Learning About Women and Urban Services N Latin America and the Caribbean

P w- N :jk)- (,. -2 LEARNING ABOUT WOMEN AND URBAN SERVICES N LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN A Report on the Women, Low-h;come Households and Urban Services Project of The Population Council Wikh Selected Contributions from The International Center for Research on Women The Equity Policy Center The Development Planning Unit of University College LEARNING ABOUT WOMEN AND URBAN SERVICES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN A Report on the Wbmen, Low-income Householdsand UrbanServices Project of The Population Council With Selected Contributions from The InternationalCenter for Research on Women The Equity Policy Cenier The Development Planning Unit of University College Marianne Schmink Judith Bruce and Marilyn Kohn Editors © 1986 The Population Council, Inc. Selections of this volume may be reproduced for teaching purposes in naga7ines and newspapers with acknowledgment to this report, to the authors, and the sponsoring institutions. The majority of the articles in this volume are an outgrowth of working group deliberations, the research and related activities of the Women, Low-Income Households, and Urban Services Project of the Population Council. The first phase of this project was supported by the United States Agency for International Development under Cooperative Agreement No. AID/OTR-0007-A-00-1154-00. The views expressed by the authors are their own. CONTENTS LEARNING ABOUT WOMEN AND URBAN SERVICES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN A Report on the Women, Low-Income Households and Urban Services Project of tho Population Council With Selected Contributions from: The International Center for Research on Women The Equity Policy Center The Development Planning Unit of University College Preface Judith Bruce Part I. Introductory Overview * Women in the Urban Economy cf Latin America Marianne Schmink * The Working Group Approach to Women in Urban Services Marianne Schmink 30 * Women's Needs in the Urban System: Training Strategies in Gender Aware Planning Caroline Moser 40 Part nI. Learning from Urban Projects A.Shelter and Environment " Meeting Housing Needs: Will Self-Help Housing Projects Work for Women? Margaret A.Lycette 62 * Women's Experience ii Self-Help Housing Projects in Mexico LilianaKusnir, Carmen Largaespada 84 " Performance of Men and Women in Repayment of Mortgage Loans in Jamaica Florette Blackwood 101 " Women-Headed Households and Housing: A Case Study of the Solanda Low-Income Housing Project, Ecuador Mayra Buvinic, Margaret A.Lycette, Marguerite Berger 116 " Women's Construction Collective of Jamaica Ruth McLeod 135 * Women and Waste Management in Urban Mexico FernandoOrtiz Monasterio, Marianne Schmink 163 Project Brief Housing Needs of the Elderly in West Kingston Kartene Evering 184 B. Food Distribution " Communal Kitchens in the Low-Income Nsighbcorhoods of Lima Violetta Sara-Lafosse 190 " Street Foods: Income and Food for Urban Women Irene Tinker 205 " The Higglers of Kingston Alicia Taylor, Donna McFarlane, Elsie LeFranc 228 Project Brief * Feasiblity Study: Food Preparation Outlet in Salt Lane, West Kingston Sonja T. Haris 241 C. Facilitating Access to Services " Transportation and Public Safety: Services that Make Service Use Possible Jeanine Anderson, Nelson Panzio 246 " Educational Pamphlets for Low-Income Women in Mexico City Elsie McPhail Fariger, Melba Pinedo Guerra, Elsa Rodriguez Rojo 261 Project Briefs • Public Sector Services for Low-Income Women in Mexico City's Federal District Lourdos Romero Aguilar 269 " Child Care in Mexico City Maria Luisa Acevedo, Jose Irigo Aguilar, Luz Maria Brunt, Maria Sara Molinari 273 Part III. Appendices 1. Summary of Projects 2. List of Project Documents 3. Working Group Members 4. Working Group Meetings 5. Author Descrir 'ons PREFACE In 1978, when the Population Council formulated its program to learn more about low-income urban women's access to services, the dearth of information on women's functioning within the urban system was striking, particularly in contrast to the emerging bcdy of information delineating rural women's access or lack thereof to credit, extension, membership in rural institutions, and representation in local governments. It seemed to us that the access to services issues of low-income urban women were much less well defined owing to the diverse cultures that meet in the urban environment, the mobility of city life, the fluidity of households, and the less striking--though significant--distinctions between men's and women's rights and roles. In search of answers, Marianne Schmink visited with urban development planners, researchers, and those involved in community action projects in a number of South American cities to find out what they knew. What she found was a surprising degree of interest on the part of urban planners in learning how their plans and programs differentially affected men and women. On one occasion she was given a major transport study for a sizable city and asked to comment on "how women are affected." A concern with these issues was evident among researchers and those working at the community level, but these groups were not in contact with each other or with planners. The interest of these diverse groups in low-income women's access to urban services was, of course, good news. The lack of defined questions or practical answers and the wish tc merge differential but potentially reinforcing perspectives called for a long-term approach that would establish a data base, generate new information, and provide a local constituency to carry out service experiments and press for change. Thus three working groups on Women, Low-Income Households, and Urban Services evolved in Kingston, Jamaica, Lima, Peru, and Mexico City, Mexico. Much detail is provided in this volume as to how these working groups function and errive at their priorities. For those of us involved in the program from the beginning, one of its most rewarding aspects has been the independence of the working groups, their uniqueness, and responsiveness to their local environment. It has been their initiative that put critical itams on the agenda--such as food distribution--which were not envisioned in the initial scope of work. It was one of the delights of being a co-manager that one was constantly impressed by the groups' enterprise. The Jamaica group raised extra-budgetary funds to produce a videotape on the Western Kingston Women's Constructive Collective, and the Peru group published a monograph on communal kitchens. In this preface, though I cannot satisfactorily summarize the groups' accomplishments as collective bodies and the results of individual research and action projects, I would like to relate some highlights. From the beginning, the Mexico City group enunciated a concern with extreme budgetary limits (which have worsened since the working group was founded) that they believed would confine the expansion of urban services. Thus, this group has attached priority to increasing the utilization of existing services, improving their content where possible, and exploring how low-income communities could design and manage critical services. In the course of the last three years, the group has documented and encouraged participation in waste management and ssilf-help housing schemes as well as produced pamphlets that assist women in gettir.. to training and employment services about which they had no information. The Lima, Peru group has balanced the representation of different political constituencies and has been particularly effective in combining individuals from the research community with those working at governmental and at community levels. This group has always been alert to spontaneous efforts by the poor to organize themselves. As noted above, they have done groundbreaking work documenting the extensiveness of communal kitchen activity, and are currently working to organize communal kitchens into a more effective force. The Jamaica group, rooted as it is in a practical and powerful Jamaican institution, the Urban Development Corporation, set its sights on innovating concrete new possibilities for women's income generation. The disadvantages faced by women-headed households, particula,'ly in the case of women who began their childbearing in adolesence , have been a special concern. As difficult as it is to provide supports such as credit to women who are already engaged in micro enterprises, it is even more difficult and risky to create entirely new employment sources for women. Yet the Jamaica group in its first phase has sponsored the entry of women into the nontraditional areas of construction and home repair, and will initiate three or more entirely new and original income-generating approaches in its next phase. Finally, a word about the form and purpose of this report. Rather than confine reporting to a lengthy internal document, we seek to bring this work in progress to the attention of a broader audience through summary articles. You will note in the list of documents in the appendix that much longer versions of almost every article are available on request (some of them are originally in English, others in Spanish). This report is meant to function as a "reader" which transmits the flavor of each project and relates its key substance. Bearing in mind the notable work of some other organizations, we have invited articles by the Equity Policy Center (Washington D. C.), which has sponsored research on women's role in street foods; the Development Planning Unit (University College, London), where a remarkable course is underway which

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