Gender and Development

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Pakistan

Training Program for Women Artisans - HAWWA Associates

Background of the project

Significant numbers of women in Pakistan are engaged in handicraft and tailoring activities including, for example, up to 30-40% of women in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In poor households especially, female artisans can be important economic providers. Unfortunately, their economic contributions have not translated into a higher socioeconomic status. Poor women's human development indices in Pakistan are very low even by developing country standards. Inequalities between women and men and boys and girls are seen in every aspect of life. Despite some improvement in women's status in the last 30 years, the position of indigent women in Pakistan remains dismal. Pakistan's poor position internationally is seen in the United Nations Development Programme's Gender-related Development Index (GDI) 2000, where the country currently ranks 135 out of 174. On the Gender Empowerment Measurement (GEM) 1999, Pakistan ranked 100 out of the 102 countries measured. Such gender disparities are aggravated by the remoteness of many rural villages and the strict observation of purdah in more rural and isolated areas.

There is an urgent need to improve the socioeconomic status of poor female artisans as one strategy for improving the socioeconomic status of poor women in general, yet there are major barriers to the development of handicrafts as a form of income generation.

• Female artisans typically work at home where they must juggle production with household responsibilities
• They often lack confidence due to their lack of education and resources
• They lack experience outside the home due to gender segregation, restricted mobility, and the prevailing belief that men represent the household in public
• Poor female artisans often have no access to credit with which to buy new materials or to increase their production
• They tend to reproduce traditional patterns and color schemes familiar in their local communities and have little understanding of product development and changing market conditions
• Given their general isolation from other female artisans, markets, and craft networks, they are easily exploited by middlemen and women who pay them very low prices for their work

Hawwa Associates has been addressing the needs of poor female artisans in Pakistan for 20 years. From their Craft Sale Cooperative in Islamabad, they have provided craft training, sales and marketing advice, gender awareness training, and market links. Hawwa's limited resources have, however, made it difficult to deliver craft training, capacity building, and market links to female artisans in more remote parts of Pakistan such as NWFP and Balauchistan Province. With Asian Development Bank funding, Hawwa was able to strengthen regional and national links among female artisans through a series of training workshops held in Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP), Quetta (Balauchistan) and Hyderabad (Sindh).

Project Objectives and Scope

The project comprised three workshops, one each in Hyderabad, Dera Ismail Khan (D.I.K.) and Quetta, to train 90 women in craft making. The objectives were the following:

• to develop the concept of self-help groups as a mechanism for strengthening women's confidence and to deliver capacity training in areas such as business and marketing skills
• to encourage the adoption of new product designs in line with more marketable styles and colors while drawing on women's existing skills and knowledge of traditional styles
• to strengthen national links with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and market networks, including market links with Hawwa Craft Cooperatives as an alternative sales outlet
• to raise awareness of the legal and social rights of women in Pakistan
• to identify regional/provincial craft styles for documentation and study visits

Prior to the workshops, Hawwa visited each area in order to survey the various craft styles and to identify potential workshop participants. Artisans were asked to prepare products for sale and display and, where receptive, to also prepare products in new designs, shapes, and colors. The training coordinator of Hawwa advised interested women on popular types of cloth, embroidery threads, and designs drawing on her knowledge of Pakistan's urban markets. In addition, she consulted with designers and fashion experts on her return for their advice on how to remodel traditional cross-stitch designs and colors from D.I.K. and Quetta.

The challenge to conduct pre-training visits and deliver such training to all three areas was considerable requiring prior consultation with men in the different communities in order to get their permission for women from their communities or families to be involved. In the case of Balauchistan, six men were allowed to sit in as observers so the women from their families could participate in the training.

Outcomes of Project

The three training workshops attracted a range of female artisans including the following:

• women who wanted to begin to sell their products but lacked confidence, know how, and/or connections
• individual micro-entrepreneurs interested in Hawwa as an alternative sales outlet to shopkeepers and middlemen/women
• members of an existing self-help group who lacked business and marketing skills
• Highly skilled artisans seeking innovative approaches to product design and operational support

There was very good feedback from all participants on the content of training which covered topics such as female entrepreneurs, selection of materials, design, quality control, basics of finished products, pricing, billing, budgeting, credit and savings, marketing, and women's legal and social rights. Significant outcomes were achieved in this project from both an economic and empowerment perspective.

Economic Value

The following occurred as a result of training.

• A number of women have formed self-help groups based on proximity and craft type in order to facilitate sales and marketing. For example, female embroiders and basket weavers from D.I.K. formed a total of five self-help groups. Representatives of these groups visit Hawwa every 3 months for further craft training
• A number of women have opened bank accounts or have accessed loans. For example, 3% of the workshop participants at D.I.K. opened a bank account to organize earnings and savings. Twenty percent of participants from D.K.I. have taken out loans from the Agricultural Bank/Khushhali Bank or from the First Women's Bank. The First Women's Bank in Quetta has committed to lending up to Rs.10,000 to women in semi-urban areas
• Thirty-four women from the three areas are sending consignments to Hawwa Craft Cooperatives in Islamabad. Seventeen women from Hyderabad area are each earning between Rs.1500 and 3000 per month from this transaction. The three embroidery groups send items once a month to Hawwa's cooperative in Islamabad through male family members who collect sales advice and cash for any items sold that month
• Home-based entrepreneurship has expanded and multiplied in all sectors. Following the successful relationship between Hyderabad and Hawwa, other NGOs in Sindh are developing craft and home-based income generating projects for women. In Balauchistan, the Directorate of Social Welfare made a commitment to establish a craft center for women
• Women are keen to adopt new materials, colors, and designs as they recognize the value of producing goods attractive to consumers. Craft styles that have been modified in line with market needs include modifying the traditional colors of D.I.K. cross stitching; production of Balauchi embroidery as wall hangings, cushion covers, and evening bags; and adopting Ralli work (native to Sindh) for dress designs
• Female artisans who supply Hawwa are keen to receive its on-going written advice on style, color, shape, and number

Women's Empowerment

The issue of women's empowerment was at the heart of this project. Workshop participants raised related issues spontaneously, particularly in the context of tribal or patriarchal attitudes that constrained women's craft work. Women in Quetta, for example, said that the major obstacle to their economic development was the perception that craft work was a supplementary form of income to be fitted around a woman's primary responsibilities, that is, household duties. This attitude informed shopkeepers and middlemen who used it to justify paying very low wages in installments.

The project had some beneficial outcomes with respect to women's empowerment.

• Some men have begun to see women's economic activities in a new light. This is reflected by the support of male family members who take consignments to the Hawwa Cooperative in Islamabad
• The formation of self-help groups, craft networks, and other structures of support during the project helped women develop confidence and a stronger sense of themselves as entrepreneurs
• Women used the workshops to discuss their anger and frustration with existing gender relations. This heightened their desire to be rid of certain local customs and spurred them to champion other sociopolitical issues

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