Diis Working Paper 2014:11Paper

DIIS WORKINGDIIS WORKING PAPER 2014:11PAPER

The politics of gender in Danish foreign aid Lars Engberg-Pedersen

DIIS Working Paper 2014:11 WORKING PAPER WORKING

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LARS ENGBERG-PEDERSEN Senior Researcher, Global Transformations, DIIS [email protected]

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DIIS WORKING PAPER 2014:11 © The author and DIIS, Copenhagen 2014 DIIS • Danish Institute for International Studies Østbanegade 117, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark Ph: +45 32 69 87 87 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.diis.dk Layout: Allan Lind Jørgensen ISBN: 978-87-7605-710-7 (pdf) DIIS publications can be downloaded free of charge from www.diis.dk

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CONTENTS

Abstract 4 Introduction 5 Danida’s gender policies 6 Early days 6 Developing a policy 8 A political policy 10 A policy without resources 13 Conclusion 15 Literature 18

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ABSTRACT

Since the mid-1980s women and gender equality have constituted a major priority in Danish foreign aid. For many years the issue has been one of three cross-cutting concerns ranked just below the overall objective of poverty reduction. This paper describes the development of gender policies in Denmark’s official foreign aid and analyses the degree to which they reflect domestic politics and circumstances and to what extent organisational concerns in Danida and global norms on gender influence the policies. The tentative conclusion is that global norms play an important (and perhaps increasing) role, together with the normative environment in Denmark, while direct stakeholders seemingly have had a declining influence on the policies.

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INTRODUCTION organisational activity (Campbell, 2005: 44), setting the boundaries for Danida’s opportu- The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nities to pursue particular gender policies and creation and development of gender equality practices. Thirdly, direct stakeholders (Mittchell as a priority in Danish development policies et al., 1997) exert pressure on Danida by as- and, in particular, to analyse a number of ex- signing or withdrawing financial and political planatory variables in relation to the policies. support. Interest groups and civil society or- Foreign aid has often been explained with ganisations have had institutionalised possi- reference to donor countries’ foreign poli- bilities for influencing official Danish policies cy concerns and sometimes with reference and development programmes since the in- to altruism and solidarity (Lumsdaine, 1993). fancy of Danish aid in the early 1960s, and In recent years, some attempts to specify in this may have shaped Danida’s gender-related more detail the motives driving aid policies work. Fourth, global norms are encountered have been undertaken, and the importance of at international conventions, within inter- domestic politics in shaping foreign aid has national organisations and at internation- been highlighted (Lancaster, 2007, Lunds- al conferences, and these may provide legiti- gaarde, 2013, van der Veen, 2011). Other macy to certain initiatives. Fifth, organisational contributions have instead focussed on glob- concerns and characteristics unrelated to exter- al norms (Barnett and Finnemore, 2004, Fin- nal factors may have a distinct bearing on the nemore and Sikkink, 1998, Swiss, 2011) and policy formulation of an aid agency. organisational interests and characteristics of The paper contributes to the research pro- donor agencies (Quarles van Ufford, 1988). gramme Global Norms and Heterogeneous De- This paper focuses on gender policies in velopment Organisations (GLONO) which ex- development cooperation because gender is a plores how the international norms on gender contested issue internationally and cannot be equality translate into the policy and practice explained satisfactorily by referring to foreign of seven different donor agencies, includ- policy concerns or altruism. Gender policies ing the South African Development Partner- appear to lend themselves much more to do- ship Agency (SADPA), the Mexican Agency mestic political explanations, but may also be for International Development Cooperation influenced by global norms and organisation- (AMEXCID), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs al concerns. In this paper domestic politics is of Denmark (Danida), the World Bank, Is- deconstructed into three different issues and, lamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam International accordingly, five different explanatory varia- and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. On bles are explored: first, the normative environ- the basis of multi-sited case studies, the re- ment in terms of the cultural and social values search programme seeks to provide a contri- characterising Danish society, which are like- bution to the understanding of the relation- ly to encourage particular policy objectives ship between the homogenisation of global and orientations (Meyer and Rowan, 1977, norms and the increased heterogeneity of Meyer and Scott, 1983). Second, political oppor- donor organisations in development cooper- tunity structures (McAdam et al., 1996) shaped ation. In its present form the current paper by formal and informal political conditions concentrates on the analysis of Danida’s vari- (laws, policies, political elites), which encour- ous gender policies, but it will be supplement- age, discourage, regulate and otherwise affect ed by interviews with central actors at a later

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stage. Until recently Danida had issued three al politics entered the conference with full policies on women and gender equality (in force putting the Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1987, 1993 and 2004), but a new policy has centre stage. Also in relation to gender is- just been published. This paper, however, fo- sues, there were clear disagreements between cuses on the three first policies and refers to those (from the North) who concentrated on some other Danida publications as well. equality between the sexes and those (from the South) who were more concerned about development (Bach et al., 2008: 323-28). DANIDA’S GENDER POLICIES In relation to gender, civil society organisations were the first movers. KULU – Women Early days and Development, an umbrella organisation A big national campaign in 1962 was a major for women’s organisations working with de- impetus behind the creation of Danish bilat- velopment cooperation, was established in eral development assistance the same year. 1976 and has since combined concrete devel- One of the organisations behind the cam- opment activities with campaigns and devel- paign was the Women’s Council in Denmark opment education in Denmark. Danida was which initiated the construction of an edu- slower to put gender on the agenda, but pub- cation centre for women in Ibadan, Nige- lished a study in 1978 which had the purpose ria, in the first half of the 1960s. Another of supporting aid practitioners in planning early initiative was the Karen College estab- and implementation of activities relevant to lished at Karen Blixen’s farm outside Nairo- women in developing countries (Bramsen et bi in connection with Kenya’s independence. al., 1978). The study challenged a number of However, neither of these initiatives was very then widespread ideas, including the assump- successful and they reflected a somewhat pa- tions that women do not perform economi- triarchal approach to gender, emphasising cally productive work and that women natu- family planning and domestic work (Bach et rally benefit from activities targeted at men al., 2008: 171-76). (ibid: 66–67). Moreover, a major conclusion It was only as a consequence of the so- was that too little was known about the soci- cial changes and the anti-authoritarian move- oeconomic conditions of women in development in the late 1960s and early 1970s that ing countries. more emancipatory ideas gained a foothold. In 1985 Danida presented its ‘women- Still, not much happened in Danish aid until related’ policy and activities in a small pub- the World Conference of the Internation- lication entitled Danish Development Assistance al Women’s Year in Mexico City in 1975, the to Women (Danida, 1985). The framework United Nations Decade for Women 1976– for doing so was partly the end of the UN 1985 and, notably, the mid-decade world con- decade for women, which was referred to in ference in Copenhagen in 1980 reviewing the the very first sentence of the document, part- progress in achieving the goals established ly the deteriorating economic situation, nota- in Mexico. The conference in Copenhagen bly in Africa. Danish aid had: was a big event counting some 10,000 participants, with an official event and a paral- …been reoriented to put more weight lel NGO conference. Despite the ambition to on rehabilitation of existing projects address the marginalisation of women, glob- and on production-oriented projects, es-

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pecially in the agricultural sector […] As The early 1980s saw some changes to Dani- women play a crucial role in food pro- da’s approach to gender. While family plan- duction, it is necessary that they are re- ning and population programmes had used lieved of part of their domestic work- rather forceful instruments on women and load, e.g. easing access to water and fuel neglected the role of men, it was increasing- and providing better childcare facilities. ly recognised that women had a right to con- (Ibid: 1) trol their own bodies and could not be seen as an instrument to reduce population growth. This quote clearly reflects that women were Still, it seems to have been a tiresome affair seen as an instrument to reigniting growth to get women’s conditions on the aid agenda and agricultural production. However, a dis- (ibid: 330-32). One explanation given is that tinction was drawn between women as a di- Danish aid projects were negotiated with re- rect target group and women as part of a cipient countries which did not take much in- target group. When women were direct- terest in the gender issue. However, it is also ly targeted the purpose of the activity was argued that the limited attention to women in described as being to “increase the right of Danish aid was due to a lack of interest and women to influence their own lives.” (Ibid: 2) expertise in Denmark and a lack of relevant It was also noted that women are not a ho- experts in Danida. mogeneous group and that they need to be A very important contextual factor was, involved in project planning to avoid nega- however, the economic and political crises tive unintended consequences. Overall, the in Denmark from 1973 onwards. The oil cri- document reflected a growing awareness that ses in 1973 and 1979 and the resultant stag- women have to be taken seriously, but the in- flation came as significant shocks, given the strumental reasons for doing so were at least long period of steady and significant growth as important as the normative. since the end of WWII. At the same time In terms of policy, gender mainstreaming the political landscape was transformed by appears to have been anticipated to some ex- the election of several new political parties tent, although only in the form of a focus on to parliament in 1973. The electoral earth- women; men were not part of the concern quake shattering the political establishment with gender. The document notes that special produced ten years of rapidly changing mi- consideration should be given to the role of nority governments. In the end, and follow- women in all projects including those where ing strong criticism from all parts of society not only women constitute the target group. including the unions, a frustrated social dem- Moreover, appraisal guidelines, project check- ocratic government handed over power in lists and terms of reference for evaluation 1982 to a conservative-liberal minority gov- missions now emphasised the need to con- ernment without elections. This government sider women (ibid: 2-3). Also, female advisors stayed in power throughout the 1980s, part- were recruited to the largest embassies and a ly because a majority in parliament support- position as coordinator of women’s activities ed its economic policies, partly because it did at the head office was established. This was not bother too much when a majority outside partly in response to criticism that only one government pushed through particular poli- out of the 26 directors in Danida in 1987 was cies, and this was notably the case in the field a woman (Bach et al., 2008: 329-30). of foreign policy. Most famously and con-

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troversially, the majority outside government the issue. A commission established by the created a footnote politics in relation to sev- social democratic government in 1980 pub- eral NATO agreements, but it also decided lished its report almost two years later and in 1986 – against the government’s wish – to noted: increase development assistance to one per cent of GDP by 1993. …that the female aspect needs to be in- Moreover, and specifically in relation to tegrated in all forms of assistance wher- foreign aid, the call for a New Internation- ever it is relevant. Projects directly ad- al Economic Order put forward in the UN dressing women are seen as necessary in 1974 by the developing countries received in a transitional phase. But the commis- increasing attention in Denmark after an ini- sion cannot recommend earmarking of tial repudiation (Bach et al., 2008: 261ff). This funds for projects focussing on women was in line with the general perception in the as this may counter the efforts to inte- 1960s and 1970s that Danish development as- grate the female aspect generally in de- sistance should help decolonised countries to velopment cooperation and undermine gain independence and, like the other Nordic the overall objective that women are ac- countries, Denmark was somewhat reserved cepted and treated on a par with men, when the IMF and World Bank pushed for also in the context of development co- Structural Adjustment Programmes in the operation. (Bang-udvalget, 1982: 119, early 1980s. However, this changed gradual- my translation) ly and the conservative-liberal government’s charismatic Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uffe The ambition of mainstreaming gender was, Ellemann-Jensen, became increasingly as- thus, voiced relatively forcefully, but it was not sertive and in 1987 declared his support for picked up by the conservative-liberal govern- structural adjustment and for a political di- ment which came into power only one month alogue with recipient countries emphasising after the publication of the report. More- Danish priorities (ibid: 302-304). All in all, the over, it seems that whatever the policy inter- domestic political opportunity structures and est in the issue, concrete activities had a poor normative environment did not favour sig- impact on women’s conditions. An evaluation nificant policy initiatives on gender in devel- concluded that Danish projects did little, if opment cooperation in the 1970s and early anything, to increase women’s access to the 1980s. Normatively, using aid to promote means of production and to cash incomes, particular values and policy priorities was to mitigate women’s increasing workloads or not accepted in this period, and the changing to build on women’s own views (Whyte et al., governments and parliamentary majorities 1987: 3-5). did not perceive the promotion of women in development as a political opportunity. This may go some way to explaining why gender Developing a policy was seriously addressed by the Danish aid The first policy paper on women in develop- administration only much later than was the ment, the Plan of Action for Development Assis- case in Sweden and Norway (19 and 12 years tance to Women, was published in 1987. It con- later, respectively). sisted of three parts: a general strategy, sector There was, however, a clear recognition of plans with guidance for how to include WID

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in support to specific sectors, and the setting forms of assistance provided by Danida (bi- out of country programmes with a focus on lateral projects, technical assistance, scholar- women in the then four main recipient coun- ship programmes, financial assistance, NGO tries of Danish aid, namely Tanzania, Kenya, support and multilateral assistance), part- India and Bangladesh. The plan of action ex- ly because it was organised around a vertical plicitly stated that it had been drafted in re- focus on the matter at the policy level and in sponse to a decision by parliament on 26 No- specific sectors and country programmes. In vember 1985 on how to follow up on the UN complete agreement with the conclusions of conference reviewing the Decade for Women the commission mentioned above, the strat- in Nairobi, June 1985 (Danida, 1987: 3). egy argued in favour of both integrating ‘the Main points from the conference were dis- female aspect’ in all projects and of initiating cussed and used as a platform for the Dan- particular projects targeting women (ibid: 10). ish action plan. This clearly suggests that UN The latter were seen as a temporary activity, conferences and global norms had an impor- to be carried out until women’s interests and tant bearing on the development of the Dan- needs were fully integrated into all develop- ish WID policy (Swiss, 2011). The strategy ment projects. also emphasised that Denmark would try to The major concern in the strategy was to strengthen the importance of WID and the emphasise the role of women in production. promotion of the conclusions of the Nairo- Moving on from having focused on the role bi conference in international forums and in of women in the social sectors and in relation cooperation with recipient countries. Accord- to the satisfaction of basic human needs in ingly, the plan of action reflected an ambition the 1970s and early 1980s, the strategy sug- to live up to international norms, but it also gested increased attention to women’s access underscored that Denmark should be a norm to land, technology and capital. However, the broker internationally. Moreover, the action reason for doing so appears to have been in- plan stated that the strategy had been devel- strumental: “Women’s economic independ- oped in cooperation with Danish women’s ence is an important means to promoting organisations working in developing coun- general development.” (Ibid: 8, my transla- tries (Danida, 1987: 3) and it called for action) While the strategy noted the importance tive cooperation with women’s organisations of securing women’s political and judicial to ensure that more women engaged in tech- rights and of strengthening women’s organ- nical assistance (ibid: 12). Whether this mir- isations, such concerns were not presented as rored a significant influence of these organ- goals in their own right, but rather as inter- isations on Danish aid policies, or a lack of mediate objectives facilitating a broader de- capacity within Danida to formulate and im- velopment. This is reflected in the following plement a WID policy is not clear, but it does sentence (which is highlighted in the original suggest a relatively close cooperation at that document): time between Danida and civil society organisations working in the field of gender. The female aspect should not be regard- Generally, the plan of action seems to have ed as an appendage or an add-on to the been a thorough attempt to put WID on project, but rather as the key to the solu- the agenda, partly because it sought to inte- tion of concrete problems. (Ibid: 10, my grate the matter horizontally in all the various translation)

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At the same time, the sector plans contained …’adding on’ women as an afterthought numerous important observations on how or a residual category, sidelining women women’s interests and needs differ from in the process. Women were further- men’s and how specific aid activities have to more often treated as a homogeneous be reorganised in order to address women’s group and their situation analysed in iso- particular challenges (Danida, 1988a). So, lation from and unrelated to that of men. although the main strategic aim of the ac- Class-, ethnicity- and intra-household tion plan seems to have been to add women gender differences were rarely taken into to all parts of existing development coop- account in connection. Women contin- eration, it also pointed towards a rethink- ued to be viewed as passive recipients ing of the cooperation, at least in specific (target groups) of development initia- sectors. tives generated in the North. The miss- In 1988 Danida developed a strategic action ing connection between women’s rights plan with four quantitative and six qualita- and human rights, and the fact that tive goals. Alongside the promotion of social, women make out a large majority of the humanitarian and political ideals, lasting im- world’s poor, was rarely problematized. provement of poor people’s conditions, the (Ibid: 23) use of a partnership approach, the endeavour to create sustainable development, and the The policy paper also accepted this analysis in promotion of human rights, was the stated relation to Danish development assistance (Da- ambition to ensure aspects related to women nida, 1993: 8) and called for the mainstreaming a central and fully integrated role in the devel- of women’s needs and priorities in develop- opment process (Danida, 1988b: 2-3). This ment as well as a redefinition of develop- was the first attempt to situate gender equal- ment objectives in consonance with women’s ity in relation to other Danish development interests. Both of these points are signifi- priorities. cant. Although the 1987 policy talked about integrating the ‘female aspect’ in all projects, ‘mainstreaming’ only became the buzzword A Political Policy for how to address gender in development The WID (Women in Development) poli- cooperation with the Fourth World Confer- cy was revised in 1993, partly on the basis ence on Women in Beijing in 1995 (Nanivazo of a discussion paper issued one year earli- and Scott, 2012), but it was stipulated as offi- er. This paper analysed the limited improve- cial Danish policy a little earlier. The second ments of women’s conditions during the point was developed in the following state- 1980s, their lack of political influence, and ments: the role of foreign aid. Although it acknowl- edged that many initiatives had been taken, The issue is thus not how to integrate the paper argued that WID activities were women, but how to transform the system often marginalised and suffered from weak so that dominant social and economic funding and staffing (Skjønsberg, 1992: 16). structures promote and secure women’s Furthermore, it called for a reconceptualis- basic human rights, including their eco- ation, criticising the WID approach of the nomic rights. […] Consequently what is 1980s for: needed is a new approach where women’s

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subordination and poverty is seen as a The policy linked a focus on women with global issue closely linked to interna- the concern for poverty reduction, and this tional debts handling, military spend- reflected the growing attempt to create a co- ing, trade in drugs, arms and women herent development policy which could be and North-South economic inequality. interpreted as an organisational concern […] Closing gender gaps is imperative, in Danida. The early 1990s have been de- but not sufficient when also men suffer scribed as the “creative period” (Bach et from global political and economic in- al., 2008: 407-408) where many new visions equalities. A new agenda for world de- were formulated, and this was not least due velopment must include new solutions to creative thinking within Danida. The min- to the world’s unsolved social, ecologi- istry has been described as the major actor cal and economic problems. Hitherto shaping Danish development policy in this the traditional recipe has been more of period (Martinussen, 1989, Olsen, 2005). In the same old medicine. The gender anal- 1994 the first general development policy ysis provides an opportunity to redefine was published in which gender was one of old problems and old theories. Women’s three cross-cutting concerns to be consid- perspective, sharpened by women’s sub- ered in all Danish development cooperation ordinate status, key position in the re- (A World in Development, (Danida, 1994). To- productive sphere and lack of economic gether with the environment and democra- resources and political power, may pro- tisation, gender was placed in a position just vide a new understanding of old soci- below the overarching objective of poverty etal ills, cut edges and bring forth a more reduction. humane social order. (Danida, 1993: 11, It is also noteworthy how the updated 12, 15) WID policy of 1993 is based on references to WID activities of other donor agencies and This was a fairly radical departure from the of international organisations: ‘adding on’ approach of the 1980s as it not only addresses gender instead of women, Within aid organisations WID units but it also questions contemporary devel- and initiatives have been established, opment paradigms and conditions. Women but, generally speaking, most WID of- are not only forgotten in development prac- fices lead a marginalized existence, with tice, global conditions effectively marginal- limited influence, small staff and mod- ise them and, by implication, gender equal- est funds. […] While the establishment ity is not just about creating fairer relations of national WID machineries was the between women and men, but also about answer to the increased awareness of changing the structures that create inequal- women in development of the 1980s, ities and poverty. Interestingly, this framing women’s groups and national and in- of the gender issue could be said to draw ternational organisations and networks both on the 1970s questioning of the inter- are the major change agents within the national economic order and on the emerg- gender-framework. The approaches ing political understanding around 1990 that these and similar groups are promoting Danish development assistance should pro- are mainstreaming, empowerment and mote Danish priorities. agenda setting. (Danida, 1993: 10, 11)

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The language of this paragraph was part- er on international equality affairs was creat- ly aimed at appealing to international norm ed in 1991 (Danida, 1993: 7). On top of this, entrepreneurs, and drew on an emerging in- the 1993 policy suggested a number of initia- ternational consensus, possibly in order to le- tives including the use of quotas determining gitimise the policy. Global norms and tenden- a minimum of female representation at dif- cies evidently had a bearing on the policy, and ferent levels, earmarking of funds, indicators, being at the forefront of international think- checklists and a manual. This call for admin- ing seems to have been important. This may istrative procedures was explained in the fol- also be a reason why the policy was published lowing way: in English and not in Danish as the 1987 plan of action had been. The lack of cost-effectiveness and ac- Early in 1993 a new government led by the countability is a major problem in devel- social democrats took over after ten years of opment aid. Failure to meet targets has conservative-liberal government. As part of rarely any consequences for policy, lead- this change the first ever creation of a po- ership or organisational structures. As sition as minister for development assistance a result legally binding conventions and was created. The new minister, Helle Degn political declarations remain paper tigers (soon to be challenged inside the government and WID efforts continue their marginal- and the victim of a newspaper campaign), did ized existence while structural adjustment not put a significant stamp on Danish foreign policies, environmental devastation and aid in her short period in office, but the polit- low rawmaterial prices continue to un- ical opportunity structure for a more activist dermine the living conditions of women Denmark in development cooperation now and other poor people.” (Ibid: 21) existed. In addition to providing 1% of GNI for development assistance, the government While this may be very true, the resulting created a fund for environmental and human- control approach may not have been condu- itarian support which was planned to reach cive for effective development cooperation. 0.5% of GNI by 2002 (Bach et al., 2008: With its range of cross-cutting concerns and 400). Though the money set aside for this changing political priorities, which is the re- fund was initially spent almost entirely on ref- ality of donor agencies like Danida, staff in ugees in Denmark, development cooperation country offices can easily drown in the pro- was a strong priority of the government, and cedure, guidelines, checklists, indicators and this provided a political environment condu- the like that are developed in relation to each cive for creative thinking within Danida. of these concerns and priorities (Engberg- In the years around 1990 Danida employed Pedersen, 2007). a number of people to work on WID issues. The emphasis on Women in Development A WID adviser was responsible for policies, was clear in the first general development guidelines and training in the head office, policy adopted in 1994 (Danida, 1994) as well while WID counsellors were appointed at the as in the second from 2000 (Danida, 2000) Danish embassies in programme cooperation which described the concern in this way: countries. In addition, four embassies hired national WID advisers to strengthen their Denmark’s development policy shall work and, finally, a position as special advis- promote equality between men and

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women and help to ensure equal partic- to equal rights, equal access to and control of ipation of both genders in the develop- resources, and equal opportunities to achieve ment process. The promotion of wom- political and economic influence (ibid: 10). en’s status and position is a key element The Gender and Development (GAD) ap- in poverty reduction and an important proach obviously played a role in the policy in goal for development co-operation. In the sense that women and men were repeat- order to attain development goals it is edly mentioned. Gender equality was now vital to draw upon the resources of both the primary concern, and the policy acknowl- women and men. (Danida, 2000: 30) edged that this was a political issue: “The implementation of the strategy will demand Gender had become a more important con- changes to existing power structures, the sta- cern and men were explicitly mentioned. tus and roles of women and men. Therefore, Still, the focus was on women, and the com- working with gender equality will in many bination of mainstreaming and special initi- contexts be conflictual.” (Ibid.) Developing atives was maintained. There was emphasis this line of thinking, the policy called for spe- on strengthening women’s opportunities to cial interventions “aimed at creating funda- gain political influence, but the policy also mental structural changes in institutions, pol- embraced the traditional concern with “edu- icies, legislation and allocation of resources cation of women as the best means of promot- to promote gender equality between men and ing political, social and economic opportuni- women” (ibid: 11). The policy set the frame- ties for women and the welfare of the family.” work for this kind of work, but emphasised (Ibid: 31) Compared to the 1993 WID pol- the need to adjust the policy to meet the spe- icy the ambition to “transform the system” cific conditions in individual societies. Thus, so that women’s interests and needs are bet- whether the policy would be able to create ter catered for, had vanished. Semantically, “fundamental structural changes” depended it is interesting that the general policy talked heavily on country programmes and initia- about the “gender aspect” which resembles tives carried out by Danish embassies. the term “female aspect” used in the 1987 In addition to the special interventions, WID policy, but which was completely ab- mainstreaming (defined as ‘sex-disaggregation sent from the 1993 WID policy. Phrases like in all phases of project, programme and pol- “integrate the gender aspect in all elements icy cycles’) was maintained as a central am- of development co-operation” (ibid.) tend to bition. As issues of particular concern the depoliticise and obscure the precise content policy mentioned violence against women, of the initiative. In this sense, the 1993 WID sexual and reproductive rights, and access to policy stands out as a clear attempt to engage resources. However, quotas and earmarking with the political conditions of gender ine- of funds were no longer mentioned, and the qualities compared to the other policy papers. policy limited itself to suggesting equal opportunities for women and men. In societies with significant institutional and normative A policy without resources barriers to women’s influence, formal equal In 2004 a new policy on gender equality (Da- opportunities may help little in creating gen- nida, 2004) was issued. The objective of the der equality as an outcome. In this way the policy was to contribute, for women and men, policy was less ambitious than the 1993 WID

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policy. This may partly be explained by the national norms on gender equality, notably change of government in 2001 when a liberal- in the UN but also in relation to the World conservative government took over after the Bank, OECD/DAC, international NGOs social democrats. The new government cut and regional organisations (ibid: 21-24). Ac- development assistance, closed three country cordingly, the policy presented Denmark not programmes and abolished the position of just as a ‘norm-taker’ responding to inter- development minister, partly as one element national ideas and agreements, but also as a in an ideological showdown with the social ‘norm entrepreneur’ seeking to set the inter- democratic welfare state, partly to finance in- national agenda. The overall emphasis on the creasing health expenditure. International- international level in the policy indicates that ly, the government was primarily concerned this was seen to be as important as providing with the War on Terror and establishing close a frame for country-level activities, and this relations to the US. In this context gender suggests that organisational interests signifi- equality in development assistance was not at cantly influenced the policy because exerting the top of the agenda, and the renewed policy pressure on organisations such as, for exam- was likely to be the result of an organisation- ple, UNIFEM and OECD/DAC was hardly a al initiative by Danida. The political oppor- major political or public concern in Denmark tunity structures were, however, of a nature at the time. Moreover, the policy hardly men- that did not permit more radical suggestions tioned Danish stakeholders. In one sentence such as those proposed in the 1993 policy. At Danish women’s organisations were present- the same time, the 2004 policy was somewhat ed as “useful advisors to the government” influenced by the increased focus on securi- (ibid: 21), but the impetus for focussing on ty in its highlighting of the issue of violence gender equality was squarely located in UN against women. conventions and conferences, not in pressure The implementation of the policy was en- from Danish actors. visaged at three levels: interventions at coun- The context of aid and staff cuts emerg- try level in the then 15 programme countries, es clearly in the laconic and meaningless international cooperation, and strengthen- ten lines on capacity strengthening in Dani- ing of the capacity of Danida. Of the subse- da. The text referred to best practices and a quent eleven pages developing this, five were vague strengthening of competence develop- set aside for each of the two first levels and ment, despite the fact that two pages later the just one (actually, ten lines) was devoted to policy highlighted the difficulties of turning the capacity issue. Most interesting is the em- good policies into action: phasis placed on international norms. These constitute the legitimate basis for engaging in Good policy intentions in the area of dialogue with governments in individual pro- gender equality are often not imple- gramme countries, and the 12 critical areas of mented satisfactorily in practice. This concern in the Beijing Platform for Action may be the result of insufficient plan- were referred to as central for identifying spe- ning, inadequate technical expertise, in- cial interventions aimed at structural change sufficient follow-up, inadequate support (ibid: 19). In the chapter on international co- from middle and upper management in operation, the policy emphasised that Den- donor organisations, and insufficient re- mark wanted to defend and strengthen inter- sources. Therefore, there is a need for

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focus, priority setting, development of pendence. It was only in the course of the indicators and follow-up based on per- 1980s that this norm was gradually eroded formance assessments of the develop- by the view that many of these countries had ment interventions, as well as sufficient pursued irresponsible macro-economic poli- resources to secure the impact of the in- cies. As the barrier to adopting more specif- terventions. (Ibid: 27) ic political priorities to be pursued in development cooperation was dismantled, gender There were no indications of how Danida equality became a significant concern and planned to ensure such a strengthened focus, has remained so ever since. It is unlikely that and given the observation in the DAC Peer women and gender equality would have con- Review that the “decreasing trend in admin- stituted one of three cross-cutting concerns istrative resources [between 2001 and 2004] for twenty years, closely linked to the over- raises the question of how far Danida can re- all objective of poverty reduction, had it not duce its resources without negatively affect- been for a normative environment that sup- ing quality and its ability to adapt to new mo- ported it. This conclusion is buttressed by dalities” (OECD/DAC, 2007: 16), the few the fact that the gender equality policy and lines on competence development appear to its two major modalities of mainstreaming reflect an acknowledgement that not much and specific interventions, have remained the would be done in this field. same despite changes of government. The political opportunity structures also appear to tell us something. The comparatively late CONCLUSIONS adoption of a policy on women and gender equality is partly due to the continued eco- The role of the normative environment is rela- nomic and political crisis from 1973 and into tively difficult to ascertain in relation to the the 1980s. As a gender policy would have had different gender policies. There is little doubt to confront the non-interference norm prev- that the general normative environment in alent at the time; a window of opportuni- Denmark has been conducive for adopt- ty was needed, but the political agenda was ing gender equality as an important priority saturated with issues believed to be much in Danish development assistance, and it is more important than the details of develop- somewhat surprising that such a priority was ment assistance. With increasing political and not clearly established earlier than 1987. This economic stability in the mid-1980s and the could indicate that norms on gender equal- closing of the United Nations Decade for ity have had little influence on development Women marked by the Nairobi conference, policies. However, one reason for this may Danish politicians seemingly felt a need to do be another norm or widespread political un- something and asked the government to es- derstanding in the 1960s and 1970s; namely tablish a follow-up. Once the first policy was a non-interference norm. The developing coun- adopted in 1987, it appears that the two sub- tries were regarded as decolonised societies sequent policies have, to some extent, been that had a right to political sovereignty, and less dependent on the political opportuni- development assistance should not only sup- ty structures. The 1993 policy was adopted port the economic development of these na- under a government led by social democrats tions, but also strengthen their political inde- while the 2004 policy came into being under

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a liberal-conservative government. Even the the 2004 policy, which does not refer to new differing contents of these two policies may human and financial resources to boost the not have had much to do with the changing bilateral engagement, could be read as an up- political opportunity structures, as the social date intended to document the progressive democratic government took few steps to re- nature of Danish development assistance and alise the ambitions of systemic change ex- as an attempt to promote particular views on pressed in the 1993 policy. women and gender equality. The present analysis cannot document a The particular way that the emerging glob- significant importance of direct stakeholders. al norms have been translated into Danish Danish women’s organisations are mentioned policies seems to be influenced byorganisation - here and there and they may have had some al concerns and characteristics of Danida. Again, influence on the 1987 policy, but the policies this is a tentative conclusion based as it is only are not legitimised with reference to pressure on an analysis of policy papers, but both the groups or other societal actors. On the con- 1993 and 2004 policies seem to be the results trary, the 2004 policy notes that it also applies of initiatives taken within Danida. Moreover, to Danish civil society organisations receiving the 1993 policy was more radical than con- public funds. Thus, it seems that the formu- temporary official discussions international- lation of, at least, the 1993 and the 2004 pol- ly. All three policies also referred to women’s icies was undertaken relatively independently rights which are a disputed issue in interna- of stakeholders in Danish society. However, tional forums. These are indications of the the present paper does not include an analy- specific Danish flavour added to the global sis of the formulation processes of the pol- norms as they are expressed in the policies. icies in which various stakeholders may have On the basis of the policy documents, the taken part. tentative conclusion is that global norms and Global norms, on the other hand, seem to the normative environment in Denmark have have played a very important role with re- stimulated and shaped Danish gender poli- spect to the development of Danish gender cies, with the political opportunity structures policies. The motivation for creating the first and Danida’s organisational concerns and policy was strongly driven by the Nairobi con- characteristics playing a secondary, though ference in 1985, and all three policies refer in not unimportant, role. Direct stakeholders in depth to international discussions and expe- Danish society seem to have had a fairly small rience. The international move from WID to and diminishing influence. To substantiate GAD is reflected in the policies and so too this conclusion, the analysis should be sup- is the emphasis on mainstreaming where the plemented by interviews with participants in 1993 policy actually predates the official UN the policy formulation processes, and by the adoption of the term at the conference in collection of data on the financial and human Beijing in 1995. Being quick to sense the lat- resources set aside for gender activities. est international ideas appears to have been There is little doubt that gender is a par- an important concern. Moreover, all three ticular theme in development cooperation, policies reflected a desire to influence- nor and other themes may be influenced differ- mative discussions at the international level, ently by the explanatory variables. Private sec- and the last two policies (in English) may actor development, for example, is likely to be tually be seen as attempts to do so. Notably the object of stronger pressure from stake-

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holders in Danish society and less influenced by global norms. Another point, which may be analysed in relation to the recently published new gender policy, has to do with the changing influence of the respective variables. It seems, for example, that norm en- trepreneurial ambitions have not diminished, and it will be an interesting observation to notice if gender in Danish development policies become more and more decoupled from Danish society.

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LITERATURE

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