1 - 6 TRAINING FOR RURAL WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN FIVE PROVINCES IN NORTHWEST CHINA

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1. Project Summary and Relationship to China's Agenda 21

This project aims to promote gender equality and the participation of women in environmentally sound rural economic development through education, income-generation training and activities for capacity building which will strengthen womenís access to education, economic opportunity, and decision-making powers.

The project is based on programme area 20A of China's Agenda 21, and is related to programme areas 6B, 7A and 8B.

2. Background

Recognising the significant role of rural women in environmental protection and sustainable development, the Chinese government and Womenís Federations at various levels have attached great importance to improving the status of rural women and their capacity to participate in socio-economic activities in last several decades. This work was praised by the international community during the Fourth World Womenís Conference held in Beijing in 1995. In rural areas of north-west China, however, women are still confronted by illiteracy, poverty, lack of health care, harsh environmental conditions, and a traditional patriarchal society because of unbalanced regional economic development between urban and rural areas.

The problems are particularly severe in the Northwest where the average illiteracy rate of 48% is 16% higher than the national average. In some autonomous counties of the Northwest, the female illiteracy rate is as high as 78 %. Economic forces which favour male to female labour for employment purposes make life more difficult for poor women; in some rural areas, women are left to do 70% of the heavy farming work. Furthermore, there are no full-time professional and specific health care facilities for women and children in much of the Northwest. In Gansu province, the mortality rate for pregnant women is as high as 1194 per million. In Tongxin county of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, 80 percent of the women suffer from various gynaecological diseases. In addition, severe environmental problems including soil erosion, desertification, and water shortages make poverty more acute in those areas. Alleviating female poverty is central and urgent to ensuring environmentally sound and sustainable development.

The Chinese government has, in the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) and in the Long-Term Targets for the Year 2010, determined to co-ordinate relationships among population, resources and the environment, to balance social and economic development between the Eastern and Western regions, to alleviate poverty, improve education and health, and continue its programme of population control. This project falls within the scope of these plans.

The relationships between gender, poverty, and environmental degradation have long been recognised by the Chinese government. Some measures have been taken to improve womenís quality of life and to protect the environment. For instance, in 1989 the All-China Womenís Federation initiated a programme to educate rural women. About 10 million persons annually take part in a programme of training practical skills. Moreover, 1200 staff members of local womenís federations in poverty-stricken areas across the country have been organised to visit and to be trained in the economically developed regions since 1989, 70 percent of which were from the 5 provinces in Northwest China. Limited international co-operation in this area has also been conducted in the past decade.

The implementing agency of this project, the Rural Division of the Department of Urban and Rural Affairs of the All-China Womenís Federation has implemented some projects supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Association of Southern and Eastern Asian Nations (ASEAN). The involved local provincial federations have specific agencies for project management, and under the leadership of the All-China Womenís Federation, they have also executed some international co-operative projects funded by UNDP, FAO, IFAD and the World Bank.

In addition, the Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21 (ACCA21) will help the All-China Womenís Federation to prepare, design and plan the whole project, as well as to provide some basic teaching materials on sustainable rural development during project implementation. In this respect, ACCA21 will also play an important role in strengthening the capacity for womenís participation in sustainable development in the five north-western provinces.

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3. Objectives

3.1 Long-term Objective

To raise womenís status and education, to promote gender equity and sustainable development in the five provinces of Northwest China.

3.2 Immediate Objectives

• To increase womenís access to income generation activities, and facilitate womenís awareness of resource conservation and gender equity;
• To establish 10 Womenís Centres with experimental fields which will provide training and networking opportunities and disseminate practical farming technologies.

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4. Outputs and Activities

4.1 Selection or compilation of a set of training materials for rural womenís illiteracy and farming technologies

• To survey local womenís needs and conditions in 10 selected counties in the five provinces. In particular, assess the following: local womenís priorities and perceived needs; household division of labour, land, and income holding patterns; traditional local farming methods. Results of these surveys will shape details of project implementation (i.e., the particular type of training centre, etc.) in each selected county;
• To develop and compile training materials on the following: sustainable farming technologies for income generation; the importance of resource conservation and environmental protection; and gender equity. These should include both audio-visual and written materials, and should be translated into the Mongolian, Tibetan, Khazak, and Uygur languages, as appropriate;
• To publicise gender equality using mass media such as TV, Broadcasting, newspaper, etc., to recognise and strengthen womenís roles in local social and economic development.

Monitoring Indicators: a report on rural womenís education and practical farming technologies, training materials with Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, Khazak, and Uygur versions for womenís illiteracy of the Northwest, special TV, newspaper and broadcasting programs focusing on the importance of gender equality.

Implementing Agencies: the All-China Womenís Federation, Local Womenís Federations of the Northwest and relevant government agencies.

Time Schedule: January 1997 - December 1997

4.2 Establishment of 10 Womenís Training Centres based on existing institutes for women, local schools, etc.

• To survey local womenís strengths, traditional agricultural techniques and priority needs for farming technologies, and to determine a training course based on these investigations;
• To train teachers and womenís extension workers on the sustainable development concept, specific practical agricultural techniques for different localities, income generation management, and gender equity. There will be 1-2 extension workers per village in each of the 10 counties and 4-5 teachers for each Womenís Centre;
• To establish 10 Womenís Centres to generate awareness among women and the community about gender equality, and to offer training to local women on the importance of conservation and the environment as well as specific environmentally sustainable income-generation activities, as listed in the following table. These Womenís Centres will, to the best extent possible, build upon existing institutions for women, local schools, etc. The teachers will train 10-20 women at a time (2-3 weeks), or up to 200-300 local women from the respective counties each year. A participatory appraisal of the womenís priorities and strategies for change will be part of the training;

• Networking initiatives and outreach in each county. Teachers from the training centre will promote the development of leadership skills and provide specific assistance for 10-20 trained women to organise themselves and develop outreach activities. These women, together with extension workers, will establish a network among local women. The specific type of network will be based on local conditions; they may range from a loose information network about the local market to strengthening ties to existing local or regional womenís organisations.

Monitoring Indicators: completion of facilities of Womenís Centres, educated and qualified teachers and womenís extension workers, 2000-3000 trainees who can practice new environmentally sound farming technologies.

Implementing Agency: Local Womenís Federations of the Northwest and relevant government agencies

Time Schedule: January 1997 - December 1999

4.3 Construction and establishment of experimental fields of 35-70 ha. around each training centre for hands-on learning by the trainees

• The fields will be used for experimentation, demonstration, and dissemination of the environmentally sound income generating agricultural technologies;
• To organise women trainees to farm in experimental fields using new varieties and technologies;
• With the assistance of experts, to develop environmentally sound farming technologies as well as establish mechanisms which help Womenís Centres to use their training, control and own cash and the means of production. This should start with one pilot community revolving loan, or other appropriate mechanisms, among the 10 counties.

Monitoring Indicators: establishment of experimental fields with an area of 35-70 ha. and necessary equipment, annual yield excess of general farmland, establishment of funding mechanisms which assist Womenís Centres to develop into self-sufficient institutions.

Implementing Agencies: Local Womenís Federations of the Northwest and relevant government agencies

Time Schedule: June 1997- December 1999

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5. Inputs

5.1 Chinese Inputs

Chinese inputs will cover project management; provision of experts and their in-country travel expenses; educational materials and equipment; teachers and extension workers.

5.2 International Inputs

Foreign inputs are expected to include Womenís Training Centres' facilities; experts; training materials and equipment; seed money for revolving loans or other mechanisms.

5.3 Budget

The total cost of the project is US$ 3 million, of which US$ 1 million is from Chinese inputs and the remaining US$ 2 million will be raised from an international co-operative partner.

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Table 1. Budget by Item (in million US dollars)

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Table 2. Budget by Output (in million US dollars)

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6. Benefits

This project will enable rural women in north-west China to participate in sustainable development through education and training. The pilot training programmes will provide women from selected counties with the necessary skills to take part in social and economic activities. The project can also increase public awareness of the need for womenís participation in sustainable development. With the experiences gained from management and implementation of this project, the All-China Womenís Federation and the local federations will improve their own ability to promote gender equity and womenís participation in sustainable development. Teaching materials on literacy and practical skills will be developed to suit the needs of rural women. Development of the teaching materials will also serve as a valuable experience in raising womenís education levels and will help to increase the number of women professionals.

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7. Risks

The facts that project locations are distributed across large rural areas and that there are a large number of participants constitute a project risk in terms of project manageability. This risk can be minimised by a careful selection of experienced project managers. Qualified teachers of the Womenís Centres and women's extension workers are vital for the success of the project. It is, therefore, extremely important that such persons be employed and trained.

Ten Women's Centres in 5 Northwest provinces will serve as a forum for networking and hands-on learning about income-generating activities. Up to 3,000 trained in the Womenís Centres on practical, environmentally sound farming technologies as well as gender equity. Outreach to all villages in each of the 10 counties on gender equality and sustainable development. Mechanism by which women can use their training to access and control means of production.

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