Socio-Cultural Constraints To Women's Participation In Rural Support Programs In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The current paper aims to inquire about the socio-cultural constraints to women’s participation in National Rural Support Program (NRSP) operating in four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa namely Charsada, Mardan, Nowshehra and Sawabi. Such restrictions to women participation in the Project Cycle i.e. formation of women community organization, needs assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation process in NRSP projects have been identified through collection of data from staff members of NRSP and president /manager and ordinary members of women community organizations through convenient sampling procedure through in-depth interviewing. The information obtained has been analyzed qualitatively under themes. The results show that NRSP carries out various physical infrastructure schemes through women community organizations (WCOs). The study concludes that NRSP staff members mobilize WCOs through social mobilization and social organization process; but there are various socio-cultural practices, which do not allow women to participate in developmental process. The study also identifies that these sociocultural constraints include male domination, Purdah (veil), conventional leaders and target oriented approach of NRSP. The study suggest that for sustainability of NRSP, widespread activities of gender equality is important to overcome these constraints.