Income generating programmes and the socio-economic empowerment of rural women in Nepal

The "disempowered" position of women is considerable policy concern in Nepal. Various development efforts are underway, that are focused on "the empowerment of women". One approach to empowering rural women adopted by a large number of development agencies, mainly since the 1990s, is through Income Generating Programmes (IGPs). The findings indicate that, through their participation in IGPs, women became involved in various social, economic and political activities that extended their influence on household and community affairs and increased their access to and control over their personal and household income. The study also shows that women's awareness of their rights and capacities has increased, and that there has been an increase in their level of social mobility and public participation. The issue of women's empowerment is a complex one and the study concludes that the IGPs should give due consideration to the social structural and contextual factors that shape the local situation, as there are difference among women in the areas studied such as wealth, caste/ethnicity and educational status.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo