This article discusses collaborations among participants in research on Adivasi (indigenous) women in Odisha, India. The focus is on the researcher–gatekeeper dialogue by unravelling spaces of inclusion and exclusion among partners in the research. We give voice to one particular gatekeeper, in an attempt to understand the power gatekeepers and researchers have and can exercise both together and within their own domains. The authors conclude that regardless of how much effort is made to create a level playing field, inequality continues to exist among participants. Hence, it becomes important to understand the role and power of each participant in a research process as well as their contribution to creating spaces of inclusion.

This article offers a critical perspective on gender mainstreaming in water management in India by exploring the linkages between pre-given notions of 'gender' in mainstreaming rhetoric and selected practices of water management. Evaluative studies have shown that gender mainstreaming is not effective if restricted to practices that try to make women visible or simply add a gender component in an intervention program. The much publicized 'Women, Water and Work' campaign initiated by India's Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) by and large excluded men, and the newly-instituted water sector reforms, which promote privatization and marginalize women in the process, are selected for analysis to distill the meanings of gender and social interests. Prospects for effective gender mainstreaming in water management will hinge on how the main agenda can address the transformation of gender relations and treat water as a human right so as to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in developing countries.

No abstract

Empowerment of women is high on the agenda in development plans and policies. NGOs have proved to have the potential to facilitate the process of empowerment among women. In this paper an attempt has been made to arrive at an operational definition of empowerment based on a literature review. The definition encompasses a few key elements such as power, autonomy and self-reliance, entitlement, participation, awareness development and capacity building. For a proper understanding of the process of empowerment, a systems view is presented in which all the relevant inter-linked elements have been analysed, such as the external agency (NGO), target group, development project/programme, immediate environments of the target group and external agency, and the macro-environment in which the target group and the NGO exist. Such a systems view would throw light on the differential impact of similar NGO initiated projects and processes on different target groups/communities. Further a seven-step process of assessment of women's empowerment is discussed within the systems framework. The steps are-assessments of the macro-environment, the external agency environment, the external agency, the target group environment, the target group, the development programme/ project and lastly integration of the assessment process. Such a framework will help the organisations involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of development projects from the point of view of understanding, incorporating and assessing empowerment related issues at the grassroot level.

No abstract