• Assignment On Practice and Challenges of Empowering
Rural Women in Ethiopia
By
Group 2 Members
College: Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
Department: Rural Development and Agricultural Extension
Course: Gender Analysis and Planning
Submitted to: Dereje Kifle (Assistant professor)

Group 2 Members
Name ID
Ayele Diriba SGS/0322/12
Belay W/maraim SGS/1093/12
Fuad Mohammed SGS/0328/12
Reisa Elias SGS/0336/12
Tewodros Alemu SGS/0342/12

Introduction
In Africa, rural women have been fore headed with
challenges and obstacles to their wellbeing and
development including discrimination, marginalization,
violence, abuse, deprivation, access and control over
resources, and exclusion among others (Genet and Habtu,
2011).
Particularly, Ethiopian rural women are being subject to
exploitative cultural relations, but also there are different
Social, Economic, Political, and Structural challenges
which impede women empowerment and worse the life
of Rural Women.

Cont...
Although, some of the factors that have been hindering rural
women from increasing their income to secure their livelihoods
include:
• Weak institutional structures to support women’s
• Lack of integrating gender into the planning and
• Lacks implementation of activities to support women, and low
numbers of women in the leadership of such institutions.
Today, empowering women is slogan of the World. Likewise,
Ethiopia has put different policies, legal framework, rules and
regulations to enhance gender parity. There are many
Intervention undertakings to empower women in Ethiopia by
government, NGOs, Volunteers and other partners.

Concepts of Rural Women Empowerment;
• Definition of empowerment as a “process by which
those who have been denied the ability to make
strategic life choices and acquire such ability.
• In line to this (Holvoet,2005) links empowerment to
the process of decision-making.
• Women empowerment is a process by which women gain
the ability to generate choices, exercise bargaining power,
develop a sense of self-worth UN (2001).

2. Challenges of Empowering Rural Women
1. Challenges of Women Empowerment in Leadership
Position in Ethiopia
Rural Women are Challenged to member in leader position
due to;-
Lack of Academic Qualification
Gender Stereotyping
Over Burden of Domestic Responsibility
Lack of Networking Opportunities
Lack of Confidence and inferiority:

2. Challenges of Empowering Women Economically
• As men control all the resources, the men are the decision makers in
all economic, while the women just become the receptor of all issues
guided by men. That is due to
 Lack of initial capital to start their own business
 Structure of property ownership and the division of labor
 Women’s dependency on men’s income
 Lack of women in production decision making
 Agricultural produce and differential access to market
 Gender and control of income
 Absence of effective group collateral
 Lack Access to Credit and Saving
 Verbal Abuse

3.Traditional norms, Stereotypes and cultural practice
on empowerment of rural women.
• In all human society, people enjoy their own culture,
custom, tradition and belief, etc. These social structures
empower men and women differently.
• In the cultural values and norms of the people to do in farm
sites, it is culturally not acceptable for women to plough.
• Male has right of inheritance while in most cases
women cannot inherit the land and other properties
from their families.
• These traditional norms prevent the implementation
of constitutionally declared women right in the
country.

Cont.…
• In Ethiopia, rural women have subjected to home based
attack by husband because of their economic dependence.
• Women do not have their own income, have no right to
decision making power on property, have no option to
divorce, and have faced home based attack.
• These norms find expression in customary and religious
courts which have been recognized under the Constitution
to adjudicate disputes relating to personal and family laws.
• But there are some cultures that are important for the
promotion of development. Such type of cultures should be
identified and employed for development

4. National Policy Criticism on Women Empowerment
(NPOWE)
• National Policy has a numbers of criticism could be raised on
ensuring the empowerment of women at the first place, it pays
less emphasis to the natural human right as its base.
• The second criticism goes to the instrument by which women’s
equal participation is ensured.
• The third points of criticism pointed to the capacity of
government structures meant for the realization of the policy
and integration of the government structure with other actors is
very weak.
• Forth, given the capacity problems, implementation of the
policy is primarily dominated by government. Government
consider itself as if it is the only and primary actor in protecting
right of women.

3. Practices of Rural Women Empowerment in
Ethiopia
• Now day’s the majority of the African courtiers including Ethiopia,
are on the road of economic and political revival.
• On national Ministerial level as well as Different regional level
women are positioned even as FDRE president Ms. Sahle work
Zawde are paradigm
• The NPEW is designed on the assumption that government has
the obligation to give women the unreserved support to make them
active participant in the national development effort on equal
terms with men and go on to experience the benefits of their
participation.

Main objective of the NPEW includes
• Creating and facilitating conditions for equality
between men and women,
• Creating conditions to make rural women
beneficiaries of social services like education and
health, and
• Eliminating discriminatory perception and
practice that constrain the equality of women

3.1.Constitutional Provisions for Gender
Equality and Empowerment
• It pays greater emphasize on women empowerment, equality of
women with men, protection of fundamental right of peoples.
• Given the provisions in constitution of federal republic of Ethiopia,
personal observation shows that women’s right is not protected as it
was spelt in constitution and other legal and policy provisions. This
is in turn because of;
• The dominant role of government in the implementation of these
provisions while undermining the role of other NGOs and
community based organizations.
• Moreover, absence of vibrant women’s organizations and women’s
networks partly challenging the implementation of constitutional
provisions. The constitution indeed is also limited in certain aspects.

3.1 USAID engaged in Empowering Rural
Women through the following programs;
1. Increasing Female Educational Opportunities
2. Expanding Economic Opportunities for Women
3. Promoting the Health and Safety of Women and
Girls

2. Un Agencies Program
• Social mobilization
• Literacy and life skills
• Health
• Livelihoods
• Mainstream strategy: resonance effect

Conclusion
• In today’s world it is impossible to achieve overall
Sustainable Development Goal without the active
participation of both women in urban and Rural areas.
• So many challenges are there hindering the real
empowerment of women and impede the unlocking of their
potential.
• Today, empowering women is slogan of the World.
Likewise, Ethiopia has put different policies, legal
framework, rules and regulations to enhance gender parity.
• There are many Intervention undertakings to empower
women in Ethiopia by government, NGOs, Volunteers and
other partners.

Thank you !