the Ashes of ConflictDeepa Narayan and Patti Petesch, editors

A World Bank study across 100 mostly rural communities in 7 countries to learn how poor people’s mobility is affected by violent intrastate conflict. • Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, India,

Indonesia, The Philippines, Sri Lanka

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Take away message #1Take away message #1

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The women living in communities directly affected by violent political conflict rated more highly on empowerment measures than the women living in communities that did not experience conflict.

Share of women rated as empowered in conflict and nonconflict communities

Take away message #2Take away message #2

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In the wake of violence, the set of conflict-affected communities that experienced the most rapid recovery and poverty reduction were also characterized by more empowered women than the set of conflict-affected communities with lower rates of poverty reduction

Share of women rated as empowered in low and high mobility conflict communities

Assessing women’s Assessing women’s empowermentempowerment

Dimensions of agency -- assets & capabilities that women can mobilize to pursue their interests

o Educationo Worko Marriage and childbearingo Nonfamily friendshipso Membership in a local groupo Political engagement

Dimensions of community opportunity structures

o Securityo Marketso Democracy and governance, and use of post-conflict-aid

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SampleSample

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Country RegionsTotal

communities

Total life stories

Colombia 6 barrios, 2 villages across 5 departments

8 38

Indonesia North Maluku, East Java

10 26

Philippines

ARMM region of Mindanao

10 40

Sri Lanka North, East and South provinces

9 21

Total 37 125

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"We lost a part of our lives. We lost everything: two houses, a car, two cows, the other animals, chickens, furniture... I lost money that was owed to me...."

"I was the one who was most affected. But I had to suffer in silence. I was the motor of the house. My husband is very quiet. If my children didn't have food, I cried. If they didn't have clothes, I was the one who suffered.“

--Woman's life story, barrio outside of Cartagena, Colombia

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BEST CONDITIONSS

Los Álamos, Colombia Ladder of Ladder, prepared by women’s focus group

Step 2 (the Invaders) Not from Ibague Bigger families Have no house Recyclers They live next to an irrigation ditch Kids are always sick High risk zone Some of them are displaced

Step 3 (the Tough Ones) They have a small business There’s economic support in the couple Better relationships (because of religion) They organize and manage their money carefully They want to improve their situation They care what happens to their kids They can save money

WORST CONDITIONS

Step 1 (the Ruined) Kids have no dad Mom is unemployed Children are always in the streets Kids work at the traffic lights Grandparents have to ask for charity. Even though they have SISBEN, they have no money to buy medicines. Kids are mistreated There are always family conflicts Couples and marriages have many problems

Los Alamos Poverty Line

Official Poverty Line 4 3

Fights at home Wasting cash Being battered Having no education Lack of enterprising spirit

3 2 Not being able to manage business Not attending clients in proper way Bad habits Alcoholism Bad relationships Bad businesses Lack of communi- cation in marriage Competition

3 4 Receiving economic support Invest with money from selling their land Stable job (minimum wage) Have better relationships Saving

2 3 Counseling to forget your problems Better relationships with your children Being able to plan your work Receiving help to be able to work Creating a business Receiving low interests credits More attention parents to children

2 The Mayor’s help to relocate Institutional support Psychological attention Counseling The leader’s management Community support Better communication inside the community and with others

2 1 Having no education Having no job Kids get really sick and they have to sell their belongings to cover the expenses

Step 4 (the Geniuses) They have money to live with comfort They have big businesses One of them works Receive institutional aid They have food and everything they need to have They are relaxed, no worries. They do not batter their kids They move away from the community

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Ladder of Life, Women’s focus group, Ibagué, Colombia

Women’s assets and Women’s assets and capabilitiescapabilities

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“No one helped me to get a better life. This is all because of my willingness, my own hard work.”

--Woman’s life story, Village of Probolinggo district, East Java, Indonesia

Control of physical assets distinguish Control of physical assets distinguish Philippine and Indonesian womenPhilippine and Indonesian women

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“The conflict affected most of our livelihoods but the land is always our fallback because after the conflict the land is still there. During the 1999 evacuation, we lost all of our livestock because it was sold to support our evacuation. But when we returned we could still survive because we could go back to the land.”

— Woman’s life story, low mobility village in North Cotabato, Philippines

Post-conflict programming Post-conflict programming opportunity opportunity

Invest in women’s accumulation and control of major assets. o In the context of post-conflict housing and

resettlement programs, support joint titling (or sole titling where women head households).

o Where women own major assets, enhance their security and productivity by formalizing their titles and providing access to formal financial systems.

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Women increase/diversify their economic Women increase/diversify their economic activities during and after conflict, but face activities during and after conflict, but face

diverse hurdles to generating a good diverse hurdles to generating a good incomeincome

“During the period of evacuation in Ternate in 2000-2003, I continued to make cakes and sell them there. If I had not made the cakes, we would not have eaten.”

— Woman’s life story, village in West Halmahera district, North Maluku, Indonesia

“During the time I was displaced, I earned some money from teaching sewing, but that was only for three years. Now that we are back, I would like to improve my small chili business. But it would require peace.

—A woman in a village in Mannar district, Northern province, Sri Lanka

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Post-conflict programming Post-conflict programming opportunity opportunity

Support women’s access to remunerative income sources. o Provide women access to services and

resources to make farming and livestock raising, core rural economic activities, more productive.

o Provide specialized technical and financial support to enable women to develop profitable economic ventures in the nonfarm sector and access active markets.

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Marital and family harmony: deeply valued Marital and family harmony: deeply valued and valuable asset, but many cannot count and valuable asset, but many cannot count

on iton it

“I wish both my husband and I would help each other, that he would not be so pessimistic and would instead support me in my ambitions. Also, when our business improves, I don’t want him to hinder my ambition for our family.”

— Women’s life stories, North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur, Philippines14

Women’s networks connect them to Women’s networks connect them to valuable resources, but mixed reports of valuable resources, but mixed reports of

group-based lending and enterprise group-based lending and enterprise development programs.development programs.

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“I think what has helped me is unity, the association, and joining together with others to obtain things. I could not have gotten this house on my own. It was done working with others, and the mayor helped and other associations.”

“My life improved because of my training, but it got worse because I earned almost nothing.”

— Women’s life stories, Cartagena and Ibagué, Colombia

Post-conflict programming Post-conflict programming opportunityopportunity

Invest in women’s collective action and political engagement. o Make sure that training and self-help initiatives

are tailored to women’s needs, economic opportunities, and constraints, and build the capacities for these local groups to connect with better-resourced networks beyond their communities.

o Also take steps to enhance women’s local political inclusion through strategies such as gender quotas and investments in partnerships between grassroots women’s groups and women’s advocacy and support networks at the national and global levels.

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North Maluku: Most extensive North Maluku: Most extensive empowerment and poverty empowerment and poverty

reductionreduction

Driving factors: Peace, strong economy, reasonably good local governance, and community-driven development aid

o “We protested to the head of village because we did not receive BBR (Bantuan Bangunan Rumah/housing materials assistances) and Raskin (Rice for poor people) for 2004 after we already had an interview. After we came back from the evacuation, we had the guts to conduct a demonstration. Before, we were afraid to speak and to make any mistake, we were afraid of everything.” --Women’s focus group, village in West Halmahera district, North Maluku, Indonesia

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Post-conflict programming Post-conflict programming opportunitiesopportunities

Support rapid and inclusive community recovery by investing in:o local security, with emergency measures to protect

women where law and order cannot be established;o women’s access to active markets, including through

road and transport projects;o community-driven reconstruction and

development schemes, with measures to ensure women’s meaningful participation; and

o comprehensive social assistance, especially for poor widows and minority population groups.

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