10.032016

Gender-focused, community-led development in rural Africa: The Hunger Project’s Epicenter Strategy

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The Hunger Project is a global, non-profit organisation committed to the sustainable end to world hunger. For the last twenty years, they have been supporting the implementation of the African created and led Epicentre Strategy, which has proven to be an effective, affordable, and replicable strategy that has helped mobilise nearly 2000 communities into 123 community hubs known as ‘epicentres’. Around 1.6 million Africans are estimated to have benefited from the strategy, and in 2014 alone, nearly 46,000 people were trained in nutrition, more than 850,000 kilos of food was stored, and 3,665 children enrolled in epicentre-based schools. This brief published by The Hunger Project outlines the Epicentre Strategy, draws on experience to provide lessons learned, and advocate the wider importance of community inclusion and women’s empowerment in sustainable development.

 

The opening section of the brief describes what the Epicentre Strategy consists of, namely four distinct phases: the mobilisation of communities through workshops, and the establishment of networks between communities, and inclusive of local government; the community-led construction of an L-shaped epicentre building, complete with food bank, meeting hall, public latrines, clean water, and a health centre; the commencement of work to address the needs of the community in health and nutrition, education, food security, microfinance, women’s empowerment, advocacy and alliance building, and the environment; and lastly, a two-year transition period where monitoring remains in  place, but the centre is facilitated in becoming self-sufficient and sustainable.

 

A case study is presented in the words of Dina Amartey, who joined The Hunger Project’s women’s empowerment programme and went on to become a trained animator in Ghana. Dina benefitted hugely from the meetings and activities, learning how to be more independent, and developing a vision. The brief goes on to discuss the work of The Hunger Project in empowering communities in: the leveraging of the resources of local government; sustainable food and nutrition security; education and adult literacy; health and disease prevention; water, sanitation, and hygiene; enterprise and youth development; establishing global partnerships; and measuring...

10.032016

Literacy and education for sustainable development and women’s empowerment

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That women comprise two-thirds of the world’s non-literate population has been a matter of concern for the development sectors for decades. Despite a number of high-profile literacy initiatives and interventions, the gender disparity is persisting in many countries, leading UNESCO to publish this report examining the ways in which literacy is approached with regard to development. The guiding assumption of the report is that only by looking in depth at the processes of literacy learning and development practice can we start to address the challenge of narrowing the gender gap in literacy attainment.

 

Traditionally, educational policy-makers and planners have focused on literacy access and outcome, while researchers have directed attention to measuring social and economic benefits. Meanwhile, there has been a lack of focus on the social processes associated with literacy learning and development. This report sets out to take a wider lens on literacy, to include a more nuanced examination of how and why literacy programmes can contribute to sustainable development, and processes of women’s empowerment.

 

The authors begin by mapping the conceptual field of sustainable development, providing a short history of the concept from its introduction by the World Commission on Environment and Development in its 1987 report. The role of education within sustainable development is discussed, including the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014) initiative. The report then discusses women’s empowerment, including in the contexts of formal and informal learning approaches, and raises issues regarding the limitations of planned development interventions.

 

The authors then focus on the implications of taking a sustainable development and women’s empowerment approach to adult literacy and learning, before reviewing trends in policy and programming. The report notes a shift from functional aims regarding literacy, such as teaching women basic literacy to understand specific development goals such as sanitation, maternal/child health, and nutrition, toward a more politicised rights-based approach that directly challenges gender relations and roles. Finally, the report reviews a wide range of adult literacy programmes through a gendered Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) lens that uses what the authors call the ‘three pillars’ of ESD: economic growth, social equality, and environmental sustainability. Programmes are grouped and analysed according to which of the three pillars is the primary objective, though the authors note programmes should, and often do, combine at least two of the three, and are preferably as cross-cutting as possible.

 

The paper concludes with recommendations and action points concerning four key areas that can, if addressed, help to ensure that literacy programmes can respond to sustainable development goals, and that education for sustainability takes a transformative approach to women’s empowerment:

 

  • Literacy policy should build on and strengthen the interconnections between the three pillars of sustainable development by developing a more holistic, cross-sectoral, and empowerment-centred approach. Suggested action points include the planning and evaluating of adult literacy programmes through the framework of ESD by governments and international agencies, and for programme staff and education policy-makers to expand collaboration across sectors.
  • A wider range of research evidence is required to inform policy-making and planning: international development agencies need to build research capacity in partner organisations; policy-makers should promote participatory approaches, at national and local levels, that include poor women and girls; and literacy teachers and programme staff should be trained to conduct research so that they can continuously reflect, learn, and teach.
  • There is an urgent need for education-focused sustainable development to incorporate a gender dimension, and promote a transformative approach to women’s empowerment. Participants in ESD debates must ensure that a gendered analysis of literacy, and a holistic, transformative approach to women’s empowerment, informs future ESD goals and strategies. Such an approach must recognise both formal and informal sectors as agents of change, and be supported through capacity-building in gender awareness and planning.
  • The post-2015 Education for All goals must explicitly recognise the importance of literacy to sustainable development and women’s empowerment. All participants at the conference must advocate for a stronger commitment to adult literacy within the goals. Additionally, governments and international agencies should increase funding for adult literacy, and mobilise the private sector in partnerships with national adult literacy programmes to increase both funding and...
10.032016

Women education as tool for sustainable development: issues and prospects

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Nigeria is a society in transition, and subject to a number of growth and development challenges, not least the systemic discrimination against women common to many developing countries. The best way to support this transition and advance human development is through education, particularly women’s education, so that Nigeria can make best use of its human resources rather than limit the productivity and contribution of one half of its population. That is the argument in this paper which explores the issues and prospects of focusing on woman education as a driver for sustainable development in Nigeria.

 

The paper presents a literature review to discuss girls participation in education, illustrating the positive impacts that can arise when girls are granted their human rights and allowed access to education. Also discussed is the debate on gender parity in education, conceptual frameworks, and the role of education in sustainable development, national unity, and integration.

 

A questionnaire was used to collect relevant data, and background information obtained from the respondents was interpreted and analyzed using t-test. The presentation and analysis of the results was carried out around the research questions that guided the study, namely: is there any significant difference in academic performance between students from educated mothers and those from illiterate mothers? And are there any significant difference in contribution to nation building between educated women and their male counterparts?

 

The null hypothesis of the study was that there was no discernable difference in either case. However, upon analysis, the author concluded that there was a significant discernable difference regarding both questions, thereby rejecting each null hypothesis. In each case, the results were more favourable on the side of educated mothers and women. From this, we can see the importance of women's education, both in terms of generational change and wider national development.

 

The authors note that despite these results, it has been been recognised  in many countries that the development process does not promote gender equity in the distribution of the benefits of economic growth, and that men are disproportionately benefiting at the expense of women. Women’s labour is too often seen as supplementary to that of men, leading to expectations that the development programme benefits will reach women via their husbands and men in their families. Furthermore, socio-cultural restrictions often inhibit women's active participation in the development process, an issue which has become a major focus of research and policy throughout the world.

 

A number of recommendations are made that, if actioned, can help drive sustainable development in Nigeria through education and women's empowerment. These include: the legislation of universal basic education (UBI) as a compulsory act, and free for every school-age child; punishment for parents who violate the compulsory UBI programme by denying their children education; constitutional provision for the fundamental human rights of women and girls, including education; ending economic discrimination, and allowing women equal property, employment, and financial rights; and ensuring, including via the constitution, that a reasonable number of political positions throughout the country are reserved for...