Role model video encouraging rural women participating in community planning

Abstract

Empowering Women: A Video to promote Inclusion in India’s Government Planning.

This video was prepared by Travelling Tripod in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute to inspire rural women in Odisha State, India to publicly share with leaders their ideas for assets that might be constructed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) program. The MGNREGA Act envisions a participatory, bottom-up process of choosing which asset will be built by allowing MGNREGA job card holders to recommend assets that would be useful to them at community meetings. Increasing women’s participation in the program is an important development goal for IFPRI and their partners in Odisha. -- This video was created to inspire women to participate in the Mahatma Ghandi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) program in Odisha, India. MGNREGA is the largest workfare program in the world and is both an employment guarantee scheme and a program by which communities propose and build assets to help improve their livelihoods. This video tells the stories of women who have successfully received assets and encourages women to request assets themselves. The video is unique in that it tells detailed stories of women who have been successful in requesting and receiving assets under the MGNREGA program. It showcases women that are easy to relate to and provides specific advice and encouragement to women. Given the size of the scheme, the video can inspire women to improve their lives and livelihoods. The video will be easy to scale. It is only 15 minutes long, and is accompanied by a discussion guide for implementers on what to discuss with women at various points during the video to spur engagement and discussions. It is inexpensive to show and it can be implemented by almost anyone within a community. Both the government and NGOs may find it useful as a resource.