1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 1 Governing for Equity Gender, Citizenship and Governance 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 2 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 3 Governing for Equity Gender, Citizenship and Governance Edited by Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 4 Acknowledgements Information Ford Foundation New York and New Delhi, Royal Tropical Institute Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal KIT Development Policy and Practice Netherlands Embassy Bangladesh for financial Mauritskade 63 contribution for the conference and for the Gender 1092 AD Amsterdam,The Netherlands Citizenship and Governance programme. Telephone:+31 (0)20 5688 498 Telefax: +31 (0)20 5688 285 graffiti, Calcutta, India for conference design, E-mail: [email protected] communication strategy, exhibition and posters. Website: www.kit.nl/gender Dr.Amitrajit Saha, Calcutta for writing the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) proceedings of the conference. KIT Publishers P.O. Box 95001 Sakhi team for support to the conference. 1090 HA Amsterdam,The Netherlands Telephone:+31 (0)20 5688 272 Shamim Meer, Jashodhara Dasgupta and Nandinee Telefax: +31 (0)20 5688 286 Bandhyopadhyay for project summaries. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.kit.nl/publishers The GCG conference team - Aleyamma Vijayan, Sandhya, K. Lalitha, Shamim Meer, Rangan © 2003 KIT Publishers,Amsterdam, Chakravarty,Anindita Datta Choudhury,Amitava The Netherlands Malakar, Nandinee Bandhyopadhyay, Marguerite Appel, Sofia Karnehed, Ingrid Jaeger - for making Editor: Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay, it all happen. Royal Tropical Institute Research Assistance - Sofia Karnehed Cover Design - graffiti, Calcutta, India Graphic design: Grafisch Ontwerpbureau Agaatsz BNO, Meppel,The Netherlands Printing: Meester & de Jonge, Lochem, The Netherlands 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 5 CONTENTS 1. SETTING THE SCENE 7 Women, Power and Politics 24 Why a programme on Gender 7 Feminist politics in a fundamentalist 24 Citizenship and Governance? world Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay, Gita Sen Royal Tropical Institute Fighting for the rights of 27 Welcome Addresses 9 marginalised women in South Africa, Aleyamma Vijayan, sakhi during the struggle against apartheid Jan Donner, Royal Tropical Institute and in the post-apartheid democracy Pregs Govender 2. GLOBAL DEBATES ON GENDER, 13 Questions, responses and discussions 31 CITIZENSHIP AND GOVERNANCE People’s Plan Campaign, Kerala, India 32 Testimonies 13 Thomas Isaac On being a woman Member of 13 Questions, responses and discussions 35 Parliament in South Africa Mam Lydia Ngwenya 3. TAKING OFFICE 37 On being President of Vattiyurkava 15 Panchayat, Trivandrum District, Lobbying for a quota of reserved 38 Kerala, India seats for women in Sri Lanka Ambika Kumari International Centre for Ethnic Studies Concluding remarks 17 Building political legitimacy for 40 Ayesha Khanam Muslim, Dalit and Backward Caste women elected to Municipal Councils and Corporations International Institutions and the 18 Confederation of Voluntary Associations Gender and Equity Agenda Enhancing and sustaining the role 43 World Bank 18 of elected women members of Karen Mason local government Bangladesh Mahila Parishad Centre for Applied Legal Studies, 19 University of Witwatersrand Promoting women’s participation 45 Cathy Albertyn in law reform Sister Namibia The Royal Netherlands Embassy 20 Bangladesh Increasing women’s participation 48 Margret Verwijk in political decision-making as candidates and voters UNICEF 22 Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group Kristina Goncalves Comments, analysis and discussions 51 Questions, responses and discussions 22 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 6 4. ENGENDERING GOVERNANCE 53 6. GOVERNING PEACE 85 INSTITUTIONS Engendering the peace process 86 Strengthening the National 54 North East Network Commission On the Status of Women: a consultative process Citizens Initiative fact-finding mission 89 Aurat Foundation & Shirkat Gah in the aftermath of communal violence in Gujarat State, India Gender and decentralised planning 56 Malini Ghosh, Nirantar, India sakhi The role of COVA in post-violence 92 Enabling Elected Women Members 58 reconstruction in Gujarat, India to participate in Development Noor Jahan, COVA, India Committees PRIP Trust Resistance and reconciliation in 92 South Africa Women Accessing Power 60 Pumla Mncayi, GAP,South Africa Gender Advocacy Programme Key learnings from the debates 93 Ensuring Accountability of the local 62 and discussions health authorities and health service providers Naripokkho 7. SYNTHESIS OF KEY CONCEPTS 95 AND CONCLUSIONS Educational opportunities for women 65 Nirantar Good Governance 95 Comments, analysis and discussions 67 Citizenship 96 Women’s political participation 96 5. CLAIMING CITIZENSHIP 69 and representation Law reform process around the 70 Engendering governance institutions 97 Customary Law in South Africa Centre for Applied Legal Studies 8. PUBLIC HEARING 99 Reframing the global debate on 73 trafficking from a sex workers’ perspective 9. CONFERENCE DECLARATION 105 Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee Establishing women’s right 75 ANNEXES 107 to guardianship Naripokkho Annex 1: List of Participants 107 Annex 2: Conference Programme 117 Experiences in using the Women’s 78 Annex 3: Partner Organizations 121 Charter as a lobby and advocacy tool Annex 4: Address list of partner 127 Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association organizations Comments, analysis and discussions 81 Bibliography 129 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 7 1. SETTING THE SCENE Why a Programme on Gender, Citizenship and Governance? Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay, Royal Tropical Institute The conference ‘Governing for Equity’ was the outcome of a process in which many individuals and institutions have been involved over a period of three years beginning in 1999. In that year KIT Gender, at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, initiated a three-year programme entitled ‘Gender, Citizenship and Governance’. The Gender, Citizenship and Good Governance programme is an initiative to bring a gender perspective to global debates on and approaches to international development. In the 1990s, the issue of good governance assumed enormous significance in the debates on global development.The concern with governance arose from the growing realisation that conventional development efforts had failed to achieve desired ends – to eliminate poverty and inequality and to promote respect for human rights. The attention thus began to shift away from traditional development interventions towards a greater consideration for the way in which power was exercised in the management of economic and social resources for development. The priorities of the good governance agenda differed according to the priorities and mandates of the different actors involved in the debate. Despite differences in the priorities, the good governance agenda, by and large, envisaged building accountability of public administration institutions to the public they are supposed to serve.Typically, this involved resourcing a wide variety of projects to improve the institutional capacity of various types of organisations and institutions, especially of governmental bodies. While some donors stressed democratic reforms, this mainly concentrated on the institutional design of the state involving reform of electoral systems, decentralisation and devolution of government, reform of administrative and legal systems. Our concern was that the debates about and approaches to improving governance structures to obtain better development outcomes did not automatically address the question of gender inequality. If the desired outcome of good governance is distributional equity, then gender equality should 1994.bw.ConferenceReport2 24-07-2003 11:47 Pagina 8 stand high on the agenda of this project.As for partner organisations in the South; (3) sharing example, enhancing governmental capability to design, information, theoretical insights and building formulate and discharge its functions especially with networks of gender practitioners at national, regional regard to economic management does not necessarily and international levels, to enable collective action entail recognising the central contribution of unpaid on issues relating to gender, citizenship and good labour (mostly performed by women) thereby governance. excluding from public accountability a significant area of priorities and exacerbating the gender divide. The cornerstone of the programme was the action Establishing the rule of law does not automatically research projects undertaken by each participating translate into the legal recognition of violence organisation on a theme of particular national and against women as a crime. Expanding the scope of regional importance for gender equality.While the citizen participation in governance through action research projects developed were on a range decentralisation of government does not by itself of issues, the initiatives undertaken can be categorized ensure that women and men will be represented on as follows: (1) enhancing and sustaining women’s an equal basis. In all of these areas special efforts are representation and political participation; (2) necessary to integrate gender equality concerns, engendering governance institutions; (3) claiming which in turn necessitates changes in institutional citizenship and staking a claim to equal rights. rules and practices. The conference ‘Governing