Participation of Women in Community Development (Case Study of My State Enugu).

ABSTRACT This study Assessed the extent of women’s participation in community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. Five research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was 4200 while 420 constituted the sample using proportionate stratified random sampling. The instrument used was a fixed response type of questionnaire. Frequency, percentage and weighted mean were used to analyze the research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents are mostly fixed-income earners, majority of the projects listed were carried out by Nsukka women, participation of the women in most areas of the projects implementation is low: the constraints to effective participation in community development projects were many; majority of the factors listed enhance participation in community development projects among Nsukka women. There was no significant difference on the mean ratings of the responses of fixed-income earners and non-fixed income earners on four items on the level of participation, while there was no significant difference on five items. There was no significant difference on the mean rating of the response of literate and illiterate women on six items on the level of participation while there was significant difference on three. The major implication is that the women will not be able to harness to the fullest the human and material resources available towards effective project completion. The major recommendations were: awareness of programmes should be organized through seminars and workshops to sensitize women on the issues of self-help projects and to be aware of their rights; every member should be involved in all the processes of carrying out the projects; leaders should be penalized when found guilty of any act of corruption; people should be enlightened on the effects of their practices and beliefs that hinder women from participating in community development projects. The conclusions is that if all these major recommendations were to be practically, scientifically and methodically internalized by our societies especially Nsukka Local Government Area, women in the area would not only record tremendous progress in community development projects participation.