International Women’s Day:

Women Empowerment Through Social Mobilisation

Female Community Activists in Neelum Valley

Life in the Neelum Valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir has many challenges; with limited access to basic services it is also vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters, as it is situated on the Line of Control. The 2005 earthquake also affected this area and left many people homeless and without a source of income. Life for women in this area is even more difficult.

However, some women in the Neelum Valley have now taken the development of their communities into their own hands. Through a network of Community Organisations established and supported by Islamic Relief, women are finding a voice and are beginning to see the positive changes in their villages.

28-year-old Sanaa Mumtaz is the manager of the women’s Community Organisation in Makaan village, in the Neelum Valley. She is married and has a son and a daughter and also teaches history at the local college. The Community Organisation she manages was established by Islamic Relief in 2001.

“After getting in contact with Islamic Relief we understood that by setting up a Community Organisation we could solve the problems in our village. Now we are not only working at the village but also at the cluster level. We have moved on from addressing the small problems to try and solve the wider problems we face,” Sanaa explained.

“At first we were not aware of how we could solve our problems but Islamic Relief gave us training. However, the first problem we had was that men did not let us out of homes to interact with people in different areas. We didn’t realise that men and women are the same. Therefore we should come out of our homes and make a difference.”

“Through education and training we changed our attitudes as women, and the men also changed their attitudes towards us. So much has changed we are now even able to interact with government institutions. This is as a result of the training and activities run by the Community Organisation that has changed everyone’s approach.” “Gradually though we began to address the problems we faced – the lack of clean water, the lack of healthcare, the poor hygiene conditions. Diarrhoea was a big problem, especially amongst young children because people did not have access to clean water. To tackle this, members of the Community Organisations trained in health and hygiene would organise awareness raising sessions.”

“At the moment we are trying to improve the health conditions in this area.” Sanaa explained, “My sister-in-law was suffering from some severe problems during her pregnancy and needed immediate treatment. However, there was no female doctor in this area who could help her and she had to travel all the way to Muzaffarabad, which is three hours by car along dirt roads. Last month five women died because there was no female doctor here to help the women who were due to give birth and they could not afford the cost of transport to Muzaffarabad.”

“Although we still have massive problems, especially in relation to healthcare in our community, the situation has improved,” Sanaa said. “Our Community Cluster Organisation is now running vocational centres, conducting gardening training and organising health and hygiene training. We have also contacted other organisations such as ERRA so we can develop our livelihood and agriculture activities further.”

“Previously we would not speak about our problems so no one would not what they were, but women now have a voice in this community. This has all happened because of the change in our approach.”