This baseline study is part of a project entitled ‘Empowering the Women of Tafileh through Gender Advocacy and Civic Engagement’. The overall vision of this project is to enhance civic engagement by creating a local,grassroots community of women who are able to advocate for the gender needs of their communities and have the knowledge and skills to hold local policy and decision makers accountable when their policies and development plans lack gender sensitivity.
The baseline assessment is the first stage in the project and aims to shed light on the gender development needs within each district of Tafileh. The baseline outlines:
<ul>
<li>
Gender development projects have been conducted in Tafileh over the past 5 years.</li>
<li>
The strengths and capabilities of the local women to organize themselves into effective,even informal,advocacy groups.</li>
<li>
The developmental needs of Tafileh are through the eyes of local women.</li>
</ul>
The baseline used qualitative and quantitative research conducted in the seven districts of Tafileh: Al Qassaba,Al Hasa,Eima,Ain Al Bayda,Buseira,Qadissiya,and Garandal. The research was conducted with individuals above the age of 18.
There are several gender issues that were found across all seven districts in Tafileh,mostly relating to the economic participation of women.