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Inspiring a New Direction in Development   
April 29, 2011 — Leaps and bounds in technology are propelling developing country economies forward at unexpected rates. Cell phones are used for banking, portable medical devices are saving lives and solar energy is providing light in places where electric grids have not yet reached. With all the advancements, one population is still being left behind: Women. Because of their status in many developing countries, women often do not benefit from the advancements that technology can provide, especially economically. The ExxonMobil Foundation is expanding their Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative to bring women into the technological revolutions within their communities. In order to inform ExxonMobil’s new focus, CEDPA invited eight expert alumni to Washington, D.C. this week to strategize the best approaches to engage women with technologies ranging from agricultural tools to renewable energy sources so they can economically benefit. The alumni hail from Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Nigeria. They all work at the community level and will bring their substantial first-hand knowledge to help the Initiative better understand and overcome the constraints women face in applying technology. These women leaders, such as Chief Imo Isemin, a 2007 CEDPA GWIM graduate and coach, draw on their successes working in local communities. Chief Imo works with women in the Ifa Ikot Akpan communities in Nigeria where women who process food for sale, lacked any sort of modern equipment to help with production.
The lack of tools meant low productivity, quick spoilage of inventory and, as a result, little income. Using the fundraising skills she acquired in the GWIM workshop, Chief Imo was able to work with her organization and clients and obtain a grant to pay for new equipment. “The management training I received at GWIM has given me a lot of confidence and emboldened my steps,” says Chief Imo. “We train these women to replace the native methods with simple low technology machines and tools; in the process, they learn some aspects of entrepreneurship through hands-on experience.” Though the new equipment is low tech, it changed the lives of these women by increasing productivity, reducing the amount of spoilage and increasing their income. The women of the Ifa Ikot Akpan communities now have surpluses that can be put towards improvements in the community. All of the alumni experts have experience introducing new technologies to women and other populations whose economies have improved significantly by the application of new tools, and are drawing on their experiences to provide insights into how best to reach more women and scale up their efforts. Alumna Savitri Sharma (pictured top right) works with an organization called Find Your Feet. One of the organization’s projects works with handloom artisans who weave Banarsi saris, a specific sari worn by brides on their wedding day. The weavers were pushed out of the bridal market by imported, low quality imitation garments. “People were dying because no one was buying their saris, they were selling their blood to survive,” recalls Savitri. “We are providing training to upgrade design and diversification.” The weavers now understand the importance of product evaluation and integration of new techniques to keep a product competitive. In addition, through an education and advocacy campaign, the handloom weavers were able to get a geographical indicator on the Banarsi sari. This indicator gives them sole rights to produce the sari. The results of the project are changing the weaver’s lives. Now their hand woven saris will stay competitive in the market and their livelihoods are becoming more secure. In the first few days of the workshop, the women will share their experiences, evaluate case studies and explore best practices. The three day gathering will culminate in an exchange between the women leaders and ExxonMobil implementing partners. This event provides a rare opportunity to bring together grassroots NGO leaders, US partners and ExxonMobil to develop and refine a new direction for technology application at the grassroots level. |
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