For Environment, Democracy and Livelihoods
ForestAction Nepal, with its consortium partners AFFON, FenFit, and HIMAWANTI Nepal, hosted a two-day training on the theme “Enhancing gender relationship at home and workplace” as part of the project Economic Empowerment of Women Through Forest Solutions, funded by IDRC, Canada. This training aimed to develop self-awareness for building mutual support and cooperation by appreciating each other’s attributes for improved prosperity, wellbeing and happiness. The goal was to enable the project staff conduct “couple training” on ground through fun and mutual realization. The training was a response to the demands received from women entrepreneurs, as their common opinions echo their desire to train their husbands and in-laws so that they can articulate the gender issues at the same wave with them. Hence, the participants are expected to apply the learning and techniques in the field.
The training strengthened understanding of the participants on gender sensitive communication, gender needs, and gender analysis with an aim to enhance capacity of project staff on gender transformative approach in interventions. The entry session on reflection on the socialization processes shaping gender stereotypical roles motivated the participants at a higher level to establish “gender as a social construct”, which needs strategic structural transformative approach to reform. The training included several intensive reflective sessions and discussions about different ways to help the women entrepreneurs shape, frame, and ease their communication for obtaining support for enterprise development.
The key aspect of family relationship lies on better understanding and appreciation of each other’s needs and interests. The most interesting session was on “I know her/him” which included couples’ testing of each other’s knowledge/sensitivity about his/her partner. The session intended to build a happier family relationship. The learnings from this training are expected to be used for sensitization of the couples on different arenas of the socialization processes of the women entrepreneurs of the project. Besides, the training encouraged the participants, including the couples, to articulate the potential positive impacts on their household prosperity and wellbeing through a harmonious, supportive environment for enterprises. Overall, the training helped the participants to increase their self-awareness, strengthen gender competency to use the learnings through gender lens in different intervention of the project.
