seep annual conference 2015 inclusion and resilience: the next challenge graduation model: do women...

SEEP Annual Conference 2015Inclusion and Resilience: The Next Challenge

Graduation Model: Do Women Benefit More

Than Men

A Carefully Sequenced Intervention


The Five Components of Graduation Model


What is Women’s Economic Empowerment, in practical terms?

• Change in– Access and use of assets– Ownership and control of assets (decision-making)– Having a voice, representation

• Accessing markets on competitive and equitable terms


Evidence from Rwanda Graduation programme – Concern Worldwide

Poverty Index – Disaggregated by Sex


Evidence from Rwanda Graduation programme – Concern Worldwide

Consumption Assets – Men and Women



Reaching Graduation


Multiplying the Graduation Experience

Bangladesh (BRAC)

RCTs conducted by IPA & J-PAL in:

▪ Ethiopia▪ Ghana▪ Honduras▪ India▪ Pakistan▪ Peru


Evidence from Six Randomized Evaluations


Evidence from Six Randomized Evaluations

Women Empowerment

Data source: IPA

Comparison to the BRAC Results


Data source: IPA

A Cost Effective Model


WfWI’s Current Program Model 12-month women’s empowerment program

PLUS

• Men’s engagement activities• Health partnerships and referrals• Opening bank accounts and setting up VSLA• Referrals to microfinance institutions• Follow-up support to graduates and cooperatives

Income and savings are higher 2 years after participation in the program


Participation in networks and community life are higher 2 years after the program


Women’s agency and voice remain high 2 years after participation in the program


‘Terintambwe’ in Burundi

• ‘Terintambwe’ (“step forward”) is a graduation model programme implemented by Concern Worldwide in two provinces of Burundi.

• As well as aiming to graduate poor households out of extreme poverty, Terintambwe aims to empower participants, especially women.

• Indicators of women’s empowerment include decision-making within the household, as well as women’s participation in community institutions.

• Because empowerment is difficult to quantify, we collected qualitative data from Terintambwe participants.



Practical empowerment – material resourcesMany families that were divided by poverty were reunited, because the resources provided by Terintambwe reduced the need for women and men to migrate for work.

“My daughter who was a nanny in Rwanda came back to live at home because life was unbearable for her, but at home the situation had improved.” “My husband used to leave us alone and go to Rwanda for a while to look for a job; he would come back once every two years but since Terintambwe started the movements stopped.” “My wife and I used to go alternately to Rwanda to work there for a month but since Terintambwe started we do not go there anymore.”

However, this might have also increased pressure on women as extended family members moved in to take advantage of Terintambwe resources.

“My sister’s child who is an orphan from both parents has moved to my household and I pay school fees for her because I am better off.”

Terintambwe allowed women to take advantage of business opportunities.

“I was part of an association of tea cultivators of my ‘colline’ before Terintambwe started, but I started being active in the association after joining the program, because that is when I was able to pay for membership fees – I used the third monthly cash transfer that I received.”


Strategic empowerment – intra–household levelCoaching included advising couples on how to manage Terintambwe resources and how to shift towards joint decision-making.

“I used to make decisions alone as I would consider that to be a man’s role in the household and my wife was often angry at me. However, we now make decisions together.”

No tensions arose in participants’ households; the programme has rather contributed to lower tensions as poverty is less than it was before.

“We plan and I make decisions together with my wife. It used to be different in previous years as we used to often fight, because we were very poor. Now we manage our income together.”

“Before the programme started, we were so poor that it constantly caused tensions between my husband and I. Sometimes my husband would go to drink yet we did not have food at home and we would often fight. Since I started IGAs, there is better communication between us because I earn an income and contribute to providing for my family.”


Strategic empowerment – community levelTerintambwe participants were empowered to invest in building social capital.

“There is a neighbour who invited us for a wedding and we gave him a contribution, which we could not do before we participated in Terintambwe.”

The transformation in living conditions that Terintambwe financed also led to a social transformation in terms of the respect they received from their neighbours.

“People used to mock me because I lived in a house covered with grass but since I built a better house they stopped and respect me.”

Women gained confidence to participate in community activities.

“I used not to go in public because I had dirty clothes but now that I can buy soap and clean my clothes and myself I am not ashamed anymore to go to places where people are gathered. Today I can go to the commune office, which would have never happened if I were still looking bad.”

“We are now more invited in meetings and social events however we used to not attend such events because we were ashamed of our appearance; we had dirty clothes. Today we attend more events.”

Some women are achieving positions of power in their communities, thanks to the boost to their self-confidence that Terintambwe has given them.

“I was recently chosen to be part of the women committee of the commune level. Terintambwe has also helped me dare to speak up in public confidently which was the other reason I was selected in the committee.”


Congruence between economic and strategic empowermentTerintambwe strengthens economic and social networks, because it allows for reciprocity.

“Now we do borrow from and lend things to our neighbours, but before the program started they used not to lend us anything because we did not have much they could borrow from us in return.”

“My relationships with my neighbours have improved, especially because of the service of charging phones I provide to them.”


Contradictions between economic and strategic empowermentReceiving cash from the Terintambwe program caused intra-household disputes in some cases.

“There used to be tensions between my wife and I at the beginning of the programme because I used to waste the month cash I received from Concern on alcohol; I would then come home drunk and create disputes at home.”

But in other households cash transfers alleviated the stress and tension that poverty causes, and led to more harmonious relationships.

“We used to fight with our wives who would accuse us of spending the little family income in bars, but since our financial situation improved because of the program tensions calmed down.”

Sometimes an intervention was needed by the NGO staff to achieve an empowering outcome for women.

“There were tensions with my husband. He wasted most of the monthly cash transfers on other women, but I stood up and started buying more valuable items such as materials for house construction. The case manager helped us with mediation. Also, he appointed me as the person to receive the money at the post office. Now I do not have problems with my husband.”

Conclusion

• Graduation is not only about crossing an income poverty line, it is also about ‘graduating’ out of the psychological ‘poverty trap’ of low self-esteem, low self-confidence, lack of control, and social exclusion.

• Women’s empowerment must be disaggregated between their practical needs (material resources) and their strategic needs (agency and power).

• Both of these dimensions – increasing women’s resources, and increasing women’s agency – contribute to women’s economic empowerment.

• The impact of Terintambwe on women participants is just as positive on their agency as it is on their practical needs.


seep annual conference 2015 inclusion and resilience: the next challenge graduation model: do women...

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