second EF
meeting ... contd.

Executive Summary... contd.

On the third day, there were presentations on the field visits. Most participants felt that the field visit was an enriching experience. The work of SAMUHA was appreciated in all three places. In Adhibhavi, the women were confident about their technical skills, their dependency on moneylenders had reduced and they had. through collective efforts, been successful in stopping harassment inflicted on women. MMS, a women owned institution, had taken many initiatives for economic empowerment of women. The women were learning how to undertake home-shopping and milk marketing on a scale. In PNMAS, after SAMUHA’s intervention, the devadasis became functionally literate, they cultivated the land allotted to them and slowly its economic value improved, and a Tie and Dye unit was started. There were discussions and clarifications on different observations made by the participants.

A synthesis of the points culled out by the resource group from the different presentations was presented. The presentation covered the staff policies of NGOs, institutional space for women, institutions other than women based, capacity building (for both men and women), new role for women, legal rights for women, linkages with other institutions, programme interventions, value based approaches and challenges. There were discussions and clarifications on many cards.

There was a presentation by CDPO, Tavaragera, on the different schemes of the Government for the welfare of the women and child. HID Forum shared their experience of working on Gender in ISPWDK and reflection of two days in EF. The presentation was appreciated. This was followed by a resource lecture by Manjula Pradeep. She shared two of her experiences on working with Dalits in Gujarat.

Finally, there was a feedback in which participants felt that it was a learning experience, the learning had to be internalized for application and sharing with others in their organization would need to take place. The workshop ended with a round of thanks to participants and organisers.

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