The Hindu 25.11.2009
“Need to enhance women empowerment”
Special Correspondent
| Through promotion of leadership skills to ensure their representation in polls |
The project is being executed in 10 districts of Rajasthan
JAIPUR: Experts attending a workshop on “Women’s political empowerment and leadership” here on Tuesday emphasised the need for multi-level capacity enhancement of the fair sex in the run-up to the panchayat and urban body elections due next year in Rajasthan and evolving leadership skills among them to ensure their representation in the polls.
The four-day residential State-level workshop has been organised by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) as part of its ongoing project for empowerment of women representatives.
The project is being executed in 10 districts of the State since April last year.
PRIA Continuing Education Director Martha Farrell, inaugurating the workshop, said women’s empowerment through the promotion of leadership skills would help them participate effectively in local governance and emerge as “change agents”.
As a global institution engaged in promoting participatory approach and strengthening democratic governance, PRIA has carried out the project for women in Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur and Ajmer districts.The majority of the 85 participants in the workshop are those selected from among the women elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies who attended the district-level events during the past year-and-a-half.
PRIA State coordinator Krishna Tyagi said the training at the workshop would build up women’s capacity to influence the governance process, strengthen their networks and enable them to collectively articulate their concerns and priorities in the public sphere.
Mr. Tyagi said the workshop would have different sessions on gender issues, campaigning, networking, a quiz on governance and general knowledge and communication skills with the objective of enhancing self-confidence among women which would create an enabling environment for their participation in local governance.
