Promotion Of Rural Employment For Poverty Reduction PDF Download

The fourth item on the agenda of the recently concluded International Labour Conference, 97th Session, 2008 was a general discussion on the promotion of rural employment for poverty reduction. Promoting decent work in rural areas is fundamental to achieving the MDGs. The bid to reduce poverty level worldwide led to the declaration of Millennium Development Goals in the year 2000. The Millennium Development Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (MDG.3) is recognized not only as a goal in itself but also as an essential step for achieving all other goals. In order to alleviate poverty and promote gender equality in rural employment, researchers, scholars, donors and policy makers have recognized the importance of empowering women. Women are central to overcoming rural poverty because of their role in productive activities and in the household economy. However, there are key challenges to achieving these goals at the country and local levels which military and democratic interventions, international expertise and financial resources have not adequately or sufficiently address. The paper therefore examines the need for the Empowerment Framework Approach (EMFA) towards empowering women in other to promote rural employment. Thus the paper spans two important interrelated themes: (a) A brief overview of the current field of rural employment with a focus on The World Development Review 2008, (b) Articulating the link between gender inequalities and rural employment, (c) Outline of EMFA which involves five interrelated steps. i) welfare level analysis; ii) access level analysis; iii) critical awareness level analysis; iv) participation level analysis level; v) control and ownership level analysis.This paper will argue that women's' empowerment can come in a diversity of ways such as education which is deeply embedded in the African culture. The challenges of women's empowerment are more cultural than technological, more about people and systems than about digital tools. This paper will offer suggestions for the future of rural employment and development. Lessons learned will form a firm foundation for the paper and a bibliography for the future study on this topic will be included.