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As more organizations in the international development community , it has grown increasingly difficult to evaluate what that really entails.

鈥淓veryone uses the word 鈥榚mpowerment,鈥欌�� said the 鈥檚 Alaka Basu at the 浪花直播 Center on October 10. 鈥淚t鈥檚 now such an overused word. You are empowered if you have a choice of 10 different shampoos in the grocery store; you are empowered if you have 100 kinds of cereals to buy; you are empowered by virtually anyone wanting to sell you something.鈥�

Basu argues in her research that effective gender equality initiatives need to go 鈥渂eyond that way of looking at empowerment and ask, 鈥榳hat is meaningful&苍产蝉辫;别尘辫辞飞别谤尘别苍迟?鈥欌赌�

She was joined by Wendy Baldwin, formerly of the , for a discussion about the effectiveness of the international development community鈥檚 efforts to empower some of the world鈥檚 most marginalized women.

Is Increasing Choices Enough?

鈥淚f we are to assume empowerment automatically means gender equality, women鈥檚 rights, women鈥檚 strength 鈥� I think that鈥檚 a misnomer,鈥� Basu said. 鈥淓mpowerment in the鈥ense of just expansion of choices can occur in many ways which do not touch the patriarchy, which do not touch women鈥檚 status, and therefore to assume women are empowered鈥and] ideologies have changed, doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�

Basu said these 鈥渋nstrumental鈥� empowerment initiatives are problematic because it is hard to determine whether or not providing new choices actually changes attitudes about gender roles and rights, even if they increase practical opportunities.

鈥淗ow does expansion of women鈥檚 choices lead to outcomes in other fields?鈥� she asked. It鈥檚 not clear it does, in some cases. 鈥淒ata [in some countries] shows that women who are working are very good at achieving many kinds of gross reproductive health outcomes, but when you look at their attitudes鈥he majority of them still think it鈥檚 justified for a man to beat his wife鈥f she doesn鈥檛 produce a hot meal, or if she refuses sex, or if she talks to strangers,鈥� she said.

When it comes to quantifying progress in empowerment efforts, there has been too much exclusive reliance on hard data, such as employment and health statistics, Basu continued. For example, lower rates of sexually transmitted infections can be misleading in places where women simply aren鈥檛 allowed to have sex. In addition to quantitative data, there is a need to include additional information about changing attitudes.

What Is Successful Empowerment?

Baldwin applauded Basu鈥檚 message about expanding the traditional approach to empowerment, urging organizations to 鈥渦npack the concepts鈥� behind their goals to determine what they define as successful empowerment.

The idea of women鈥檚 empowerment is not clearly defined. For example, organizations should ask themselves when they start employment initiatives whether they are addressing working in the house or out of the house, in the formal sector or the informal sector, Baldwin said. 鈥淲hat is it about having that job or that income that makes a difference when [women] come home?鈥� For organizations making these decisions, 鈥渋t would be extra helpful to actually understand how these concepts knit together so that you would have half a chance that pushing on this part of the concept is actually going to give you the effect at the other end that you want,鈥� she said.

In Basu鈥檚 eyes, empowerment is best defined as an expansion of agency throughout women鈥檚 lives, not in individual sectors. 鈥淲e mean expansion of choice according to [women鈥檚] rules,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ven 鈥榖ad鈥� behaviors can be an outcome of expanded choice.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that with increased choice you can choose to do something or have something, but you鈥檙e also able to鈥hoose something that goes against the norm,鈥� agreed Baldwin. She pointed out, for example, the idea of finding better husbands doesn鈥檛 fit into the traditional empowerment narrative, and, in fact, runs counter to it in some ways. But by finding ways to encourage women to stay with men who do not abuse them and respect their rights, it is possible to foster attitudes of empowerment that go beyond economic opportunities. Such decisions help build empowerment beyond individual needs and create lasting change for multiple generations.

Baldwin said NGOs and governments working on women鈥檚 empowerment should plan their efforts with consideration for the source of empowerment. Are they merely adding additional options, or truly enabling women to choose for themselves? Without careful consideration of the difference, she suggested gender equality initiatives might struggle to find the results they aim for.

鈥淟ife Is Not a Randomly Controlled Experiment鈥�

鈥淚deological change really requires you to question the patriarchy,鈥� said Basu, 鈥渁nd here it appears a lot of these so-called empowering factors aren鈥檛 quite as effective as we think they are.鈥� This does not mean there is no place for economic empowerment initiatives, she argued, but rather there ought to be greater consideration regarding their implementation.

For Baldwin, achieving better results from empowerment efforts around the world begins with self-scrutiny in the international development community. She advocated for a 鈥渕ixed method鈥� approach to evaluation that combines the usual survey data with qualitative research. 鈥淚f we could structure our research to go back鈥nd say 鈥業 didn鈥檛 ask you the right questions, can I ask you more?鈥欌�� then we could reduce misinterpretations of purely statistical data, she said.

Basu believes that empowerment must be considered from all angles, not just in terms of commodities and economic choices: 鈥淟ife is not a randomly controlled experiment 鈥� we need to have a storyline that links all of these issues.鈥�

Basu鈥檚 research, still in progress, will be included in an upcoming white paper from the UN Foundation.

Event Resources:

Drafted by Donald Borenstein, edited by Schuyler Null.