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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat 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.ISNI
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.
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