ENGAGE!

Women’s Empowerment and Active Citizenship

Inaugural meeting of a newly formed Women’s group in Shymanagar Upazila.

Through ENGAGE, CCDB will be forming approximately 40 women’s groups that will provide training opportunities, engage with local governments, and strengthen women’s leadership in their communities.

Photo Credit Imran Kibria

The official inauguration of ENGAGE project was held December 15, 2020 at the Organization for Women in Self-employment (WISE).

The project was launched in the presence of its pertinent stakeholders from government offices, civil society organizations and universities. About 30 participants including WISE’s staff have participated in the inauguration workshop. The solidarity of WISE with Global Affairs Canada and Coady International Institute since 2012 was presented in the workshop. The nexus between EMPOWER and ENGAGE project was also presented. Discussion on strengthening partnership among present stakeholders and other potential stakeholders was held. In conclusion, way forward in implementation of the project was discussed.

Group presentation on different methods used during Intensive Movement Building Cycle. (IMBC)

Eric Smith interviews a CCDB participant in the ENGAGE project.

She received training on climate resilient agriculture and explains the impact this has had on her family’s food security and income.

Photo Credit Imran Kibria

SEWA

Yogesh Ghore and a SEWA member provide an overview of the leaky bucket tool, used to better understand household or business finances and local economies.

SEWA’s Kamla Dry Goods and Snacks kitchen, which provides employment security for women who are in the food processing sector.

It procures directly from SEWA members through RUDI (RUral DIstribution, which provides seeds, procures goods, processes them, and provides door to door delivery). Kamla provides nutritious regular homemade food for its customers. The center also provides training in baking and cooking for other Kamla centers in the rest of India.

Question and Answer discussion during TGNP’s Intensive Movement Building Cycle training.

Meeting with a People’s Managed Savings Cooperative at CCDB.

These organizations help women build up their savings to withstand shocks and invest in their businesses. They also help create democratic leadership opportunities through their member-based structure.

Project Summary:

ENGAGE! is a five-year initiative co-designed by Coady Institute and five partner organizations:

  • Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India;
  • Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE) in Ethiopia;
  • Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP);
  • Christian Commission for Development (CCDB) in Bangladesh; and
  • Centre Haïtien du Leadership et de l’Excellence (CLE) in Haiti.
Engage Partners Map
Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) Centre Haïtien du Leadership et de l’Excellence (CLE) in Haiti Gender Training Institute (GTI), with TGNP Mtandao in Tanzania Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE) in Ethiopia Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India

Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB)

CCDB will work at community level to support the formation and strengthening of local women’s organizations to address issues of climate change through the development of community-based climate change adaptation plans that address the specific needs of women and girls. Training activities will build the capacity women’s organizations to undertake local action research that examines the vulnerabilities of women in the context of climate change; support them to engage in advocacy and campaigns; and enhance their ability to interaction with local government institutions and develop opportunities for alternative livelihoods.

Centre Haïtien du Leadership et de l’Excellence (CLE) in Haiti

CLE proposes to launch the Haiti Women Global Change Leaders (GCL) Program, a new blended learning and place-based leadership development program. Two cohorts of 25 young social change Haitian women leaders (ages 18-35) will pass through the program in two cycles of the new program. By strategically targeting and investing in a select group of young women, CLE will ensure a multiplier effect whereby these women are able to spread a message of women-led, asset-based change across Haiti.

Gender Training Institute (GTI), with TGNP Mtandao in Tanzania

The GTI-TGNP initiative focusses on empowering women to lead gender equitable change in their communities through use of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB). It will equip women at the local level with the analytical tools and methodology to engage with budgets and identify priorities for their local community, focused on gender related challenges. It will also develop the capacity for civil society engagement in women’s rights and GRB-related advocacy, as well as engage directly with local government, line agencies, and other service providers that hold authority over – or can influence – decision-making on local and national budgets.

Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE) in Ethiopia

WISE is a women’s empowerment organization that will provide national and community based training of women leaders with a focus on women’s empowerment, asset-based approaches, and enterprise development. WISE will build capacity of its local implementing partners in these same areas, and undertake a learning agenda (action research, case study documentation, curriculum development, etc… ) on related issues and topics.

Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India

SEWA is a member-based organisation of more than 1.9 million self-employed women workers of the informal sector in India. The SEWA Manager ni School (SMS) was founded in 2005, and provides leadership and management education to grassroots members from the informal economy. As part of the ENGAGE! Project, three initiatives will be undertaken:

- community-based training of women leaders focused on the “future of work” in the informal sector;

- capacity building of SMS as a Community College, and center for innovation and learning, including regional and international outreach; and

- developing and implementing a research and dissemination agenda on related issues.

Read more about this project.

The project will work to advance gender equality and poverty reduction by enhancing women’s capacity to participate in the social and economic life of their communities. ENGAGE! will apply an asset-based, citizen-led development (ABCD) approach to promote gender-equitable change. This approach ensures that local communities, and in particular women, exercise ownership and control over social and economic development initiatives that respond to their realities and priorities.

Training on the use of animation and facilitation tools at TGNP for their Intensive Movement Building Cycle. The training covered gender responsive budgeting, gender issues, and animation and facilitation training.

The project will work “on the ground” in communities across five countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti, India and Tanzania). Project activities will be a combination of:

  • support for community-based training of women leaders and related community initiatives that advance gender equality;
  • capacity building support for partner organizations and their local, national and regional networks; and
  • learning-focused activities (action research, case study documentation, curriculum development, etc.) that build on the community initiatives and share lessons learned through various dissemination and training opportunities, including Antigonish-based training at Coady Institute.

As project lead and convener, Coady Institute will oversee project management and accountability to Global Affairs Canada and co-ordinate cross-partner activities such as governance, baselines, monitoring, and evaluation. The Institute will also provide a range of capacity building support to the implementing partners and their networks. This will include staff training at Coady, as well as opportunities for fellowships and exchanges. The project steering committee will also put in place an ambitious learning agenda on issues and innovations related to women’s community-based leadership, with multiple action research themes, and related documentation and dissemination activities, including regional and global learning forums.

News

Publications

A key component of the Engage program is the priority placed on creating a co-learning environment whereby the partner organizations have ongoing opportunities to share their expertise, learn from each other, and collectively explore new ideas, techniques and tools.

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Our Five Partner Organizations are:

Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB)

CCDB will work at the community level to support the formation and strengthening of local women’s organizations to address issues of climate change, livelihoods development, and political inclusion. CCDB’s training activities will build the capacity of women’s organizations to develop and implement their own leadership and livelihoods training and community change initiatives. The organization will support these women’s groups in advocacy campaigns, enhancing their ability to interact with and influence local government institutions in the development of opportunities for alternative livelihoods.

CCDB will pilot new community level training approaches such as gender responsive budgeting (GRB) and monitoring, and will mainstream asset-based community development (ABCD) approaches into their existing ‘Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Climate Change Programs’.

Centre Haïtien du Leadership et de l’Excellence (CLE) in Haiti

CLE will launch Angaje, a blended learning and place-based entrepreneurship development program. CLE will deepen its skills, tools, and approaches for women’s leadership, feminism, and social enterprise organizationally and embed them into the Angaje program. Two cohorts of young social entrepreneurs will receive leadership and business training with the opportunity for financial support through seed grants and flexible funding. By strategically targeting and investing in a select group of young women, CLE will ensure a multiplier effect whereby these women are able to spread a message of women-led, asset-based change across Haiti.

CLE will play a key role in the development and growth of an organizational network in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and will embed itself as the go-to place for social entrepreneurship training in Haiti.

Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) in Tanzania

TGNP will empower women to lead gender equitable change in their communities through use of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB). TGNP will organize women-led knowledge centres to equip women at the local level with the analytical tools and methodology to engage with budgets. The knowledge centre members will participate in leadership and GRB trainings, identify gender-related priorities for their local community, and work toward increased civic participation. TGNP will test and integrate asset-based community development (ABCD) within its GRB practices, and pilot women’s economic and livelihoods development trainings.

TGNP will also develop its capacity for civil society engagement in women’s rights and GRB-related advocacy, engaging directly with local government and other service providers that hold authority over – or can influence – decision-making on local and national budgets.

Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE) in Ethiopia

WISE will provide national and community-based training of women leaders with a focus on women’s empowerment, asset-based approaches, and enterprise development. WISE will launch five new savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOS) in Addis Ababa and build the capacity of its union of SACCOS in these three key areas. The organization will revise and renew its women’s legal rights training, pilot new asset-based community development (ABCD) approaches, and undertake advocacy for the integration of women’s priorities with local government offices.

WISE will complete information technology (IT) infrastructure upgrades and provide digital literacy trainings for its membership of women entrepreneurs to support their entry into the online business space.

Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India

SEWA’s Manager School (SMS) will conduct community-based training of women leaders focused on the ‘future of work’ in the informal sector while undertaking innovation in curriculum development and facilitation approaches. SMS will develop and implement a research and dissemination agenda on the recovery from societal shocks and crises while building the school’s capacity as a center for innovation and learning.

SEWA will also set up a ‘climate school’ to enable grassroots members to adapt, mitigate, and respond to climate change.

    Key Dates

    Overall Project: December 2019 to February 28, 2025
    Inception Phase: January 1, 2019 to April 30, 2019
    Implementation Phase: May 1, 2020 to October 31, 2025
    Reporting Phase: November 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026

     

    Program undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada