We are women! We are ready! Amplifying women’s voices through feminist participatory action research

Abstract

Gender equality requires incremental and transformative change which occurs over generations. Strengthening women’s movements through collective action and learning is a key strategy in achieving such change. Capturing those changes in the voices of diverse women is critical to ethical, feminist, participatory evaluation. The purpose of this article is to explore the strengths, benefits and challenges in using Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) to evaluate a women’s leadership programme. This article demonstrates the rationale and context for FPAR providing a brief overview of feminist approaches to evaluation and an outline of the key elements of FPAR that have influenced recent evaluative activities by the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). The case study of the Women’s Action for Voice and Empowerment (WAVE) programme is then presented to demonstrate the application of FPAR. Findings indicate the potential of this framework to influence evaluation design to strengthen the capacity of diverse women as co-evaluators; build on and generate knowledge as a resource of and for the women who create, own and share it; and, design evaluative spaces that promote authentic and inclusive forms of evidence. This article discusses insights from the findings, reflections and the lessons learned on using a FPAR framework.