Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 14: Rural women in Nagaland make up a very important part of the economic and social lives of many especially in the regional outskirts of the state. Yet, Naga womenfolk still lag socio-economically and lack presence in the larger polity of community and state.
This also means that the contribution of rural women to the state is limited not by themselves but by external factors that limit them; their potential does not get utilised to its full, thus contributing to a gap in development of their lives.
On October 15, the United Nations commemorates the International Day of Rural Women, with the theme “Sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.”
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, Prof. Alongla Aier from Oriental Theological Seminary and an active player in the empowerment of women, acknowledged the condition of rural women in Nagaland. She said that while the situation was going in a positive direction, encouragement for rural women is very important.
“It does not have to do with individuals but mostly with organisations, self help groups and women groups that can take women in Nagaland far,” Aier said.
Aier cited the example of women of Chizami village in Phek district spearheading women’s rights and promoting sustainable farming. “Chizami Village is doing some amazing things by community building and mobilizing to empower women,” Aier said.
Positive results will be visible with the right encouragement and linkage, Aier said. She maintained that good role models for rural girls and women are important by which they can bring communities together and create a network for women in the rural areas.
“There was a social stigma and embarrassment in the previous years for women to be selling vegetables on the roadsides but now after seeing the positive benefits and the income generated from a few, the womenfolk are bridging the gap,” Aier said.
When asked what can be done to enhance the condition of rural women in the state, Aier said that there should be capacity building, information generation; and sensitization of how there can be a steady flow of income etc., and that it should come from nongovernmental organisations, besides the state’s government.
Despite progress in some aspects, gender inequality still seems persistent in some communities in the Naga society, but the professor feels otherwise. She said women are no longer fighting for equality except to meet necessity for family and overcome the pressures of sustaining themselves without the help of men.
“There’s a new sense of respect from men towards the women now when they see that women are doing well without bringing traditional and cultural issues,” she said. She called it a positive direction in the society.
An article titled ‘Equality as tradition: women’s role in Naga society,’ by UA Shimray, states that “in the classless, casteless Naga society, women have traditionally enjoyed a high social position, with a pivotal role in both family and community affairs. In the ‘modern’ milieu, with the insidious influence of drugs and violence, Naga women’s organisations have taken the lead in forming social movements for peace and revitalising customary laws.”
Amba Jamir, an independent policy analyst and development advisor told Eastern Mirror that for too long men and policy makers at all levels, including villages and “experts” have been responding and making decisions for women when asked what can be done to for sustainability of rural women in Nagaland.
“We need to engage with them, identify their social drivers and build upon the social capitals that need to be further developed and strengthened,” Jamir said asserting that the questions need to be asked to the womenfolk.
Jamir also made known that social protection and income security has to be simultaneously addressed as one builds upon the other.
In Kiphire, the district administration and the department of food and civil supplies brought the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana where clean cooking LPG fuel connection is made accessible. This has not only safeguarded their health but has also saved time for household work.
According to reports, the villages are saving approximately 10,000 standing trees a month covering an area of approximately 16,000 sq km in the district which has also saved time for the women in regard to spending countless hours collecting firewood.
The United Nations (UN) in its third millennium development goals (MDG) aimed to promote gender equality in girls and empower women by 2015. The sustainable development goals (SDG) replaced them in 2016 that was adopted by world leaders and achieve them by 2030.
While most women in rural Nagaland sustain themselves on agriculture, the UN Women in its website informs that smallholder agriculture produces nearly 80 per cent of food in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and supports the livelihoods of some 2.5 billion people. ‘Women farmers may be as productive and enterprising as their male counterparts, but are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets and high-value agriculture food chains and obtain lower prices for their crops.’
The United Nations reports that rural women make up 43% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, with little or no social protection or income security.
In 2018 alone, 124 countries are expected to be cutting their budgets, eroding social protection measures and essential services on which so many rural women and girls depend, reports UN Women.
