Mainstreaming Gender in Development a Critical Review
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Mainstreaming Gender Equality
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP WORKING PAPER MAINSTREAMING GENDER EQUALITY: A ROAD TO RESULTS OR A ROAD TO NOWHERE? AN EVALUATION SYNTHESIS OPERATIONS EVALUATION DEPARTMENT (OPEV) MAY 2011 MAINSTREAMING GENDER EQUALITY: A ROAD TO RESULTS OR A ROAD TO NOWHERE? AN EVALUATION SYNTHESIS 2 The views and interpretations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the African Development Bank or the Operations Evaluation Department. “We’re on a road to nowhere Come on inside. Takin’ that ride to nowhere We’ll take that ride.” 1 Talking Heads: Road To Nowhere2 (1985) 1 Byrne, D., Weymouth, T., Frantz, C., and Harrison, J. (1985) 2 Cover Photo: “A Road to Results or A Road to Nowhere?”, Northern Kenya 2003. © Lee Alexander Risby 3 Contents Acknowledgement 4 Abbreviations 5 1. Main Conclusions and Options 6 2. Evaluation Synthesis Framework 12 3. Concepts and Context: A Brief Overview of Gender Mainstreaming 17 4. Gender Mainstreaming: Intentions and Practice 23 4.1 Procedures and Practice 4.2 Leadership: The Critical Factor 4.3 Resources for Delivery 4.4 Accountability and Incentives 4.5 Results Reporting 5. Challenges and Options for Gender Mainstreaming 58 5.1 A Place for Gender in the New Aid Architecture? 5.2 The Roots of Mainstreaming Failure 5.3 Good Practice and Options – What Next for Gender? Annex 1. List of Evaluations 72 Annex 2. Supplementary Non-Evaluative reports and articles 74 4 Acknowledgements The analysis and preparation of the report was undertaken by Lee Alexander Risby, Principal Evaluation Officer at the African Development Bank, and David Todd, Consultant. -
Mainstreaming Women, Equating Men: Charting an Inclusionary Approach to Transformative Development in the African Decade for Women
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ldd.v15i1.2 Mainstreaming women, equating men: Charting an inclusionary approach to transformative development in the African decade for women DEJO OLOWU Research Professor (Public Law & Legal Philosophy), North-West University (Mafikeng Campus) 1 INTRODUCTION In time past, developmental efforts tended to focus on either men or women but seldom on both.1 For decades, therefore, development assistance often took the form of providing technologies, loans and training to men.2 Starting in the early 1970s, however, analysts pointed out the need to pay more attention to women as agents of development.3 The initial focus was to direct more resources to women and, later, focus attention more broadly on gender dynamics and inequalities.4 The global movement for gender equality itself has undergone a similar shift over the course of time, from an early emphasis on women alone to the recognition of the need to engage men in the process. Since the mid-1990s men’s role in progress towards gender mainstreaming has been the subject of growing international commitments and activity. In the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, governments expressed their resolve to encourage men to participate fully in actions towards gender mainstreaming. This resolve was made in the follow-up meeting, otherwise known as Beijing+5, in 2000. The role of men and boys has also been addressed at other intergovernmental platforms, including the World Summit on Social Development, 1995 and its review session in 2000, as well as the special session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on HIV/AIDS in 1 See Jahan R The elusive agenda: Mainstreaming women in development Zed Books (1995) 5-7. -
Women's Empowerment and Economic Development: a Feminist
Feminist Economics ISSN: 1354-5701 (Print) 1466-4372 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rfec20 Women’s Empowerment and Economic Development: A Feminist Critique of Storytelling Practices in “Randomista” Economics Naila Kabeer To cite this article: Naila Kabeer (2020) Women’s Empowerment and Economic Development: A Feminist Critique of Storytelling Practices in “Randomista” Economics, Feminist Economics, 26:2, 1-26, DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2020.1743338 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2020.1743338 © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 13 May 2020. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 5070 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rfec20 Feminist Economics, 2020 Vol. 26, No. 2, 1–26, https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2020.1743338 WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:AFEMINIST CRITIQUE OF STORYTELLING PRACTICES IN “RANDOMISTA” ECONOMICS Naila Kabeer ABSTRACT The 2019 Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to three scholars on the grounds that their pioneering use of randomized control trials (RCTs) was innovative methodologically and contributed to development policy and the emergence of a new development economics. Using a critical feminist lens, this article challenges that conclusion by interrogating the storytelling practices deployed by “randomista” economists through a critical reading of a widely cited essay by Esther Duflo, one of the 2019 Nobel recipients, on the relationship between women’s empowerment and economic development. The paper argues that the limitations of randomista economics have given rise to a particular way of thinking characterized by piecemeal analysis, ad hoc resort to theory, indifference to history and context, and methodological fundamentalism. -
Between Affiliation and Autonomy: Navigating Pathways of Women's
Between Affiliation and Autonomy: Navigating Pathways of Women’s Empowerment and Gender Justice in Rural Bangladesh Naila Kabeer ABSTRACT Inasmuch as women’s subordinate status is a product of the patriarchal struc- tures of constraint that prevail in specific contexts, pathways of women’s empowerment are likely to be ‘path dependent’. They will be shaped by women’s struggles to act on the constraints that prevail in their societies, as much by what they seek to defend as by what they seek to change. The universal value that many feminists claim for individual autonomy may not therefore have the same purchase in all contexts. This article examines pro- cesses of empowerment as they play out in the lives of women associated with social mobilization organizations in the specific context of rural Bangladesh. It draws on their narratives to explore the collective strategies through which these organizations sought to empower the women and how they in turn drew on their newly established ‘communities of practice’ to navigate their own pathways to wider social change. It concludes that while the value attached to social affiliations by the women in the study is clearly a product of the societies in which they have grown up, it may be no more context-specific than the apparently universal value attached to individual autonomy by many feminists. CONCEPTUALIZING WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT: PATHWAYS AND PATH-DEPENDENCE This article is concerned with the question of women’s empowerment where empowerment is conceptualized in terms of multidimensional processes of change rather than some final destination. These processes touch on many aspects of women’s lives, both personal and public: their sense of self-worth and social identity; their willingness and ability to question their subordinate status in society; their capacity to exercise strategic control over their own lives and to negotiate better terms in their relationships with others; and finally, their ability to participate on equal terms with men in reshaping society to better accord with their vision of social justice. -
Gender Equality Backlash
Gender Equality Backlash Ms Ljiljana Loncar Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Coordination body for Gender Equality May 2019, GEC, Strasbourg Gender Equality Backlash Visible drive across continents Concern that gender equality has moved too fast, aided by “gender fatigue” Seeing further advances in gender equality as a “non-issue” Tired of hearing about it and want it to be “done” Gender Equality Backlash #Metoo has been blamed for men being afraid to mentor women Women are told to “lean in” – to focus on empowering individuals rather than women in general Gender Equality Backlash In recent decades, we have seen remarkable progress on women’s rights and leadership in some areas. But these gains are far from complete or consistent – and they have already sparked a troubling backlash from an entrenched patriarchy. Gender equality is fundamentally a question of power. We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. Only when we see women’s rights as our common objective, a route to change that benefits everyone, will we begin to shift the balance.A.Guterres,UN Secretary-General Gender Equality Backlash At EU level Gender Equality Index shows: Marginal progress in the last decade (2005-2015), persistent inequalities: 2/3 of EU countries are below EU average “Women’s rights in Turbulent Times”, on the agenda of the 2017 Annual Colloquium of Fundamental Rights organized by the EC Gender Equality Backlash, FRA More subtle forms of sexism increasingly question gender equality Modern antifeminism, -
Women's Political Participation and Representation in Asia
iwanaga The ability of a small elite of highly educated, upper-class Asian women’s political women to obtain the highest political positions in their country is unmatched elsewhere in the world and deserves study. But, for participation and those interested in a more detailed understanding of how women representation strive and sometimes succeed as political actors in Asia, there is a women’s marked lack of relevant research as well as of comprehensive and in asia user-friendly texts. Aiming to fill the gap is this timely and important study of the various obstacles and opportunities for women’s political Obstacles and Challenges participation and representation in Asia. Even though it brings political together a diverse array of prominent European and Asian academicians and researchers working in this field, it is nonetheless a singularly coherent, comprehensive and accessible volume. Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga The book covers a wide range of Asian countries, offers original data from various perspectives and engages the latest research on participation women in politics in Asia. It also aims to put the Asian situation in a global context by making a comparison with the situation in Europe. This is a volume that will be invaluable in women’s studies internationally and especially in Asia. a nd representation representation i n asia www.niaspress.dk Iwanaga-2_cover.indd 1 4/2/08 14:23:36 WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN ASIA Kazuki_prels.indd 1 12/20/07 3:27:44 PM WOMEN AND POLITICS IN ASIA Series Editors: Kazuki Iwanaga (Halmstad University) and Qi Wang (Oslo University) Women and Politics in Thailand Continuity and Change Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga Women’s Political Participation and Representation in Asia Obstacles and Challenges Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga Kazuki_prels.indd 2 12/20/07 3:27:44 PM Women’s Political Participation and Representation in Asia Obstacles and Challenges Edited by Kazuki Iwanaga Kazuki_prels.indd 3 12/20/07 3:27:44 PM Women and Politics in Asia series, No. -
Gender Away: Feminists Marooned in the Development Business
Mainstreaming Gender or “Streaming” Gender Away: Feminists Marooned in the Development Business Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay 1 Introduction and technical assistance in development policy and This article is about taking stock of experiences of practice. My job involves working with international mainstreaming gender. It addresses two related organisations, national governments and national concerns. First, that after three decades of feminist and international non-governmental organisations activism in the field of development – both at the (NGOs) to integrate a gender perspective in policy level of theory and practice – most development and practice. In this article, I use my own experiences institutions have still to be constantly reminded of to interrogate how the concerns of feminists from the need for gender analysis in their work, policy- similar locations with the political project of equality makers have to be lobbied to “include” the “g” word are being normalised in the development business and even our own colleagues need convincing that as an ahistorical, apolitical, de-contextualised and integrating a gender analysis makes a qualitative technical project that leaves the prevailing and difference. Second, by constantly critiquing their unequal power relations intact. This normalisation own strategies, feminist advocates have changed is happening at both the level of discourse and their approaches, but institutional change continues material practice. to be elusive (except in a few corners). Gender and development advocates cannot be 2 Gender mainstreaming: the bold faulted for their technical proficiency.1 Making a new strategy case for gender and development, developing and Mainstreaming was the overall strategy adopted in implementing training programmes, frameworks, Beijing to support the goal of gender equality. -
Power to Her How Empowering Girls Can Help End Child Marriage
More Power to Her How Empowering Girls Can Help End Child Marriage by Ann Warner, Kirsten Stoebenau and Allison M. Glinski International Center for Research on Women ICRW where insight and action connect 1 More Power to Her How Empowering Girls Can Help End Child Marriage Introduction There are nearly 70 million child brides in the world today, and more than 15 million girls marry each year. Around the world, there are a number of programs and many organizations that are working to prevent child marriage and provide support to married girls. In 2011, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) published a review of evaluated child marriage programs, identifying five promising strategies. Having made this initial assessment, ICRW and our partners wanted to know more Acknowledgments about how these programs had worked in specific contexts. We particularly wanted to The authors would like to thank the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for its support of this study. understand how approaches that focused on We would also like to thank our partners for their girls themselves led to positive change. Hayes Robyne collaboration and support: BRAC, CARE, Pathfinder International and Save the Children, as well as the local To do so, ICRW collaborated with four organizations to conduct case studies of four promising partners who provided much of the frontline support. programs that utilized, in whole, or in part, girl-focused approaches. Our overarching research question We would also like to acknowledge the work of was: If and how did these programs empower girls, and how did this process of empowerment excellent research consultants: Sadika Akhter, Meseret transform child marriage-related attitudes and practices? We reviewed the adolescent girl-focused Kassahun Desta, Manal Kamal and Sayantika Palit. -
Gender Mainstreaming
GENDER MAINSTREAMING Extract from REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL FOR 1997 (A/52/3, 18 September 1997) Chapter IV COORDINATION SEGMENT COORDINATION OF THE POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIALIZED AGENCIES AND OTHER BODIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM A. Mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system 1. At its substantive session, the Council held a panel discussion on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (agenda item 4 (a) at its 20th meeting on 9 July 1997. The participants included the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund and the Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization. The Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women served as moderator. An account of the discussion is contained in the relevant summary record (E/1997/SR.20). 2. The Council continued its consideration of the item at its 21st, 22nd, 31st and 33rd meetings, on 9, 10, 17 and 18 July. An account of the discussion is contained in the relevant summary records (E/1997/SR.21, 22, 31 and 33). The Council had before it the following documents: (a) Report of the Secretary-General on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (E/1997/66); (b) Note by the Secretariat containing Commission on the Status of Women resolution 41/6, entitled "Mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system" (E/1997/94); (c) Statement submitted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a non-governmental organization in general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (E/1997/NGO/1). -
Naila Kabeer Empowerment
Resources, Agency, Achievements: Re¯ections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment Naila Kabeer ABSTRACT This paper begins from the understanding that women's empowerment is about the process by which those who have been denied the ability to make strategic life choices acquire such an ability. A wide gap separates this processual under- standing of empowerment from the more instrumentalist forms of advocacy which have required the measurement and quanti®cation of empowerment. The ability to exercise choice incorporates three inter-related dimensions: resources (de®ned broadly to include not only access, but also future claims, to both material and human and social resources); agency (including processes of decision making, as well as less measurable manifestations of agency such as negotiation, deception and manipulation); and achievements (well-being outcomes). A number of studies of women's empowerment are analysed to make some important methodological points about the measurement of empowerment. The paper argues that these three dimensions of choice are indivisible in determining the meaning of an indicator and hence its validity as a measure of empowerment. The notion of choice is further quali®ed by referring to the conditions of choice, its content and consequences. These quali®cations represent an attempt to incorporate the structural parameters of individual choice in the analysis of women's empowerment. CONCEPTUALIZING EMPOWERMENT Introduction Advocacy on behalf of women which builds on claimed synergies between feminist goals and ocial development priorities has made greater inroads into the mainstream development agenda than advocacy which argues for these goals on intrinsic grounds. There is an understandable logic to this. -
Mainstreaming Gender in Justice Projects
Gender Brief for UNODC Staff Mainstreaming gender in Justice projects Our principles: Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEEW) is integral to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gender equality and women’s empowerment is not only a spe- cific SDG (SDG 5) but also considered a cross-cutting theme that affects the achievement of all other SDGs. Holding us accountable: In line with the UNOV/UNODC Strategy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women 2018-2021 and the UN-SWAP 2.0 framework, UNODC is explicitly committed and mandated to actively and visibly mainstream gender across all mandates and the three pillars of the Office work pro- gramme (normative work, research and analytical, and technical assistance work). Mainstreaming a gender perspec- Gender and justice tive is the process of assessing the Gender mainstreaming is important in the UNODC’s justice project implications for women and men portfolio with their focus on the prevention of crime and the promo- of any planned action, including tion of effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice sys- legislation, policies or pro- tems. Perhaps this is because crimes, the criminal justice institutions grammes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making and professionals, and the criminal legal and policy framework are women’s as well as girl’s, boy’s ultimately developed by and impact individuals. There are no gender- and men’s concerns and experi- neutral interventions when you are ultimately working with and for ences an integral dimension of the all people, women and men, girls and boys, as well as individuals of design, implementation, monitor- diverse bodily characteristics, diverse sexual orientation and/or di- ing and evaluation of policies and verse or plural gender identities. -
Gender Equality in Public Services Some Useful Advice on Gender Mainstreaming
Gender Equality in Public Services Some useful advice on gender mainstreaming A book of ideas for managers and strategists Swedish Government Official Reports SOU 2007:15 Gender Equality in Public Services Some useful advice on gender mainstreaming A book of ideas for managers and strategists from the Swedish Gender Mainstreaming Support Committee Stockholm 2007 Swedish Government Official Reports SOU 2007:15 This report is on sale in Stockholm at Fritzes Bookshop. Address: Fritzes, Customer Service, SE-106 47 STOCKHOLM Sweden Fax: 08 690 91 91 (national) +46 8 690 91 91 (international) Tel: 08 690 91 90 (national) +46 8 690 91 91 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.fritzes.se Text: Sara Bergquist-Månsson and JämStöd Translation: Lingon Layout: Svensk Information Printed by Edita Sverige AB Stockholm 2007 ISBN 91-38-22730-5 ISSN 0375-250X Foreword JämStöd (Gender Mainstreaming Support) is a Swedish committee of inquiry that has worked for two years under a government mandate to provide information about gen- der mainstreaming and to develop practical methods and models for mainstreaming gender into central government activities. A further task of the committee has been to train central government staff in the practical implementation of the process. We have collaborated with a number of government agencies that have been at the forefront in seeking to ensure that the services they provide to the general public benefit women and men equally. Working with gender mainstreaming is a groundbreaking task that represents one of the most important challenges facing the public sector. We hope that this book will inspire both those of you who are keen to get started and those wishing to make further progress towards public services of the same high quality for women and men.