Empowerment

A process by which a person or a group of people free themselves from a state of subjection and acquire the power, permission and confidence to defend their rights and interests.

"Empowerment of the poor has been strongly advocated by writers such as Freire (1972) and Max-Neef (1992) and has [been] seen as a major strategy in development. […]
Within the strategies for poverty reductions favoured by the World Bank, empowerment is understood as ‘the expansion of a assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives' (World Bank 2002)".
(Spicker, P., et al. Poverty: An international glossary. 2nd edition, London, Zed Books, 2007, p. 63)