In recent years the concept of empowerment has flourished to a large extent, not least in development studies. Empowering marginalised communities, poor people and women has become a priority for development agencies and organisations. This thesis aims to assess how women are empowered by a top-down approach through International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) and a bottom-up approach through the women themselves. The paper is based on a field study that took place in the coffee farms of Uganda where women face enormous challenges as they work in an exploited industry and live with husbands who often withhold the income of the work the women have done. Drawing on Naila Kabeer’s definition of empowerment, this paper looks at if and how the resources, agency and achievements of the women have led to empowerment in the levels of household, workplace and community. The research strategy used for this paper is data collected from semi-structured interviews with women working in coffee farms in Uganda. The results show that women become empowered to a large extent in the workplace and community levels but struggle in the household level. There is not sufficient transformative power from IWCA and the women themselves to change the structures regarding gender-norms that are vastly embedded in the culture. There is a need to raise more awareness and knowledge, not only for women and organisations but for the men as well, in order to reach women’s empowerment and gender equality.

This study investigates how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects implemented through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) impact on the roles, relationship, responsibilities and agendas of the involved actors – the private sector, civil society and the state – and whether these can lead to women’s empowerment and the capacity building of civil society in India, through a case study of the CSR projects of the Indian wind power company Suzlon. The empirical findings in terms of women’s empowerment lead us to conclude that although the first dimension of power, the ‘power over’, reflected in unequal gender structures, only has been addressed to a minor extent through Suzlon’s CSR projects, women’s ‘power to’, ‘power with’ and ‘power from within’ have been enhanced significantly, particularly through the projects specifically aimed to address women’s empowerment. Further, to adequately enhance women’s empowerment requires addressing gender structures and the gender sensitization of men, and not only the capacities of women. Suzlon has contributed to the capacity building of civil society – the NGOs implementing the CSR projects - in terms of enhancing project sustainability, promoting NGO ownership of projects, decreasing donor dependency and enforcing long-term strategies, while some other aspects of capacity building largely have remained unaddressed. Although the respective actors in the PPPs generally are positive of the collaborations, our findings indicate that the state partly withdraws from its responsibility to further development while the private sector increasingly takes on the same. The risk of corporate control of the civil society agenda associated with PPPs is not confirmed by our study although civil society tends to bear the highest costs in PPPs, in terms of credibility losses and insecurity concerning project terms and funding. The findings further confirm the importance of ‘critical cooperation’ and ‘complementary core competencies’ in PPPs.

This study explores economic conditions among Iraqi refugee women living in urban areas of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan through open-ended interviews. The research aims to address coping mechanisms Iraqi refugee women use to adapt to their financial situation. The goal is to review the proactive efforts women make to turn family units from traditional consumers (buying goods) to producers (making goods) in order to find financial stability. The study incorporates three overarching themes: First, it establishes Iraqi refugee women’s financial status by surveying economic security and employment opportunities. Second, the study investigates how living in urban areas of Jordan affects Iraqi women’s economic status. Thirdly, the study explores how Iraqi refugee women approach their financial situation. How have Iraqi women taken steps to exercise control over their financial lives and improve their economic situation as refugees? The objective of this project is to promote women’s empowerment by creating an open dialogue about Iraqi women’s struggles and to highlight the steps that women take to improve their situation. The study suggests steps that can be taken to aid Iraqi refugees. / text

The assumptions underlying the relationships between microfinance and women’s empowerment are typically rooted in a financial paradigm, wherein the prevailing belief is that increases in economic resources necessarily lead to increases in women’s empowerment. This results in a conceptual erasure of the multi-dimensionality of empowerment and disregards the influences that microfinance has on women that extend beyond the economic sphere. This study explored how 6 women in Mali perceive and experience empowerment in relation to their participation in a microfinance program using photovoice. Photovoice is a qualitative methodology wherein participants document, reflect on, and represent their community and experiences using a specific photographic technique. The photographic collection that the women generated, along with their narratives and oral testimonies, suggest that empowerment is a complex construct that includes, yet extends beyond the financial paradigm. The findings of this indicate that microfinance has positively and negatively impacted various dimensions of the women’s perceived empowerment. At the conclusion of the project, the women participated in a forum and initiated policy changes at the microfinance institution with which they are affiliated.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-09-10T12:54:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JULLIANA DA COSTA MACÊDO PAIVA - DISSERTAÇÃO (PROFIAP-CCJS) 2016.pdf: 7186560 bytes, checksum: 39a5043d0b1dc3f8ab7e0f1ff66318e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-10T12:54:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JULLIANA DA COSTA MACÊDO PAIVA - DISSERTAÇÃO (PROFIAP-CCJS) 2016.pdf: 7186560 bytes, checksum: 39a5043d0b1dc3f8ab7e0f1ff66318e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-28 / A violência de gênero ao longo do tempo foi se tornando um problema de ordem pública que tem demonstrado a necessidade de políticas mais efetivas como a instituição dos Centros de Referência da Mulher – CRAM, nos municípios. Configura-se ainda como uma violação do direito à segurança dentro espaço doméstico. Com base nos altos índices de violência, e no desafio de monitorar as ações desenvolvidas no tocante às políticas públicas de enfrentamento a violência, o presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar o uso do Centro de Referência da Mulher - CRAM do município de Cajazeiras/PB por parte das mulheres em situação de violência. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa documental em 284 fichas de atendimento registradas no CRAM Susane Alves entre janeiro de 2010 e dezembro de 2015. A partir da construção de um diálogo teórico discutindo gênero como categoria histórica e social e fazendo uma análise sobre o papel dos orgãos da rede de atendimento à mulher em situação de violência, a questão central investigada buscou entender como o órgão é utilizado por um perfil especifico de mulheres que necessitam de um maior empoderamento diante da situação de vulnerabilidade social. Os resultados da pesquisa indicaram que o órgão funciona como estratégia de empoderamento das mulheres que, em sua maioria, são mulheres em situação de violência da cidade de Cajazeiras (91,2%), moradora da zona urbana (90%), que tem até 40 anos de idade (61,3%) e possui até o ensino fundamental incompleto. A violência psicológica apareceu em 38,2% das respostas sobre tipificação da violência, seguida da violência física, com 22,3%. Apontam, também, para a existência de efetividade no órgão no que concerne à rede de atendimento e assume o papel de fornecer apoio psicológico, social, jurídico, de orientação e informação à mulher em situação de violência e de se articular com os outros órgãos da rede de enfrentamento da violência contribuindo para o empoderamento de mulheres e restabelecendo a garantia de direitos a uma vida protegida contra situações de violência. / Gender violence over time has become a public issue that has demonstrated the need for more effective policies, such as the establishment of Women's Reference Centers (Centros de Referência da Mulher – CRAM) in municipalities. It is also a violation of the right to security within the household. Based on the high levels of violence and on the challenge that is monitoring actions concerning public policies in the fight against violence, this study aimed at analyzing how victimized women have made use of the Women's Reference Center - CRAM in the city of Cajazeiras, Paraíba. To this end, a documentary research was carried out with the examination of 284 records reported at the Susane Alves CRAM from January 2010 to December 2015. From the construction of a theoretical dialogue where gender was discussed as a historical and social category, and by carrying out an analysis of the role of the agencies in the network that see to women in a situation of violence, the central question investigated sought to understand how the agency is used by women with a specific profile in need of further empowerment in the face of social vulnerability. The results of the survey pointed out that the center is used as a women’s empowerment strategy, with most cases representing women who are in a situation of violence in the municipality of Cajazeiras (91.2%), live in the urban area (90%), are 40 years old or less (61.3%) and have not completed elementary school. Psychological violence was observed in 38.2% of the answers dealing with the classification of violence, followed by physical violence with 22.3%. The cases also point to the existence of a positive effectiveness of the agency in regard to the service network and it takes on the role of provider of psychological, social and legal support, as well as guidance and information to women in situations of violence and works together with other institutions in the network against violence, contributing to the empowerment of women and restoring the guarantee of the rights to a life free from situations of violence.

Although development organizations agree that reliable access to energy and energy services-one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals-is likely to have profound and perhaps disproportionate impacts on women, few studies have directly empirically estimated the impact of energy access on women's empowerment. This is a result of both a relative dearth of energy access evaluations in general and a lack of clarity on how to quantify gender impacts of development projects. Here we present an evaluation of the impacts of the Solar Market Garden-a distributed photovoltaic irrigation project-on the level and structure of women's empowerment in Benin, West Africa. We use a quasi-experimental design (matched-pair villages) to estimate changes in empowerment for project beneficiaries after one year of Solar Market Garden production relative to non-beneficiaries in both treatment and comparison villages (n=771). To create an empowerment metric, we constructed a set of general questions based on existing theories of empowerment, and then used latent variable analysis to understand the underlying structure of empowerment locally. We repeated this analysis at follow-up to understand whether the structure of empowerment had changed over time, and then measured changes in both the levels and likelihood of empowerment over time. We show that the Solar Market Garden significantly positively impacted women's empowerment, particularly through the domain of economic independence. In addition to providing rigorous evidence for the impact of a rural renewable energy project on women's empowerment, our work lays out a methodology that can be used in the future to benchmark the gender impacts of energy projects.

Background: Women's empowerment is hypothesized as a predictor of reproductive health outcomes. It is believed that empowered girls and women are more likely to delay marriage, plan their pregnancies, receive prenatal care, and have their childbirth attended by a skilled health provider. The objective of this study was to assess the association between women's empowerment and use of modern contraception among a representative sample of Nigerian women. Methods: This study used the 2003, 2008, and 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data. The analytic sample was restricted to 35,633 women who expressed no desire to have children within 2 years following each survey, were undecided about timing for children, and who reported no desire for more children. Measures of women's empowerment included their ability to partake in decisions pertaining to their healthcare, large household purchases, and visit to their family or relatives. Multivariable regression models adjusting for respondent's age at first birth, religion, education, wealth status, number of children, and geopolitical region were used to measure the association between empowerment and use of modern contraceptives. Results: The proportion of women who participated in decisions to visit their relatives increased from 42.5% in 2003 to 50.6% in 2013. The prevalence of women involved in decision-making related to large household purchases increased from 24.3% in 2003 to 41.1% in 2013, while the proportion of those who partook in decision related to their health care increased from 28.4% in 2003 to 41.9% in 2013. Use of modern contraception was positively associated with women's participation in decisions related to large household purchases [2008: adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.01-1.31] and (2013; aOR = 1.60; 1.40-1.83), health care [2008: (aOR = 1.20; 1.04-1.39) and (2013; aOR = 1.39; 1.22-1.59)], and visiting family or relatives [2013; aOR = 1.58; 1.36-1.83]. The prevalence of modern contraceptive use among women with need for contraception increased marginally from 11.1% in 2003 to 12.8% in 2013.

Why do states express support for norms that go against their underlying beliefs? Scholars of policy diffusion have identified four social mechanisms -- coercion, competition, emulation, and learning -- that can lead to the spread of a common practice, a norm, in the international system. I build a formal model of the four mechanisms and apply them to actual cases of norm diffusion. The formal models are anchored by three variables that capture fundamental aspects of international society: hierarchy, neighborhood, and identity. The four different diffusion mechanisms operate on these variables, creating distinct over-time trajectories. Three important dynamic patterns are compared across different model specifications: the shape of the adoption S-curve, the power distribution among expressers and non-expressers, and the degree of regional clustering. I find that the four mechanisms produce unique signatures under many conditions, but that changes to some parameters such as initial number of expressers can obscure the identification of the diffusion mechanism. In the first empirical chapter, I apply the framework to the diffusion of quotas for women's representation. I find that quotas are adopted by weak states, and that the likely source of inspiration for quota adoption are other weak states in the same neighborhood. The empirical pattern in terms of hierarchy, neighborhood, and identity point to competition as the mechanism that drove quota diffusion. Because competition is associated with norm internalization, this finding suggests that the world is really becoming more gender equal. In the second empirical chapter, I change substantive focus to the diffusion of human rights norms. Adoption of human rights treaties seems to be associated with worse human rights behavior, but why do states that ratify human rights treaties so often fail to uphold their obligations?. I find that the Convention Against Torture (CAT) treaty is adopted first by strong states in Europe, then to weaker states in a regionally-contingent pattern. This empirical pattern is most consistent with the emulation mechanism. This implies that the anti-torture norm is not associated with internalization, and solves the previously puzzling ratification-compliance paradox.

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Women's empowerment in the police sector as leaders is an important study that has received little attention in the literature. Understanding the problems and hurdles, as well as solutions to empower women police today as leaders in the police force, was the emphasis of the study. The goal of this research was to investigate the concept of female police empowerment in the Abu Dhabi Police. This study looks at the important elements of empowerment for ADHGHQ women police, as well as the problems they encounter because of their gender in a historically male-dominated industry. The following four research questions served as a guide: 1) To what extent the principles of empowerment are implemented of women police in the ADPGHQ? 2) What is the impact of empowerment implementation on leadership of women police in the ADPGHQ? 3) What is the impact of empowerment implementation on skills of women police in the ADPGHQ? 4) What is the impact of empowerment implementation on the abilities of women police in the ADPGHQ? An in-depth survey and personnel meeting were conducted with women police operating in all ADPGHQ sectors to have a better grasp the issue. The data collection and analysis paradigms used in the research investigation were quantitative. The core data is gathered through questionnaires and personal meetings with a group of 650 female police officers from various sectors who work at the Abu Dhabi Police (ADHGHQ). Data was gathered via e-mail, and personnel were present. This research finishes with practice recommendations for strengthening police leadership in the ADPGHQ and removing real and perceived barriers to women's full involvement in the workforce and leadership. A proposal method was established to improve the position of women's police empowerment in leadership, according to the study. This approach is intended to empower female police officers in positions of leadership at ADPGHQ, but it can also be used as a general conceptual framework to empower women in other police sectors. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that women police require empowerment to achieve the desired leadership position.