In March 2013, MNFB organized a workshop for the development of strategic plans for its Women’s Committee, which was attended by 5 council members and 10 other blind women who are active in the organizational operations. The workshop invited the leader of the Mongolian Women’s Foundation as facilitator, and was organized in various forms including group work, questions and answers, and discussions.
The participants discussed the pressing issues that blind women encounter, difficulties and obstacles for effective operations of the Committee, weaknesses and advantages, needs, goals and objectives, and values, followed by identification of trends and directions of actions for Women’s Committee in the next 5 years. At the end of the workshop, all agreed that the committee must develop into a strong body that takes the leadership roles through self-development and active operations.
Following the workshop, the participating women met and discussed the structures inside the committee and action plans, and agreed to establish teams responsible for specific issues, such as working team on policy planning and fundraising, team on research, and team on training and promotion. Members of the teams were appointed the members at the Women’s Forum, which was held later in March. The teams are working on their actions plans and draft budgets, and will identify the training needs for building their capacity.
As gender issue has always been one of the focused issues of the project, the workshop and the outcomes are very encouraging. The team working on the policy plan has been announcing calls for small project proposals, so we will look forward to hearing more about these small projects that blind women from different parts of the organization have to offer.