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Women's Development Initiatives Project - Ethiopia
Source: World Bank
The Women Development Initiatives Project 2000-2005, which is financed by the Government of Ethiopia, IDA/IBRD and the Government of Italy, aims at testing methodologies to enhance the social, and economic welfare of households in selected poor districts, improving opportunities for women, by increasing their skills, productivity, and income.
The main two components include:
Despite their contribution to the country's economy, mainly in the agricultural and the informal sectors, and given the importance of their social role, women in Ethiopia do not have equitable access to economic resources. The gender dimension of poverty in Ethiopia and the low levels of women's access to education and health services, employment opportunities, and participation in the political/legal activities in the country, are reflected in the welfare indicators.
These indicators are also validated by the participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) that have been conducted in most regions in Ethiopia. Women disproportionately bear the burden of poverty in Ethiopia. Women are responsible for all household chores, in addition to support they provide in agriculture and livestock production. This is mainly a result of the gender-based division of labor, characteristic of many traditional societies, and exacerbated by the poor state of the environment and the lack of appropriate technology. Only 18 percent of the population have access to clean water. Fuelwood and cow dung remain the main sources of domestic energy for 95 percent of the Ethiopian population. Women, therefore, spend a large part of their day collecting water and searching for fuelwood. The lack of appropriate technology also results in the daily pounding and grinding of grain, a laborious task identified by women as consuming a large part of their day. Together with other activities, this results in rural women typically working 15-18 hours a day.
Women have little or no opportunities and time to access training/technical assistance and credit, thus they are often unable to increase their income to overcome subsistence-level livelihoods. To assist them in their arduous activities, women keep their children, in particular girls, from school, perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty for women. Because of these differentiated roles, the impact of development interventions is also different and, in most cases, gender-neutral development interventions fail to benefit women effectively, and in some cases even adversely affect women's access to economic resources.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) has demonstrated its commitment to addressing these issues and to the equitable socioeconomic development of women with the establishment of the National Policy for Women in 1993 and the promulgation of the new Constitution in 1994. The National Policy for Women aims to institutionalize the political and socioeconomic rights of women by creating appropriate structures in government institutions so that public policies and interventions are gender-sensitive and geared towards ensuring equitable development for all Ethiopians.
As discussed in the 1998 Government/WB Report on Implementing the Ethiopian National Policy for Women: Institutional and Regulatory Constraints, the actual implementation of the Women's Policy faces immense challenges. The devolution of administrative powers to the regional authorities creates both opportunities and difficulties for the implementation of the National Policy. Opportunities arise in that interventions can now be geared to address region-specific concerns; yet difficulties arise because of the capacity constraints in administrative and service delivery at the regional and lower administrative levels. Considerable inter-regional variations further increase the complexity of designing and delivering services in a gender-sensitive fashion, as does the fact that regional development plans are largely gender-neutral. Interventions that do target women tend to be ad hoc and self-standing projects with fairly standard processes of delivery through formal institutions such as cooperatives and kebeles -- institutions that women, especially those in rural areas, tend not to actively participate in.
The 1998 Government/WB report grouped the constraints to successful WID policy implementation into three main categories:
Within Ethiopia's overall developmental strategy, the Women's Development Initiatives Project (WDIP), a Learning and Innovation credit, aims to test methodologies to enhance the social and economic welfare of households in selected poor districts by improving and increasing women's opportunities through increased skills, productivity, and income.
Rationale for Bank's Involvement
The World Bank has been closely involved in the sector for the last three-five years. It co-authored with the Government a report on implementing the Ethiopian National Policy for Women. It assisted the Government in training a number of women's affairs staff and local consultants in the use of participatory tools and methodologies. Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs) were conducted in 9 out of the existing 11 regions, and they have encouraged the involvement of voices of grassroots women in the design of this WID project. The Bank provided an IDF grant to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Women's Affairs Office and the Regional Women's Affairs Bureaus. The Bank's presence in the area also made it possible for the Government to leverage significant funds from other donors.
The Government of Norway also provided the Government with US $ 75,000 to undertake the PRAs and prepare the WID project. At the request of the Government, it was managed by the Bank. The Bank is also assisting the Government in a number of gender and law activities in Ethiopia as part of the Gender and Law Eastern Africa Program. Also, the Bank has assisted in designing other such decentralized arrangements for development activities and will bring this experience to bear in the design from United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia, in addition to the experience gained in Ethiopia itself.
The World Bank Institute has also developed a Grassroots Management Training Program for women, the experience from which will also be brought to bear in the design and implementation of this project. In conclusion, the Bank will, therefore, primarily:provide expertise to the project design and implementation given its experience in dealing with development interventions for grassroots communities in Ethiopia and in other countries in Africa; support training activities for grassroots management; andassist the government in leveraging donor financing. For example, Italy has advised the Bank team of its intention to contribute US$2.3 million to the project.
The WDIP aims to enhance women's participation in development interventions by mobilizing women at the grassroots level and capitalizing on their potential to support the development process. It will facilitate the formation of self-help women's groups, and the strengthening of existing grassroots groups, and will build women's capacity to act collectively to increase the social and economic welfare of their households. Women's groups will constitute the backbone of the project's activities, and the organizational structure is intended to provide support to these groups and to give community women increased voice in the decisions affecting their lives. There are two main project components:
Grassroots Initiative Fund for Women
The Grassroots Initiatives Fund (GIF) does not identify or implement projects, but supports the efforts of intermediaries and women's groups in sub-project implementation and management by providing financial and supervisory support and by enhancing their managerial and technical capacities. The GIF is primarily a financing window and will be demand-driven. It will provide support to women's groups to organize themselves around productive activities, the nature of which will be determined by the beneficiaries themselves, and in which they are themselves willing to invest (on average, about 10% in up-front savings from women's groups will be required in order for them to qualify for project grants; at least 59 in cash and the other 5% could be in kind). Given the nature of the Fund's mandate, all activities will be relatively small, technically simple, and cost effective.
The project operational manual outlines the proposed criteria on which activities will be assessed, for example: proposed activity should be one that is in line with the Fund's objectives, it must be socially acceptable, should not result in an illegal activity nor in unfair competition, and it must have no adverse environmental impact. The cost of the proposed sub-project must be within the limits of the Fund's support and its complexity level must be in line with the capacity of beneficiaries.
For income generating activities, the proposal must also indicate a satisfactory assessment of the marketability of the proposed product/service, local availability of raw materials is also an important criterion, as well as the availability of facility for production/service, where necessary.
For labor-saving devices, the appropriateness of the proposed technology will also be assessed and whether or not it could be funded by other agencies and/or by the ESRDF. Sustainability will be a driving principle behind all activities and the GIF will not be involved in any way in relief or rehabilitation activities.
Examples of possible activities are:
In consultation with the women's groups, the local coordinating offices will select and hire appropriate intermediaries to provide the requisite technical assistance to women's groups in the coordination, design, implementation, monitoring, supervision and operation of their selected activity. Group facilitators, hired by intermediaries in consultation with women's groups/communities, will work with women's groups for a certain period of time to assist them in preparing their action plans for GIF funding, attendance records, minutes registers, cashbooks and ledgers. They might also assist intermediaries in facilitating group formation and in delivering IEC messages.A technical panel of experts will also be available to provide technical assistance to women's groups on an as needed basis. Women's groups will constitute the backbone of the project's activities. Where there are existing women's groups in selected districts, these groups will be utilized. However, in many cases, there may be no existing groups, and it would be necessary for the Fund to identify and encourage the formation of women's groups. Capacity building and training to strengthen women's group is included under this component, while capacity building at all other levels will come under the capacity building component.
Grassroots Management Training Program (GMTP)
The capacity of women's groups to undertake and manage their activities will be strengthened through the Grassroots Management Training Program (GMTP) which could have the following core contents:
GMTP can be adapted to the needs of semi-illiterate or illiterate women in a variety of sectors and a range of different soci-cultural contexts. Simple skills training would also be provided to women's groups. The need for such training will be identified by the women's groups themselves, and determined in consultation with their intermediary. The intermediary will then place the request before the Regional Coordinating Unit who would then decide how and where to give such training, after compiling such requests from the different intermediaries in the region.
Institutional Strengthening Component
Capacity building
A preliminary assessment has been carried out which focuses on the capacity and intent of stakeholders likely to be involved in project implementation. Clearly, the capacity of many stakeholders is weak, and therefore capacity building will be an integral and important part of project design. In fact, it is possible that the first nine months of the project may consist entirely of capacity-building activities.
(i) Capacity Building for Intermediaries and Facilitators.
The intermediaries that would help to implement the project will constitute a critical group in this project. In general, capacity building efforts will focus on improving intermediary skills regarding group organization, facilitation, training of grassroots beneficiaries, project design, appraisal, monitoring, and evaluation reporting. Efforts will also focus on strengthening of indigenous and community-based organizations within poor districts. To some extent the nature of the capacity building program will also depend on the roles and the characteristics of the selected intermediaries and, therefore, more specific activities would be developed immediately after selection of intermediaries in the different regions. Group facilitators will also be given training that would help them work effectively with women's groups.
(ii) Project Officers and Other Partners.
Given the nature of the project, all project officers, staff and other project stakeholders at different administrative levels will be targeted to ensure that they are familiar with the project approach and objectives and armed with technical skills related to project planning, implementation, and management. Training aimed at increasing the appreciation and understanding of issues related to gender, environment, and developing community mobilization and participation skills will also be supported.
Information, education and communication
(i) Objectives and Activities.
The IEC component aims to increase awareness of men and women in a number of areas like health including HIV/AIDS and harmful traditional practices, nutrition, family planning, sanitation, education, and legal rights and obligations. Activities would be designed based on the findings of the Participatory Rural Appraisals and would aim to strengthen the positive aspects of customary laws and practices, while at the same time sensitizing the public to the adverse aspects. Key legal messages will be based on a study being financed by the PHRD grant which examines the inconsistencies between the 1995 Constitution and the 1960 Civil Code to identify Family Law revisions that would be needed to ensure the Constitutional mandate of gender equality. Campaigns would also be conducted to increase awareness on health, education, nutrition, family planning, environment and children's issues. This sub-component will also involve the promotion of some female role models, whose services will be utilized to increase awareness of the potential opportunities for women and to convince both men and women that the household will benefit on the whole if women are also able to develop and avail themselves of such opportunities.
(ii) Implementation.
Private sector intermediaries would be used to design and implement different types of innovative campaigns to reach women at the grassroots level. Different media will be used to reach poor households in a social context where the majority of men and women are illiterate and where conventional forms of IEC tools like radios and television are not widely used. Separate draft guidelines have been prepared for the IEC component, which are currently being tested under the PHRD grant and will be finalized in April, 2000.
Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and Evaluation will be based on indicators identified in the project proposal of women's groups, financing agreement, and the list contained in the Development Credit Agreement. Regular and systematic collection of information and relevant data to monitor progress/performance of delivery mechanisms as well as the impact of the activities financed under the project will be undertaken. This is essential not only to be able to adjust the project mechanisms as necessary for effective project implementation but also for designing the expanded phase, if such a decision is made. At the beginning of the project, a simple, computerized national MIS will be in established at the central level while regions will enter data manually. Eighteen months after credit effectiveness, the system would be jointly reviewed by the Government and the Bank, and a decision made on expansion of the computerized system to the regions; regions can then adapt it based on their needs and capacity. As part of the loan conditions, a Mid-term review will also be conducted and relevant progress reports and beneficiary assesments will be prepared in time for discussion during the MTR. The M&E Component will also finance other participatory assessments and independent evaluations periodically.
The project period will cover five years.
Project activities would be managed at the regional levels, supported by a small coordinating and monitoring unit at the central level. The central financing window will be kept small with 3-4 staff at the most to coordinate/monitor the project and report to WAO, as well as help them to mainstream and strengthen their coordination and monitoring responsibilities (their mandate under the National Women's Policy).
The central office could include a financial officer, a procurement officer, a Grassroots coordinator and an MIS officer. There will be a Central Steering Committee that will reflect a wider range of expertise and will oversee and guide on policy and other issue (NGOs, such as CRDA and CERTWID will be included). This Steering Committee will be chaired by the Minister of Women's Affairs.
Regional Steering Committees will oversee activities in the different regions chaired by the head of the Regional Women's Affairs Bureau. A small financing window would be managed from within the Women's Affairs Bureaus. A Regional Manager for project activities would be located within the Women's Affairs Bureau, and will report to the Steering Committee. The Unit would include a capacity-building expert, promotion expert, as well as a financial consultant. At the regional level, it would be helpful if the offices were small but staff requirements kept flexible depending on regional needs. It was also suggested that capacity building and promotion officers could be shared by regions, with these experts being rotated from one reigonal office to another as each region begins its implementation phase.Depending on the capacity within the region, such coordinating unit may be even maintained at the wereda level. This would mean that a staff of the Regional Unit could be delegated to the wereda level until necessary capacity is built.
The project would strengthen existing local structures and linkages with grassroots entities like kebeles and development associations. There would not be a single, uniform implementation structure for all regions, given their varying capacity and different socioeconomic conditions. The goal would be to avoid creating any additional heavy institutional structures for coordination at the regional levels, and to utilize local structures to manage project activities. However as a LIL, the project can be open to testing out different models to see which one works best.Implementation by Intermediaries.
Intermediaries will act as implementing agencies, providing support in social mobilization, training, capacity building and guidance in identifying the group's action plan. They will also monitor and provide implementation support to women's groups. Intermediaries can provide a range of functions based on their qualifications and on the established need of women's groups (e.g. wherever possible women's groups will maintain their own finances, but in some cases the intermediary may need to oversee the funds). The intermediaries will be chosen based on specific pre-identified criteria to be defined in the operational manual (e.g., track record, location or proximity to women's groups, language, training experience). If they are from the private sector or NGOs, they will be hired as consultants. If they are extension agents or other government agents, they will be paid only expenses for travel and per diems for such services.
The financial arrangements at the grassroots level will be flexible to reflect the capacity of the groups and the intermediaries. Extent of accountability of intermediaries would need to be very clear in the manual. Where women's groups lack capacity and need to be strengthened, intermediaries may be held accountable for the women's groups' use of the funds. Annexes have been prepared with sample agreements between women and intermediaries. It was noted that differences between the rural and urban regions will need to be taken into account (for example, in terms of availability of banks and literacy rates).
The capacity building components will consist of two types of activities: first, those that can be designed in advance based on needs already identified across various groups (such as training women's groups and intermediaries in managing the cycle); and second, those which have to be tailor-made to meet the special needs of a group of beneficiaries, or facilitators depending on the nature of selected sub-projects. While project staff will actively identify capacity building requirements, given staffing constraints, training will be sub-contracted through a wide range of training institutions, NGOs, and consulting specialists.
In the case of the Grassroots Management Component, a training-of-trainers approach in order to develop a network of skilled facilitators and specialists will be utilized. As the goal will be to create as much self-reliance at the level of the women's groups as possible, special attention will be given to these training of trainer programs.
A panel of service providers would be established centrally, which regional units could tap for technical expertise. Where possible regional panels may be established, depending on the capacity available in the region.
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