EMPOWERING WOMEN IN ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES THROUGH NGO

PROGRAM
(A Sociological Study of Dhodeni Village)

A Dissertation Submitted to
Tribhuwan University
Department Of Sociology/Anthropology
Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus
Exhibition Road, Kathmandu

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course of

Thesis Writing (SA560) of Master of Arts in Sociology

Submited by:
Ghanendra Acharya
T.U. Regd. 5-2-37-481-2005
Symbol No. 400806
2017

i
 ABSTRACT

An Abstract of the Dissertation of Ghanendra Acharya for the Masters of arts in

Sociology submitted on 2017-12-27.

Title: Empowering women in economic development activities through ngo

program

Abstract approved by:

…………………………
Mr. Vishnu Acharya

(Dissertation Supervisor)

Empowerment means transforming existing power relations in favors of those

(women, disadvantaged group and more generally the poor) who faced severe
limitations in exercising power and making voluntary choices. Empowerment
concerns the transformative use of power, in which a dominant agent also exercises
his power in such a way that the sub-ordinate agent learns certain skills that undercut
the power differential between him/her and the dominant agent.

A number of studies have shown that sustainable development is impossible without

women's empowerment and gender equality. Consequently, it is asserted that gender
equality is both a human rights issue and a precondition for, and indicator of,
sustainable development.

This study has used primary data. The primary source of data was used for the
qualitative research. The structured set of questionnaires was distributed to the
women’s and was collected after the certain period of time.

The study population consisted of all the women of dhodeni village of gaindakot
VDC. The total household of 119 questionnaires was distributed but only 50 were
i
collected. In the study women in the formal employment or civil service are excluded
and only rural and urban centers are taken as a sample. Sample was chosen from
sampling technique. Data was collected with the help of structured questionnaire.

This study revealed that higher the economic status of women, higher would be
participation on women empowerment and hence NGO should provide proper pay to
women’s to upgrade their economic status. The study found that higher the decision
making authority provided, higher would women empowerment and hence NGO
should provide authority to women to take decision.

……………………
Ghanendra Acharya
Date: 2017-12-27

ii
 COPYRIGHT
@By Ghanendra Acharya
2017
All rights reserved

iii
 DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this dissertation to women of dodheni municipality who

worked hard in uplifting the economic activities of the community and the life of
women and family in all.

……………………
Ghanendra Acharya
Date: 2017-12-27

iv
v
 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the candidature for
any other degree.

……………………
Ghanendra Acharya
Date: 2017-12-27

vi
 Tribhuwan University

Department of Sociology / Anthropology

Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus

Exhibition Road, Kathmandu

Letter of Recommendation
This is to certify that Mr Ghanendra Acharya has prepared the dissertation
entitled “Empowering women on economic development through NGO” under my
guidance and supervision in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the course of
thesis writing (SA-560) of Masters of Arts in sociology. Therefore this dissertation
report is recommended for its evualation.

…………………………
Vishnu Prasad Acharya
Supervisor
Date: Dec, 27th 2017

vii
 Tribhuwan University
Department of Sociology / Anthropology
Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus
Exhibition Road, Kathmandu

LETTER OF APPROVAL
A dissertation entitled “Empowering women on economic development
through NGO (A Sociological Study)" has been submitted by Ghanendra
Acharya in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Arts in Sociology in Humanities and Social Science.

APPROVED

….. ....................................
Mr. Vishnu Prasad Acharya
(Dissertation Supervisor)

....................................
Mr. Tilak Biswakarma
(External Examiner)

.......................................
Bala Ram Acharya
(Head of the Department)

I understand that my dissertation will become a part of the permanent

collection of Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus Library. My signature below authorizes
release of my dissertation to any reader upon request for any scholarly purposes.

Ghanendra Acharya, Degree Candidate

Date: 2017-12-27

viii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This dissertation is prepared as a partial fulfillment of Degree in Masters of
Arts in Sociology. The completion of this study is the product of cooperation and
support of several people and sources. The process of preparing successful
dissertation requires enormous time, knowledge and support and this research study
has not been done by my individual attempt. Therefore, I would like to express my
appreciation in deepest respect to all those who have been a part of this process in
every small and big way.
Foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to my dissertation supervisor Mr. Vishnu
Acharya, whose input and guideline proved to be invaluable throughout the course of
this study and for its completion. Without his thoughtful encouragement and careful
supervision, this thesis would never have taken this shape.
My acknowledgement goes to the Head of Sociology Department Mr. Bala Ram
Acharya, for guiding me through the initial phase of thesis preparation. I would also
like to thank all the faculties of Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus for providing help in
every possible way.
This research sample analysis would not have been possible without the help
from "dodheni municipality" for giving excess to their documentation while
considering the usefulness of my research study towards women empowerment for
their thoughtful word of advice during group interview session; and to all the 50
participant who agreed to participate in an hour and, half long research session,
without their co-operation this research study, data collection and assumption would
have been impossible.
To all the mentioned personnel - for all their work, dedication and tireless
effort in building strong bridge within Dodheni community.

……………………
Ghanendra Acharya
Date: 2017-12-27

ABBREVIATION:

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UNDP: United Nation Development Program

NGO: Non Government Organization

INGO: International Non Government Organization

VDC: Village Development Committee

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization

IFAD: The International Fund for Agricultural Development

UN: United Nation

UNFPA: The United Nations Population Fund

SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

SWC: Social Welfare Council

FEDEN: Federation of Democratic Non Government Organization

RECPHEC: Resource center for primary health care Nepal

CBMFI: Capacity building of Micro Finance Institution

SHS: Solar Home System

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter of Recommendation..............................................................................................i
LETTER OF APPROVAL............................................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................................iii
1.1 General background..............................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the Problem......................................................................................5
1.3 Research Questions:-.............................................................................................8
1.4 Purpose of the study..............................................................................................8
1.5 Significance of the Study......................................................................................8
1.6 Organization of the Study Report..........................................................................9
CHAPTER-II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE..............................................................10
2.1 Theoretical reviews.............................................................................................10
Review of Nepalese studies..................................................................................15
2.2 Conceptual framework........................................................................................19
CHAPTER-III: RESEARCH METHODS...................................................................23
3.1 Description of sample..........................................................................................23
3.2 Research design...................................................................................................23
3.3 Population & sample...........................................................................................24
3.4 Source of data......................................................................................................24
3.5 Method of analysis..............................................................................................24
3.6 The model............................................................................................................25
3.7 Habitus theory.....................................................................................................25
3.8 Limitations of the study.......................................................................................27
CHAPTER-IV: RESULT AND DISCUSSION...........................................................29
4.1 Analysis of data...................................................................................................29
4.2 Respondent profile..............................................................................................29
4.1.1 Demographic characteristics.......................................................................31
Analysis of women empowerment.......................................................................33
Analysis of fund...................................................................................................36
Analysis of status.................................................................................................40
4.3 Descriptive analysis.............................................................................................42
4.4 Pearson’s correlation analysis.............................................................................43
4.5 Regression analysis.............................................................................................44
CHAPTER-V: INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS. 46
5.1 NGOs Working in Dhodeni Village....................................................................46

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 5.2 Programs carried out by the NGO.......................................................................48
5.3 Achievements of the Program.............................................................................51
5.4 Contributions of the Programs............................................................................55
CHAPTER-VI: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION...................................................62
6.1 Summary.............................................................................................................62
6.2 Conclusions.........................................................................................................65
6.3 Recommendations...............................................................................................66
6.4 Scope for Future Research..................................................................................66
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................67

xii
 CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION
1.1 General background

Women empowerment is the process of generating a building capability of women to

exercise control over one's own life. It is generating understand to mean the ability of
women to make choices to improve their well beings that of their families and
communities. Empowered women take more active roles in the house and community.
When women take active roles in the household and community decision-making,
their families will be better equipped to confront the challenges of poverty, improve
family health and well-being and increase household income. In this context, women's
empowerment is helpful to reduce the current issues of poverty (Dhakhwa, 2001).

Empowerment means transforming existing power relations in favors of those

(women, disadvantaged group and more generally the poor) who faced severe
limitations in exercising power and making voluntary choices. Empowerment
concerns the transformative use of power, in which a dominant agent also exercises
his power in such a way that the sub-ordinate agent learns certain skills that undercut
the power differential between him/her and the dominant agent. In this sense, the
notion of empowerment is inescapably bound up with the condition of
disempowerment and refers to the processes by which these who have been denied the
ability to make choices acquire such ability (UNDP, 2004). Jejeebhoy (2001)

indicates that less authority of women in decision making and mobility,

limited access to economic resources, and threat and violence of their
husbands in Pakistan and in north and south India.

The study on women's status in developing countries reports widespread inequality

between the genders. Inequality between women and men takes the form of economic
inequality as well as differentials in education, health care, rights, and access to a
number of essential resources and differences in power in all spheres of life. In 1994,
at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo,
development organizations agreed that women’s empowerment is necessary for
important development outcomes: “the empowerment and autonomy of women, and
the improvement of their political, social, and economic and health status, constitute
an important end in themselves and one that is essential for achieving sustainable

1
development.” Gender equality and women’s empowerment is necessary for the
improvement of women and men’s well-being, for social justice, and for the
achievement of development goals (Gender Equality, 2010).

Women’s empowerment is typically discussed in relation to political, social and

economic empowerment, but the economic empowerment of women has received
particular attention and is often cited as one of the most important ways to promote
gender equality, reduce poverty and improve the well-being of not only women, but
children and societies. Economic empowerment includes women’s participation in
economic activities as well as women’s economic decision-making and power.
Employment, specifically paid employment, is seen as the fundamental component of
economic empowerment (Ikeduru, 2002).

A number of studies have shown that sustainable development is impossible without

women's empowerment and gender equality. Consequently, it is asserted that gender
equality is both a human rights issue and a precondition for, and indicator of,
sustainable development (Alvarez and Lopez, 2013). It is also affirmed that gender
disparity is prevalent across the cultures of the world and that without serious steps to
tackle it, sustainable development cannot be achieved (Stevens, 2010). Furthermore,
UN Women (2014) rightly outlined that to create a just and sustainable world and to
enhance women's roles in sustaining their families and communities, achieving gender
equality is paramount. On the other hand, if gender equality is not maintained, it will
retard the country's development. In line with this idea, Stevens (2010) interestingly
underlines that “an increasing number of studies indicate that gender inequalities are
extracting high economic costs and leading to social inequities and environmental
degradation around the world.”

Therefore, one can understand from such explanations that without the equal inclusion
of women in all areas of development initiatives, all the above-mentioned components
of sustainable development cannot be achieved. However, gender inequalities across
economic, social and environmental dimensions remain widespread and persistent
(UN Women, 2014); Ethiopia's case is also very much apparent. Being cognizant of
the negative effects of the prevailing gender disparity, the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development (2008) affirmed that “any development initiative has to engage
and ensure that both men and women contribute and benefit equally from it.” The

2
researcher, being firmly convinced by this assumption, further argues that women
should be empowered and equally allowed to contribute to and benefit from all
dimensions of development so as to bring about sustainability.

Therefore, in this paper, women's empowerment and gender equality are discussed as
a means to bring about sustainable development in the country. In his analysis, the
researcher goes beyond those three pillars of sustainable development mentioned
above, due to the conviction that more issues can be considered for the attainment of
sustainable development. The argument of Bossel (1999) corroborates the assertion
that “sustainable development of human society has environmental, material,
ecological, social, economic, legal, cultural, political and psychological dimensions
that require attention”. Hence, for greater emphasis and detail, the paper also
discusses political development/good governance and human rights protection
separately, even if these are, in one way or another, included among the three pillars
of sustainable development. The reason stems from the fact that they play equally
important and interrelated roles with those three key pillars. In addition, the paper
reveals the fact that all the issues/areas discussed require the prevalence of gender
equality in order to result in a sustainable development. One should keep in mind that
all the points raised are very much interrelated and interdependent and that they
reinforce each other.

The determinants of women’s empowerment must be examined and identified to

understand how women can be a catalyst for social change in their communities.
Marriage, kinship and household relationships are micro level institutions that form
interpersonal gender dynamics which lead to social exclusion and need to be
addressed in policies (Boender et al, 2002). Household level statistics are important to
investigate to be able to reflect the situation of all individuals within the household.
To target women’s empowerment, intra-household divisions need to be included in
the concerns relevant for policy-makers in the world today (Sen, 2000). Abanihe
(1996) concludes that in Underdeveloped countries, uneducated women experience
bad conditions because they depend on men. Gender inequality in education prevents
economic growth

Women empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all
spheres of society, including participation in decision making process and access to

3
power, land, and ngo loan are fundamental for the achievement of equality, peace and
societal development. Longwe (1997) concludes that empowerment involves the
transformation of patriarchal societies through a process of enlightenment,
conscientisation and collective organization. Empowerment in this context means
assistance which may be in form of cash, materials or training provided to women to
enable them influence changes in their socio-economic status and to use their
capacities to harness the hidden potentials in material and human resources. Women
can be empowered through provision of education and training opportunities to
improve their skills and enhance their access to credit facilities.

Social development is a key pillar of sustainable development. And social

transformation as a component of sustainable development is unthinkable without the
involvement of women (Solomon and Memar, 2014). Even though Africa has
witnessed commendable achievements in social development, its progress on gender
and women's empowerment indicators is slow; it still has to face considerable
challenges within post-2015 development frameworks (ECA, 2015). As part of the
continent, the same also holds true for Ethiopia, where the gender-based problem is
still very much prevalent and impedes social development. In this respect, the
researcher looked into the role of empowering and educating women in reducing
population growth, maintaining healthy family/society and avoiding the badly
socialized, stereotyped perception of society towards women.

The world population is growing at an alarming rate. In this regard, the fast
population growth in Africa, and most importantly in Ethiopia, is well-known. Also
remarkable is the role of the undermined life of women. As one instrument of
women's empowerment (OECD, 2012), educational access should be equally given to
women. The education of girls and women plays a tremendous role in social
development. However, Ethiopian women are not well educated compared with men.
Their access to education has been hindered by traditional customary attitudes
(FDRE, n.d.; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (2008)). For this reason,
the knowledge of women regarding family planning is very poor, especially in rural
areas (Korra, 2002). As a result, they produce children in an unplanned way, thereby
contributing to the alarming population increase. Currently, Ethiopia is the most
populous country in Eastern Africa and the second-most populous in Africa, next to

4
Nigeria (FDRE, 2011). Such an increase in population poses a challenge to the
sustainable development of the country by constraining the capacity of the
government to provide social provisions such as education, health-care, and
infrastructure (Environmental Protection Authority, 2012).

Health is also one aspect of social development, which is strongly related to other
sustainable development outcomes such as, inter alia, better education and higher
productivity (ECA, 2015). Health-related problems will increase human costs from
different directions, including health-care costs, and ultimately end up plunging
people into poverty (ECA, 2015). Africa still faces the world's most dramatic public
health crisis (ECA, 2015). Although there have been improvements, from the
perspective of gender a great deal is required to be done in Ethiopia to improve the
health status of women, which constitute a significant portion of the population. For
instance, the majority of HIV/AIDS victims in the country are women of reproductive
age (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (2008)). In addition, Ethiopia is
one of the countries in Africa where there exists a high rate of maternal mortality
despite strong efforts being made by the government through intervention measures
(Solomon and Memar, 2014; Environmental Protection Authority, 2012). These are
all partly attributed to the illiteracy of women. Moreover, women's illiteracy will
adversely affect the health of the family as a whole. Thus, it is clear that educating
women is helpful to increasing the well-being of families and children (OECD, 2008).
Hence, women should be educated to keep their health and their families' health, so as
to improve the overall social development and economic growth of the country by
reducing the loss of a productive working force. Furthermore, there are gender-
specific diseases as well as diseases related to reproduction, and various socio-
economic factors (OECD, 2008). Providing women with due care in these respects as
well is imperative to maintaining their health and the labour force of the country.

Moreover, to bring about social development, removing the badly socialized

stereotyped perception of society towards women is also equally important. Gender is
a socially and culturally constructed identity (King and Mason, 2001). Culture and
social practices determine the lesser role, jobs, and status ascribed to Ethiopian
women, whereas they were not born for that. The stereotyped perception of society
towards women is detrimental to the well-being of women as well as to the

5
development of the entire country. There is a need to remove such culturally and
socially deep-rooted attitudes so that women will be seen as equal to men and enjoy
their rights, determine their lives, and fully contribute towards the development of
their country. Unless such detrimental perceptions are addressed at the grass roots
level, all other efforts will not address gender inequality effectively. For instance,
though the current government of Ethiopia is working aggressively on the protection
and promotion of women's rights and gender equality, deeply rooted cultural attitudes
still impede any practical effects (Endalcachew, 2015).

It is worth noting that, to achieve socio-cultural transformation and thereby attain

sustainable development by alleviating the aforementioned socially constructed wrong
perceptions towards women, empowering women at the family level is crucial. We
human beings are socialized to be who we are today via a number of agents, namely
our peers, school, the media, religion, our family, etc (Marsh, 2006). Family is the
psychological agent of society, as parents, who are the representatives of the social
character of their society or class, transmit to the child what we may call the
psychological atmosphere or the spirit of a society just by being who they are (Marsh,
2006). Therefore, attitudes and perceptions developed towards women regarding their
status, role, and jobs are importantly learnt from family. Therefore, one cannot
undermine the role of the mother in particular in shaping the behaviour of children. It
is the mother who, from early childhood on, up brings the children and who have
frequent face-to-face interaction with children in their early years. Hence, when the
mother is educated, equally treated, empowered, and has a say in the treatment of
children and the management of the family, it is less likely that the children will have
badly constructed, discriminatory perceptions towards women. Thus, the stereotyped
perception of society should be addressed at the family level so as to transform
society in general and to bring about sustainable development.

Women need well empowerment programmes to enable them participate fully in

economic activities. However, cultural norms, religion as in Islam, inadequate
government policies for women upliftment are the hindrances to women
empowerment (Ocholi, 1999).

Economic activities are those activities that are concerned with production,
distribution, exchange and consumption of food and services. It focuses on the way in

6
which individuals, groups, business enterprises and government seek to achieve
efficiency in any economic objective (Lekachman, 2007).

Experience has shown that women have equal abilities with men and can compete
favorably when given equal opportunities. Today, over 50% of the world’s women
still face gender discrimination in laws, policies and practices. Their work and
contributions have remained largely unnoticed and taken for granted. This remains the
fact because societies have traditionally failed to recognize the contributions of
women to the development of the nation. It is against this background that the
researcher seeks to investigate the various economic activities engaged in by women,
their constraints and challenges and how to empower them to increase on their level
of participation. This will enhance their earnings, social status and contributions to
their families and the society at large for self-reliance and development of the nation
(Flann and Oldham, 2007).

In context of Nepal, women empowerment is one of the most influential factors of

poverty reduction of the present globalized era. It has direct and indirect impact over
development process. The meaning and definition of it varies according to socio-
cultural norms and values, and economic condition of the society. It is study, the term
women's empowerment has been viewed through the three basic components of
empowerment. These are social empowerment, economic empowerment and political
empowerment (Bhattarai, 2009).

Political Empowerment is another factor of empowerment process. Conceptually,

both negative (freedom from arbitrary arrest, exclusion) as well as positive/freedom to
vote, participate in political life) aspects of political freedom should be captured by
focusing on both the formal availability and actual exercise of political freedom by
the people. It advocates about the meaningful participation of women in decision
making process and social activities. Moreover, it advocates about the provision of
rights to women (Sharma, 2061).

The government has acknowledged the role of INGOs/NGOs in performing the

constructive activities and socio-economic development of Nepalese society. Today
there are no social issues which are touched by NGOs initiative program. NGOs have
added a lot in the development of the country as well as on the issue of human rights

7
through the means of advancing awareness across the country. NGOs are doing their
best to touch upon the issues that has not been addressed by the government of Nepal
(Karki, 2060).

NGOs are established to empower the disadvantage community of the rural areas. The
NGOs are involved in reforming the society through the elimination of caste and
social discrimination, protecting of human rights, poverty alleviation, good
governance, legal education, human rights, women's rights, children's rights, freedom
of language and religion. NGOs are trying their best to address the issues that the
government has not been able to address. The goals of the NGOs are to serve the
people impartially and with no intention of earning profits, towards poor and the
marginalized communities. They work for the welfare and upliftment of the
marginalized, neglected and discriminated groups of people. Nepalese society assigns
strict gender rules for men and women that lead to the discriminatory practices against
them. Studies have shown that Nepalese women are predominantly engaged in the
professional, technical and managerial fields. Most of the Nepalese women are
deprived from the decision making authority which is the major and decisive part of
women's empowerment.

NGO of Gaindakot VDC,Sahamati has conducted the program of Samunnati to

empower the people of Dhodeni Village. Samunnati Program is working in different
places with the help of INGO Oxfam, Hong Kong. Main vision of this program is
empowering their socio-culture and economic development in different marginalized
groups of the rural areas. Precisely, their program is involved to uplift the backward,
poor, uneducated and marginalized people of the remote areas.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Empowerment is the process of obtaining basic opportunities for disadvantage people

either directly these people, or through the help of non-marginalized people who share
their access to opportunities. Empowerment includes encouraging development of the
skills, self-sufficiency with a focus on eliminating the future need for charity or
welfare in the individuals of the groups based on disability race, ethnicity, religion,
gender who have been excluded from decision making process from the social
structure.Blanchard says, “Empowerment is not giving people power, people already

8
have plenty of power, in the wealth of their knowledge and motivation, to do their
jobs magnificently” (Blanchard et al, 1996).

Economic empowerment helps women in providing access to resources and

opportunities in the economy. Education is a resource that women can get easily as
compared to other resources which will lead to their development in society. Women
empowerment leads to economic growth. Women should empower themselves.
Developing organizations support women empowerment including health, education,
reproductive rights, political participation, and microcredit (Oxaal, 1997).

Abanihe (1996) concludes that in Underdeveloped countries, uneducated women

experience bad conditions because they depend on men. Gender inequality in
education prevents economic growth. Societies that do not invest in women have to
pay a cost for it like less income and passive growth.

Jejeebhoy (2001) indicates that less authority of women in decision making and
mobility, limited access to economic resources, and threat and violence of their
husbands in Pakistan and in north and south India. Working women are confident
about their future and have authority over their own lives. They meet their own and
family needs and also provide support to their old parents. Education provides
information to women about their rights, household decision making, self-confidence,
respect for others’ advice and information and freedom in voting (Kabeer, 2011).

Kabeer (2012) concludes that women have poor access to property and legal rights i.e.
land, water and other natural resources. Lack of knowledge of legislation and poor
implementation reduces the capability of women to speak for their rights. In order to
access and compete in markets of developing countries, women entrepreneurs have to
experience hindrances like lack of mobility, ability and professional skills relative to
men (World Ngo, FAO & IFAD, 2009).

Middle-class Middle Eastern women speak for their rights, want social and political
change, and participate in campaigns (Moghadam, V. M., 2003). Poverty can be
eliminated by addressing gender disparity in terms of rights, resources, opportunities
and political power. Women are unequal to men in all aspects in the developing
world. Gender disparity is more among poor people. Gender inequality hinders
development and has a negative effect on well-being of people (World Ngo, 2001).

9
In the context of Nepal, this study reviews the evidence on both sides of the
empowerment–development relationship.Economic development, however, is not
enough to bring about complete equality between men and women. Policy action is
still necessary to achieve equality between genders. Such policy action would be
unambiguously justified if empowerment of women also stimulates further
development, starting a virtuous cycle. This essay argues that empowering women
does indeed change society’s choices in important ways, although the usual depiction
of women as always making the best decisions for long-term development is what
exaggerated. The conclusion here is a more balanced what more pessimistic picture of
the potential for women’s empowerment and economic development to mutually
reinforce each other than that offered by the more strident voices on either side of the
debate (Karki, 2005).

Nepalese communities are heterogeneous in culture. Women are economically

dependent of family husband and more members of the society. Women have less
opportunity to enhance their own capacity and only big talks and plans cannot
empower women. Empowerment process of women for one community may not be
applicable to other community. The breaking barriers towards empowering women
can't be possible with one single approach. The empowerment of community women
is a complex process it needs a holistic approach to measure the desired level of
empowerment from the specified climate. Women have less opportunity to enhance
their own capacity and boost their won morals. Women have a range of skills required
to successfully introduce, manage implement and evaluate social changes (Bhattarai,
2009).

Nepalese society assigns strict gender rules for men and women that lead to the
discriminatory practices against them. Nepalese women are predominantly engaged in
the professional, technical and managerial fields. Most of the Nepalese women are
deprived from the decision making authority which is the major and decisive part of
women's empowerment. It is an astonishing fact that still a daughter cannot take
decision about her life partner even in the so-called educated family. It clarifies the
real social status of Nepalese women. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand about
the gender discrimination and its impact to the development process of the society.
That is why; current status of the gender discrimination is a serious threat to the
society and the state itself (Sharma, 2004).

10
Kabeer (1997) found that access to earnings did not in itself serve as evidence of
improvements in bargaining power in the home, but that women’s work and wages
allowed for the theoretical possibility, though not usually acted upon, of being able to
support oneself and one's children if they left their husband and of being able to return
to one’s natal family as a contributing member.

From the above, there is very limited research carried out on women empowerment on
economic practices in context of Nepal and the developing countries. Therefore, this
study also finds the influence of women empowerment and participation in economic
activities of Nepal.

1.3 Research questions:-

This study, therefore, deals with the following issues:

1. What are the major economic activities performed NGO for women
empowerment in Dhodeni Village?

2. How women empowerment has been changed through NGO program?

1.4Purpose of the study

The main purpose of the study was to determine the level of women empowerment
and participation in economic activities through NGO program. The specific
objectives are as follows:

1. To find out the economic activities performed by women to generate

income through NGO programs.

2. To analyze the changes in empowerment level with NGO program.

1.5 Significance of the study

Socio-culture and economic issues has to be addressed in order to make any country
develop and we are lacking all those qualities in aspect to more ahead.We can see
NGOs/INGOs mainly focus for different rural areas, where people are not been able
to cherish basic needs like food, health, education etc. Those castesare backward from
society who couldn't do anything for them by themselves alone. So that NGOs/INGOs

11
plays aguidance roleto mix-up & stay in society, to preserve their culture, religion,
activities, education, decision making in household and society, politicalparticipation
and many more (Shrestha, 2006)

In Dhodeni Village, NGOs are contributing with the different programs for their
social, cultural and economic activities,which will be fruitful to their entire society
because the government will also put initiate to make important decisions targeting
different castes, ethnic groups for their social, cultural and economic activities.

The study area has very wide scope for the roles of NGOs in empowering women for
their social, cultural and economic development. Is the program of Sahamati
beneficiary or not for the development of these areas' women is the primary question
to be solved. The time and resource limitation are confined to study about them.
Therefore, study is proposed to be done on the people of Dhodeni Villege and the
roles of NGOs in empowering those women.

This study focuses onempoweringwomen through NGO programs, where Dhodeni

Villege of Nawalparasi District is taken as a case study. Sahamati (NGO) of
Gaindakot VDC is conducting programs for the development of the study area.
Researcher is trying to find how Sahamati’s programs are empowering the women
and whether it is creating positive impact towards the people of the study area.

1.6 Organization of the study report

This thesis has been divided into six chapters. The first chapter is a brief introduction
of the research where background, statement of the problems, objectives of the study,
significant of the study, organizational structure of the study is described.In the
second chapter, a review of literature relevant to this study has been done. This
chapter basically discusses review of studies, evolution of NGOs in Nepal and NGOs
and Rural Development. Third chapter contains of the research methods, collection of
the relevant date and its presentation and Conceptual Framework.In the fourth chapter
setting, characteristics and population of the study area have been described. The
chapter fifth describes the intervention programs and their contributions have been
described. The last chapter describes summary and conclusion of the study.

12
 CHAPTER-II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This section provides a review of major empirical studies associated with the women
empowerment and participation in economic activities. Many authors have given their
conclusions on the similar study supported with their findings. The result shown by
one greatly supports or might vary with the other since it depends on the availability
of data and scope of the study. The reviews of empirical works made on different
periods along with major conclusions are presented in this section. In addition,
reviews of related Nepalese studies have also been made.
The review of literature in this study has been organized as follows:
2.1Theoretical reviews
2.2Empirical reviews
2.3Policy Review

2.1Theoretical Reviews

Several studies have examined the linkage between women empowerment and
participation in economic activities in general, and the authors have referred to
various foreign studies on this topic, to enhance the theoretical background, and
models used, in addition to previous studies results. This section includes listing
foreign studies with a brief description of each.

Reddy (1990) discussed the socio-economic factors on working conditions of women

construction laborers in Hyderabad. Wage discriminations and sexual exploitation are
said to be the constant cry of these women. They are placed lowest in the construction
activities.

Sangwan (1990) based on gender, a study in rural Haryana found that cooking;
fetching water, washing, house maintenance and child care were the major concerns
of almost all families in all the selected districts which accounted for about 81/4 hours
per day. About 4 hours for cooking and meal services, 1 hour for fetching water, 1 1/4
hours for washing, 1 hour for house maintenance and child care and 1 hour for

13
personal care, 3 hours for care of animals were spent in a day. The remaining time
was spent on sleep and leisure activities.

Sood (1991) found that women who belong to lower middle income and lower
income families are normally taking up job essentially due to economic necessity.
Women employees expressed the view that they are working for their emotional
satisfaction rather than due to economic necessity.

Dighe (1998) carried out study on political and economic spheres has been gender-
blind, but in the late 1970s this respective changed. In 1979 “Fertility and Education:
What do we really know?” was published by Cochrane. A large number of studies and
research concerning this subject followed, and concluded the existence of a high
correlation between women’s schooling level and a decline in infant mortality and
fertility rates. Women who had completed basic education were able to make use of
health facilities and service for their children and had a higher interest in sending their
children to school. 1990 was proclaimed to be the international literacy year; by the
UN. The focus on education for women continued during the 1990s and results of
different researches showed that investment in this area gave the highest “output”
(compared to earlier development investments focusing primarily on production and
industrial growth) both at socio-economic, cultural and political levels.

Longwe (1997) concluded that empowerment involves the transformation of

patriarchal societies through a process of enlightenment, conscientisation and
collective organization. Empowerment in this context means assistance which may be
in form of cash, materials or training provided to women to enable them influence
changes in their socio-economic status and to use their capacities to harness the
hidden potentials in material and human resources. Women can be empowered
through provision of education and training opportunities to improve their skills and
enhance their access to credit facilities. Women empowerment and their full
participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation
in decision making process and access to power, land, ngo loan, are fundamental for
the achievement of equality, peace and societal development.

14
Saito (1994) showed that the major institutional constraints in women’s participation
in economic activities and development process in societies are inadequate access to
factors of production and trade, lack of credit facilities, lack of training opportunities
and skill acquisition, limited access to appropriate production technologies and social
services Women in Nigeria are unable to secure credit facilities from financial
institutions due to lack of collateral (Odukoye, 1997).

Standing and Shehan (1978) conducted their studies on economic activities of women
in Nigeria, reported a higher labor force participation rate for urban women than rural
women. In rural areas, higher parity was positively associated with workforce
participation, which is contrary in the urban areas. Women thus, manage the home
and at the same time, participate with their male counterpart in developing the
economy of the nation. In rural areas, women participate fully in food production,
processing and distribution which they combine with their traditional role of
procreation and home management.

Oxfam (1995) revealed that empowerment is to challenge injustice which is forcing

people to take part in society on conditions which are unfair, or in ways which reject
their rights. Empowerment means the power to select and requires change in the
structures of society that form power relations and unequal distribution of resources
and opportunities in society. Empowerment has two inter-related elements: resources
and agency. Resources include both tangible and intangible assets. Tangible resources
are financial and material assets, and intangible resources are knowledge, skills, and
ability, and participation in political and social activities. Agency is power by which
people set their goals and objectives and achieve them.

Women empowerment eliminates wrong value systems and oppression beliefs from
the society. Women empowerment can be achieved through educating girls.
Education develops skills, knowledge and confidence in women that can help them in
achieving opportunities in economy. Fee concession and needy scholarships for girls
at school has helped a lot in increasing educated women. Vocational training
Programs will help in providing better skills and good jobs to women.

15
Empirical reviews
Bradshaw & Linneker (2003) found that almost in every country, women have longer
working hours as compared to men, but their income is less and they have poor living
standard. Unpaid work badly affects the health and welfare of the children and other
home members. Poor women have more unpaid jobs, longer working hours and have
poor working conditions during bad times to support their families. Parents think
women have less paid work; they have an intension to spend less in their education,
leads to further women poverty. The study highlight three factors that are responsible
for women poverty: women have fewer job opportunities, women have less decision-
making power and women can make decisions, but it must benefit others first.

Tornqvist (2009) carried out study on women empowerment can be achieved through
educating girls. Education develops skills, knowledge and confidence in women that
can help them in achieving opportunities in economy. Fee concession and needy
scholarships for girls at school has helped a lot in increasing educated women
Vocational training Programs will help in providing better skills and good jobs to
women.

Panigraphy (2006) carried out the study on women Empowerment is equal

distribution of power between the sexes. Both men and women should be provided
equal economic, social, legal, and political opportunities for their development. To get
empowerment, women should increase their self-esteem, self-confidence, and
understanding of their own potential, appreciate themselves and value their
knowledge and skills. Women should obtain equal distribution of power and
involvement in decision making at home, in society, economy, and politics through
women empowerment

Desai (2010) highlights the issues of women empowerment and improvement in

education, health, and economic and political participation. Women must have
authority, power, and preference in functional and important decisions. Women
empowerment reduces maternal mortality and fertility. Women violence prevents the
welfare of women. Women empowerment is measured through dimensions of
knowledge, health, resources, decision making and employment.

16
Tasneem (2011) concluded that working women are confident about their future and
have authority over their own lives. They meet their own and family needs and also
provide support to their old parents. Education provides information to women about
their rights, household decision making, self-confidence, respect for others’ advice
and information and freedom in voting.

Malhotra (2011) concluded that to increase opportunities for women in economy, they
must have an access to better jobs, a business environment that supports them in
doing business, access to financial sector that meet their needs, and job security in
times of crises. To protect legal rights of women, and to make sure that their voices
are heard are important elements of empowerment (Women's economic
empowerment, n.d.). Women empowerment helps to achieve women rights and
development goals such as economic growth, poverty reduction, health, education and
welfare. National economies suffer when they discriminate against women. Women
having skills and opportunities help businesses. Economically empowered women
have more contribution to their families, societies and national economies. Women
should be provided skills, resources and equal access to economic institutions.
Women should have the power to make and act on economic decisions.

Fernandez (2009) showed that the relationship between women rights and economic
development and focuses on a basic economic right for women i.e. property right.
Men as husband favor patriarchal system in which women have few rights but fathers
do not support this system. Economic development means capital accumulation and
declining fertility. UNDP improves women’s economic empowerment by: increasing
identification and reducing unpaid work of women; Supporting access of women to
land and their participation in decision-making; Providing training, skills,
management of business and functional knowledge to women entrepreneurs;
Certifying businesses that support workplace equality; Supporting property rights of
women.

Duflo (2011) carried out study on two directional relationships between economic
development and women empowerment. Inequality between men and women can be
reduced because of development and women empowerment may lead to further

17
development. Policy action is compulsory to acquire gender equality. In this way,
virtuous circle will be started.
Factory owners have to support better health, education and public safety of women
and they should change practices to increase output of talented women workers.
Productivity can be increased by providing women workers their rights, skills, safety
and respect (Hossain, N., 2012).

Kabeer (2012) revealed that gender equality promotes economic growth. Employment
and education opportunities for women reduce household poverty. Women should be
given access to economic resources for contributing to growth. Women labor force
participation is low and focuses in the gender segmented labor markets which show
gender inequality. Women are provided less education and training, little or no access
to credit, uncertainty to own their property, hard business registration procedures, and
no entry in business networks.

Review of Nepalese Studies

Many studies were conducted to find out the women empowerment and participation
in economic activities. In Nepalese studies, there are studies conducted in Nepal
which have been presented in table 2.3. However, compared to rest of the world
empirical studies in Nepal are limited.

Kabeer (1997) found that access to earnings did not in itself serve as evidence of
improvements in bargaining power in the home, but that women’s work and wages
allowed for the theoretical possibility, though not usually acted upon, of being able to
support oneself and one's children if they left their husband and of being able to return
to one’s natal family as a contributing member (Kabeer 1995). This possibility of
alternatives allowed for more autonomy and could increase women’s ability to assert
strategic choices.

Sharma (2004) conducted study on Nepalese society assigns strict gender rules for
men and women that lead to the discriminatory practices against them. Studies have
shown that Nepalese women are predominantly engaged in the professional, technical
and managerial fields. Most of the Nepalese women are deprived from the decision
making authority which is the major and decisive part of women's empowerment. It is
an astonishing fact that still a daughter cannot take decision about her life partner

18
even in the so-called educated family. It clarifies the real social status of Nepalese
women. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand about the gender discrimination
and its impact to the development process of the society. That is why; current status of
the gender discrimination is a serious threat to the society and the state itself.

Karki (2005) observed the evidence on both sides of the empowerment–development

relationship. It first shows that poverty and lack of opportunity breed inequality
between men and women, so that when economic development reduces poverty, the
condition of women improves on two counts: first, when poverty is reduced, the
condition of everyone, including women, improves, and second, gender inequality
declines as poverty declines, so the condition of women improves more than that of
men with development. Economic development, however, is not enough to bring
about complete equality between men and women. Policy action is still necessary to
achieve equality between genders.

Women are economically dependent of family husband and more members of the
society. Women have less opportunity to enhance their own capacity and only big
talks and plans cannot empower women. Empowerment process of women for one
community may not be applicable to other community. The breaking barriers towards
empowering women can't be possible with one single approach. The empowerment of
community women is a complex process it needs a holistic approach to measure the
desired level of empowerment from the specified climate. Women have less
opportunity to enhance their own capacity and boost their won morals. Women have a
range of skills required to successfully introduce, manage implement and evaluate
social changes (Bhattarai, 2009).

Policy Review

It is well documented that development and empowerment of women has been

receiving attention of the government right from the beginning of the planned
development process in India. Up till now development of women was being clubbed
with 'welfare' of disadvantageous groups like, destitute, disabled, aged and the
children. This welfare approach started during the first five year plan (1951-56) and
continued up to the fifth five year plan (1979). There was shift from welfare approach
to development approach during the sixth five year plan (1980-85). The areas of
health, education and employment of women were given priority and special funds

19
were demarcated for the same. It was only during the seventh five year plan (1985-90)
when the 'objective of raising their economic and social status was emphasized; and
special mention was made to bringing them into the mainstream of national
development.'8 To monitor the flow of benefits to women, and enable them to
function as equal partners and participants in the development process, human
development was focused during the period of Eight Five Year Plan (1992-97). It was
the time when major policy changes were introduced at the global level and there was
paradigm shift in the strategy of economic development. In this phase of globalization
all the forces were for deregulation and decontrol. Public sector was relegated to
second place and private sector came in the fore front.

This changed development structure and strategy did not in any way lessen the
importance of the issue, theoretically. Rather 'Empowerment of Women' became one
of the objectives of Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002). An effort was made to create
an environment where women could exercise their rights. A special strategy of
'Women's Component Plan' was adopted to monitor flow of all types of benefits to
women and to ensure that the proposed strategy brings forth a holistic approach
towards empowering women. This was the time when National Policy for
Empowerment of Women, 2001, was adopted to 'eliminate all types of discrimination
against women' and to ensure gender justice, besides empowering women both
socially and economically. At the same time the concept of 'gender budgeting' was
introduced to attain more effective targeting of public expenditure and to offset any
undesirable gender specific consequences of previous budgetary measures. Besides,
all this the year 2001 was celebrated as 'women's empowerment year'.

The approach of Tenth Five Year Plan 2002-07 was focused on translating the
National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) into action. Apart from
'strengthening legal system aimed at the 'elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women, mainstreaming a gender perspective into the development process,
allowing the de-jure and de-fecto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women at par with men in all spheres – political, economic, social,
cultural and civil' was emphasized (Tenth Five Year Plan p. 238).9

A sector specific three-fold strategy was adopted for empowering women. The
economic empowerment included, provision of training, employment and income
generation activities with both forward and backward linkages with the ultimate

20
objective of 'making all potential women economically independent and self-reliant.
The strategy for social empowerment included creation of an environment where they
would exercise their easy and equal access to all the basic minimum services of
health, education and employment so as to enable them realize their full potentials.
The third component of the strategy was gender justice, to eliminate all forms of
gender discrimination and ensure de-fecto rights and freedom at par with the men in
all aspects of life. Since the constitution of India not only guarantee gender equality,
but also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

In the approach to the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), it has well been recognized
that 'women and children are not homogenous categories – thus apart from gender
programme interventions, special targeted interventions, catering to the differential
needs of these different categories and groups, will be undertaken (Eleventh Five
Year Plan).10

In this plan, for the first time women are recognized not just as equal citizens but as
agents of economic and social growth. The union budget 2005-06, for the first time
included a separate statement highlighting the gender sensitivities of budgetary
allocations under ten demands for grants. The plan will seek to make all national
policies and program gender sensitive right from their inception and formulation
stages.

Thus, ever since the inception of planned economic development of the country the
issues of empowerment of women have remained there in one form or the other.
These program and policy initiatives have shown positive results and there are
definite signs of improvement in the status of women. But the results in the form of
'output' are not to the tune of 'input'. Much more still remains to be done as yet. In
order to have gender equity in general a concrete strategy for accelerating progress is
must for women empowerment.

2.2 Conceptual framework

This conceptual frame work describes the relationship of women empowerment and
participation in economic activities based on the theoretical and empirical perspective.
In the conceptual framework for the analysis of the study for the measurement of the
performance of NGOS. we have taken women empowerment as the dependent

21
Variables. Whereas, Sources of Fund, Age, perception towards job, strategies for the
enhancement of women empowerment, family’s economic status, decision making
authority and women entrepreneurship as the independent variables. The empirical
results are described from the following diagram

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Frameworks

Programs

FUND  Training and

development
program
LITERACY  Child awareness
program WOME
N
DECISION  Night classes EMPOW
MAKING ERMEN
 Domestic works T

STATUS
 Cleaning
program
INDEPENDENT  Gender
awareness
program

Fund
Feminists believe that income generating projects are a practical solution to
empowering women and one of the strategies to strengthen women’s positions
(Overholt et al., 1991). Involving women in a project, therefore, should be an
important policy for government and development organizations because women as
actors, rather than victims, can drastically change their own lives. According to
Gionetten et al. (1994), women not only manage economic activities better than men,
but also use the economic resources more wisely and to the benefit of the entire

22
household. Nevertheless, they have a bleak economic presence in the developing
world. Based on it, the study develops the following hypothesis:

H1: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings on economic activities

performed by women to generate income.

Literacy

As the above data indicates, millions of women have not been formally educated
(including literacy learning), either as children or as adults. However, links between
those women who have received education and positive outcomes are reported,
indicating wide-ranging benefits to women and society. Specifically, the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that educated mothers recognize the
importance of healthcare and have a greater influence on their children’s educational
attainment than their fathers. Based on it, the study develops the following hypothesis:
H2: There is positive and significant relationship between literacy and economic
activities development through women empowerment.

Status

Women have limited access to socio-economic rights and privileges. They enjoy
lower social status and are encumbered by harmful traditional practices to exhibit
their potentials (Federal Government of Nigeria, 1996). They still suffer
discrimination and marginalization through denials of rights, land ownership, access
to credit facilities and farm input. Women are isolated, abused and restricted at the
community levels through traditional and religious practices which hamper
development (Ikeduru, 2002). Based on it, the study develops the following
hypothesis:

H3: There is positive and significant relationship between family economic status and
economic activities development through women empowerment.

Decision Making

Women empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all
spheres of society, including participation in decision making process and access to
power, land, bank loan, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, peace and

23
societal development. According to Longwe(1997), empowerment involves the
transformation of patriarchal societies through a process of enlightenment,
conscientisation and collective organization. Empowerment in this context means
assistance which may be in form of cash, materials or training provided to women to
enable them influence changes in their socio-economic status and to use their
capacities to harness the hidden potentials in material and human resources. Women
can be empowered through provision of education and training opportunities to
improve their skills and enhance their access to credit facilities (Flann and Oldham,
2007). Based on it, the study develops the following hypothesis:

H4: There is positive and significant relationship between decision making authority
and economic activities development through women empowerment.

Independent

Women bring new solutions to creating and developing businesses and other income
generating activities. For rural women, many are involved in raising livestock already.
However, this is seen as a daily chore rather than an opportunity to generate profits.
With the right resources, motivation and Innovation women can develop small
income. This not only generates a profit but impacts on: her own personal
development such as self-confidence, leadership qualities and problem solving ability;
her status in the household and community; her economic empowerment and overall
empowerment.(Asogwa, 1995). Based on it, the study develops the following
hypothesis:

H5 There is positive and significant relationship between independency of women

and economic activities development through women empowerment.

24
 CHAPTER-III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the research design and methodology. It presents the step by
step process about how the study was conducted and how the research problem was
addressed. The research followed a simplified procedure with commonly used
statistical tools for data collection and analysis. This chapter provides information
about how the research was designed. It presents sources of data, population and
sampling, data collection instrument, validity and reliability test and data analysis. It
clarifies how the data was collected and measures used to check the reliability and
validity of the collected data.

3.1 Description of sample

This study was designed to analyze women empowerment on economic development

through NGO. Convenience sampling was used to track the respondents for the study.
This sampling technique generally assumes a homogeneous population. The
population for this study was the group women in dhodeni village of gaindakot
VDC.For the analysis 5-point Likert questionnaires were distributed to 119
household. and I have selected 50respondents.

3.2 Research design

This study has employed descriptive research design and causal comparative research
design to deal with issues associated with women empowerment and participation in
economic activities. The descriptive research design has been adopted for fact finding
and search adequate information about women empowerment participating on
economic activities. The satisfaction level and perception of the women in regarding
participation in economic activities has been identified with the help of questionnaire.

3.3 Population & sample

The study population consisted of all the women of dhodeni village of gaindakot
VDC.Total household of 119 questionnaires was distributed but only 50 were
collected. In the study women in the formal employment or civil service are excluded
and only rural and urban centers are taken as a sample.

25
3.4Source of data

This study has used primary data. The primary source of data was used for the
qualitative research. The structured set of questionnaires was distributed to the
women’s and was collected after the certain period of time. The primary data were
used to extract the information from the women’s regarding the perception of
participation of women in economic development activities. In this study Likert scale
questions were asked to get insight of women’s condition and their active
participation at the work.

3.5Method of analysis

The main purpose of the study is to analyze women empowerment in economic

development activities through NGO. The methods of data analysis consist four
sections. First includes primary data analysis which includes summary of descriptive
statistics associated with general information of the respondents like age, gender,
academic qualification, designation, and experience along with the percentage
frequency distribution of the general information of the respondents.

Second section analyzes the descriptive statistics such as mean and weighted average
mean values. The descriptive statistics such as mean and weighted average mean
values of two dimensions of dependent and independent variable,

Third section deals with Kendal’s Tau correlation coefficients which examine the
impact women empowerment in economic development activities. And the final part
of data analysis is regression analysis of primary data. A regression model has been
applied to estimate the relationship between dependent and independent. It also
describes different statistical tests of significance for validation of model such as t-
test, F-test. The collected data has been processed with the help of SPSS Statistical
package.

3.6The model

Various scholars and organizations have developed their own method of measuring
empowerment level. The dependent variable, empowerment was computed by giving
scores and creating Likert in about 75 questions of concern. Then index for this study
was categorized into two levels: low empowerment level and high empowerment

26
level ranging from below and above the average. A linear regression model was run
as:

Women Empowerment = a+b1 (Fund) + b2 (Literacy) + b3 (Ind) + b4 (Status) + b5

(DMA) +U

Where, Y = women empowerment level, Fund = Availability of Fund, Literacy=

Literacy, Ind = independency, Status = family’s economic status, DMA = decision
making authority, we = women entrepreneurship and U = error term, a =intercept and
bi s are parameters to be estimated.

3.7 Limitations of the study

The limitations of the study are as follows:

a. Though this study aims at of women empowerment and participation in
economic activities through NGO, all types of women participation in
economic activities has not been tested in the context of Nepal. Due to the lack
of the relevant database on these views this study does not cover the all aspect
of women empowerment participation on economic activities.

b. On testing the women empowerment and participation in economic

activities relationship, this study is limited to few samples. However, this
study has not included such factor due to data unavailability.

c. This study has assumed linear relationship between women empowerment

and participation in economic activities. Hence, linear models are used in
testing the relationship. Thus this study has not considered the non
linearitybiases those are normally characterized in macroeconomic time series
data.

d. The data were collected from the target groups with few sample size of
household who had been engaged in economic development activities. The
few sample size availability may not truly pictures and raise strong conclusion.

e. The area of study for the research was taken only dhodeni village. Therefore
if area of study had been made wider then result might be even better and
accurate.

27
28
 CHAPTER-IV: FINDINGS

This chapter provides systematic presentation and analysis of primary data to deal
with women empowerment of dhodeni village. This chapter is divided into three
sections. First section covers the analysis of primary data and presents the results
based on questionnaire. Second section deals with the presentation and analysis
primary data to analyze the relationship between economic activities and women
empowerment of dhodeni village measured by women empowerment. It is done with
the help of Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis and regression analysis. Finally,
the third section discusses on the concluding remarks associated with findings of
primary data analysis.

4.1 Analysis of data

This section is concerned with the analysis of primary data and presents the results of
the survey on women empowerment in Nepal. This section attempts to analyze the
primary data where general profile of the respondents, views of respondents on
women empowerment and its impact on economic. and the views of employees of
commercial ngo of Nepal are identified. The method used in this section is descriptive
research design which deals with likert scale questions. The percentage, frequency,
mean value, weighted average mean value has been calculated to do the proper
analysis of the data.

4.2 Respondent profile

In this study, the respondents include women of dhodeni village and 50 questionnaires
were collected based on the gender, marital status, academic qualification, and
designation and monthly income. The respondent profile is briefly presented in the
following Table 4.1.

29
 Table 4.1: Profile of respondents of Nepalese Commercial ngos

Respondents Character No. of responses Percentage

Gender
Female 30 60
Male 20 40
Total 50 100
Age
Below 30 19 39
31-40 25 49
41-50 6 12
51-60 0 0
Above 60 0 0
Total 50 100
Academic Qualification
Master’s Degree 30 60
Bachelor Degree 10 20
Intermediate(+2) 9 18
Above Master’s 1 2
Total 50 100
Designation
Assistant Level 25 50
Executive Level 15 30
Managerial level 10 20
Total 50 100
Source: Field survey, 2017
The above table shows the respondent’s profile information regarding the gender, age,
academic qualification, designation and years of experience. Demographic
characteristics play a vital role in understanding the women participation and their
reliability. Thus the individual respondent perception about the women empowerment
of the dhodeni village can be known through questionnaire. Out of the total
respondent’s 60 percent is female and under the age group, the majority of the
respondents (49 percent) are of age group 31-49. Likewise, 39 percent are from age
group below 30. On the basis of academic qualification, employees are categorized on
the completion of master’s, bachelor, intermediate, or above master degree. 60
percent of the respondent completed master’s degree, 20 bachelor’s degree, 18
percent intermediate (+2) degree, and 2 percent above master’s degree. On the basis
of designation, 50 percent of the respondent falls under assistant level, 30 percent
executive level and 20 percent managerial level.

30
4.1.1 Demographic characteristics

There were three demographic categories that the respondents were asked to complete
in order to fill out the demographic profile of them. These were age group, academic
qualification and occupation. The distribution of collected sample based on these
demographic profiles is presented as follows. The characteristics of the respondents
influence the results.
The classification of the respondents by age category is presented in Figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1: Age wise classification of respondents

Age
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Below 30 31-40 41-50 51-60 Above 60

Figure 4.1 shows that majority of the respondents (49 percent) fall under 31 to 40
years of age group. Similarly, (39 percent) respondent falls under below 30 years of
age group and few (12 percent) respondents fall under 41 to 50 years of age group.

The classification of the respondents by academic qualification is presented in Figure

4.2.
Figure 4.2: Academic qualification wise classification of respondents

31
 Academic Qualification

2%

18%

20% 60%

Master’s Degree Bachelor Degree Intermediate(+2) Above Master’s

Figure 4.2 shows that majority of the respondents (60 percent) are from master’s
level. Similarly, (20 percent) are from bachelors and (12 percent) intermediate.
Likewise, few are (2 percent) from SLC and below.

The classification of the respondents by designation category is presented in Figure

4.3.
Figure 4.3: designation wise classification of respondents

Designation
60

50

40

30
50
20
30
10 20

0
Assistant Level Executive Level Managerial level

Figure 4.4 shows that majority of the respondents (50 percent) are working in
assistant level. Similarly, (30 percent) of the respondents are work under executive
level and few (20 percent) of the respondent are under managerial level.

32
Analysis of women empowerment
This section provides the information regarding the women empowerment. Women
empowerment is the process of generating a building capability of women to exercise
control over one's own life. It is generating understand to mean the ability of women
to make choices to improve their well beings that of their families and communities.
Women empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all
spheres of society, including participation in decision making process and access to
power, land, and bank loan are fundamental for the achievement of equality, peace
and societal development. . It focuses on the way in which individuals, groups,
business enterprises and government seek to achieve efficiency in any economic
objective

The respondents were asked questions regarding their view on women empowerment.
The respondent’s opinion regarding the women empowerment is presented in table
4.2.

Table 4.2: women empowerment in the context of Nepalese commercial ngos

Statement Strongly Disagre Neutra Agre Strongl N Mea

Disagre e l e y Agree n
e
Your family 10
always F 3 7 20 45 25 0
supports you 10

in your % 0.03 0.07 0.20 0.45 0.25 0

individual A
decisions % 0.05 20 0.35 3.82
Your 10
husband/famil F 5 10 30 25 30 0
y members 10

support you to % 0.05 0.10 0.30 0.25 0.30 0

do job outside A
home. % 0.08 30 0.275 3.65
10
 A man should F 50 40 5 5 0 0
have a job, and % 0.5 0.4 0.05 0.05 0 10 1.55

33
 0

a woman
A
should take
% 0.45 0.05 0.025
care of the
Suppose your 10
husband F 60 30 5 3 2 0
makes enough 10

money for % 0.6 0.3 0.05 0.03 0.02 0

living
expenses and
leisure, you
would prefer
you, your
daughter or
your daughter-
in- law to stay A
at home? % 0.45 0.05 0.025 1.57
Weighted average mean 3.01
Source: Field Survey, 2017

The above table shows the analysis of women empowerment. The majority of the
respondents (45 percent) believe that the family always supports you in your
individual decisions. While, 25 percent of the respondents agree about this statement
and 20 percent of the respondents are neutral and 3 percent strongly disagree family
always supports you in your individual decisions.

The majority of the respondents (30.00 percent) believe that husband/family members
support you to do job outside home.. While, 30 percent of the respondents are neutral
about this statement and 5 percent of the respondents believe that husband/family
members support you to do job outside home

The majority of the respondents (50 percent) believe that man should have a job, and
a woman should take care of the household and the family. While, 5 percent of the
respondents are neutral about this statement and 40 percent of the respondents

34
disagree that HR man should have a job, and a woman should take care of the
household and the family.

The majority of the respondents (60 percent) strongly disagree that the your husband
makes enough money for living expenses and leisure, you would prefer you, your
daughter or your daughter- in- law to stay at home. While, 5 percent of the
respondents are neutral about this statement, and 30 percent of the respondents
disagree that your husband makes enough money for living expenses and leisure, you
would prefer you, your daughter or your daughter- in- law to stay at home.

Analysis of fund
Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money, or other values
such as effort or time, for a project, a person, a business, or any other private or public
institution. Availability of fund to women helps to take proper decision at business;
therefore such women empowerment act helps in economic development of any
country. The respondents were asked questions regarding their view on availability of
fund to women. The respondent’s opinion regarding recruitment and selection is
presented in table 4.3.

Table 4.3: Analysis of Fund

Statement Strongly Disagre Neutra Agre Strongl N Mean

Disagre e l e y Agree
e
Availability 10
fund is F 5 5 10 60 20 0
important for 10

women % 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.6 0.2 0

empowermen A
t in Nepal % 0.05 0.1 0.4 3.85
10
You have
F 5 5 20 30 40 0
collected 10
fund easily to % 0.05 0.05 0.2 0.3 0.4 0
start your A
profession % 0.05 0.2 0.35 3.95

35
  One of the 10
hurdles in F 5 5 20 10 60 0
Nepal for 10

women to % 0.05 0.05 0.2 0.1 0.6 0

start a
business is
the lack of A
fund. % 0.05 0.2 0.35 4.15
3.983
Weighted Average Mean 3
Field Survey, 2017
The above table shows the analysis of availability of fund to women empowerment.
The majority of the respondents (60 percent) believe that Availability fund is
important for women empowerment in Nepal. While, 10 percent of the respondents
strongly agree about this statement and 10 percent of the respondents are neutral and 5
percent strongly disagree family always supports you in your individual decisions.

The majority of the respondents (40.00 percent) believe that “You have collected fund
easily to start your profession”. While, 20 percent of the respondents are neutral
about this statement and 30 percent of the respondents believe that husband/family
members support you to do job outside home

The majority of the respondents (60 percent) believe that one of the hurdles in Nepal
for women to start a business is the lack of fund. While, 20 percent of the respondents
are neutral about this statement and 5 percent of the respondents disagree that one of
the hurdles in Nepal for women to start a business is the lack of fund.

Analysis of literacy
In order to grow women empowerment in country, the literacy of women at work
must be positive. Women have to think that they can work like men and do any type
of assigned work at work place. They should be ready to face the challenges at the
work. Positive perception at work helps to improve economic condition of country.
And women’s abilities and skills need to be expanded and polished through activities
like training and development.

36
The respondents were asked questions regarding their view on perception of women.
The respondent’s opinion regarding the training and development is presented in table

Table 4.4: Analysis of literacy of women empowerment

Statement Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly N Mean
Disagree Agree
Nepalese women 10

prefer to stay at F 5 20 25 30 20 0
10
home rather to go % 0.05 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.2 0
for literacy
program provided
by NGO.
A% 0.125 0.25 0.25 3.4
3 10

Women go F 5 5 10 0 50 0
0
backward to solve . 10
challenging work. % 0.05 0.05 0.1 3 0.5 0
A% 0.05 0.1 0.4 4.15
5 10
F 5 10 15 0 20 0
0
Nepalese women
. 10
prefer to do own % 0.05 0.1 0.15 5 0.2 0
job. A% 0.075 0.15 1.25 3.7
Weighted average mean 3.75
Field Survey, 2017
The above table shows the analysis of perception of women empowerment. The
majority of the respondents (30percent) believe that Nepalese women prefer to stay at
home rather to go for literacy program provided by NGO. While, 20 percent of the
respondents strongly agree about this statement and 25 percent of the respondents are
neutral and 5 percent strongly disagree Nepalese women prefer to stay at home rather
to go for job.
The majority of the respondents (50 percent) believe that Women go backward to
solve challenging work. While, 10 percent of the respondents are neutral about this
statement and 30 percent of the respondents agree that believe that Women go
backward to solve challenging work.

37
The majority of the respondents (50 percent) believe that Nepalese women prefer to
do own job. While, 15 percent of the respondents are neutral about this statement and
5 percent of the respondents disagree that one of the hurdles in Nepal for women to
start a business is the lack of fund.

Analysis of Decision
Decision making is one of the most important factors of women empowerment
practices in Nepal. It includes observation and judgment in the performance appraisal.
This practice aims at evaluating the current and the past performance of the
employees based on the performance standards with the decision making approaches.

The respondents were asked questions regarding their view on decision making. The
respondent’s opinion regarding the performance appraisal is presented in table 2.5.

Table 4.5: Decision making

Statement Strongly Disagree Neutra agre Strongly N Mean
Disagree l e Agree
In order to increase
economic activities of F 5 5 10 30 50 100

women, high level of % 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.3 0.5 100

authorities in decision
making should be
provided. A% 0.05 0.1 0.4 4.15
If more authorities are
F 10 5 5 50 30 100
given to women to make
% 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.5 0.3 100
decisions it is more
likely that they would be
independent A% 0.075 0.05 0.4 5.5
Lack of authorities to
make decisions in a F 10 10 20 40 20 100
family is pushing women % 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2 100
backward in terms of
both self awareness and
being independent. A% 0.1 0.2 0.3 3.5
Weighted average mean 4.38333
Field Survey, 2017

The above table shows the analysis of decision making ability of women at economic
development activities. The majority of the respondents (50percent) strongly believe

38
that decision making ability of women at economic development activities helps to
improve women empowerment program. While, 30 percent of the respondents agree
about this statement and 10 percent of the respondents are neutral and 5 percent
strongly disagree Nepalese women prefer to do own job.

Analysis of status
Economic status of women also depicts the participation of women at work. If
economic status is good then women engaged themselves in entrepreneur activities. If
economic status is not good they do job and runs their basic life. Women
empowerment also gets effected through status of women.

The respondents were asked questions regarding their view on status. The
respondent’s opinion regarding the compensation is presented in table 4.6.

Table 4.6: status

Statement Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly N Mean
Disagree Agree

Women from high

F 5 10 30 25 20 100 3.15
income families are 30.00 25.00
more outgoing or they % 5.00% 10.00% % % 20.00% 100  
are aware of their 30.00
rights A% 0.075 % 0.225    
It counts in Nepal for
a women to find a F 5 5 40 30 20 100 3.55
40.00 30.00
better job whether you
% 5.00% 5.00% % % 20.00% 100  
belong to high income
family or low income 40.00
family A% 0.05 % 0.25    
High income families F 3 2 10 30 55 100 4.32
women are 10.00 30.00

constrained to stay % 3.00% 2.00% % % 55.00% 100  

10.00
home in comparison
A% 0.025 % 0.425    
of women from low
income families            
Weighted average mean 3.67333
Field Survey, 2017

39
The above table shows the analysis of economic status of women at women
empowerment activities. The majority of the respondents (30 percent) are neutral that
Women from high income families are more outgoing or they are aware of their
rights. While, 25 percent of the respondents agree about this statement and 20 percent
of the respondents strongly agree this statement and 5 percent strongly disagree
Women from high income families are more outgoing or they are aware of their
rights.

The majority of the respondents (40 percent) are neutral that “It counts in Nepal for a
women to find a better job whether you belong to high income family or low income
family”. While, 30 percent of the respondents agree about this statement and 20
percent of the respondents strongly agree that it counts in Nepal for a women to find a
better job whether you belong to high income family or low income family

The majority of the respondents (55 percent) believe that high income family’s
women are constrained to stay home in comparison of women from low income
families. While,30 percent of the respondents are neutral about this statement and 10
percent of the respondents agree that high income family’s women are constrained to
stay home in comparison of women from low income families.

4.3 Descriptive analysis

This study has employed descriptive research design. Descriptive statistics have been
used to describe the characteristics of women empowerment and economic
development activities. The descriptive statistics used in this study consists of mean,
standard deviation, minimum and maximum values associated with variables under
considerations. The women empowerment variables are fund, age, perception, status
and decision making ability. The descriptive statistics are summarized on following
table 4.7.

Table 4.7: Descriptive statistics

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Wmp 50 2.50 3.50 3.01 .25598
Fund 50 2.00 4.00 3.9833 .57400
Independent 50 2.00 4.00 3.75 .47492
Literacy 50 2.00 4.00 3.4717 .45938
Decision 50 2.50 4.75 4.38 .38420
Status 50 2.33 4.00 3.6783 .44058

40
 Valid N
50
(listwise)
Source: SPSS results based on responses on survey questionnaire
The above table shows the number of observations, minimum, maximum, mean and
standard deviation of the variables. The sample consists of women of dhodeni
village.Women empowerment ranges from 2.50 to 3.5, leading the average women
empowerment of 3.01. The descriptive statistics for the independent variable, fund
ranges from 2 to 4 leading the average fund of 3.98 while perception ranges from 2 to
4 leading the average perception of 3.75. Age from 2 to 4 leading the average Age of
3.47 likewise decision making ranges from 2.50 to 4.75 leading the average decision
making of 4.38 while Status ranges from 2.33 to 4.0, leading the average
compensation of 3.67.

4.4 Pearson’s correlation analysis

Pearson’s correlation is used to analyze the relationship between women
empowerment on economic activities of dhodeni village.. The coefficient is often
used as a test statistic in a statistical hypothesis test to establish whether two variables
may be regarded as statistically dependent. The Pearson’s correlation analysis is
summarized on following table 4.8.

Table 4.8: Pearson’s correlations coefficient of women empowerment and

economic development

wmp fund literacy independent status decision

wmp 1.000
fund .412** 1.000
Kendall's Literacy .208** .049** 1.000
tau_b Independent .191** .096** .803** 1.000
status .274** .137** .175** .121** 1.000
Decision .577** .289** .344** .395** .362** 1.000

The above table reveals the correlation coefficient among the dependent and
independent variables. The above result believes that there is positive correlation
between women empowerment and availability of fund which means that higher the
availability of fund, higher would be women empowerment.

41
Literacy has positive correlation with women empowerment indicating that higher the
maturity level higher would be participation on women empowerment activities.
There is a positive correlation between independency of women and women
empowerment of dhodeni village It means that higher the independency of women
towards the work, higher would be women empowerment.

There is a positive correlation between economic status and women empowerment. It

means that higher the economic status of women, higher would be participation on
women empowerment. The result also shows that there is positive correlation between
decision making and women empowerment which indicates that higher the decision
making authority provided, higher would women empowerment.

42
4.5 Regression analysis
The regression of fund, literacy, independent, status and decision making ability is
summarized on following Table 4.9

Table 4.9: Regression of fund, Literacy, Independent, status and decision making
ability on employee empowerment

The results are based on 50 observations for the period 2015/16 by using linear
regression model. The model is Women Empowerment = a+b1 (Fund) + b2
(Literacy) + b3 (Ind) + b5 (Status) + b6 (DMA) +U. Where, FUND=availability of
fund, DMA=decision making ability and STATUS=economic condition.

Regression Coefficient of WE
Mod Indepen decisio status R-
el Intercept Fund dency Literacy n bar² SEE F
2.409 0.265
 
1 (18.548)** (7.234)** 0.354 0.206 53.64**
2.540 0.230
 
2 (14.582)** (4.679)** 0.183 0.232 21.898**

2.554 2.229
 
3 (14.208)** (4.454)** 0.168 0.234 19.835**
2.157 0.343
(5.956)*
4 (10.732)** * 2.266 0.220 35.475**

2.157 0.343
5  (10.732)**          (5.956)** 0.134 0.239 35.47**
2.129 0.189 0.162
6 (9.597)** (3.697)** (3.045)** 0.241 2.225 15.392**
0.169
2.063 0.198
(3.273)*
7 (9.339)** (4.139)** 0.264 0.221 17.389**
0.293 0.111
1.946
(4.735)* (2.060)*
8 (8.740)** * 0.297 0.216 20.44**
0.076
1.555  0.196 0.032 0.063 0.146
(1.580)*
9 (7.525)** (7.525)** (0.297)* (0.593)* (2.287)* 0.494 0.186 18.33**
Notes:

(1) Figures in parenthesis are t-values.

(2) * denotes that the results are significant at 1% level of significance.
(3) ** denotes that the results are significant at 5% level of significance.

The above table represents the regression of women empowerment on economic

development. The regression of availability of fund variables on women
43
empowerment shows that beta coefficient for availability of fund is positive with
women empowerment. The results hence indicate that higher the availability of fund,
higher would be participation on women empowerment for economic development.
However, the coefficient is significant at 5 percent level of significance. The beta
coefficient for perception is positive with women empowerment. The coefficients are
significant for perception. The results hence indicate that higher the independency
towards work, higher would be the development of economic activities through
women empowerment.

The beta coefficient for literacy is positive with women empowerment. The
coefficients are significant for Literacy. The results hence indicate the higher the
maturity level (literacy) higher would be the development of economic activities
through women empowerment. The beta coefficient for decision making ability is
positive with women empowerment. The coefficients are significant for decision
making ability. The results hence indicate that higher the decision making ability,
higher would be the development of economic activities through women
empowerment.

44
 CHAPTER-V: INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND
THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS

5.1 NGOs Working in Dhodeni Village

SAHAMATI is a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit making, member-based

social development organization. It established in 2001/11/12 A.D. (Kartik 27, 2058
B.S.) by a group of professionals and development workers with the motto of
development of disadvantage, poor and marginalized people of the rural areas. This
organization has been registered as an NGO under the organization registration act of
Nepal, affiliated with Social Welfare Council (SWC), NGO Federation of Nepal,
Federation of Democratic NGO (FEDEN), Peaceful Schools International Canada,
Resource Centre for Primary Health Care Nepal (RECPHEC), DP Net-Nepal,
DCCAM Network-Nawalparasi, Tobacco Control and Health Rights Network- Nepal,
Coady Alumni, ARI Alumni and Gender and water Alliance-Nepal (Source: Date of
Sahamati, 2010).

Global problems like climate change, poverty, social discrimination and migration
influence Nepal's development process, demanding diversified answers.
Underprivileged groups are often excluded while designing development program
which is unfortunate for them. Sahamati aim to make a change by addressing the huge
challenges of the 21st century with a community-centered approach, focusing on social
justice and social transformation, human rights development and self-help promotion.
SAHAMATI has built a large network composed of diverse social groups, national
and international organizations and like-minded institutions and have been launching
various kinds of community-centered programs on collaboration.
(www.sahamati.org).

The dedication and commitment of the team mates have made SAHAMATI establish
nationally over a short period of time. With success on the programs launched on
partnership, SAHAMATI intends to cover all 75 districts of the country. SAHAMATI
is keen to replicate its study and innovative ideas to all districts of the country so as to

45
uplift the living standard of the people. They have been regularly trying to establish
new linkages and promulgate new ideas to the society to contribute the development
process to the best potential. Geographically, SAHAMATI has covered 14 districts of
Nepal. At present, they are working in 11 of them Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Sindhuli,
Kapilvastu, Palpa, Arghakanchi, Salyan, Gulmi, Baglung, Parbat and Myagdi
(Source: Date of Sahamati, 2010).

5.2 Programs carried out by the NGO

The technical difficulties like lack of resources, inefficient human resources,

inappropriate techniques selection, topographic difficulties and unstable government
are of the causes hindering the development process. Proper utilization of the
resources with human resources utilization is the need for the country. SAHAMATI
believes that the developmental efforts should have to go in accordance with the need
of the society and thus is developing through mobilization of the people in the society
continuously raising their skill, finding out the potentiality of the people and the
locality, raising the living standard through co operative financing, rural development,
youth development, empowerment, employment opportunities creation to the poor
and deprived communities.

The objective of Sahamati shows that it has been devoting itself for the development
in rural area with its different programs. Most of the programs have been related in
remote areas of the districts. Sahamati has been involving in following sectoral rural
development programs.

In this research, we are focusing only one of the important programs among
sahamati’s programs. There are various important programs conducting in the study
area. Among the programs of Sahamati, Sammunati (Program for Promotion of Self-
Help Initiative in the Rural Area) is the program who focuses the rural area, poor and
dispirited people, dalit, ethnic groups etc.

5.2.1 Samunnati Program

46
Samunnati is one of the programs carried out by Sahamati. Samunnati refers to the
programs for Promotion of Self-Help Initiative in the Rural Area. Since March 2005,
the Samunnati Program is ongoing partnership between Sahamati and Oxfam Hong
Kong; it was launched in seven VDCs of Nawalparasi district (Gaindakot, Ratanpur,
Mukundapur, Jaubari, Bharatipur, Archala, Dubia and Naram) and one VDC of
Kapilvastu district in coordination with and partnership of local NGOs. Program
activities are focused on self-help promotion, skill development and income
generation. The local NGO, Aadharbhut Gramin Bikas Sewa is working in
Kapilvastu. The main goal of the program is to reduce vulnerability through
community empowerment for sustainable livelihood leading to the quality of life and
wellbeing of the community. In addition, climate change is also one of the hazards for
rural community as it raises the questions for their food security. The program also
emphasizes on the causes of decreased source of water and the proper use of water
sources (Data of Sahamati, 2010).

The program was implemented on the basis of institutional development, local

resource management, livestock and agricultural development and livelihood
improvement through income generation activities as well as improvement of
wellbeing for vulnerability reduction. This program is focused towards the local
resource mobilization for reduction of the climate change affect through improvement
of the agricultural technologies and practices. The program has implemented its
activities towards identification and mobilization of local resource where socially,
economically and geographically excluded communities reside. The program has
focused for the livelihood improvement of the local communities for quality of life
through various community level activities. As a result, various types of changes can
be found for capacity enhancement of local communities, identification and
management of local resource and income generation for livelihood improvement as
well. Though program has been significant in such type of change, it is still to
increase the valuable participation, capacity enhancement for local resource
management and demonstration of model activities in the target community as well.
The program has focused for sustainable livelihood of the local communities for
quality of life through various CBOs, interest groups, cooperative in association with
community level activities.

47
The overall program has been implemented towards identification and mobilization of
local resources where socially, economically and geographically excluded
communities are living. With the working experiences, the program has found and
agreed five major indicators for well-being viz. monitoring (access to resources),
family/social connection, alternatives/choices, participation/responsibility and
happiness/satisfaction. These indicators help to know the quality of life. The program
has set three objectives for 2010-2011 A.D.: vulnerability reduction, community
empowerment and sustainable livelihood. The program is focused on institutional
development, agricultural development, livestock management, education, health, and
sanitation and off farm entrepreneurship (Data of Sahamati, 2010). The program
design is based on the learning of the organization.

5.2.2 Activities of the Samunnati Programs

The basis emphasis of any programs is mainly towards the development of certain
groups or community with whom the work is carried with. In this case Samunnati
carries certain work of frame that enables and has purposeful aims towards the
community under which this organization is working and it has got its own norms and
values. The activities carried by this program directly emphasis towards the local
people’s day to day life. In this case, Samunnati has its own activities of programs so
that it can contribute to the empowerment of the people of study area. The activities
carried under these programs are mentioned below:
a) Education Development
b) Agriculture Development
c) Livestock Development
d) Institutional Development
e) Entrepreneurship Development

5.3 Achievements of the Program

In the study area there are Programs conducted by local NGO for few years, which
has significant role in the development of the people Dhodeni Village. They do

48
programs like education, women empowerment, agriculture, water and their economic
development. In the field observation one key informant informed that before the
programs, we were in dark place. After the programs of NGOs they open our closed
eyes and made enable to use our skill in proper way, so we thankful to those
NGOs/INGOs who are giving wonderful opportunities to us.

The Programs of Sahamati called Samunnati is doing different activities for

empowering the people of the study area. important activities which they are doing
for the empowering people of the study area and the achievement of the programs are
as follows:

5.3.1 Education

The people of the study area are illiterate and backward people of Gaindakot VDC
They are always busy in their occupation like traditional agriculture, animal
husbandry and traditional handicraft making. They have no any idea given by any
other people to educate their children and it's important. Local NGO Sahamati carried
out programs for ethnic groups, poor people, different castes, and marginalized
people. Among them Sahamati took the programs for the development of community
of Dhodeni Village to empower their socio-cultural, economical development. Most
of the people in study area are poor, uneducated, ethnic groups, dalits, etc. So they
finally get the decision it will be effective to give educational and others Programs
which will helps to show their socio-cultural values, economic conditions,
empowerment of woman and children etc. They conducted Samunnati Programs for
the development of the study area.

They build informal child school for the education and provided one literacy
community woman to teach the children and they also gave training to her. After that
class for children in that informal child education has been runned for the people of
poor, marginalized, dalit and ethnic groups. They build one room for informal child
school and they provided books, copy, pencil, dress and other materials for children
education. After the completed their general schooling from informal education they
shift to formal school for their higher education.

49
In the field observation, we also reached in that school where children of different
castes were studying. As a key informant we also found that 14 students are studying
in that informal school. After finished their study they are also continuing their study
in the government school of dhodeni village. Now 9 students are continuing their
higher education after completion from the formal school, which is the significance
achievement done by the Samunnati programs after opening the informal school for
the poor people of the study area.

5.3.2 Agriculture

Most of the people of Nepal are depending in Agriculture. In Dhodeni Village there is
also agriculture as main occupation. They cultivate paddy, maize, millet, vegetables
and fruits in their agricultural land. Lack of land and irrigation they only able to
produce little food for their own consumption. They are using traditional agriculture
system with using traditional tools and techniques. Seeing that, Sammunati Program
also helps them in their agriculture as a new system. They motivate them for the cash
crops production. They train them for farming agriculture with hybrids sheds and
pesticides. The programs focused on kitchen gardening for their own daily uses
product so that they should not depend on others. Later they developed these
techniques of occupation for the economical way of benefit. They also gave training
to mushroom farming for woman of the community. After the training they benefited
from mushroom farming and made this occupation their main source of income. After
these training other people of this area were attracted towards farming vegetables and
sell them to near market with the cash which is profitable and helpful to up great their
economic status.

For the generating good income of the people of study area they also focus for their
good agriculture system. They give different training for the agriculture, goad
farming, piggery and so on to the people of Dhodeni Village.

5.3.3 Livestock Development

50
Samunnati programs also gave training to the local people towards the Livestock
programs. They especially focused on goad farming, piggery farming. They gave
training to 40 households about the basic knowledge of Livestock farming through
which 50 percent of people who are involved in training are attracted towards this
profession. In this profession they are satisfied and eager to establish this farming
business as mode of their income sources for their households. Seeing this other
villages, communities are attracted towards this profession as well, which can be
taken as a significant development of the research area.

5.3.4 Institutional Development

In the study area, most of the people are ethnic groups. In ethnic castes, female had
freedom as a male. There are no any differences between male and female. In the field
survey, researcher found that most of household of their community decision maker is
female. Women are involving in agriculture, animal husbandry, business, sewing
occupation and their kitchen for making food for their family. Most of female children
are taking informal child education, which is the Program of Local NGO. So there are
no any difficulties to involve in different training for the women of the study area.
NGO trained the women of the study area for agriculture, handicraft making and for
making groups from saving of money. In the field observation, we got the opportunity
to meet the women groups, where they are doing meeting for saving money. They
times meeting and collect money from groups and they also invest that saving money
among them to take low interest rate as their essential.

This saving group was made by the initiation of Samunnati Program. They take credit
from their group for the agriculture and their occupation. They are using the money of
groups for their own use, from the help of that money they are doing well in
agriculture, goat and piggery farming and handicrafts making. In this village currently
10 saving groups of women and mixed groups are functioning. This initiation of
saving groups made a co-operative organization which is saving large scale money
and making lots of profit. This co-operative did well to community for the rural area,
which is called Melmilap Saving and Credit Co-operative Limited. The co-operative
is fully functional with 17 Lakhs in approx. as the share capital. At the same time the

51
programs is enabling the local people by giving the training on management skill and
exposure field.

5.3.5 Entrepreneurship Development

This is one of the challenging programs given to the local people of Dhodeni Village.
Due to entrepreneurship development program people of Bhujel/Gharti caste are
developing to skills of awareness of entrepreneur development programs. At same
time they trained to product handicraft made of up bamboo. So they can uplift
themselves by modulating their skill and make profit and be economically strong.
They were also trained in the marketing strategies so they can cost their products and
upgrade the retail shop.

This Sumunnati Program is very important for such type of caste and ethnic groups. It
helps for their occupation, agriculture and socio-economic status among the societies,
which may be influences to other communities. They are empowering the people of
the study area through their decisions making, access information and resources,
positive-thinking for change, access skills improvement, their rights, entrepreneurship
development, group formation, women empowerment, etc.

5.4 Contributions of the Programs

Most of the programs in Nepal are conducting for the development of the rural area.
Because of the large area of Nepal is covered by the rural area. Different castes/ethnic
groups, dalit and backward peoples are living in rural area. Due to the existence of
poverty and caste system in Nepal many people who are living in rural area are
socially depressed and economically backward.

Many intervention programs were conducting in rural area by NGOs in empowering

people. Among the programs, Sahamati have operated special package programs for
the development of the Dhodeni Village, which contributes in social, culture and
economic development of the people of the Dhodeni Village. Here researcher is trying
to show the past and present livelihood strategies of the study area, which shows the

52
real picture of contribution factors of the intervention programs. Infrastructures like
road, transportation, school, health post, water, modern education, occupation are the
important factors for the change on livelihood strategies of the study area.

In past they had traditional agriculture system, animal husbandry and their
occupation. Gradually, they changed occupations for their survival in this changing
environment. They were migrated to new places of our country which made them to
adopt in the new environment and change their livelihood. They adopt the new
economic life like wage labor, business, services as a new adoptive strategies to cope
in the present changing circumstances.

In the past, they had followed hunting and gathering, traditional handicrafts making,
subsistence agriculture with animal husbandry as an adaptive strategies for their
survival in their environment. They migrated from different places for their survival,
which impact changes in their livelihood. However the changes in their socio-cultural
and economic environment also brought change in their life.

Different factors effect to change in livelihood strategy of society. Development

processes started in every sector in the societies, which affect the peoples to change in
their life. Construction of road, improvement in education, extension of market, skill
enhancement, wage labor, etc. help villagers to change their survival strategies.
However, they did not totally change their traditional occupation but they did market
oriented and profitable as a business point of view. They used their occupation as a
business which helped them in their economic status. In the course of study, we found
that main factors which are given below are impact on the lives of villagers.

5.4.1 Construction of Road

Road construction is one of the important factors for change in life. In Dhodeni
Village of the study area, there is important road build through which go to Palpa
District. This road touches different villages of Nawalparasi district and Palpa district.
This road construction provides opportunity of wage labor for most of the people of
Nawalparasi and Palpa district. The people of the study area also got the opportunity

53
of wage labor and also sell their agricultural products and their handmade crafts items
in the near market after the construction of the road. Due to the facilities of road,
people of this areas god easily accesses to go from one area to another for their daily
works which made their life easier and smooth as well as their involvement with other
community.

NGO plays a vital role in any sector of human life and with their programs people are
getting empowered and they felt the importance to develop the road in their areas
which shows the significant contribution of NGO program to enhance their life status.

5.4.2 Improvement in Literacy and Education

The achievements of the NGOs programs have resulted in the improvement of the
literacy and education status of the people. Education is the very important factors for
all life but in the study area the people of Dhodeni Village only few people are
educated. Few people of the study area take Higher Secondary level education till
date. After the opening of informal child school, the program of Samunnati for the
children of Dhodeni Village, the people are gradually sending their children to the
formal school after finishing the informal education. The people of Dhodeni Village
realized the importance of the education for their children, which the significant role
is done by the NGO's Program in the study area, without their infrastructure and good
program, this achievement was impossible. The program had brought equal
participation of different gender in economic development activities.

54
 CHAPTER-VI: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This chapter presents the brief summary of the entire study and highlights major
findings of the study. In addition, the major conclusions are discussed in separate
section of this chapter which is followed by implications and the recommendations
regarding the women empowerment and economic development. Finally, the chapter
ends with the scope of the future research in same field.

6.1 Summary

Women empowerment has drawn higher attention in today’s world because women’s
make everything possible in the organizations. Women empowerment is the process
of generating a building capability of women to exercise control over one's own life.
It is generating understand to mean the ability of women to make choices to improve
their well beings that of their families and communities. Empowered women take
more active roles in the house and community. Empowerment means transforming
existing power relations in favors of those (women, disadvantaged group and more
generally the poor) who faced severe limitations in exercising power and making
voluntary choices. Empowerment concerns the transformative use of power, in which
a dominant agent also exercises his power in such a way that the sub-ordinate agent
learns certain skills that undercut the power differential between him/her and the
dominant agent.
The study on women's status in developing countries reports widespread inequality
between the genders. Inequality between women and men takes the form of economic
inequality as well as differentials in education, health care, rights, and access to a
number of essential resources and differences in power in all spheres of life. In 1994,
at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo,
development organizations agreed that women’s empowerment is necessary for
important development outcomes: “the empowerment and autonomy of women, and
the improvement of their political, social, and economic and health status, constitute
an important end in themselves and one that is essential for achieving sustainable
development.” Gender equality and women’s empowerment is necessary for the

55
improvement of women and men’s well-being, for social justice, and for the
achievement of development goals.
The research design adopted in this study consists of descriptive and causal
comparative research designs to deal with the various issues raised in this study. The
descriptive research design has been adopted to undertake fact- finding operation
searching for adequate information.The study is based on primary sources of data.
The primary sources of data have been used to assess the opinion of respondents with
the respect to their provided answers.

Based on the analysis of data, the major findings of the study are summarized as
follows:

1. The study revealed that about (60 percent) respondents are females and (40
percent) respondents are males. The result indicates that females are more
attracted towards job than males. It is regarded as female are more
responsible than male.
2. The majority of employees (49 percent) in the village are of 31 to 39 years
old since this age group is more focused on work.
3. The majority of the employees (60 percent) have a master’s degree where
as 20 percent of respondents have bachelor’s degree.
4. The study revealed that the majority of the employees (50 percent) are
working as assistant level followed by officer level.
5. The result shows that the majority of the respondents (45 percent) believe
that the family always supports you in your individual decisions. While, 25
percent of the respondents agree about this statement and 20 percent of the
respondents are neutral.
6. The study reveals that the majority of the respondents (30.00 percent)
believe that husband/family members support you to do job outside home..
While, 30 percent of the respondents are neutral about this statement.
7. The results showed that majority of the respondents (50 percent) believe
that man should have a job, and a woman should take care of the
household and the family. While, 5 percent of the respondents are neutral
about this statement

56
8. The result showed that the majority of the respondents (60 percent) believe
that Availability fund is important for women empowerment in Nepal.
While, 10 percent of the respondents strongly agree about this statement.
9. The result reveals that the majority of the respondents (40.00 percent)
believe that “You have collected fund easily to start your profession”.
While, 20 percent of the respondents are neutral about this statement.
10. The result shows that the majority of the respondents (50percent) strongly
believe that decision making ability of women at economic development
activities helps to improve women empowerment program. While, 30
percent of the respondents agree about this statement.
11. The majority of the respondents (50 percent) believe that “If more
authorities are given to women to make decisions it is more likely that they
would be independent”. While, 5 percent of the respondents are neutral
about this statement.
12. The result shows that the majority of the respondents (30 percent) are
neutral that Women from high income families are more outgoing or they
are aware of their rights. While, 25 percent of the respondents agree about
this statement and 20 percent of the respondents strongly agree this
statement.
13. The result indicated that the majority of the respondents (40 percent) are
neutral that “It counts in Nepal for a women to find a better job whether
you belong to high income family or low income family”. While, 30
percent of the respondents agree about this statement
14. The correlation analysis result has revealed that there is positive
correlation between women empowerment and availability of fund which
means that higher the availability of fund, higher would be women
empowerment.
15. The regression statistics shows that literacy has positive correlation with
women empowerment indicating that higher the maturity level higher
would be participation on women empowerment activities.
16. The result showed that there is a positive correlation between
independency of women and women empowerment of dhodeni village. It
means that higher the positive independency towards the work, higher
would be women empowerment.
57
 17. The result found that there is a positive correlation between economic
status and women empowerment. It means that higher the economic status
of women, higher would be participation on women empowerment.
18. The result showed that there is positive correlation between decision
making and women empowerment which indicates that higher the decision
making authority provided, higher would women empowerment.
19. The result revealed that beta coefficient for availability of fund is positive
with women empowerment. The results hence indicate that higher the
availability of fund, higher would be participation on women
empowerment for economic development.
20. The beta coefficient for independency is positive with women
empowerment. The results hence indicate that higher the positive
independency towards work, higher would be the development of
economic activities through women empowerment.
21. The result found that the beta coefficient for literacy is positive with
women empowerment. The results hence indicate the higher the maturity
level higher would be the development of economic activities through
women empowerment.
22. The result concluded that the beta coefficient for economic status is
positive with women empowerment. The results hence indicate that higher
the economic status, higher would be the development of economic
activities through women empowerment.
23. The result found that the beta coefficient for decision making ability is
positive with women empowerment. The results hence indicate that higher
the decision making ability, higher would be the development of economic
activities through women empowerment.

6.2 Conclusions

The major conclusion of this study is that women empowerment plays a very vital
role on economic development activities. Increase in participation of women
empowerment activities there is increase in economic development. This study found
that with the higher level of availability of fund to women can increase its economic
development activities. The increase in availability of fund increases in increases
participation on economic activities.
58
6.3 Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, it has provided useful the recommendations which
are listed below:

 This study revealed that higher the economic status of women, higher would be
participation on women empowerment and hence ngos should provide proper pay
to women’s to upgrade their economic status.
 The study found that higher the decision making authority provided, higher would
women empowerment and hence ngo should provide authority to women to take
decision.
 The study found higher the availability of fund, higher would be participation on
women empowerment for economic development and hence sufficient fund
should be provided from family members so that woman can contribute in
economic development activities.

6.4 Scope for Future Research

This research is based on only dhodeni valley. So further research can be done
including other village in order to obtain the better result. The future researcher can
increase the sample size in order to get more valid result. Result can also be compared
with the result obtained from different analysis tools such as cross tab, Pearson’s
Correlation and stepwise regression as well. More sophisticated tools can be used
despite of Kendall’s Tau-b correlation and step wise regression to make findings more
reliable and valid across different industry sectors .Despite of the economic
development outcomes like women empowerment, future researcher can take other
variables. Furthermore, the comparative study can be done between the junior level,
middle level and senior level.

59
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Dhakal, Tek Nath (2006).NGOs in Livelihood Improvement: Nepalese Experience.

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62
Annex:-1 data on dependent and independent variables on
women empowerment and economic development through
NGO

women Literac economic decision

empowerment fund y Independency status making
3.5 4 4 4 4 3.67
3 3.33 4 4 4 3.67
2.75 3 4 4 4 3.33
3.5 4 4 4 4 3.67
3.5 3.33 4 4 4 4
3.25 4 4 4 4 3
3.5 3 4 4 4 3.33
3.5 3.67 4 3.67 4 4.25
3 3.67 4 3.67 4 4.75
3 3.67 4 3.67 4 4.15
3 2.33 4 4 4 4.1
3.5 3 3.5 4 4 4.65
3.5 3 3.67 4 4 4.23
3.25 4 3.33 4 2.67 4.54
3.5 4 3.67 4 3 4.12
3.25 4 3.33 4 2.67 4.15
3.5 4 3.67 4 4 4.12
3.25 4 3.33 4 4 3.25
3.5 4 3.67 4 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 4 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.33 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.33 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3 4 3.33 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.33 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.33 3.5
3.5 3.33 3 3 3.67 3.5
3 2.67 2.33 2.33 3.33 3
3.25 3 2.67 2.67 4 3.25
3.5 3.33 3 3 3.67 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
2.5 2 2.33 2.33 2.67 2.5
2.75 3.33 2 2 2.67 2.75
3.5 4 3 3 3.67 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.67 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.67 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.67 3.5

63
 3.5 4 3 3 3.67 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.67 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
3.5 3 4 4 3.33 3.5
3.5 3 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
3 2.33 3.33 3.33 2.67 3
3.5 3 4 4 3.33 3.5
3.5 3 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
3.25 2.67 3.33 3.33 3 3.25
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
3.5 3 4 4 3.67 3.5
3.5 3 4 4 3.33 3.5
3.5 3.33 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
3 2.67 3.33 3.33 2.33 3
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
3.5 3 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
3.5 3.33 3.67 3.67 4 3.5
2.75 2 3.33 3.33 3 2.75
3.5 3 3.67 3.67 3.33 3.5
2.75 2 2.67 2.67 3 2.75
3.5 3 3.33 3.33 3.67 3.5
3.5 3.67 4 4 3.33 3.5
3 3.67 3.33 3.33 3.5 3
2.5 3 2.67 2.67 3 2.5
2.75 3.33 2.67 2.67 2.75 2.75
3.25 4 3.33 3.33 3.5 3.25
3.25 4 3.33 3.33 3.5 3.25
3.25 4 3.33 3.33 3.25 3.25
3.25 4 3.33 3.33 3.5 3.25
3.25 4 3.33 3.33 3.5 3.25
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5

64
 3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
3.5 4 3 3 3.33 3.5
3.5 3.33 3 3 3.67 3.5
3 2.67 2.33 2.33 3.33 3
3.5 3.67 4 4 3.33 3.5
3.5 3.33 3 3 3.67 3.5
3 2.67 2.33 2.33 3.33 3
3.5 3.33 3 3 4 3.5
3.25 3.33 4 4 2.67 3.25
3.25 3.33 4 4 3 3.25
3.5 3 3.33 3.33 3.67 3.5
3.25 3.33 4 4 3 3.25
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
3.5 4 3.67 3.67 3 3.5
2.75 2 3.33 3.33 3 2.75
3.25 3.33 4 4 2.67 3.25

65
 Annex-2

Questionnaire on
Women empowerment and participation in economic
Activities through NGO

SECTION ONE: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

1. Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ]

2. Age (Years): 20-29[ ]30-39[ ] 40-49 [ ] 50 and above [ ]

3. Name of the institution you are employed in: ……………………………………….

4. Position of Job (tick any one): Lower [ ] Middle [ ] Top [ ]

5. Academic Qualification (tick any one): Bachelors [ ] Masters [ ] above[ ]

6. Years of experience: 1-4[ ] 5-9[ ] 10-14[ ] 15&above [ ]

Section Two: Likert Scale questions

7. Please indicate the level of your agreement with each of the following
statements:
1 = strongly disagree
2 = disagree
3 = not sure
4 = agree
5 = strongly agree
S.N Women empowerment Rating Scales
o
1 2 3 4 5
Your family always supports you in your individual
decisions

66
 Your husband/family members support you to do job outside
home.
A man should have a job, and a woman should take care of
the household and the family.
Suppose your husband makes enough money for living
expenses and leisure, you would prefer you, your daughter or
your daughter- in- law to stay at home?

S.N Availability of fund Rating Scales

o
1 2 3 4 5
1. Availability fund is important for women empowerment in
Nepal
2. You have collected fund easily to start your profession
3. One of the hurdles in Nepal for women to start a business is
the lack of fund.

S.N literacy Rating Scales

o
1 2 3 4 5
1. Literacy of women plays important role in empowering
women in Nepal
2. illiterate women could not start a profession in business or
entrepreneurship or they became introvert
3. Middle aged women are more awareness about their rights
and are outgoing

S.N Independency towards job Rating Scales

o
1 2 3 4 5
1. Nepalese women prefer to stay at home rather to go for
job.
2. Women go backward to solve challenging work.
3. Nepalese women prefer to do own job.

S.N Family’s economic status Rating Scales

o
1 2 3 4 5
1. Women from high income families are more outgoing or they
are aware of their rights

67
 2. It counts in Nepal for a women to find a better job whether
you belong to high income family or low income family.
3. High income families women are constrained to stay home in
comparison of women from low income families

S.N Decision making authority Rating Scales

o
1 2 3 4 5
1. In order to increase economic activities of women, high level
of authorities in decision making should be provided.
2. If more authorities are given to women to make decisions it
is more likely that they would be independent
3. Lack of authorities to make decisions in a family is pushing
women backward in terms of both self awareness and being
independent.

Section Three: Multiple choice questions

8. Do you need permission to visit friends or family?

a. Yes
b. No
C. in occasions

9. Who decides about respondent that women should do job?

a. Husband or Others
b. Respondent or Jointly with Others

10. How did you start the work/business?

a. Family invested and helped
b. Ngo invested and helped
c. Self- managed
d. If any others

68
11. Do you think your after involvement in Income generation activities; it helped you
in making family
decisions making?
a. Yes
b. No

12. Who takes the decisions of the family matters?

a. Male head in the house
b. female head in the house
c. Jointly (Including male and female)
d. all members in family including children

13. How does the society take as she works outside and look after a business?
a. Very good
b. good
c. bad
d. don’t know

14. Are you involved in making decisions within your club?

a. Yes
b. No
c. times

15. Can you give your opinion freely in your club about decisions involving the group
(e.g. loans or micro projects)?
a. Yes
b. No
c. times

16. Has your ability to make decisions changed since you joined the club?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Unsure

17. What do you think about women empowerment?

69
 a. Needed
b. Not needed

18. Why do the women need to be empowered?

a. To preserve their right
b. To be independent
c. To compete with men

19. Do you think the women can be empowered in individual life?

a. Yes
b. No
c. No idea

20. How do you think the women can be empowered in family?

a. Family investment and helped
b. Training on NGO and INGO
c. Education

21. How much effective is women empowerment program in Nepalese society?

a. Very good
b. good
c. bad
d. don’t know
22. Can women empowerment program contribute to overall development of the
community?

a. Yes
b. No
c. No idea

23. Who helped you to start this business?

a. Family members
b. NGO

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 c. Neighbors’
d. Others ____________________

24. Do you think the women economic empowerment program help her to be self-
reliant?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Don’t know
25. If yes, to what extent do you think women empowerment program is beneficial?
a. very much
b. moderate
c. less extent

26. What did women empowerment program give to women?

a. Skill
b. Money
c. Confidence
d. awareness
e. if any others

27. What were the most important reasons/events, which made you, start your own
business?

a) To earn an income after retrenchment

b) To earn own income and become less dependent on husband
c) To assist husband financially in supporting the family
d) Other. Please specify

Thank You

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