Community Centres for the Empowerment of Indian Women in Malaysia:
Project Rationale, Methodoly and Impact Assessment

This publication provides an overview of the rationale behind the women empowerment project undertaken by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and ERA Consumer Malaysia, with the financial support of the European Union.

The main objective of the project was the empowerment of women of the Indian community in Malaysia. Empowerment defined here as a holistic concept that seeks to improve the socio-economic status of women and their community. Besides having a better income, this also requires access to legal services, good mental and physical health and a functioning support system within their families and the community at large.

This report summarises the project rationale, why the Indian Malaysian women were selected as target beneficiaries, their situation, the methodology the project had taken, as well as what kind of impact it has had on the lives of Indian Malaysian women and their communities in the last three years.

The project approach clearly emphasises the importance of property rights and economic independence as a tool to real empowerment. It abstained from providing short-term relief or aid and in fact sought to overcome the dependency of the Indian community on external support. The emphasis was on self-help and knowledge building.

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