GM

What is Gender

Mainstreaming?

And How Do You

Do It?

Prepared by Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh,

for UNDP Belarus

Gender Mainstreaming Training

October 10-11, 2005

Exercise: What is your development

problem?

PROBLEM SOLUTION







Effect on Effect on Men Input by Input by men

Women women





X







Y

Very simple…

► Make sure the “people” are

disaggregated sufficiently to gain each from

the revolution:

 As Agents: Do they participate?

 As beneficiaries: Do they gain?



►If not, WHY NOT?

What it is not

► Evaluate projects not only on the impact they have on the

people/community/society/state, but also, to how best

they involve people into the decision making process of the

project.



► In mainstreaming gender, we should not limit ourselves to

looking at some indicators that measure how many women

participate in the project (as numbers that participated, or

beneficiaries, etc.,), or to ensure that the project did not

impact negatively (discriminate) against women, but also,

to what extend the project itself addressed the need, if

any, to restore gender balance in that sphere.

How in Principle?

1. Knowing the differences from the

beginning

2. Having different targets

3. If necessary, a bit of a push for the one

that is left behind…. Affirmative action

4. Institutionalizing it by addressing

discrimination that may hamper their long

term partnership in the revolution

It does have requirements…

► As comprehensive strategy, it addresses the

environment (corporate, office) in which policies

and programmes are developed and implemented.

► Working environment is gender-sensitive,

guaranteeing equal opportunities and treatment to

both men and women.

► Sufficient technical capacity and human resources

there to successfully implement gender

mainstreaming

► Step by Step Approach

1) What is the issue?

► What isthe subject of your project or

policy-making initiative? What is the

question behind the question



► Does this issue affect men and women

in different ways?

2) What is the Goal? What do we

want to achieve?

► Does the goal pay attention to both men and women?

 If men and women have different needs, then the goal should be to meet

both the needs of women and the needs of men.

 If men or women are disadvantaged in the given situation, then the policy

goal should seek to redress this imbalance.

 These goals are thus “corrective”; they are about meeting the practical

needs of both men and women.



► Does the goal include a broader commitment to improving

gender equality? Or balancing “gender”?

 Perhaps elements of the institutions, structures or underlying principles

that contextualize the issue fundamentally hinder de facto equality

between men and women. If so, the goal should be broadened to address

these elements as well. These goals are thus “transformative”; they are

about transforming institutions and structures (social, political,

economic, cultural, etc.) so that full gender equality can be more readily

achieved. (strategic)

3) What do we know? Gender

Mapping

► Sectoral or Policy Issues .Gender

Questions What Do You Know?

 Indicators(quantitative and qualitative)

 Research Reports

 Govt. Programme

 Govt. Policy/LegislationNGO Projects

 Donors’ activities

Gender Sensitive Statistics

► Needed to:

 raise consciousness, persuade policy makers, promote change

 stimulate ideas for change

 monitor and evaluate policies

► Types of Sources of Data

 Household budget surveys

 Population Census

 Time-Use Surveys

 Official Surveys

► Gender statistics are scarce for:

 Male fertility

 school absenteeism/drop out rates

 access to credit

 Informal Sector

 Unpaid Work

 Time use

 Domestic Violence

 Decision Making in the household

 Resource Allocation within household

 Income and income control.

Analyze data

► Press for statisticians to give desegregated data,

studies on time usage, and time budgeting.

► Know key questions to ask about the Economy in

a gender analysis, such as:

► Who owns what, Who gets what?, Who does

what?, How?, Who decides what? For whom?

► Then analyze gender relations in key institutions:

State, Household, Market, Firms. Question

ownership of property.

5) Beware of Assumptions when

designing

► -> That participation in projects will of itself ensure that

women will gain, when in reality it depends on the type of

participation and the terms on which it takes place;



► -> Women as an untapped pool of labour that can be

drawn upon, despite their numerous other commitments;



► -> The tendency to treat women as a homogeneous

group, ignoring the important differences between them;



► ->The simplistic assumption that women's interests, and

those of men are necessarily the same.

6) Design true human development

interventions

► Integrate that knowledge into:

 Design

 Implementation

 Monitoring

 Impact Assessment

Sectors

Questions for Mainstreaming

► What is the Issue? how and why these trends and

issues are in fact “gender issues.”



► What is the Goal? While goals exist at many levels,

attention here is focused on the policy goal: i.e. what

policy makers should be striving to achieve.



► Why Bother? Arguing gender as a case of equity,

efficiency, etc…



► Measuring Progress: indicators that could be used to

measure progress towards your policy goals.



► Possible Interventions and Entry Points: Every

situation is unique but s suggestions are meant to

stimulate your own ideas. Identify Interventions by the

Govenrment, NGOs, donors, other stakeholders.

Poverty

 Concepts:

 Studying Poverty

►Who is poor?

►Why are the poor poor? (Structural issues, shocks,

etc)

►How poverty affects men and women differently

►How coping mechanisms are different

 Developing indicators

Economic Opportunities:

Vulnerability and Opportunity:

► Is there equity in access to resources? Land ownership, income

(wages), access to credit?

► Who dominates in the participation in the shadow economy?

► Who controls the informal market (production? Trade? Global/regional

trade?)

► How equitable has the process of privatization been by policy/law?

► How, in practice, have men and women participated differently in the

process of privatization?

► What has been the gender question in the impact of privatization?

► In general, can we say who is the most affected by unemployment?

► Is there a differentiated wage system? Practice?

► Is the Occupation Market segregated?

► Is there a gender issue in the restructuring of these fields?

► Who has been most affected by migration? What is the impact of

migration?

Interventions

► What should be a good disaggregated,

targeted policy to alleviate poverty?

 Macro-Economic

 Poverty Eradication strategies: PRSPs

 Social fund

 Micro credits

 Income Generation: Objective should be not to create

more income, but allow for participation, equity, productivity,

empowerment, sustainability, etc. For that, other enabling

environments become key, such as linkages to networks,

legislation, tax policies, kindergartens, etc.

Poverty

► Women face a higher risk of poverty than men. Discrimination against

women in social practices and law result in their over-representation

among the poor. As a result of their subordinate position, women also

face greater difficulties than men in surviving and overcoming poverty.

In addition, responsibilities assigned to women for care of children and

other family members mean that the experience of poverty is different

for women than men. This means that:

► Poverty reduction strategies must take account of differences between

women and men in resources and opportunities, and include measures

to address the factors that particularly constrain women. Poverty

reduction initiatives that do not pay specific attention to the situation of

women will not necessarily reach or benefit women.

► Longer-term strategies for women’s empowerment (including removal

of the factors that particularly constrain women) are essential for

poverty elimination.

► The eradication of poverty cannot be achieved through anti-poverty

programmes alone but will require democratic participation and

changes in economic structures in order to ensure access for all women

to resources, opportunities and public services. The need for gender

perspectives in formulating policies on macroeconomic stability,

structural adjustment, external debt, taxation, employment and labour

markets – all these affect the conditions under which women and men

work, and all must be examined to ensure that they have an equitable

impact on women and men.

Poverty Reduction:

► Women are frequently more severely affected by extreme

poverty as they must allocate increasing amounts of time to

ensuring household survival while continuing to be involved

in economically productive activities.

► There is also increasing awareness that conventional survey

methods do not adequately capture the gender dimensions

of poverty and that they must be combined with

participatory evaluation methods

► Dramatic progress has been made in increasing the access

of women entrepreneurs and women's community

organizations to finance and technical support services.

Credit has proved one of the most effective ways to

increase women's economic productivity and empowerment,

and the repayment and loan utilization rate for women is

frequently much higher than for men.

► There are still major challenges to ensure the sustainability

of these programs and to improve the performance of public

sector micro-credit programs

Macro-Economic

► What issues:

 Privatization

 Liberalization

 Fiscal Policies

 Investments

 Inflation

 Trade

 Land reforms

 New Technologies

 Banking sectors

 Safety nets



► ALL HAVE GENDER DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT: HOW IT IMPACTS MEN AND

WOMEN, AND HOW IT IMPACTS THEIR RELATIONSHIP

Macro-Economics

► Is there a gender issue in macro-Economic planning?

► Shouldn’t the overall goal of structural adjustment

policies and practices be to eradicate social inequalities,

particularly but not exclusively those based on gender?

► Is the budget segregated to account for the gender

differences both in numbers and in needs?

► Should it be?

► Do you think unpaid labor (reproductive labor) has a

direct impact on the productive labor in Armenia?

► Do you think the unpaid labor should be accounted for in

the GNP?

► Will there be an impact in the overall economic

indicators of the country?

What to do?

► What to do:

 Studies on impact

 Social safety nets

 Emphasis on human cost of macro-

economic changes for UNDP:

►Inlinkage with HD mandate

►Sets different role than IFIs

►Render much needed advise

Does Decentralization increase women’s

Representation and Participation?



► Governance Process is not gender-neutral

► Fallacies of Decentralization and Gender (That it increases grassroots (and

women’s) representation.

 that centers of local power automatically allow for the participation of marginalized

groups, or ensure their representation.

 That women’s interest, needs, perspectives and demands are in fact equal to that of

men within the community

 That the process by which governance decisions and actions are taken at the local

level automatically represent women’s interest without taking into account the basis

of the male-biased concept of the process of governance.

 Bad practices of practice of patronage,

 rather than open opportunity, as basis of nomination for candidates, for example

can leads to discrimination.

 Informal contribution of women

 Local elite groups more hostile to marginalized groups

 Cost of specific policies versus national decrees

 Such types of “top down” or “outside-in” pressure is felt in fact, more genuinely than

bottom up pressure,

 local government officials were more likely to be linked to clan politics

Issue of Gender is an issue of

participation

► Instead, the conditions that challenge unequal access to participation or

ensure representation must be examined. These conditions depend on:

 the structures of participation in place and new ones created

 available resources and competition over them

 control over means of participation

 the nature of local power structures

 The degree of organization and political visibility of women locally

 education and functional literacy

 access to information and IT

 decision making within the household

 Stereotypes promoted through the education system, the media, etc.

 traditions of mobilization





 1) The Cost-Cutting theory

 2) The corruption Theory

 3) The Social Issues Theory

What is governance?

► governance refers not only to formal public

decision-making structures and processes

(i.e. national and local government), but

includes decision-making within the family,

community and private sector as well.

► Mainstreaming: addressing the ways in

which both genders participate in and are

affected by various systems of governance,

as well as the interaction between these

various systems.

Issue and Goal

► A gendered analysis of governance immediately highlights the issue

of participation and representation.



► Participation for Equal Ops to develop their capabilities



► Representation: because not necessarily “Common Interest”





► Goal is therefore twofold:

1. to ensure balanced participation between men and women in

national governance, which includes removal of structural and

systemic barriers to women’s participation;

2. to ensure that gender issues are integrated into decision-making,

implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national governance

initiatives.

Why Participation and

Representation?

► Justice

► Credibility and Accountability

► Efficiency: men elected to executive

and legislative not familiar. Brain

drain.

► Chain Reaction: Role models

How to restore balance



► Criticalmass: a presence of not less than 30% is

necessary.

► Capacity Building: training and capacity-building

are essential – for both women and men

► National Machinery





 But not dealt with LAWS, DECREES, QUOTAS

 Have to deal with systemic barriers that prevent.

Participation

► Participation is one area where the gender segregation is

widening. Political parties and the Parliament are mostly

men, NGOs and associations have outnumbering

representation of women. All the answers show a variety of

methods to ensure a more balanced access to the decision

making process, and most stress the evolutionary one, not

through quotas etc.

► Public awareness and education of three target groups

could be part of the “Democracy and Good Governance”

Project. These are: 1) voters in general, about the merits

of voting for a more balanced representation, 2) women

candidates for good presentation, advocacy, mass media,

etc, and 3) men and women political leaders on elaboration

and implementation of gender policy for an equitable and

efficient society.

Water Supply and Sanitation



► Women and Men different roles and

responsibilities in rural areas

 Who does cash generating activities, irrigation, cattle

 Who collects, uses and manages water in the

household?

 Who plays role in disposing of household waste?

 Who educates about hygiene

► Tailoring project design to recognize such

considerations helps ensure that project facilities

will be used by both sexes and that women's

contribution to agricultural production and

household income can be maximized.

Health, Nutrition and Population



► Gender issue is clearer, however

► Planning and budget allocations often give priority to

expensive, modern urban based hospitals and health

services which are less accessible to women (particularly

rural women) than to men.

► Lack of capacity for training for women medical

professionals

► Cultural factors continue to maintain inequities in access to

and use of services and also contribute to inequitable

allocation of food within the household.

► Gender based violence also has important health, as well

as economic and political, implications.

Rural Development



► Women farmers currently under-perform due to a

lack of access to credit, information, extension

services and markets and because household

duties and child-care limit the time they have

available.

► Removing these constraints can significantly

increase agricultural productivity - particularly in

regions where women play an increasingly

important part in farm management and

production.

Transport, Energy and Infrastructure



► Route planning frequently constrains women's economic productivity

by not responding to their needs to combine work related travel with

travel relating to their household responsibilities in the fields of

education, health and marketing.

► The failure to consider the gender dimensions of transport demand

imposes high monetary, physical and temporal costs on female users.

It also results in sub-optimal economic and time-allocation decisions by

the household and particularly women.

► Women's access to transportation also determines their utilization of

existing health, education and other services.

► Women's insights can also mitigate negative impacts of project design

in areas such as the impacts on child safety, access to markets,

women's time-burden etc.

► Finally, increasing women's ownership of projects can significantly

contribute to maintenance and sustainability.

Environment

► How are women and men impacted differently by the environment?

► How do men and women participate differently in environment protection

practices?

► How are men and women consulted separately on environment policies?



► By nature of the different jobs and duties (in society, in household) that men

and women do, the impact of the environment is different on them, and men

and women, if consulted separately, would have different solutions to

environment problems seen from their angles. This is more felt at the

community/household level, and to a lesser degree at the national level.

Projects that work on environment policies might want to consider that and

those that work with communities might want to study/monitor this question.



► Here, as in elsewhere, the different gender impact and gender participation

has implications for planning efficiently (both in order not to aggravate the

situation for one or the other gender by mistake, and to use the opportunities

presented by the different approaches for a more realistic and holistic

approach.

► Both women and men have productive roles in relation to

natural resources, and the (usually different) roles of each

must be taken into account for effective programme design

in initiatives for environmental sustainability

► Unequal access to assets and resources results in

insecurity of access to land by women, with consequences

for their ability to adopt environmentally sustainable

practices, which has implications for policy on land tenure

and programmes related to agriculture

► women and men are often differently affected by

environmental degradation because of different work

patterns and tasks of women and men in both the

workforce and the household

► Degradation of the environment has specific implications

for women – negative effects on income possibilities,

health and quality of life.

► Women remain largely absent from formal policy

formulation and decision-making, even though they have

taken a leadership role in promoting an environmental

ethic.

Education



► Is there a discrepancy in equal opportunity to education?

► Is there a difference in access to education, higher, lower,

urban, rural?

► What is the education occupation segregation? Who does

what?

► Is the drop-out rate a gender issue?

► What is the impact of the drop-out trends on gender

relations in the future?

► Is the enrollment rate at higher education differentiated?

► Is there an impact on enrollment rates in higher education

on gender relations in the future?

► Studies have shown that the economic rate

of return of investing in girls education is at

least as high, and usually higher than the

return on investing in boys education.

► Social returns on girls education (improved

health and education levels of children,

lower population growth rates etc.)

► The introduction of paid education, conscription

into the army, the involvement of girls/boys into

family agriculture, etc., would probably mean

that some families might have to make choices

between the future education of their boys or

their girls.

► When women don’t have job possibilities, they

continue higher education, which might explain

the higher numbers of educated women than

men

► However, the spheres of education is also

gender specific. This means that some

professions, in the future, will be the domain of

men or women and that may not be good for

efficiency, and the different “wealth” (assets and

incomes of men and women), etc.

HEALTH

► Is there a difference in the access to paid services?

► Is there a difference in the impact of paid health services?

► What is the health occupation segregation? Who does what?



► The health sector, especially in terms of participation, is a

segregated field

► Women seem to be more generalists (low pay, low

mobility) and men more high tech (more pay, more

decisions).

► Low pay jobs are more vulnerable to restructuring. High

tech jobs are more rare in a “de-professionalized”

environment.

► In addition, of course, the entire family care policy and

practice of the government has also implications for the

growth of healthy generations, etc.