Project
Educating Rural Women in Haiti for Democratic Citizenship
- Haiti
- March 2012
The project objective was to strengthen the citizenship and democratic skills of women. With virtually no access to civic information and limited opportunities for women to participate in political life including access to positions that involve decision-making, especially in rural areas, the grantee aimed to raise awareness among local authorities and strategic civil society organizations in Haiti, so they would become more engaged in promoting a culture that recognizes the role of women in society, fostering in women and men alike a new perspective on their political participation.
The project was implemented in twenty rural communes, notably in very remote, virtually ignored sections of Haiti, which lacked basic, educational and health services. With regards to its objective, the project was fully aligned with current government priorities, and in the context of elections, it recognized the need for women to participate fully in the electoral process, as well as in political affairs and to become aware of their civil rights and rights as citizens.
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- Women's empowerment
- Haiti
- March 2012
The project should have included a phase for consolidation of its achievements. This would have helped provide sustainable and real opportunities for women to have a presence in public life. This could have been through an institutional partnership with all pertinent government institutions that participated in the project and should have involved continued social mobilization raising collective social awareness.
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- Women's empowerment
- Haiti
- March 2012
The gender mainstreaming approach had an excellent multiplier effect. Women participants went on to raise the awareness of men of women’s rights, so that they in turn could raise awareness among other men. This resulted in a high degree of ownership among the beneficiary populations.
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- Women's empowerment
- Haiti
- March 2012
The approach taken by the project prioritized strengthening the capacity of women facilitators and motivators from the rural communities and provided close monitoring and support. This enabled the project to capitalize on its achievements and to continuously adapt the intervention to the specifics of the context.
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- Women's empowerment
- Haiti
- March 2012
The training methodology was participatory dynamic and based on very concrete experiences that the participants could relate to. In addition, the direct involvement of men as indispensable actors in encouraging women’s participation in political affairs promoted changes in attitudes regarding women’s participation in decision-making bodies.
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- Women's empowerment
- Haiti
- March 2012
One of the most positive aspects of the project was its implementation in remote marginalized rural settings of Haiti. A real success was the emergence of women leaders and future candidates from sectors of the communes that were so deprived that at the time of project launch no services were in place and there had been no civic education for women democratic action.