“Planning for Voice” to help women to exercise agency

Kosec, K., Kyle, J., Nayarayan, S., Ragunathan, K. 2024. “Planning for Voice” to help women to exercise agency: IPSR Innovation Profile. First edition, September 2024. Montpellier: CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/159781

Planning for voice: A novel approach to help women develop the skills they need to exercise voice and agency in their communities.

IFPRI researchers developed the curriculum, ‘Planning for Voice,’ to equip women with key knowledge and skills to help them navigate the process of demanding assets through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA). It addresses both informational and skills gaps, designed to work with women in small groups within their existing social networks, so that each woman receives intensive focus and opportunities for practicing skills during a condensed time period. By the end of the course, participants should be able to: • Understand the basic process for requesting a MGNREGA asset and the key local stakeholders involved • Describe a MGNREGA asset that could improve their individual lives or livelihoods or improve the community more broadly • Articulate different ways to play a role in influencing what their community decides to build • Develop a strategy to overcome foreseen barriers to exercising their voice and agency.