THEME: Women’s lower mobility is a constraint to reducing poverty among female-headed households because it isolates those households from needed information and opportunities.
The higher poverty incidence among FHHs is illustrated by Egypt and Gaza and the West Bank.
The assessment notes that FHHs in this region are subject to greater poverty for reasons that are general determinants of poverty, plus some additional gender-specific ones. The general factors include a higher number of dependents per income earner, and the education and health status of family members. As in other regions, women in the Near East and North Africa also have less access to assets and services than men do. The more gender-specific determinants included mobility limited not only by their child-care and other domestic responsibilities, as elsewhere, but also by cultural factors. This limited mobility poses a major constraint for women heads of households, and in turn restricts the women’s access to:
For instance, in Yemen, IFAD experience has shown how important it is for development projects to take the mobility constraints of women into consideration in defining the objectives and strategies of the activities intended to involve those women. In the case of targeted extension services, women in some parts of rural Yemen prefer not even to go to a women’s centre for meetings, but instead to meet in each other’s homes. In the case of access to credit, their mobility also poses major constraints. Experience in both Syria and Yemen has shown how women’s mobility constraints limit their awareness of what is going on in the community and of the available opportunities. Men do not always pass along all the information they obtain. When there are no men present, women are even more marginalized from information and opportunities. Where remittances are irregular or inadequate, FHHs are very vulnerable. The survival strategies of such households are extremely limited, and consist primarily of reliance on social strategies and relationships, rather than on strategies of an economic nature. Development initiatives targeting female-headed households need to override the constraints posed by women’s limited mobility and resulting disadvantages. Targeted information, motivation and education activities (communication support) therefore become essential in benefiting such women and their dependents. Although building in such activities will add marginally to project costs, it will greatly improve targeting and impact. Adapted from: IFAD, 1999. Rural Poverty Assessment of the Near East and North Africa. Rome. August.
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IFAD’s
1999 assessment of rural poverty in the Near East and North Africa
flagged female-headed households (FHHs) as one of the groups with
the highest incidence of poverty. The number of such households
has increased as a result of the out-migration of men in search
of wage labour. The assessment observes that, at present, migration
is the most common way that poor households in this region cope
with poverty. In addition, the poverty assessment notes that, when
defined in terms of their personal status and their potential to
earn an income (as defined by education and health), women throughout
the region were found to be poorer than men. This reduces their
chances of emerging from poverty.