Slide • Empowerment is a process. Some persons or groups cannot empower another person or group. • Empowerment process is connected to a person’s personal status and to a group as well. Precise knowledge and understanding on gender can be obtained by having discussions and working as groups or persons. Similarly to effect a change in one’s life and in the society as well experiences could be shared as a group and decision makers could be influenced through various activities having organized as groups. • Empowerment of women could be shown as a process which contains several factors related to one another and which influences one another. Slide • The most important thing which should be understood in empowerment is the fact that any person cannot empower another person. • Empowerment should be won by oneself through his own efforts. • Various agents can only help / give aid to empower someone. • These intermediaries can make influence to make people win the things needed to obtain power to have real equanimity, respect and the ability to control their lives by themselves. Source: Williams, S. Seed, J. and Adelina, M. (1994). Oxfam Gender Training Manual. Oxfam GB. Slide Empowerment means: • Understanding the secondary place that women have in society, the discrimination and exploitation they face. A continuous process of Empowerment means: • Developing true knowledge in regard to the place that women have in society, second place, their being subject to suffering, their being exploited. • Getting proper understanding regarding rights and gender based equality and equity. • Developing “group” feeling on common matters that affects women based on that knowledge and creating that identity and getting the power to work as a team. • The fact of women getting organized by the enhancement of leadership skills and capacity making plans to develop the status of women, taking decisions, engaging in relevant activities, specially have representation in decision making institutions and making influence to them. 51