Ponna Wignaraja. Women, Poverty, and Resources. New Delhi Newbury/ London: Sage Publications. 1990.242 pp.

Abstract

Poverty alleviation with reference to gender has been the focus of attention of national and international organizations since the seventies. Massive international assistance, both financial and technical, has been given for such programmes. However, the success rate of such projects has been fairly low. Two major reasons can be given for this low rate of success: (i) the projects have been imposed from the top without due regard to the local conditions, and the target group, i.e., the women, have been treated as objects rather than subjects; (ii) the donors and the implementing agencies have not always focused on the ultimate goal of sustainable development The success stories are quoted quite extensively but they have not been followed. The underlying factor behind their success was a strong faith in the capabilities of the masses at the grassroots level and the maximum use of local talent and expertise. Ponna Wignaraja has produced a wealth of infonnation by providing an in-depth review of the successful poverty alleviation projects amongst women which can lead to sustainable development in South Asia. He first analyses the successful cases in detail, and then he looks at the not very successful projects in Africa and Latin America, suggesting guidlines from specific successful projects in South Asia.