Mein Yahan Hoon ! I am here

1. Mein YahanHoon!I am here Making women’s unpaid domestic labor seen and heard Sarah Ahmed Spring 2017, UO

2. Project Purpose • Invisibility of women’s labor at home continues to be a hindrance to the decision making powers a woman has in her own home, as well as in getting recognition for her labor value. • Mein Yahan Hon aims to train and facilitate local advocates and professional to demonstrate the importance of the unpaid work women do in the homes • The project seeks to empower women at the micro level, through discussions of the work she does; empower advocates to find structures to facilitate women without stripping them of their dignity or agency and instead amplifying these; and to create the space and time for networks

3. Program Factors, Perceived Global & Theoretical Problems

4. MYH: Development priorities & Women’s Empowerment Beijing Platform for Action: Women in Power and Decision-making Diagnosis Women's equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women's interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved. (UN.org) UN Women Women do 3 out of every FOUR hours of unpaid labor, and only do 1/3rd of the work that is paidEven when women do get paid, they are paid on average 24% less

5. ILO Labourstatistics should cover and adequately describe all workers and work situations. The identification and adequate description of “atypical” work situations – i.e. those which do not reflect a common view of what “working” and “joblessness” are all about - is the most important challenge for conventional labour statistics. It is more difficult to identify and describe work situations which are informal, irregular, short time and unpaid than work which is paid, full-time, regular and in formal sector establishments. Measurement definitions need to be based on criteria that do not exclude groups of workers or work situations, and measurement methodologies need to apply special procedures when there is a risk that groups of workers or work situations may be overlooked. (ILO 2017)

6. (Tackling) Perceived Global Problems: A Theoretical POV • Disable stigma of not contributing to the household, to overcome “internal oppression” (Rowlands 1997) • Can contribute towards collective empowerment at the macro level (tehsil/village/community/society) (Rowlands 1996) • Keeping dignity intact—lack of formal protests and mobilization != inequalities non existent (Sen 1990) • See women as rational actors, acting upon best interests (Agarwal 1994) even in the home • Such methods are more adaptable outside a Western context which can sometimes be met with resistance (Nagar 2010) • Aimed to create for a local feminist praxis (Mohanty 2003; Nagar 2010; Mitra 2011) • Agency without compromising the patriarchal bargain (Khalaf 2009), or disrupting gender patterns that maintain safety and social relationships (Basu 1996; Kabeer 1997)

7. Key Components in Project Description

8. Participants, Methods • Participants to include NGO workers from partners (more on this later), college students interested in development work and personnel from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics • Rigorous selection to ascertain individuals with knowledge, experience and will to further project goals • Activity profile (Rao et al 1991), participatory rural appraisal (PRA) cross tabs and regression analysis • Compiled reports with analysis, impact report and recommendations

9. Local Strategic Partnerships & Alliances • Official • Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Local branches) • Women’s Development Department • National Commission on Status of Women • PBS Punjab Board of Statisticians • NGOs • Aurat Foundation • All Pakistan’s Women’s Association • Women’s Right Association (Multan) • Local • Feminist Collective • Girls @ Dhabas • Progressive Youth Alliance

10. Phase 1: Training, Data Collection & Analysis

11. 3 Day Workshop Disperse information and tools needed to execute. Create teams and network Includes briefings on literature & logistics on invisibility of women’s work, group workshops Facilitate discussion on methods and tools to use in the field and cross-discussions on best practices to depict in reporting Expectations during and after fieldwork, analysis to respective teams Privacy, security and confidentiality information

12. Collection • Going into the field and monitoring women’s every day activities • Filling out activity profiles, PRA • Personal interaction with interviewees to humanize • Collections done primarily in three research sites (pilot project Punjab, Pakistan) in Alipur, KotAddu, Multan (with additional possible sites including Muzzafargarh and Bahawalpur)

14. Analysis & Reporting • Cross tabs to see at-a-glance similarity and trends • Trends by certain classifications like income, caste, urbanization, et cetera • Regression analysis to extrapolate results • Write reports that can be used for general and specialized audiences & presentations

15. Phase II: Implementation via lobbying, and publications

16. Lobbying with existing NGOs including Aurat Foundation, APWA, UNWomen Pakistan (#beatme) • For political policy changes • Social media campaigns & local collaborations • Fearless Collective • Feminist Collective • Girls @ Dhabas • Progressive Youth Alliance • All Pakistan’s Women’s Association • Presentations in local universities • Government College Univerisity Women’s Collective • Forman Christian College • LUMS : SaidaWaheed Gender Initiative • Punjab University Gender Department

17. Effectiveness Checks Checks & balances to streamline project and that the

18. Monitoring & Evaluation Plans • On-site help resource available for questions • De-briefing before and after • Data quality assessment procedures to verify & validate reported measures taking in account limitations • Ensuring data works with intended data analysis, reporting, review and use • What is the social impact: is there a way to impact

19. Evaluation • Frequent juxtaposition of collected data & methods to contribution of intervention toward desired outcomes • Real time evals, mid-term and post/exit evals • Selective criteria of interviewees to ensure equal inclusion regarding income class, social status, caste

20. Feedback • Comments & suggestions • Opportunity for participants to become mentors and/or resources for future work • Assessment of reaching target & comments (social impact) • Compiling reports for best practices & lessons learned at the participant and administrative level

21. Logistics: Time & Money Time-Line, funding guidelines, requirements for the project’s implementation

22. Costs • Accommodation, hotel fees, travel & meals • Equipment & supplies • Staff salaries • Fringe benefits • Indirect costs and emergency funds • Evaluation and program follow up ~$10,000 or PKR 104,8900

23. Transition & Foreseeable Impact Impact at local and institutional levels & replication in other sites upon project completion

24. Limitations & Future • Pros and cons of being only in Punjab • Generalize to other areas of Pakistan including Sindh and Baluchistan to see variability • Model is replicable in other regions globally • Aggregate data will further consolidate program objectives

25. Intended Impact • Tangible reports and numbers on the work women do • Creating conversations on why the visibility of unpaid, informal domestic work matters • Social Impact—causing awareness at the • Local, empirical level in conversations with interviewees • Institutional level among participants • Regional level through media coverage and publications, conferences • Global level through replications and/or global coverage

26. Thank you Comeagain