Socio-cultural Barriers and Role of NGOS Affecting Women

Empowerment in Rural Areas of Baluchistan

(SEHER FOUNDATION)
Objective.4. to ascertain the role of non-governmental organizations in the field of
improving rural womens empowerment be enhanced in rural areas of
Baluchistan.
Q.1. Name of the NGO worker and designation

Q.2. Name of the projects for women empowerment in Baluchistan.

NGOs are playing a significant role in the empowerment of disadvantages women, helping
them stand on their own through such programmes as socio-economic programme, vocational
training and other similar programmes. NGOs intervene the needs of the women, contribute
to their socio-economic empowerment, health awareness and general sensitization such as
education, employment. Seher is working on the following aspects for empowering women;
1. Education

2. Health

3. Economic Empowerment

Q.3. Are you contact or access by people without any restrictions?

NGOs are facing many barriers during field work such as security issues, tribal conflict and
male dominancy in remote rural areas of Baluchistan. In Baluoch culture and society,
womens are consider second sex and treated like an animal. They have no freedom of speech
and freedom of movement. These are the socio-cultural impediments, which restrict and
suppress women and NGO workers cannot contact them easily. NGOs work for women
empowerment is favored by tribes head.
Q.4. On what aspects of women empowerment your NGO is working.
Women empowerment is a multidimensional process, which based upon social, cultural,
economic and political empowerment. Education and health are basic need and indicator of
the development of any society. In the context of social empowerment, sehr is providing
educational health facilities to rural women of Baluchistan.
Q.5. What services are given to women for their social empowerment?
In social empowerment, education plays an important role because it creates awareness
regarding different aspects of the society. In rural areas of Baluchistan, most of the womens
are deprived of educational facilities. For the social empowerment of women, Our NGO is
providing education facilities to rural women because due to education they know about their
rights.
Q.6. Are the above services provided to rural women under the NGO easily accessible?
In remote and rural areas of Baluchistan, different NGOs are providing different facilities for
women empowerment. These services are available to every woman without any defacto and
dejure discrimination.

Q.7. For economic empowerment of the rural women, what services are given by your
NGO?
For the economic empowerment of the rural women, our NGO is running a project named as
ESWB (Economic Security for Women in Baluchistan). Main focus of this project is the
enhancement of womens skills and livelihood. According to the annual report 2014, nearly
1800 women benefited from this project.
Q. 8. Did you provide any skill development trainings to women for their empowerment
during the last three years?
Present era is the technological era and in which a skilled person is more valuable than an
unskilled person. For the economic empowerment of women, our NGO is providing
opportunities to women to enhance their different skills through skill development program.
In 2014, 1600 rural women of Baluchistan have trained.
Q.9. Any health services are provided by your NGO in to rural women?
In general, in rural areas of Pakistan and particularly in Baluchistan have no proper health
infrastructure. In health scenario, rural women of Baluchistan are facing various problems
regarding health. We are providing health facilities to rural women during pregnancy and
basic health care to newborn baby. According to the annual report of 2014, Baluchistan
province has particularly poor maternal and infant health outcomes.
Q.10. How would you view the health facilities being provided by your NGO?
To provide health facilities is the responsibility of the government because it is a basic right.
Health facilities provided by our ngo is not enough, it requires more work. Because according
to the annual report of 2014, The MNH system is also weak, suffering from poor governance
in terms of inadequate information and accountability systems, weak linkages and integration
between institutions, poor management capacity within decentralized institutions and poor
human resource management.
Q.11. How would you rate the effect of services provided by your NGO to women on
decision making at household level?
In rural areas of Baluchistan, women perform different duties in homes and as well as in the
field but their work are not acknowledged. Due to patriarchy society, women have no right of
decision-making. Our NGO is providing educational facilities to rural women, which have
great impact on decision making at household level. Education is the most important need of
rural Baluchistan women.
Q.12. What type of services is provided by your NGO to women for political
empowerment?
Political empowerment is very necessary for women because due to political empowerment,
they can participate in policymaking and decision-making but our NGO is not working on
political aspect of the women.

Q. 13. According to you, which method is most appropriate for the empowerment of rural
women that NGOS followed?
Every program is effectively implemented when indigenous stakeholders participate in it. In
women empowerment process, before policy formation, women should also involve in it.
Because they know, what ground realities are existing and which method is best for
effectively working. In my opinion, a triangulative method (mixture of different method)
should use at different stages for the empowerment of women.

Q.14. What would you suggest to further improve the services provided by NGOS for
women empowerment?
The NGOs have to more focus on the political empowerment of women. Skill development
training programmes should be organized by district rural development agencies for
economic empowerment of women.