Women Empowering Themselves: A Framework That Interrogates And Transforms - WEMC
WEMC stands for the Research Programme Consortium on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: gender, poverty and democratisation from the inside out.’
1.1 What does WEMC stand for?
WEMC stands for the Research Programme Consortium on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: gender, poverty and democratisation from the inside out.’ The Consortium was formed to address a knowledge gap – that is, how to achieve women’s empowerment. This gap is a concern in terms of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Institutions that accept that Goal 3 (promote gender equality and empower women) is ‘a precondition for reducing poverty and achieving all the MDGs’2, recognise that there is insufficient knowledge of how to achieve this goal. As stated by the Department for International Development (DFID) in 2005:
"There is a broad consensus on what the priorities are for achieving women’s empowerment… Yet we are far from achieving these in practice and there is little understanding of how to achieve them. Current research relating to these issues is relatively ad hoc and anecdotal. What works in one context does not appear to work in others and there is a lack of analysis and synthesis across different empirical contexts drawing together lessons learned. Organisations and decision makers working to empower women therefore need to know more about what strategies work, which ones don’t and why this is the case in different situations. There is a strong need for a new ‘narrative’ that can reshape practical strategies and approaches at both country and international levels, build on current successes and bridge the gaps between the ‘lived realities’ of the poor and the actions of decision makers at all levels." (Our emphasis)
WEMC sets out precisely to develop a new narrative of women’s empowerment that would indeed bridge the gaps between women’s lived realities and decisionmaking at all levels. To do so, new questions must be asked to obtain new knowledge. The new narrative must tell a new story that more accurately conveys understanding of how women can be and are being empowered in their lived realities.
This research framework:
1. Makes explicit the key concepts that underpin the work of the WEMC Consortium
2. Indicates what is innovative about these concepts – that is, how these structure a new narrative of women’s empowerment
3. Sets out the core research questions addressed by WEMC across all sites
4. Provides a heuristic, open-ended guide for further learning
5. Draws out implications for capacity strengthening, communication, and areas for future development
This first publication of WEMC’s research framework as a public document is meant to share the Consortium’s learning some two years after its inception. It is expected that the framework will develop further in the course of the programme. Combining research, capacity building and communication, WEMC launched its programme on 1 July 2006, to:
- Make visible the strategies that are indigenous and meaningful to women in asserting their rights
- Support women who resist oppressive systems, including Islamist political agendas and other forces that impoverish and marginalise women, and
- Promote women’s empowerment as democratisation from the inside out
The Consortium has eight key partners:
1. Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC), City University of Hong Kong – the Lead Partner
2. Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre (SG), Pakistan
3. Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University (AKU), Pakistan
4. Centre for Environment, Gender and Development (ENGENDER), Hong Kong
5. International Gender Studies Centre (IGS), Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford University, United Kingdom
6. Semarak Cerlang Nusa (SCN), Indonesia
7. Solidaritas Perempuan (SP), Indonesia
8. Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), Regional Coordination Office – Asia
[excerpted from Chapter 1: What does WEMC stand for?]