CID certificate course

1. Critical approaches to gender and development: Some theoretical and practical tools for NGOs CID certificate course Facilitators: Dr. Rebecca Miller & Fleur Roberts

2. What is the difference between sex and gender?

3. Sex vs. Gender – the difference Gender Sex • Refers to socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and men, and includes expectations held about characteristics and likely behaviours of both men and women. • Refers to the biological that categorise someone as either female or male

4. Why is gender important? And how can we achieve the goal of gender equality and empowerment of women?

5. Why is gender important? What is gender equality and how can we achieve it? Why? Development process affects men and women in different ways. Gender inequality is deeply rooted in entrenched attitudes, societal institutions, and market forces. What? Means equality of opportunity and a society in which women and men are able to lead equally fulfilling live Gender equality is not sameness. Men and women often have different needs and priorities, face different constraints, and have different aspirations Source: Millennium Project, 2005.

6. Why is gender important? How? Means figuring out how men and women can achieve their full human potential without being restricted by hierarchy of sex/gender. Gender equality and the empowerment of women requires fundamental transformation in the distribution of power, opportunities, and outcomes for both men and women. Genuine equality means more than parity in numbers!! Commitment at all levels – grassroots right up to the highest international and national levels. What is gender equality and how can we achieve it? Source: Millennium Project, 2005.

7. Why is gender important? What is gender equality and how can we achieve it? Where are we at? Decades of innovation, experience, and activism have shown that achieving the goal of greater gender equality and women’s empowerment is possible. Before the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 nearly every country had ratified the CEDAW and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Yet it is clear today that progress towards gender equality in most parts of the world is considerably less than which we had hoped for. Source: Millennium Project, 2005.

8. How is gender relevant to men?Why must we be careful not to exclude men? How do we ensure spaces for women while not ostracising men?

9. How is gender relevant to men? • Gender is not shorthand for women – achieving gender equality requires change from both men and women. • The term ‘gender’ is about the socially acceptable ideas of what it is to be female or male, and concerns how these ideas impact on the power relations between women and men at all levels in society. • Given that it is women that tend to be excluded or disadvantaged in these relations, efforts to redress the balance have more often focused on women. • Earlier approaches to development cooperation focused on women exclusively, rather than on the social relationships in which they are embedded. • Frustration with the lack of progress of such an approach in changing women’s lives and influencing the broader development agenda, brought the focus onto both women and men in relation to each other. Source: Bridge, IDS, 2000

10. How is gender relevant to men? • Although women have primarily taken the lead in fighting for gender to be placed at the heart, rather than in the margins, of development thinking and practice – men have also played a role in this process. • E.g. men’s organisations that advocate women’s rights and gender equality, and male gender advocates within development agencies. It is necessary to broaden the support and participation of men in order to strengthen this process. • The pursuit of gender equality is in everyone’s interest and is both women’s and men’s responsibility. • A gender perspective recognises that cultural ideas of gender identity can also constrain men - and that specific initiatives may have to focus on men’s problems, which have failed to be addressed, such as reproductive and sexual health needs. Source: Bridge, IDS, 2000

11. Reasons to pay attention to men in development • Gender equality and social justice • Not all men benefit from development. Policies and practices that focus on gender equality and social justice need to promote ‘human ’dignity and rights in ways that free women and men from the negative effects of gender stereotypes and oppressive structures. • Gendered vulnerabilities • While women generally encounter greater disadvantages than men socially and economically, men are not always the ‘winners’. Men are particularly vulnerable in certain areas of health (especially suicide, exposure to dangerous chemicals, HIV/AIDS etc). Assumptions about men’s strength or ‘toughness’ may expose men to more health risks than women. Source: CID, 2007

12. Reasons to pay attention to men in development • The crisis of masculinity • The effects of global changes in the economy, social structures and householdcomposition are causing crises of masculinity (fundamental questioning of identity). • Negotiated gender roles and relations • Increasingly, research is showing that while women and men may reinforce quite stereotypicalgender roles and relations in public, in private there tends to be more negotiation and flexibility.Understanding these more subtle power relations is needed if development projects are to beeffective and sustainable. • Strategic gender partnerships • More effective and sustainable development can be achieved when women and men work togetherin strategic gender partnerships. Source: CID, 2007

13. Group activity In pairs, consider the following: Part 1: What are the risks of ignoring gender in development? Part 2: How might the following development issues impact women and men differently and why?

14. Historical approaches to gender Changing Perspectives on Women, Gender and Development Women in Development (WID) Women and Development (WAD) Gender and Development (GAD)

15. Women in Development (WID) Ester Boserup introduced the approach in her book, Women's Role in Economic Development. She argued that modernization in agrarian societies resulted in a gendered division of labour which relegated women to carrying-out subsistence tasks. Boserup found that a shift from subsistence agriculture to machine- based economics, did not liberate women, instead it often intensified their oppression. Main assumptions

16. WID continued… Based on liberal feminism, which generally treats women as a homogeneous group and assumes that gender roles will change as women gain an equal role to men in the development of education, employment, and health services. Approach is also closely linked to modernization theory which is associated with improved technology, an increase in divisions of labour and literacy, growth of commercial facilities, urbanization, and the decline in traditional authority. Modernization theory dominated mainstream thinking in the international development agencies from the 1950s to the 1970s. It was assumed that higher standards of living would benefit the entire population and reach the grassroots through a trickle- down effect. For women, however, this did not occur. Theoretical underpinnings

17. WID continued… It does not question the existing social structures or explore the nature and sources of women's oppression. Nor does it take into account the effects of colonialism, capitalism and imperialism on women's lives. WID sees women merely as a unit of analysis, and fails to consider the implications race, class and gender have on women's oppression. Yet, the Women in Development approach is still commonly used by international organizations including the World Bank and the United Nations. Main shortcomings

18. Women and Development (WAD) WAD is primarily a neo-Marxist, feminist approach with a strong emphasis on the importance of social class and the exploitation of the "Third World". This approach emerged in the second half of the 1970s in response to the limitations of modernization. WAD gets some of its theoretical base from dependency theory, whose main thesis is that, at the global level, developed regions became developed through the exploitation of other regions. Theoretical underpinnings

19. WAD continued… The WAD approach assumes that women have always been active participants in development. Advocates of this approach say that both the paid and unpaid labour of women is essential to development. In contrast to WID, the WAD approach believes that under global capitalism, women's oppression cannot end. Main assumptions

20. WAD continued… Fails to undertake a full-scale analysis of the relationship between patriarchy and women's subordination. It implicitly assumes that women's participation will improve if institutional structures change. Although work, which women do inside and outside homes is central to development, WAD preoccupies itself with the productive aspect at the expense of the reproductive side of women's work and lives. Main shortcomings

21. Gender and Development (GAD) Gender and Development (GAD) emphasises the need to move away from a focus on women’s roles in development (common in WID approaches), towards an analysis of gendered relations of power including access to, and control over, resources and decision-making by women and men. Influenced by socialist feminist thinking, it seeks to transform unequal gender relations to enable long-term sustainable development for both women and men. Theoretical underpinnings

22. GAD continued… GAD acknowledges the need to work simultaneously at a number of levels: from the national and international networking and lobbying associated with institutional policies and legal conventions, to the grass experiences and realities of women’s and men’s lives and relationships. GAD also recognises and seeks to embrace the diversity of women’s and men’s lives and experiences in development. As such, GAD means that in some cases it may be necessary to work with men to achieve a transformation in unequal gender relations, and/or work with girls alone rather than older women and men. Main assumptions

23. GAD continued Challenged on the grounds that the new focus on gender, including the notion of gender mainstreaming, bypasses earlier concerns about women’s specific needs. By focusing on gender and presumably “bringing men in”, the GAD focus on gender might lead to less, rather than more, attention to women’s specific needs and disadvantages to a dismissal of funding for women-oriented activities and projects. The insistence on differences among women may actually constitute an obstacle for the recognition of their commonalities. Some critiques Source: Gentile, 2008.

24. Importance of WID, WAD, GAD • Enable us to interrogate the development processes as gendered processes. • Analytical focus is on the male bias and gendered relations of development and the inequality of those relations that require transformation. • Provide gender analysis on development policies of states as well as international development and financial institutions, such as IMF, World Bank, and the UN. • Criticise the measures of economic development such as GNP which ignore the contribution of women to social and economic production. • Advocate for the creation of gender sensitive development programs.

25. Why is gender analysis important?

26. Case Study A project that was implemented in Nepal to improve the level of health of the inhabitants of a small rural village in Nepal and increase their self-sufficiency. 20 water buffaloes were brought to the village – one buffalo for every four households Water buffaloes of Nepal Source: Global Finland, 2004.

27. Project water buffalo Assumed following results would be achieved… After fours years of implementation… • Water buffaloes’ milk would improve the poor nutritional status of the village children • Because of the income from sales of surplus milk, there would be less need for the children to work and most of them would attend school • Income from the sale of surplus milk could be used to raise the standard of living of the village • An outside evaluation team arrived at the village to assess the impact of the project. • The results were a surprise. • The children’s state of chronic under-nourishment was not improved at all. • School enrollment among girls had not increased either.

28. Project water buffalo In the village, it was the role of women to raise and milk the buffaloes. The project increased the workload of the already overburdened women. The village men had taken part in the project by selling the buffalo milk at the market. They kept the sales income. They were also not aware of the nutritional value the milk would have for the children. Instead, having noticed a good profit could be made from selling the milk, the men sold more and more of it. The village was left with smaller quantities for the families’ own use. Most of the income from the milk sales went to sending the village boys to better schools because the girls had to stay at home to help their mothers with the housework since taking care of the buffaloes took more of their time. What happened?

29. Project water buffalo The project’s expectations were not fulfilled because it was planned and designed without an understanding of the different roles between women and men. Key questions: Who does what with what resources? Who has access to resources, benefits, and opportunities? Who controls the resources, benefits, and opportunities? What would you have done differently at the project planning stage? What would you have done differently at the implementation stage? Concluding thoughts

30. Gender analysis Working through a gender lens Tools & frameworks

31. What is Gender Analysis? • Gender analysis refers to the variety of approaches and methods used to assess and understand the differences in the lives of women and men, girls and boys and the relationships between and amongst them including: their access to resources and opportunities, their activities, and the constraints they face relative to each other. • It is a process that identifies the varied and different roles and responsibilities that women, men, girls and boys have in the family, the community, and in economic, legal, political, and social structures. Source: NZAID Tools, 2007.

32. Gender analysis makes visible: • Different needs, priorities, capacities, experiences, interests, and views of women and men. • Who has access to and/or control of resources, opportunities & power. • Who does what, why, and when. • Gender differences in social relations. • Different patterns and levels of involvement that women and men have in economic, political, social, and legal structures. • Women’s and men’s lives are not all the same and often vary depending on factors other than their sex, such as age, ethnicity, race,and economic status, but also on assumptions based on our own realities, sex, and gender roles. • Who is likely to benefit and/or lose from development initiatives. Source: NZAID Tools, 2007.

33. Why use gender analysis in our work? • To understand better the gender dimensions of our work and the places in which we work. • To promote gender equality through the articulated outcomes of our work. • To expose the barriers to women’s and men’s full participation and economic development. • To help find the best strategies and solutions to address the different needs and dynamics of men and women. Can you think of other reasons why we should do gender analysis?

34. When do you use gender analysis? • Gender analysis is used throughout the entire development process. • throughout research, to problem definition, planning, implementation, and monitoring & evaluation. • By examining basic assumptions each step of the way, the interrelationships between social context and economic factors can be understood and initiatives that respond to those needs can be designed. Source: CIDA, 2009.

35. Group activity Analysis of the Bulolakaw case using Women’s Empowerment Framework

36. Definitions Control: Defined as women’s control over the decision making process through conscientisation and mobilisation to achieve equality of control over the factors of production and the distribution of benefits. Participation: Defined as women’s equal participation in the decision making process, in policymaking, planning and administration. Conscientisation: The process of becoming aware of the extent to which problems arise not so much from an individual’s inadequacies, but rather from systematic discrimination. Access: Defined as women’s access to the factors of production (land, labour, credit, training, marketing facilities, and all public services and benefits). Welfare: Defined as the level of women’s material welfare relative to men. Do women have equal access to resources such as food supply, income and medical care?

37. Gender mainstreaming Working through a gender lens Tools & frameworks

38. Gender mainstreaming Economic and Social Council defines it as follows: “Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. Gender mainstreaming is a key method of reinforcing efforts to achieve gender equality. Origins & formal definition

39. Gender mainstreaming Attention is paid to the points of view, experiences, and needs of both men and women in all activities and in all areas of the community. The political, economic, and social processes in the community are developed and evaluated in such ways that the parties and factors, involved in different areas, work to promote gender equality and reinforce the measures that eliminate observed inequalities. This helps to ensure that women and men benefit equally as a result of activities in different fields of society. What does it mean? Source: Global Finland, 2004.

40. Video clip: Who’s Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies, and Global Economics

41. Some group discussion questions: • How far have we come since the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action? • Is gender mainstreaming a reflection of WID strategies of ‘integration’, which incorporates women in to the existing framework or institutions and policies without changing them? OR Is gender mainstreaming a reflection of the GAD paradigm, which is to transform the broader social and institutional context that produces gender injustice and unequal outcomes? • Have we addressed the political and attitudinal changes required for altering the status quo? • Should we reform or replace gender mainstreaming?

42. Gender mainstreaming & your organisation

43. Group activity: In pairs, discuss a few of the following questions Describe the extent gender is mainstreamed in your organisation Describe what an ideal gender mainstreamed organisation looks like? What are you doing to achieve this ideal organisation? Are you creating or corroding an ideal culture? How much faster might you achieve it if you started behaving as if the ideal culture currently existed?

44. Gender politics

45. Gender politics • Explores how constructions of masculinity and femininity shape and are shaped by interacting economic, political, and ideological practices.

46. Gender politics The personal is political. We participate individually and collectively in the production, reproduction, and legitimation of power relations (social hierarchies). Social hierarchies (of race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) are interrelated. Reflective, critical analyses are essential for achieving non-hierarchical social relations. Social transformation occurs, is impeded, and promoted. By examining politics as gendered, we illustrate how:

47. Concluding questions What do you personally think is the main challenge when ‘doing’ gender? What was the most important learning of the day for you? How will you apply the workshop learnings in your day to day work?

48. References • BRIDGE. (2000). Gender and development: Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re57.pdf • CID. (2007). Council for International Development resource kit. Retrieved from www.cid.org.nz/training/GAD_2007.pdf • CIDA. (2009). Gender analysis. Retrieved from www.acdi- cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-31194519- KBD • Gentile, F. (2008). Gender and international development. In A. Lind & S. Brzuzy (Eds.), Battleground: Women, gender, and sexuality. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.

49. References • Global Finland. (2004). Gender training manual. Retrieved from http://global.finland.fi/gender/ngo/english/index.htm • NZAID Tools. (2007). Gender analysis. Retrieved from http://nzaidtools.nzaid.govt.nz/gender-analysis/what- why-when-gender-analysis • UN Millennium Project (2005). Taking action: Achieving gender equality and empowering women. Retrieved from www.unmillenniumproject. org/documents/ Gender-complete.pdf