Gender-and-development approach 4 Gender-and-development approach (GAD)
Introduction Theory, Practice and Training distinguished five dif- ferent approaches to Third World women and their Feminisation of poverty issues: welfare, equity, anti-poverty, efficiency and Integrating HIV/AIDS and poverty reduction is one empowerment (Table 4.1). of the key global challenges, crucial for the success of both HIV/AIDS and poverty-reduction programs. Overall, it appears that the gender and development Gender, HIV/AIDS and poverty are inextricably in- (GAD) approach is currently recognised as best prac- tertwined. As De Bruyn notes: tice by the OECD’s Development Assistance Com- The [HIV/AIDS] epidemic hits hardest the mittee, their Guidelines for Gender Equality and developing world and the poor inner cities of Women’s Empowerment in Development Co-operation industrialised countries, which are least able to cope. (1998) and Source Book on Concepts and Approaches Furthermore, poverty increasingly has a female linked to Gender Equality (1998) adopt a gender- face;UNDP estimates that 70 per cent of the world’s and-development approach (albeit not explicitly us- poor are women.1 ing that phrase).3 A gender-sensitive poverty-reduction approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and care is hard to argue Best-practice principle: against given: HIV responses should use a gender-and- the increasing number and proportion of development (GAD) approach women and girls among the world’s poorest— The GAD approach encourages planning, the widely noted feminisation of poverty;2 implementation, monitoring and evaluation to be undertaken according to the following principles: the two-way relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS—both increase the risk of the other, work on more than one level (practical and strategy although the relationship is complex and the needs) to bring about change in gender relations; non-poor are also at risk; work in a participatory way with men and women— make sure you involve men because it takes men as one of the greatest impediments to prevention is well as women to change gender relations; women’s marginalised position, making it difficult for many women to apply their take a broader, historically-informed view of gender improved knowledge and changed attitudes relations and its social context—it hasn’t grown up concerning HIV/AIDS. yesterday, nor will it be changed overnight. Key questions: Different gender-sensitive frameworks Did the project involve men and women widely and deeply There are many different ways and frameworks for in development of project design? Did the project approach understanding and responding to challenges of gen- acknowledge and address power imbalances between males der in planning, implementing and evaluating HIV/ and females? AIDS responses. Caroline Moser, for example, in her Did the project attempt to address women’s practical gender influential book Gender Planning and Development: needs and strategic gender needs?
57 Learning from the past, hope for the future
Table 4.1: Different policy approaches to third world women
Issues Welfare Equity Anti-poverty Efficiency Empowerment
Origins Earliest approach: Original women-in- Second WID Third and now Most recent approach: - residual model of development approach: predominant WID - arose out of failure of social welfare (WID) approach: - toned down approach: equity approach under colonial - failure of equity because of - deterioration in - Third World administration modernisation criticism the world economy women’s feminist - modernisation development policy - linked to - policies of writing and grassroots /accelerated growth - influence of redistribution with economic organisation economic Boserup and first growth and basic stabilisation and development model world feminists on needs adjustment rely on Percy Amendments women’s economic of UN Decade for contribution to Women development
Period 1950-70; but still 1975-85: attempts 1970s onward: still Post-1980s: now 1975 onward: most widely used to adopt it during limited popularity most popular accelerated during popular the women’s approach 1980s, still limited decade popularity
Purpose To bring women To gain equity for To ensure poor To ensure To empower women into development women in the women increase development is through greater self- as better mothers: development their productivity: more efficient and reliance: women’s this is seen as their process: women women’s poverty more effective: subordination seen as most important seen as active seen as a problem women’s economic problem not only of role in participants in of under- participation seen men but also of colonial development development development, not as associated with and neo-colonial of subordination equity oppression
Needs of To meet practical To meet strategic To meet practical To meet practical To reach strategic women gender needs in gender needs in gender needs in gender needs in gender needs in terms met and reproductive role, terms of triple role productive role, to context of declining of triple role – roles relating particularly – directly through earn an income, social services by indirectly through to food aid, state top-down particularly in relying on all three bottom-up mobilisation recognised malnutrition and intervention, giving small-scale, income- roles of women around practical gender family planning political and generating projects and elasticity of needs as a means to economic women’s time confront oppression autonomy by reducing inequality with men
Comment Women seen as In identifying Poor women Women seen Potentially challenging passive beneficiaries subordinate isolated as separate entirely in terms of with emphasis on Third of development position of women category with delivery capacity World and women’s with focus on their in terms of tendency only to and ability to self-reliance; largely reproductive role; relationship to recognise extend working unsupported by non-challenging, men, challenging, productive role; day; most popular governments and therefore widely criticised as reluctance of approach both with agencies; avoidance of popular with Western feminism, government to give governments and Western feminism government and considered limited aid to multilateral criticism means slow, traditional NGOs threatening and not women means agencies significant growth of popular with popularity still at under-financed governments small-scale NGO voluntary organisations level
Source: Moser, C. (1993), Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice and Training, Routledge, London, pp. 56-57.
The three paragraphs relating to vulnerability of women In the next section, HIV/AIDS interventions are and girls in AusAID’s Guide to HIV and Development discussed in the light of these best-practice GAD appear to express a GAD approach and contain the Principles. The discussion is handicapped by the rela- comment that ‘Australia’s HIV/AIDS activities should tive dearth of information on project processes and be consistent with Australian aid program’s gender products disaggregated by sex. For this reason, and policy’.4 Australia’s gender-related policy is expressly a because sex-disaggregated monitoring of all inter- gender-and-development approach.5 ventions is a best-practice principle of evaluation, it
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is worth discussing this finding before moving onto of the Iyolwa project, for example, had not synthesised the big three GAD principles. files on individual and group beneficiaries during the project’s lifetime. At the end-of-project evaluation, Patchy monitoring and however, he was requested to prepare a table reporting documentation on some key characteristics of loan applicants, including age, sex, repayment performance, number Documentation of the gender dimensions in HIV/ and type of loan. This special tabulation of ‘case files’ AIDS and other projects supported by WV is patchy. enabled the technical advisor to the community On a basic level, projects usually had good records evaluation team to report: of who received what, especially concerning receipt of goods or funds such as loan, seeds, tool, sponsor- The project mostly achieved its target of 28 groups ship. Some projects kept records of those who at- receiving loans (82 per cent target achievement—23 groups received loans). The credit officer prepared a tended which training session, others did not. table with information on 18 of the 23 groups and Arumeru exemplified a project that kept good records their members. According to this table, 62 women of training attendance, disaggregated by sex and lo- and 53 men received loans. On these figures, females cation of training. For example, the 1999 evalua- made up 54 per cent of loan beneficiaries listed in tion team, relying on project records, reported that the table and the project achieved 90 per cent of its subsidiary target of 60 per cent of loan beneficiaries 328 seminars had been conducted in the four project being female.6 divisions in 1998. Of the 31,845 people who at- tended these seminars, 56 per cent were female and Similarly, data on the social profile of a project’s com- 44 per cent male. munity volunteers are often not always collected or collated. Data on membership, sex, age and occupa- The HIV/AIDS projects were generally better at tion of the project’s steering committee and volun- keeping case files (usually a file on each person re- teer network are not always routinely kept by projects, ceiving a product or service) than on summarising but on occasion have been pulled together quickly or aggregating case-file data (such as totalling the in response to a request by an evaluation team. For number of males/females receiving loans for each example, in response to a request from the end-of- income-generating activity, attended training, and project evaluation team, Arumeru project staff and received counselling). The overworked loan officer volunteers collected and tabulated data on each
Table 4.2: Profile of health project committee members
Position heldResponsibility Sex
Chairman opinion leader male Secretary youth male Treasurer foster parent female Assistant secretary drama representative male Assistant chairlady TBA female Member environment representative male Member foster parent/TBA female Member PLWA female Member PLWA female Member MED representative female Member TBA female Member foster parent/TBA female
Source: Kariobangi Evaluation Report (2001), Appendix 1
59 Learning from the past, hope for the future
Creating space for women’s voices Room for improvement Most poverty-reduction programs are seen in terms of meeting the basic needs of the poor. They are Introduction either designed to meet these needs through direct Nine of the 19 evaluation reports specifically raised provision of basic services to the poor or by and assessed the gender dimensions of the HIV/AIDS improving their entitlements to basic resources. projects under review. Of the nine, eight suggested What emerges from the experience of the innovative that the projects could improve in this area. Four NGOs is that where space is created for women’s evaluation teams recommended that the project un- own voices to be heard, either through participatory der review should consider adopting a gender-and- processes of needs identification or else by organisational practices that encourage participation development (GAD) approach. in shaping and changing the decisionable agenda, a different set of needs may come into view. In Three GAD principles and practice providing this space, therefore, such organisations In this section, some HIV/AIDS interventions are have helped to challenge conventional stereotypes about gender needs, to make visible hitherto discussed in the light of the three main GAD prin- different categories of women’s needs and to lay bare ciples: the interconnections between different aspects of work on practical and strategic levels to bring women’s lives. about change in gender relations; Textbox 4.1 work in a participatory way with men and Source: Kabeer, N. (1994) Reversed Realities, Verso, women—making sure to involve men because it London, p. 229-231. takes men as well as women to change gender relations; community counsellor (including age and sex), en- take a broader, historically-informed view of abling the following generalisations: gender relations and its social context—it hasn’t grown up yesterday, nor will it be changed 160 (56 per cent) of the 287 community coun- overnight. sellors were male, 127 (44 per cent) were female; the mean age of the female counsellors was 36 Addressing practical and strategic needs years, and 40 years for the male counsellors.7 GAD proponents differentiate between women’s prac- Both the age profile and sex ratio led the evaluation tical needs and strategic needs.9 As Marilee Karl team to recommend creating a younger cohort of concisely puts it, practical gender needs refer to ‘what peer educators as ‘diverse as the community in terms women require in order to fulfil their roles and of age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, class, residence, tasks’.10 These could include: sexual-preference and other characteristics/activities (such as drug use)’.8 The evaluation team did not specifically recommend a 50-50 male-female com- GAD can be part of a broader, position, but included a checklist for assessing the alternative development vision gender sensitivity of HIV/AIDS and STD programs Gender-and-development is emerging as a to encourage project participants to do their own progressive approach to development from women’s perspectives and experiences. It is part of the larger gender analysis and follow up action. work of creating an alternative development model, for a world view which moves beyond an In the 2001 Kariobangi evaluation, project staff economistic analysis to include environmental, members were asked to prepare a table with the sustainable and qualitative (personal, ethical and names, position held, project role and sex of mem- cultural) aspects in its definition of development. bers of the health project committee a kind of project Textbox 4.2 advisory committee. Table 4.2 indicates that seven Canadian Council for International Cooperation, cited in of the 10 project health committee members were Karl, M., Women and Empowerment: Participation and female, including two female PLWA. Decision-making, Zed Books Ltd., London, 1995, p. 102.
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improved male and female access to information child-rearers; females as main nurturers and about how to protect their own health and that carers in household and community— of their family and community; encouraging men to engage in formerly-defined improved female access to relevant training and female roles to broaden their development, and education; encouraging women to engage in formerly- defined male roles to broaden their improved male and female access to reasonable development; health services; improved support from government, NGOs, community males etc to those in household and community- caring roles; encouragement of increased male involvement in some female activities (such as community- support roles) enabling women to spend more time in other female activities’ (such as household production and reproduction activities); subsistence opportunities including access to land, supplies, tools, capital and convivial cooperation; access to income-generating opportunities, for example, through grant or loan schemes; challenging social, economic and legal status reasonable access to clean drinking water and and power of females and males in areas such as: appropriate sanitation. unequal inheritance rights or customs; imbalance in decision-making making power at Strategic Gender Needs refer to ‘what women re- all levels; quire in order to overcome their subordination’.11 These could include: discrimination against women in labour markets; improved skills in negotiating productive and promoting women’s participation in primary, reproductive issues with husband or boyfriends, secondary, tertiary education and vocational including safe sex; training, among other things, to increase their challenging cultural stereotypes unfair to access to formal public-sector and private-sector women such as: labour market (wage-labour sectors as distinct females regarded as inferior and subordinate to from petty-trading and peasant farming). males; Most examples of practical and strategic gender needs females blamed for male promiscuity—woman given above are admittedly expressed more in female as temptress to innocent man; than gender terms. In operationalising a GAD ap- male promiscuity widely tolerated, female proach, implementers will need to speak to male promiscuity widely condemned; perspectives: What is in GAD (or in the specific in-laws blaming wives for family problems; change-possibility being discussed) for males? How double standards about leisure time—OK for do they benefit? Is a win-win situation possible or men to spent lots of time drinking, socialising are men being asked to be altruistic in giving up etc but not women. power? Are there possibilities that men will benefit redefining female and male roles such as females from more equal sharing of power, entitlements and as servants; females as housekeepers; females as responsibilities with women?
61 Learning from the past, hope for the future
Women and HIV/AIDS: Challenges for and inadequate supply of supportive social services. HIV/AIDS responses To protect themselves and their children against HIV risk and AIDS impacts, women need precisely Worldwide, the HIV risk for women is rising. the same things they need to strengthen themselves Younger women are particularly at risk, biologically more generally: access to education and training, and socially. Women are more vulnerable to HIV/ removal of restrictions on employment, access to AIDS because they have less secure employment, banking services and credit on their own surety, and lower incomes, less access to formal social security, so on. Such changes need to be backed by shifts in less entitlement to assets and savings, and little laws on property rights, rights of divorced and power to negotiate sex. They are more likely to be widowed women, child custody rights and protec- poorly educated and have uncertain access to land, tion against physical and other abuse. To achieve credit and education. Their heavy work loads such changes in practice: undermine the uptake of technologies and services. national policies need to promote gender equity in Women-headed households are poorer and have less all areas, and more specifically in relation to social control over productive resources. norms and economic factors that perpetuate the HIV/AIDS worsens pre-existing gender inequities. spread of HIV, make women vulnerable to its For married women, inheritance patterns, economic impact, or reduce access to mitigation programs; subordination, and the absence of restraint on the national legal frameworks should be formulated with number of sexual partners a man may have, all the aim of eliminating all forms of violence against weaken marriage as a protective institution against women and girls, including harmful traditional and HIV/AIDS transmission. Many women do not have cultural practices, abuse and rape, battering, and marriage certificates or wills to protect their rights to trafficking—legislation must allow women to make property, and have great difficulty in securing those decisions that affect their lives; rights that do exist in legal and social systems. For social norms must be cultivated to allow women to poor and under-employed women, sexual network- exercise control over their sexuality and promote ing provides an economic strategy to sustain their shared responsibility of men and women in ensuring families in the face of growing economic uncertainty safe sex and preventing HIV infection. and absence of viable alternatives. While these dimen- service activities need to take account of, and put in sions of gender inequity are recognised to play a role in place measures to deal with, gender-related obstacles sustaining the epidemic, many responses to AIDS do not to implementation. For example, options for risk adequately address unequal power relations that prevention must include improving communication increase women’s vulnerability. (emphasis added)… between men and women. Options for treatment of Much of the discussion of the impact of HIV on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) must address women is couched in the language of vulnerability. It the norms that prevent partner notification between is true that women, as caregivers, are dispropor- men and women. tionally affected by the epidemic. However, focusing Textbox 4.3 on women’s vulnerabilities is not operationally useful. What is needed is to change the reality of Source: Loewensen, R., HIV/AIDS: Implications for Poverty women’s lives. This means confronting constraints Reduction, UNDP, background paper prepared for the UN such as female illiteracy, economic dependence, weak General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, 25-27 land ownership rights, weak inclusion in labour June, 2001, available at http://www.undp.org/dpa/ markets, significant time spent in domestic activities frontpagearchive/2001/june/22june01/hiv-aids.pdf.
Practical needs As noted earlier, several projects gave loans to women, In general, all HIV/AIDS interventions in our sample either mainly or exclusively, for specific purposes. focused on helping women, and men, to meet their Kariobangi, for example, was designed to assist: practical needs through improving their knowledge some women in their caring roles for orphans of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention. Just over and other marginalised children through half of the sampled interventions (nine of 19) im- helping to increase their income; proved support for home-based care of PLWA female PLWA to meet their practical day-to-day thereby helping to meet the practical needs of fe- needs of survival (the project was not working male PLWA and of the carers of PLWA, many or with male PLWA who were invisible according most of whom are female.12 to project staff).
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All projects strengthened and extended respective negotiation skills can help women stand up for them- ministries of health at different levels. They contrib- selves and their views. Several evaluations report on uted in varying degrees to the creation of additional projects training commercial sex workers in negotiat- and/or improved government health services. Access ing condom use with their customers (Ranong, Maesai, to health services at the local level is one of the most Thai-Burma/Myanmar, Mongla, Danang I and II). frequently mentioned immediate needs of both women and men.13 Access to improved and/or closer The Thai-Burma/Myanmar program appears to have health services meets the needs of females themselves included negotiation-skills training for women in the for health services and for those for whom women community (medium-risk as opposed to high-risk or girls are caring or nursing. groups like CSWs). In general, the projects with negotiation training for women focused on a A possible strategic gender need for girls and women specialised category of women, commercial sex work- is improved skills for negotiation with boys and men ers (with the exception of Thai-Burma/Myanmar). concerning sex and other matters. Improved The more general-community focused projects in
Challenge of helping women to meet Burmese and most of the clients Thai. It has been their immediate needs stated that police or officials are sometimes the worst offenders. Language barriers make it almost The project has to contend with extremely difficult impossible to negotiate safer sex, and sometimes in situations and has done so admirably in many this situation women are coerced into performing respects. They have empowered many commercial sex workers [CSWs] through raising their awareness, sex in a range of positions that they are not used to. through teaching negotiation skills, through finding Some women said owners were supportive of the out more about their lives by the use of participative women when customers were refusing to use learning and action [PLA] activities, by exploring condoms, but others added that the owners were savings schemes and income generation activities. often not there when needed at night… But still they encounter the above problems, There is much innovative programming, with particularly with new CSWs. New CSWs have to be enthusiastic workers. Through their experience trained, about HIV/AIDS, negotiation skills, etc. working in the community, the training they have Peer trainers could do this but they are not always received, and undertaken as participative learning capable and the turnover is quite large. and action [PLA] with peer trainers [PTs] and target The two workers responsible for CSWs, are young groups, the two FSNs have a broader understanding and enthusiastic and speak the relevant languages. of the issues in the lives of the people they are They appear to have passed on reliable information dealing with. An outcome of their work is and good negotiation skills to CSWs through regular demonstrated by how they have gained the trust of training and follow-up. Again, this work has resulted restaurant owners who are even suspicious of other in increased condom use over time, and the WV staff but are more trusting of these young problems that seem to prohibit a higher rate of use Burmese women. can only be dealt with through dealing with broader Furthermore, they have successfully trained many questions pertinent to the border areas. These issues PTs and TGs over a period of time and the results are similar to the other sites. are demonstrated through increasing condom use, Condom use is inconsistent in all three sites and through more awareness and an enhanced sense of probably below the national average. There are a confidence in negotiating safer sex. They work under number of reasons for this. The condom use rate is incredibly difficult circumstances and deal with lower in the event of customers taking CSWs out to issues that are not found in most parts of Thailand. hotels or guesthouses. CSWs may suffer threats and PLA gives them greater access to understanding stand over tactics in this situation and may have more; however, given their age and limited limited support from brothel owners, especially if experience before working with the project they they are important guests. In the interviews some could have more training to broaden their women were confident that they could negotiate perspective. condom use, others were not, especially in Mae Sot where one woman cited an instance of having a gun Textbox 4.4 pointed at her. In Mae Sot most of the women are Source: Thai-Burma/Myanmar 1998 Evaluation Report, pp. 25, 36.
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Africa do not appear to have including training for engage in safe sex or abstinence. women or men on negotiating safe sex. We recommend that projects in general adopt a gender- and-development approach and employ a mix of male The Thai-Burma/Myanmar model is worth extrapo- and female paid and volunteer staff members… lating to all HIV/AIDS interventions. This sugges- Further, gender-and-development approaches sit well tion is supported by two evaluation reports in ADP’s given that ADPs encourage a multifaceted recommending negotiation-skills training for female response to development issues, including HIV/AIDs. community members as part of a broader GAD ap- Behaviour change is difficult and often requires proach. The Iyolwa technical advisor’s report recom- simultaneous targeting of psychological, social, economic, sexual and gender dimensions of everyday mends, for example, that: life.15 More emphasis should be put on improving girls and women’s skills in raising the issue of HIV An evaluation report pointed to the importance of prevention in conversation and negotiating the issue gender-sensitivity to sustaining behaviour change. of safe sex and other prevention methods with Projects need to pay attention to meeting women’s partners. One idea is for counsellors to identify: strategic gender as well as practical needs to sustain girls and boys, women and men who support and and facilitate change. The Nankumba evaluation advocate safe sex, abstinence or fidelity as the case team appraised the sustainability of the project in may be, and these can be trained as community role- models—a type of peer trainer to raise the topic in the light of the following best-practice principles informal conversation with friends and work including gender sensitivity. The following state- colleagues; ments are not statements about the project, but re- girls and women, boys and men who have been able fer to an idealised situation against which the project’s to negotiate safe sex, abstinence or fidelity with their likelihood of sustainability was evaluated. Their main partner to train and empower their peers; relevance here is that the sustainability checklist in- methods of negotiating safe sex, abstinence or cluded gender sensitivity, pointing to the latter’s role fidelity that can be included in a training manual for use in the project and beyond, developed by local in promoting sustainability and effectiveness: people with assistance of the area development many community members in the area know about program (ADP).14 the project; Some evaluation teams pointed to the need for work- many community members in the area see benefits ing on many fronts and levels in facilitating gender- flowing from the project; related changes, including recruiting an appropriate many government/NGO staff in the area know about mix of males and females in community-outreach the project; roles. In discussing the gender dimensions of many government/NGO staff in the area see benefits sustainability, the Nankumba report made the fol- flowing from the project; lowing comments: many community members are involved in the planning of the project; Arguably, the project has not been strong on gender- sensitivity. Issues like HIV and sexuality are difficult many community members are involved in the ones, involving sensitive questions and power relations. implementation of the project; Girls and women are in a difficult situation when it many community members are involved in comes to negotiating the terms of sexual relationships. monitoring and evaluating the project; While the project manager is female, staff having the most on-the-ground contact with support-groups and many community members see themselves as owners communities are all male. It is preferable for males to of the project; train males and females to train females. many community members support continuation of Benefits of training will not be sustainable or even project; translated into practice unless women are helped to many community members say that they are increase their power to negotiate safe sex or abstinence prepared to contribute to the continuation of the in particular circumstances and men persuaded to project; the project uses a community-based train-the-trainer
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approach that mainly works with and through At least 50 per cent of targeted women able to support groups—middle community people or protect themselves in risk situations. 18 institutions that do most or all of the direct project The project also included a component for girls who work with other community members; had dropped out of school. The end-of-project evalu- the community-based train-the-trainers are active; ation noted that: ‘Thirty young women received local stakeholders accept the project’s technology; scholarships to finish high school. Twelve have al- the project works with and through existing ready graduated and 18 continue to study. Some structures; informants said that the project provided support the project addresses key felt needs of communities; for animal husbandry to 40 women.’19 the project is gender sensitive; In respect of the scholarship component, the High- the project is environmentally sensitive; way One evaluation report remarked: the project has a sound sustainability strategy.16 Women in the villages along the highway also Few HIV/AIDS projects had women’s empowerment know how to protect themselves but it is as an explicit objective. Empowerment suggests unknown how much their environment has changed to allow them to do so. As most of them meeting women’s strategic as well as practical needs. only have one or two sexual partners in their Iyolwa was one of the few. The only misgiving of the lifetimes the impact of increased condom use external evaluator was that the loan-component by them is low. charged with achieving this objective, by itself, was Interestingly, this comment typifies the black hole likely to be insufficient to bring about the intended of HIV/AIDS prevention education, the possibility changes in the project lifetime: that much of it founders on the rocks of gender in- [The] idea of empowering women was excellent: equality. Information on HIV/AIDS prevention is empowering women and girls is an important part of seen as important, but women may be powerless to any best-practice HIV prevention strategy … The project proposal noted that ‘women will be provided implement it. with leadership and credit training to enable them to Some evaluations suggested that the HIV/AIDS participate freely in decision-making and hence effectively contribute to family needs and reduce risk projects being reviewed move into gender-related of AIDS in women’ (p. 28). I am not sure that advocacy to strengthen the project’s focus on what women had leadership training and that women’s could be called strategic gender needs. One of the access to credit and any later increase in income will options discussed during the Kariobangi evaluation lead by itself to a change in their subordinate was the development of an integrated WV Kenya position in relation to their husband. Changing power relations between men and women will gender-advocacy plan on a very specific issue (such require a range of mutually supporting empowering as specific inheritance laws that discriminated against actions over a long period of time involving both females) that could feed into and from specific men and women, girls and boys, possible in the projects. An advocacy component—left to be filled [new] area development program [following on from in through more detailed planning and negotiation the HIV/AIDS project].17 with relevant stakeholders - was included in the draft The Highway One project attempted to meet plan developed by project staff with WVA assistance. women’s practical as well as strategic gender needs. This plan was incorporated into the project design For example, it included a component designed to and proposal submitted to the Australian govern- assist poor women living along Highway One in se- ment NGO cooperation program (ANCP) in July, lected localities to protect their own health with the 2001. following targets: a behavioural change communication program Involve males and females implemented incorporating appropriate care The second GAD principle is to include males as well strategies among poor women in selected as females in all phases of social change.21 districts along Highway One in four provinces;
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Planning specific population categories for special attention. In general, HIV/AIDS projects assisted by WV have The following table, drawn and modified from an not been strong in growing their plans and ap- earlier work by Stephen Milford, a WV staff mem- proaches from detailed participatory consultation ber, shows the main population-group focus of HIV/ and learning with a broad range of local men and AIDS interventions in Asia supported by WV. women. The planning phase of most of the HIV/ Volunteers AIDS projects generally involved a small number of Most interventions helped to mobilise both men and national or district level government officials, pre- women as volunteers. The second chapter contains sumably mostly males. more detailed description of ways that different Implementation projects involved community members as volunteers End-users or bridge-builders between the project and the end- users that the project wished to assist or benefit. The intended users of project services were normally a mix of males and females. The Thanh Hoa project The Highway One project focused on training male was predominantly, but not solely, focused on and female community members to educate and women, arising as it did from an earlier Women-in- influence the behaviour of male truck drivers and to Development (WID) project.22 All WV’s African work in their own residential localities. The evalua- HIV/AIDS projects focused on male and female tion report noted that: the evaluation group met 14 community members generally without singling out of 25 women and seven of 10 men frontline social
Table 4.3: World Vision HIV/AIDS projects in Asia by sex-profile of intended population-group (mixed sex unless specified otherwise)
Songkhla I Thai-Burma Bombay and Chiangmai I Danang 1 Ranong I & II H’wy One Mongla Kawthaung Thanh Hoa & I1 /Myanmar Mumbai & II & II
(female) (female) (male) Truck (female) (female) Hospitality Women District and School CSWs CSWs CSWs drivers CSWs CSWs girls commune children Men health IDUs Fishermen Fishermen (female) (male) (male) (male) Boat workers Teachers Farmers, Dock Factory drivers Adolescent (male) Housewives Wives of Seamstresses, workers workers boys Women, MOPH and Truck fishermen Small traders (male) Taxi Mothers, MoE staff drivers MOPH staff (male) Fishermen drivers Adolescent General Slum MOPH, Rickshaw girls community Community Street PLWA dwellers Women’s pullers MOPH staff MOPH staff members children union staff MOPH staff MOPH staff (male) House- PLWA PLWA Monks (male) Factory wives (Project Sailors workers located in PLWA Youth slum area) Govt staff (male) from Fishing pier MOPH several owners, staff ministries, Grocers Youth union MOPH staff Local School NGO staff children
Uni. Youth (not students in school)
PLWA Teachers
Note: Unless specified otherwise, population categories include males and females.
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networkers. All men and women thought that it was care and foster-parenting activities were female. All easier for men to talk with truck drivers and some the PLWA being assisted by the project and helping thought it was more effective.’23 to self-organise were female. The youth who were involved in HIV/AIDS education activities were a All projects working with CSWs attempted with mix of males and females. varying degrees of success to enlist the support of bar and brothel owners, usually men. Given gender inequality, the same-sex communica- tion principle applies widely. It is a key reason why Given the predominance of women in community HIV/AIDS projects should recruit volunteers to re- support roles, one could see projects with more men flect the diversity of the particular community. Vol- than women in education, counselling and care unteers often work best and are most influential when roles—as in Arumeru—as a positive sign. Of the working with peers (those of same sex, similar age, community counsellors in Arumeru, 56 per cent were class, religion, ethnicity etc.). male, 44 per cent were female. In evaluating HIV/AIDS and other projects it is gen- In some places, as in Kawthaung, most of the com- erally advisable that males speak to males, females munity volunteers involved in education, counsel- to females and to arrange same-sex group discussions ling and care were women. While one could say the where possible. This avoids the possibilities of males project was adding to the triple-burden of women or females dominating the conversation depending (household production, reproduction and commu- on the topic and other matters. The male domina- nity support roles), the project was also giving them tion factor can be handled by good facilitation. The opportunities to learn new social skills and to play problem of women being hesitant to speak their valuable roles. It was evident from interviews with minds in front of men is trickier and best avoided. the women that they enjoyed their work, both hav- ing the opportunity to learn new things, mix socially Apart from Thanh Hoa, which developed from an and to help prevent HIV/AIDS and to care for PLWA earlier women-in-development (WID) project tar- and orphans. geting women only, all HIV/AIDS projects focused on men and women. The Thanh Hoa focus on build- Nevertheless, the Kawthaung evaluation team sug- ing the capacity of mainly female community health gested that the range of community development workers was justifiable. By having men and women volunteers (CDVs) should be broadened in terms of as intended end-users or beneficiaries, the other age, sex, ethnicity, religion and occupation: ‘for ex- projects avoided one of the key risks of women-only ample, more CDVs from high-risk occupations, projects: male disinterest or opposition to the project more under-20, more Christians and Muslims for aims and activities. outreach into those communities, more males to fa- cilitate peer behaviour change communication—for Staff example men-to-men, youth-to-youth, hospitality- Only two evaluations (Mongla and Nankumba) girl to hospitality-girl, fishermen to fishermen, in- commented on the sex composition of staff as an jecting drug user to injecting drug user.’24 As noted issue. The community development organisers earlier in the chapter, the Arumeru evaluation team (CDOs) were mainly male in Mongla (5/6) and to- made a similar point, suggesting the project encour- tally male in Nankumba (6/6). These projects were age a broader range of volunteers to reflect the social unusual. Most projects had very few staff, often a diversity of the community. project manager, a book-keeper and one or two other staff members. In Kariobangi, one of the challenges identified by the evaluation team was to involve more men more It was more common for HIV/AIDS projects in East deeply in the local HIV/AIDS response. Most of the Africa to have female project managers than in Asia adult community volunteers involved in prevention, where most projects were managed by male medical
67 Learning from the past, hope for the future
doctors. In the East African projects in our sample, Of course, simply recounting numbers of males and the project managers were mostly female. The man- females does not tell us much about engendered agers of Nankumba, Arumeru and Kariobangi, for power relations and processes taking place in the example, were females with nursing qualifications course of the evaluation. and experience. No evaluation team criticised the sex composition of staff apart from the male-domi- A more detailed discussion of gender would entail nated CDO profile of Mongla and Nankumba. an examination of power relations in the course of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluat- Monitoring and evaluation ing the project. That would entail a book-length study and rely on more detailed field data than are A role of all types of project committee was monitor- available for this study. ing of project activities. The project committees with predominantly host-government staff were mostly HIV/AIDS projects, then, generally involved: male. Female membership was higher on more a few men and fewer women in initial planning; community-based project committees. For example, a mix of males and females as volunteers; the Kariobangi health project committee had eight female and four male members. a mix of males and females as intended beneficiaries or end-users avoiding the women- Local men and women were included on project in-development tendency to exclude men and committees in more than half of the projects and to run the risk of male disinterest, opposition or varying degrees were involved in a broad oversight frustration of the desired objectives; of the project’s direction. Unfortunately, lists of little involvement of male or female members in project-committee members and sex disaggregation detailed monitoring and evaluation; were included in only one quarter of the evaluations a mix of female and male community members or project completion reports. in Type 3 project committees; Local women and men were not normally involved few females on Type 2 project committees in more detailed project monitoring and evaluation, (government committees); although there have been exceptions. a high proportion of female project managers in The formal evaluation teams whose research and re- East African projects and a low proportion in ports inform this publication normally consisted of a Asian projects; mix of males and females. On average, females con- a low proportion of females on project stituted just under half of the evaluation team mem- committees in Asia compared to Africa, the bers. The Songkhla I core evaluation team consisted difference partly due to the type of project of three females and two males, and a full team of 11 committees favoured in the different regions females and 13 males. The Danang I evaluation team (namely, government-dominated types in Asia consisted of five females and four males. Chiangmai I compared to more community-dominated types evaluation team consisted of eight females and eight in Africa); males. Only five of the 28 evaluation team members a composition of formal evaluation teams were female in the Nankumba evaluation. The evalu- slightly favouring males in the sample as a ation was a project-government partnership and the whole but close to 50 per cent male-female team reflected the predominance of males among composition in general. project and government staff. Seven of 16 Kariobangi The sex composition of staff was not found prob- evaluation team members were female. Of the 77 lematic by evaluation teams apart from two instances members of the Iyolwa evaluation team, 27 were fe- where the community outreach staff members were male, while 13 of the 21 members of the Kawthaung totally or mainly male. evaluation team were female. See Table 4.4.
68 Gender-and-development approach
Table 4.4 Example of monitoring records that disaggregate data by name, sex, role and type of participation Profile of Iyolwa evaluation team Name (replaced by Presentation Implementa-- Report number to Sex Project role Planning Data analysis to WVU tion writing protect privacy of participants) 1 F Vision Club x 2 F Teacher x x 3 F Cook x 4 M Client x 5 M Vision Club x 6 F Cook x 7 F Treasurer x x 8 F Cook x 9 M Client x 10 M Client x 11 F Client x x Patron Vision 12 F Club x Pupil Magola 13 F P/S x 14 F Counsellor x x x x 15 F Patron x 16 F Client x x x x x 17 F Counsellor x x x 18 M Student x x x x 19 F Patron x x C/Person W/C x 20 F 111 Iyolwa 21 M Pupil Papoli P/S x x 22 M Vision Club x x x x x 23 M WVU Bunyoli x x 24 M Cook x Community 25 F Member x 26 M Counsellor x x 27 F Client x Credit 28 M Committee xx Pupil Magola 29 F P/S x 30 F C/Man Auyo B x 31 M Counsellor x x Chairman-Proj- 32 M ect xxxxx 33 M Counsellor x x 34 M WVU x x 35 M Patron x x x WVU 36 F Evaluator/ xxxxx Team Leader 37 M C/Man LC1 x Councillor 38 F Owere x 39 M DHE x WVU Soroti xx 40 M ADP
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41 F Vision Club x x 42 F Patron x x x 43 M Counsellor x x 44 M Counsellor x x x 45 M Nyemera x Project 46 M Committee x Community 47 M Member x 48 M Client x 49 M Counsellor x x x Community 50 M Member xx Project 51 M Committee xxxx Agricultural 52 M extension x officer Project 53 M Committee xx C/Man S/P 54 M Nyemera x Community 55 M member x 56 M Vision Club x C/Man 57 M Bumaivala A x 58 M Nyemera x Community 59 M Member x Project 60 M Committee xx Chairman - 61 M Counsellors xxxxX 62 M Client x 63 M Procurement x x x x 64 M Counsellor x x x x Chairman 65 M Counsellors x Project 66 M Secretary x 67 M Pupil x 68 M Vision Club x Pupil Magola 69 M P/S x Credit 70 M x coordinator 71 F WVU Gulu x 72 M Counsellor x WVA 73 F Evaluation xxxx Officer 74 F Counsellor x x WVA 75 M Evaluation xxxxx Coordinator Pupil Magola 76 M x P/S 77 M WVU Masaka x
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In terms of the involvement of both males and fe- In general, then, the HIV/AIDS projects’ awareness- males, the projects have done well overall with low raising strategies tended to be gender-blind. The most performance concerning females in the planning. The common communication strategy applying to com- focus on men and reducing male risk-behaviour munity-wide prevention campaigns appeared to be could be even stronger. based on the assumption that improved knowledge on the part of men and women would lead to change Big-Picture theory in their behaviour. The third main element of a GAD approach is to Some projects introduced negotiation-training for understand and develop a response in the light of a CSWs. Iyolwa included a loan component aiming theoretical framework for understanding and chang- to improve women’s economic situation, thereby ing gender inequalities informed by the relevant his- hoping to increase their social and personal power, tory and sociology of the particular place and people. including power to protect themselves from HIV The communication strategy in most community- infection. The Iyolwa loan component appeared to focused WV HIV/AIDS projects has been first-gen- express the WID anti-poverty approach. The project’s eration, where ‘one and all were simply urged to stick theory overall appeared to be that (a) the improved to one partner, avoid casual sex, reduce the number of sexual partners or use condoms’.25 economic situation of some women and (b) the im- proved knowledge among many women would lead The first-generation information-dissemination ap- to behaviour change among women and men. proach was blind to possible inequalities including gender—as Tshidi Moeti, former Botswana National The Thai-Burma/Myanmar HIV/AIDS program AIDS Program Manager put it: ‘the first generation worked: of National AIDS Programs … were gender neutral to improve the skills of commercial sex workers in their approach ignoring gender disparities and to negotiate condom use with their clients; roles in sexual and family relations’.26 to improve the skills of female community members to negotiate safe sex with their On the other hand, new messages were often filtered partners; through traditions of acting, dancing, singing, lan- guage and axioms that extended back to to encourage female community members to try pre-colonial times. alternative strategies to protect the health of their husbands and of themselves. The projects did not normally try to identify, let alone tackle, the deeper causes of women’s inequality that The following quote from the final evaluation re- hindered them, among other things, from negotiat- port of the Thai-Burma/Myanmar program is a re- ing safe sexual options for themselves and improv- minder that training women in negotiation skills will ing their socio-economic-personal position. Deeper not work on its own without the involvement and causes often went back into history with pre-colo- commitment of men: nial, colonial and neo-colonial layers. In attempting to find the most appropriate strategies, [frontline social networkers] FSN and An example of a view not always strongly grounded staff have utilised different approaches, such as: in local history and sociology was the widespread encouraging wives to be more attractive and theory that promiscuity causes HIV/AIDS and that responsive to their husbands; utilising strategies to wives can protect themselves by remaining faithful be able to negotiate condom use with their to their husbands. According to the Mumbai husbands; encouraging them to speak to their evaluation team, for example, some pamphlets used husbands about extra-marital sex and the need to use (and actually offering them) condoms, if they must by the project carried the message that HIV/AIDS indulge. To their credit the FSNs saw that these was transmitted through having sex with multiple strategies were not working, and this is the partners when the majority of women in the slums experience in many areas in Thailand. Through PLA becoming infected had only one sexual partner.27 [participatory learning and action], they arrived at
71 Learning from the past, hope for the future
alternative solutions via discussion, questioning and included and on-board they will prevent feedback. The result was that communities of women from practising their improved families and fishermen, and other fishermen with knowledge and attitudes; women relatives or housemaids, began organising sporting activities and holding parties at home. obviously, include women also and work to These two responses seem to have had an impact. improve openness of communication between Men stay home more often, they still drink with sexual partners about safe sex and other relevant their friends but at home or nearby. But these matters (for example, couple-communication responses are components of the larger prevention components); efforts of FSNs, PTs [peer trainers], SNGs [social consider the inclusion of advocacy to effect network groups] and active TGs [target groups], and gender-related social change, for example, the ongoing awareness raising, and includes wives concerning improvement in women’s access to making sure they collect their husband’s pay, or most of it; and other men being involved in the savings education, employment, inheritance, land, scheme.28 political positions etc; of course, advocacy issues should be: Despite some positive exceptions, one of the largest developed in a participatory manner - missing pieces in WV’s HIV program theory was ideally, developed and implemented by gender. Changing gender relations and power is dif- community members themselves; ficult and complex, requiring multifaceted and clearly defined; multileveled action over a long period of time, di- focused; rectly focusing on the economic, social and psycho- logical dimensions of gender inequality. All these realistic; dimensions need attention. likely to include a broad coalition of players; possibly phased over time from easier issues Suggestions for the future that help to build confidence and skills to more difficult issues; Organisations supporting HIV responses could con- strengthen appraisal structures, processes and sider the following suggestions: capacity; commit to mainstreaming GAD-style partici- ensure that each design team includes at least patory planning, implementation, monitoring one team member with strong GAD knowledge and evaluation; and skills; commit to the ideal of GAD-oriented designs ensure that GAD is key dimension of each based on recognition of, and response to, gender appraisal; inequality; disseminate gender guidelines for planning, mainstream the three main GAD design-and- managing, implementing, monitoring and action principles: evaluating projects; work on practical and strategic levels to bring ensure that each staff member involved in about change in gender relations; project design, implementation, management work in a participatory way with men and and evaluation is familiar with, and committed women—making sure to involve men because it takes men as well as women to change gender to, GAD guidelines and knows how to apply relations; them in practice; take a broader, historically-informed view of develop guidelines for establishing gender- gender relations and its social context—it hasn’t sensitive project information systems in all grown up yesterday, nor will it be changed projects and a training program to promote the overnight. likelihood that the guidelines will be followed. in particular: ensure that the primary focus of HIV/AIDS/ STI behaviour-change is men—unless men are
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Summary In general, HIV/AIDS projects encouraged the participation of a mix of males and females as Documentation of the gender dimensions of HIV/ volunteers and end-users or beneficiaries of AIDS and other projects supported by WV was project activities. Female involvement in patchy. The HIV/AIDS projects were generally bet- planning was generally less than that of males ter at keeping case files, such as a file on each person (but male community involvement was not receiving a product or service, than in summarising extensive). Evaluation teams generally found case-file data and distinguishing between males and gender balance of project staff and volunteers to females. be satisfactory. The gender balance of staff— The gender-sensitivity of the sampled HIV/AIDS specifically over-representation of males among interventions was appraised in the light of the gen- community development organisers—was raised der-and-development (GAD) framework with its as a problem in only two instances. On average, three main principles: around 45 per cent of evaluation team members were female. In general, females were well 1. Work to meet women’s practical gender needs represented on community-style project and strategic gender needs to bring about change committees but not on government-style project in gender relations. Practical gender needs refer committees. to ‘what women require in order to fulfil their Generally, projects were not strong on roles and tasks’. Strategic gender needs refer to acknowledging and building into their theory ‘what women require in order to overcome their and approach the big picture gender context subordination’. affecting HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention 2. Work in a participatory way with men and and care. The theories and approaches of most women—make sure you involve men because it projects, most noticeably the education takes men as well as women to change gender components, were gender-blind. They ignored relations. the gender disparities and norms that were 3. Take a broader, historically-informed view of likely to constrain women and girls from gender relations and its social context. It hasn’t implementing their increased HIV/AIDS arisen in one day and it will not be changed knowledge. Most of the projects and their overnight. components did not appear to be informed by any of the main gender approaches such as The main findings were: WID or GAD. The Thai-Burma/Myanmar The projects generally concentrated on helping program was most clearly experimenting with women to meet their practical gender needs additional ways to help women and their through helping to develop government and partners move beyond increased knowledge community capacity (males and females) to care towards safer behaviour. for those with HIV/AIDS and/or to prevent In general, the designs and approaches of the HIV/AIDS (all projects were involved in sampled HIV/AIDS interventions showed a low promoting prevention, just under half were level of gender awareness when appraised in the involved in promoting care). light of the gender-and-development approach.
Notes and References 3 The OECD DAC does not use a specific catch-phrase to summarise its gender policy. See DAC (1998) Source Book on 1 De Bruyn, M. et al. (1998) op.cit. p. 21. Concepts and Approaches linked to Gender Equality, http:// www1.oecd.org/dac/pdf/gensre.pdf. 2 See, for example, Guzman, V. (1994) ‘Gender in Social Planning’ in Barrig, M and Wehkamp (eds) Engendering 4 Broughton, B. (1999) Guide to HIV/AIDS and Development, Development: Experiences in Development Planning, NOVIB, AusAID, Canberra, p. 9. The Hague.
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5 Downer, A. (1997) Gender and Development: Australia’s 19 Ibid. Aid Commitment – Policy Statement announced by 20 Ibid. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, March 1997 21 This principle was a corrective to the tendency of an earlier (http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/ phase of ‘Women-in-Development’ interventions to focus on, genderanddevelopment_policy1999.pdf). and work with, only women. However, the experience was 6 Technical Advisor’s Report on Iyolwa Project and that men often subverted or blocked the intended effects of Evaluation (2001) , p.5. interventions in which they were not involved. 7 See extracts from the Arumeru Evaluation Report (1999) in 22 Women-in-Development (WID) approach represented an chapter seven. earlier favoured way of improving the situation of women by
8 designing projects and funding sources that focussed entirely Arumeru EvaluationReport (1999), p.52. on women and/or girls. WID is currently out of fashion. See, 9 Maxine Molyneaux was the first to use the terms ‘practical for example, Karl, M. (1995) Women and Empowerment, Zed needs’ and ‘strategic interests’, advocating integrated action on Books Limited, London. both in Molyneaux, M. (1985) ‘Mobiliization without 23 Highway One Evaluation Report (2000), p.7. emancipation? Women’s interests, the state and revolution in Nicaragua’, Feminist Review 11, No. 2, pp. 225-54. 24 Kawthaung Evaluation Report (1999), p. 7. 10 Karl, M. (1995) Women and Empowerment: Participation 25 Moeti, T. (1998) ‘Incorporating Gender and Women’s and Decision-making, Zed Books, London, p. 97. Concerns into National Responses’, in De Bruyn, M. et al. (authors, compilers) Facing the Challenges of HIV/AIDS/STDs: 11 Ibid. A Gender-Based Response, KIT and SAFAIDS, Amsterdam 12 See, for example, De Bruyn, M., Jackson, H., Wijermars, and Harare, p. 25. M., Curtin Knight, V and Berkvens, R. (1998) Facing the 26 Moeti, T. (1998) op.cit. Challenges of HIV/AIDS: A Gender-Based Response, Royal 27 Tropical Institute (KIT) and Southern African AIDS Mumbai Evaluation Report (1997), p.28. Dissemination Service (SAFAIDS). As noted earlier, 28 Thai-Burma/Myanmar Evaluation Report (1998), p. 56. evaluation research was generally rapid and did not report on the anthropology of caring, including how caring was divided up between ages, sexes and relationship between carers and PLWA. The Kawthaung evaluation did include the comment that the project’s volunteers generally cared for only PLWA without relatives in the locality, but gave no detail on who, how, what etc. of relatives’ caring. 13 See, for example, Technical Advisor’s Report, Iyolwa (2001). 14 Technical Advisor’s Report (2001) Iyolwa Project, p.13. 15 Ibid., pp. 96-97. 16 Nankumba Evaluation Report (1999), p.69. 17 Ibid., p.4. 18 Highway One Evaluation Report (2000), p.15.
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