Introduction to the Research Programme Consortium on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out’

The Central Research Department of the Department for International Development (DFID) has awarded a five-year grant (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2011) to a Research Programme Consortium (RPC) on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out’ as part of their Factors that Enhance Women’s Empowerment Research Programme.

This RPC, led by the Southeast Asia Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong, will undertake an innovative research programme that will generate new knowledge for achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the fuller implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Muslim contexts. In particular, research outcomes will contribute significantly to the attainment of MGD3 (Promote gender equality and empower women) as the basis for enabling MDG1 (Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), MDG5 (Improve maternal health) and MDG8 (Develop a global partnership for development).

The RPC believes that developing a deeper and more nuanced understanding of women’s empowerment is the key to designing effective pro-poor and equity focused policies. Defining ‘empowerment’ as an increased capacity to make autonomous decisions that transform unfavourable power relations, the RPC posits that conventional interventions fail to empower women effectively, because these tend to ignore the power structures that stand between women and state institutions. To address this gap, the RPC focuses on meso-level forces that construct the gender systems within which women’s empowerment necessarily occurs.

The RPC’s five-year research programme focuses on women’s indigenous strategies of empowerment in Muslim contexts, because:

•  Women’s endeavours to assert their rights in such contexts are often suppressed by violence.

• Women’s empowerment through indigenous strategies is a culturally appropriate countervailing force at this time when political groups are disempowering women so as to construct closed constituencies.

• Women’s empowerment in such contexts would promote democratisation from the inside out.

Pinpointing ways whereby good governance could empower women and lead to poverty reduction, the research will result in:

•  Innovative analyses of poverty and women’s economic empowerment

•  Policy recommendations for governance that would be genuinely responsive to women’s needs on the ground

•  A strong articulation of voices and demands for accountability and change from within society, catalysing processes that could increase personal choices, decision-making powers, and access to resources

• New development initiatives with women’s organizations at local, national and international levels.

•   A range of multi-media products for diverse audiences

Research will be undertaken in China, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan as nodal countries, as well as on cross-border research. In addition, exploratory research will be initiated in other countries, including Turkey. Aside from the Southeast Asia Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong (lead organisation) the Pakistan research team includes the following institutions:

1. Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University

2. Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre

3. Simorgh Women’s Resource and Publications Centre

In addition to this research team, the WEMC RPC hopes to collaborate and work closely with existing networks and groups, as well as identify and ally with individuals engaged in related endeavours.

The RPC Director is advised by an inter-disciplinary Consortium Advisory Group (CAG) that is independent of the RPC lead organisation, with a clearly defined role for assuring quality control in the RPC programme implementation. In addition to having two representatives of DFID on the CAG, the RPC’s confirmed CAG members are:

1. Noeleen Heyzer, Director of UNIFEM

2. Yakin Erturk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

3. Elizabeth Croll, Professor of Chinese Anthropology, Vice-Principal of the School for Oriental and African Studies, University of London

4. Bina Agarwal, Professor of Economics, Institute of Economic Growth, Dehli University

The CAG will meet formally at least once a year. It will review and endorse the RPC’s annual report before submission to the CRD. The RPC also envisages country-based Research Advisory Committees (RACs) in the four nodal countries to complement the CAG. Country-based Partners/Associates will identify potential RAC members.