Gender and poverty issues and approaches

Puru Gupta Project Director, AUIIP

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Assam
Assam the largest state in the North East Population ~ 35 million

Poverty estimates higher than national average:

36.09% against 26.10 % Rural poverty >Urban poverty (four times) Ranks 26th on the HDI (out of 32 states) Fares worse in the Gender and Development Indexwomen and children the worst sufferers. For example, a study indicates about 90% of rag-pickers are women and children

Guwahati & Dibrugarh: summary situation analysis

Guwahati largest urban centre in North East India: 1.2 million

population (provisional Census figures) Total HHs: 200,000; decadal growth rate of 37%> national 21% (increasing pressure on civic infrastructure) Only 30% have access to piped water supply Complete absence of sewerage network Toilet facilities available to only 56% HHs Conflicting figures on poverty: the City Development Plan (CDP) states that it is about 11%, while studies done by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation puts it at 23%; significant implications for objective targeting of vulnerable households, including women headed households Dibrugarh population about 1.3 lakhs; sex ratio is 877 ; overall urban literacy rate is nearly 89 percent . 59.95% women are literate . The unemployment rate is substantially high at 43.31%. Work participation in urban areas is only 33.36%, which is significantly lower than rural areas. Womens work force participation is 28.87% when compared to mens work participation which stands at 50.11%.
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AUIIP
Two cities: Guwahati (over 1 million population) and

Dibrugarh (over 134,000 population) were selected as the cities for Phase 2 of ADB assistanceFor Guwahati and Dibrugarh indicative investments assessments were made, based on the Master Plan and Detailed Project Reports Project focus: water supply, sanitation, drainage, sewerage, transport, capacity building etc. Projected investment : $ 780 million in Guwahati A loan of $ 200 million signed on 9th march. Guwahati WS and SWG/BRT. 80 % project investment in Guwahati, (anticipate difficulties-greater media, public, political focus) Dibrugarh-Drainage and SWM
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Existing interventions
SJSRY/SGSY/NREGA-giving way to ULM/RLM- for livelihoods BSUP/IHSDP/IAY-giving way to RAY-housing Guwahati chosen as a mission city under RAY- The definition of slum-

cluster of sheds comprising of BPL people with a minimum of 25 HH. After a survey 90 slums identified and notified, with an estimated 28000 HH and about 1.7 lakhs of population. 4 projects taken up-2200 DU s under construction, ownership with women. Under RAY, SFCP under preparation, and 219 slum pockets identified in addition to the earlier 90. In any plotted development scheme >1.5 hectares, min. 90 sq.m EWS In any GHS, min. 10% DU for EWS/LIG over min. 2000 sq.m
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Community Consultations and Participation Plan (CCPP)

Key design features: Disclosure of information for continued public support and involvement of women in project planning and implementationthrough the website- the bebeficiaries must know the projects intent, design, impact, benefit, schedule Outreach activities to target vulnerable populations; strong emphasis on gender and pro poor approaches. Specialized human resources structure recommended: Public Relations and Awareness Specialist Social Safeguards and Environmental Specialists Project based Gender Specialist(s) NGO partners for conducting and implementing WATSAN related behavior change communications campaigns and development of gender sensitive IEC materials (interventional focus on poverty pockets and slums)
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CCPPfeatures: (contd.) Key design

Detailed situational analysis undertaken during project preparation,

planning and design stage resulting in a comprehensive understanding of poverty and vulnerability issues- community profiling Community - driven baseline study to be facilitated by partner NGO(s) with participation of women focusing on the collection of sex disaggregated poverty and vulnerability data for improved targeting of female headed and poor households; and b) development of detailed community profile to identify social/economic characteristics and (specific) needs of women headed and poor households. Promotion of improved water supply, sewerage and environmental protection, implementing gender focused R&R, and diverse livelihood options. Implementation of women led community awareness interventions, including their involvement in project planning, benefit sharing, vigilance and monitoring of civil works, grassroots governance, and partnership development with urban local bodies, local leaders. Promotion of household and community level behavioral change activities led mainly by women focused on hygiene, sanitation, environmental protection and health. Capacity development of contractors to undertake good practices in construction works and enhance their understanding of social and 7 environmental risks.

Stakeholders Participation
Emphasis

on shared decision making through partnerships involving urban local bodies, municipalities, NGOs, womens groups/CBOs, communities, urban development department, district authorities, communities, media, local political representatives. Improving capacities of various stakeholders through participatory planning processes, awareness generation workshops/seminars, public meetings, (formal and informal).

Gender Action Plan: Key Features

Baseline survey of female headed and poor households. Awareness generation and behavior change

communications/IEC campaigns to be carried out in slum and poverty pockets. Skills training and employment on community driven collection, processing and recycling of solid waste. Preparation of gender and vulnerability O&M manuals informed by gender and socially inclusive considerations. Project level and community - based monitoring mechanisms(meetings, social audit, nodal persons to report directly to the PIU, community scorecard) to track progress especially in the context of the poor and female headed households .
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THANK YOU

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