Empowering women at home and beyond: applying Japanese experiences for poverty alleviation

Abstract

The problem of poverty pockets in middle income countries has been identified as a major constraint for realising the Millennium Development Goals. There is an international need to develop programmes that alleviate poverty of identified populations without incurring their dependency on external aid. Aiming at developing such a programme, this article introduces the Japanese post-war Life Improvement Program and analyses the potential of its application to contemporary developing countries for poverty alleviation in a selfsufficient manner, intending to empower women. Issues such as gender relations, evaluating impacts, and linking practices to larger programmes and policies are also discussed.Le problème des poches de pauvreté dans les pays à revenu intermédiaire a été identifié comme une contrainte d'envergure pour la réalisation des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement. Il est nécessaire de mettre au point, au niveau international, des programmes d'atténuation de la pauvreté de populations identifiées sans engendrer leur dépendance vis-à-vis de l'aide externe. Cet article, dans le but de mettre au point un programme de ce type, introduit le Programme japonais d'amélioration des conditions de vie post-guerre (Japanese post-war Life Improvement Program) et analyse le potentiel de son application aux pays en développement actuels pour atténuer la pauvreté de manière autosuffisante, dans l'intention d'autonomiser les femmes. Les questions comme les relations entre les sexes, l'évaluation des impacts et l'association des pratiques à des programmes et politiques de plus grande envergure sont également traitées.La problemática atribuible a los focos de pobreza en los países de ingresos medios ha sido identificada como un obstáculo para lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio. A nivel internacional, se ha expresado el deseo de implementar programas que reduzcan la pobreza de ciertas poblaciones sin que ello fomente su dependencia de la ayuda externa. Con el fin de promover la implementación de un programa en este sentido, el presente artículo analiza el Programa para el Mejoramiento de la Vida, surgido durante los años de la posguerra en Japón. Así, estudia la posibilidad de que sus preceptos puedan ser aplicados en países en desarrollo contemporáneos a fin de atenuar la pobreza de manera autosuficiente. En ese sentido, su objetivo se orienta a empoderar a las mujeres. Por otra parte, el artículo aborda temas como las relaciones de género, la evaluación de impactos y la vinculación de las prácticas llevadas a cabo con programas y políticas de más amplio alcance.

Evaluation of groundwater quality in a rural community in North Central of Nigeria

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Measuring Women’s Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: Experiences of Hanji Women in Kashmir

“…1 Indeed, among the eight Millennium Development Goals that were settled to reduce poverty by 2015, third one was to ‘promote gender equality and empower women’ (Porter, 2013, p. 3). In line with these trends, recognising the social and economic values given to women’s work has started to receive considerable attention at the international and national levels (see Lewin, 2010; Murthy, Sagayam, & Rengalakshmi, 2008; Sato, 2014; World Bank, 2009). Such initiatives accentuate that investing in women unleashes economic potential and is good for economic growth and poverty reduction.…”