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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | We Decide, They Decide for Us: Popular Participation as an Issue in Two Nigerian Women's Development Programmes |
Author: | Lucas, Emma T. |
Year: | 2000 |
Periodical: | Africa Development: A Quarterly Journal of CODESRIA (ISSN 0850-3907) |
Volume: | 25 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 75-98 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Nigeria West Africa |
Subjects: | popular participation feminism Women's Issues Development and Technology Politics and Government organizations Sex Roles gender Women's participation Development programmes rural development |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/43658034 |
Abstract: | This article analyses the concept of popular participation, reviews the purposes and activities of two women's development organizations in Nigeria and the extent to which popular participation is recognized and used by each, and discusses the impact of political influences on the integration of popular participation and management in each organization. An examination of the organizational decisionmaking structure of the Better Life for Rural Women Programme (BLP), a government-sponsored programme, and the Country Women's Association of Nigeria (COWAN), an NGO, reveals fundamental differences in the level of participation of rural women, the intended beneficiaries. BLP was more likely to encourage bureaucratic and individual politically motivated manoeuvres that only delayed and sometimes diverted altogether services that were specifically designed for rural women. From its inception, it camouflaged its real intent and ultimately served the interests of elite and professional women. COWAN more readily engaged rural women as full participants in development projects that focused on improving their lives. The article concludes that government organizations can learn much from NGOs that have focused on rural populations by involving them in the planning process. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. |