Resource information
The National Action Plan for Gender Equality (NAP-GE) is a sectoral national action plan in force for the period of 2006-2010. Its main goal is to contribute towards the attainment of equality between men and women, in social, political and economic development.The Action Plan aims to enhance women's and girls’ economic empowerment. For implementing this general objective the following specific objectives are contemplated: (1) promoting women’s participation in developing economic policies and managing the economy; (2) enhancing rural women’s equal access to and control over productive resources and services (land, oxen, extension, credit) in order to make them food secure and come out of the poverty trap; (3) improving the lives of pastoral women; (4) enhancing urban women's and disabled women’s access to and control over economic resources and services (land, credit, employment, training); (5) reducing women’s workload; and (6) providing special social and economic safety and security to poor urban and rural as well as disabled women.Among the specific objectives noted above, the objective two could be singled out. It provides for the following activities: (1) improving property right laws with more security, flexibility and transferability; (2) identifying, developing, and disseminating technologies that meet the special needs of women and contribute to reducing their poverty; (3) developing alternative livelihoods for poor and disabled women so that they get dependable income sources and are less susceptible to economic shocks; (4) providing poor women and women with disabilities with access to savings and credit mechanisms and institutions; (5) applying special considerations to enable poor women farmers’ access to extension services, increasing women extension workers, and promoting multi-package extension program responsive to area-specific production needs of rural poor women; and (6) establishing/strengthening micro-enterprises, new small businesses, cooperative enterprises, and other institutions that enhance women’s economic empowerment.For the implementation of objective three above i.e. improving the lives of pastoral women, the following activities are included in the Action Plan: undertake thorough study on the conditions of women in pastoral areas; improve pastoralist women’s access to and control over resources (cattle, cash, and other assets); develop special service packages for pastoral women (extension, education and training, health, credit, and others); and develop projects to reduce workload of pastoral women.Finally, under objective four above, these activities will be carried out: develop gender-sensitive policies and measures to empower women in technical, managerial and entrepreneurial fields; provide poor women and women with disability with entrepreneurial potentials, with access to savings and credit services; provide business services, training and access to markets, information and technology, to poor women; and review/amend laws and procedures governing operations of financial institutions to ensure provision of services to women and men on equal basis.Additionally, the Action Plan envisages a general objective to enhance the role and benefits of women in environmental management and protection. This is broken down into the following specific objectives: (1) promote women’s participation and empowerment at all levels; (2) increase women’s access to information, improved technology, and alternative livelihoods; (3) create strong institutions and institutional mechanisms that guide and support efforts to address gender and environment issues; (4) ensure adequate housing conditions, access to potable water, improved sanitation and fuel to urban and rural women; and (5) develop and implement guidelines on environmental management and women in pastoral areas.
