Monday, June 1, 2009
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Servants For Jesus Christ is a registered non profit 501 C3 organization that grants income tax
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
About us
INTRODUCTION
The Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI) is an independent, non-government organization mandated to strengthen and promote the role of grassroots women in sustainable natural resource management throughout the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas region. HIMAWANTI aims to promote solidarity amongst grassroots women which will enhance their participation in the decision-making process and obtain fuller access to the natural resources, as well as furthering the equitable distribution of these resources and the benefit acquiring from them. HIMAWANTI promotes its work through consultation and networking amongst the grassroots women of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. The networking process provides an opportunity for women from different countries to discuss resource management policies and practices, share information regarding their respective situations and evolve appropriate national and regional strategies.
RATIONALE
During the past two decades, community-based participatory approaches to natural resource management have emerged as an alternative strategy for resource management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Local institutions, in the form of user groups or village-based organizations, are playing a major role in resource management. This has had direct implications for South Asian women who are often the defacto managers of this resource. As such, their involvement needs to be central to any aspect relating to resource management in the mountain areas. However, even when there has been conscious intention to integrate women, translating almost any definition of 'participation' into Action has proved difficult. Numerous factors inhabit the participation of the women living in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. Their workload is a most pressing constraint, but there are other limiting socio-cultural factors as well. Women are generally not encouraged to attend meetings or to speak out when formal decisions about resource management are made. Their opinions and suggestions go unheard, undermining the development and implementation of appropriate management strategies. The founders of HIMAWANTI believe that the importance of the role of women in resource management must be made more visible. The establishment and strengthening of a regional network by and for women is an important first step towards effectively realizing the role that women users should play in resource management and decision-making in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas
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BACKGROUND AND ESTABLISHMENT
Natural resources, such as the forest, water, fodder and pasturelands are the foundation of the sustainable mountain development process. Village-based communities play an important role in the management and development of these natural resources in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. The quality of the forests bears an important relationship between the land and agricultural production. Women farmers are well aware of these inter-linkages. However, issues of land ownership roles, status, division of labor and lack of access to decision-making opportunities remain barriers for the effective participation of women in the management of these natural resources. Recognizing these issues, female participants of the First Regional Community Forestry User Group Workshop, which was organized by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Forestry Tree People Program (FTPP) and Women Active Together for Change (WATCH), felt the need for a separate institutional mechanism for women forest users. Participants from Nepal, India and Pakistan decided to form a Regional Women's Community Forestry Users Group Network. A regional committee was elected by the women participants and given the mandate to take this process further. WATCH was able to support this committee for six months. The first Planning Workshop for the Network was organized in Nepal in December 1995. The Workshop objective was to identify problems of women user groups and to evolve strategies for the future, especially the institutional mechanism of the Network. Participants at the Workshop decided that the Network should not function for forest related issues only but should also work for the protection and development of natural resources, such as water and land. The Network was thus widened and renamed: "Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resources Management Association; in short "HIMAWANTI". In addition, a new Regional Committee was constituted. Country working plans for the establishment of the Network were formulated, and the group decided to hold a follow-up Workshop in May 1996. The May Workshop took place in Bhaktapur, Nepal. It concentrated on the issues of establishing HIMAWANTI on a self-sustaining basis. A Constitution drafting committee for the Regional Organization was formed and a country level coordination committee established. In the 1999 National Relation Expansion and strategies for Grassroots Women Empowerment Workshops were held at national levels in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan. A Regional Workshop on Strategies for Grassroots Women Empowerment in Natural Resource Management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas was held in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu. In total 200 grassroots women took part in this Workshop. They came from the mountain areas of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal & Pakistan. After this Workshop, HIMAWANTI's working area has expanded in these five countries of Hindu Kush Himalayas and there are plans for another three countries- Afghanistan, China and Myanmar to be included in Hindu Kush Himalayan Regional Committee after the proposed Regional Workshop, 2003. HIMAWANTI-Nepal was registered on 2nd March 1998 according to the law of Nepal and in the other countries, the National Level Committee of HIMAWANTI are in the process of Registration. Representatives of Bangladesh, Bhutan & Pakistan signed the Rangamati Declaration during the Regional Committee Meeting of HIMAWANTI, which was held on 12-14 Jan 2000. They accepted Membership to HIMAWANTI after approving "The Agreement (Constitution) of HIMAWANTI, 1996."
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MISSION AND OBJECTIVES
The mission of HIMAWANTI shall be to ensure the emergence of appropriate policies and decision-making processes relating to programs aimed at organizing rural women and promoting their moral strength for the Conservation and Management of the natural resources of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region by giving priority to rural women of this region. In support of its overall mission. HIMAWANTI will have the following objectives:
*
To develop policies and programs to preserve natural resources and to manage such programs for the benefit of rural women.
*
To share information and experiences among HIMAWANTI members and to exchange development ideas about the member countries management of natural resources.
*
To explore management strategies for the preservation of natural resources and to provide information at the grassroots level on these subjects.
*
To give suggestions to concerned government non-government and international organizations on natural resources management.
*
To create and maintain programs for the empowerment building process of rural women.
*
To undertake research on appropriate methods to preserve and manage natural resources and to solve problems related to these resources in a unified way and.
*
To readdress misconceptions about appropriate mechanisms for resource management in governments and government policies in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
The Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI) is an independent, non-government organization mandated to strengthen and promote the role of grassroots women in sustainable natural resource management throughout the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas region. HIMAWANTI aims to promote solidarity amongst grassroots women which will enhance their participation in the decision-making process and obtain fuller access to the natural resources, as well as furthering the equitable distribution of these resources and the benefit acquiring from them. HIMAWANTI promotes its work through consultation and networking amongst the grassroots women of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. The networking process provides an opportunity for women from different countries to discuss resource management policies and practices, share information regarding their respective situations and evolve appropriate national and regional strategies.
RATIONALE
During the past two decades, community-based participatory approaches to natural resource management have emerged as an alternative strategy for resource management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Local institutions, in the form of user groups or village-based organizations, are playing a major role in resource management. This has had direct implications for South Asian women who are often the defacto managers of this resource. As such, their involvement needs to be central to any aspect relating to resource management in the mountain areas. However, even when there has been conscious intention to integrate women, translating almost any definition of 'participation' into Action has proved difficult. Numerous factors inhabit the participation of the women living in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. Their workload is a most pressing constraint, but there are other limiting socio-cultural factors as well. Women are generally not encouraged to attend meetings or to speak out when formal decisions about resource management are made. Their opinions and suggestions go unheard, undermining the development and implementation of appropriate management strategies. The founders of HIMAWANTI believe that the importance of the role of women in resource management must be made more visible. The establishment and strengthening of a regional network by and for women is an important first step towards effectively realizing the role that women users should play in resource management and decision-making in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas
Go to top
BACKGROUND AND ESTABLISHMENT
Natural resources, such as the forest, water, fodder and pasturelands are the foundation of the sustainable mountain development process. Village-based communities play an important role in the management and development of these natural resources in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. The quality of the forests bears an important relationship between the land and agricultural production. Women farmers are well aware of these inter-linkages. However, issues of land ownership roles, status, division of labor and lack of access to decision-making opportunities remain barriers for the effective participation of women in the management of these natural resources. Recognizing these issues, female participants of the First Regional Community Forestry User Group Workshop, which was organized by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Forestry Tree People Program (FTPP) and Women Active Together for Change (WATCH), felt the need for a separate institutional mechanism for women forest users. Participants from Nepal, India and Pakistan decided to form a Regional Women's Community Forestry Users Group Network. A regional committee was elected by the women participants and given the mandate to take this process further. WATCH was able to support this committee for six months. The first Planning Workshop for the Network was organized in Nepal in December 1995. The Workshop objective was to identify problems of women user groups and to evolve strategies for the future, especially the institutional mechanism of the Network. Participants at the Workshop decided that the Network should not function for forest related issues only but should also work for the protection and development of natural resources, such as water and land. The Network was thus widened and renamed: "Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resources Management Association; in short "HIMAWANTI". In addition, a new Regional Committee was constituted. Country working plans for the establishment of the Network were formulated, and the group decided to hold a follow-up Workshop in May 1996. The May Workshop took place in Bhaktapur, Nepal. It concentrated on the issues of establishing HIMAWANTI on a self-sustaining basis. A Constitution drafting committee for the Regional Organization was formed and a country level coordination committee established. In the 1999 National Relation Expansion and strategies for Grassroots Women Empowerment Workshops were held at national levels in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan. A Regional Workshop on Strategies for Grassroots Women Empowerment in Natural Resource Management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas was held in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu. In total 200 grassroots women took part in this Workshop. They came from the mountain areas of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal & Pakistan. After this Workshop, HIMAWANTI's working area has expanded in these five countries of Hindu Kush Himalayas and there are plans for another three countries- Afghanistan, China and Myanmar to be included in Hindu Kush Himalayan Regional Committee after the proposed Regional Workshop, 2003. HIMAWANTI-Nepal was registered on 2nd March 1998 according to the law of Nepal and in the other countries, the National Level Committee of HIMAWANTI are in the process of Registration. Representatives of Bangladesh, Bhutan & Pakistan signed the Rangamati Declaration during the Regional Committee Meeting of HIMAWANTI, which was held on 12-14 Jan 2000. They accepted Membership to HIMAWANTI after approving "The Agreement (Constitution) of HIMAWANTI, 1996."
Go to top
MISSION AND OBJECTIVES
The mission of HIMAWANTI shall be to ensure the emergence of appropriate policies and decision-making processes relating to programs aimed at organizing rural women and promoting their moral strength for the Conservation and Management of the natural resources of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region by giving priority to rural women of this region. In support of its overall mission. HIMAWANTI will have the following objectives:
*
To develop policies and programs to preserve natural resources and to manage such programs for the benefit of rural women.
*
To share information and experiences among HIMAWANTI members and to exchange development ideas about the member countries management of natural resources.
*
To explore management strategies for the preservation of natural resources and to provide information at the grassroots level on these subjects.
*
To give suggestions to concerned government non-government and international organizations on natural resources management.
*
To create and maintain programs for the empowerment building process of rural women.
*
To undertake research on appropriate methods to preserve and manage natural resources and to solve problems related to these resources in a unified way and.
*
To readdress misconceptions about appropriate mechanisms for resource management in governments and government policies in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
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