Gender Analysis: key conceptual tools

Amsterdam, The Netherlands What is Gender Analysis? Social analysis to distinguish the resources, activities, potentials and constraints of women relative to men in a given socio-economic group

Amsterdam, The Netherlands What is Gender Analysis? Who does what? Who has what? Who decides? How? Who wins? Who loses?

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Gender Division of Labour/gender roles Access to and Control of Resources and Benefits Condition and Position Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender interests Transformatory Potential Gender unaware and aware policies and programmes Gender Analysis Concepts

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Gender Division of Labour Men and women are assigned different roles, responsibilities and activities according to what society considers appropriate. Furthermore, these roles are given relative values.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Gender Division of Labour Men and women have multiple roles mostly related to work: productive reproductive community

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Productive Role Work that involves the production of goods and services that usually can be exchanged for cash or kind. Both men and women engage in productive work, but women's work is usually undervalued and often invisible.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Reproductive Role  Activities carried out to reproduce and care for children and household.  Includes child birth, child rearing and family planning, food preparation, water and fuel collection, shopping, housekeeping and family health care.  It is usually unpaid, manual work done mostly by women and girls

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Community Role Community work includes ceremonies and celebrations, local politics or provision of community services such as health clinics and communal kitchens. Although both men and women participate in community work, men's community work is often valued more and is sometimes paid.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Women's community work is often undervalued and provided on a mostly volunteer basis. For women, it often is an extension of reproductive/household work. Community Role

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Access and Control of Resources and Benefits Access is the opportunity to use something. Control is being able to define and impose its use.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Access and Control of Resources and Benefits Resources include time, money, land etc. used to carry out activities. They can be defined in political, financial, productive etc. terms. Benefits are the result of the use of a resource and include basic needs, money, asset ownership, education and status.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Condition and Position The distinction between the everyday condition men and women face and their positions in society.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Condition and Position Condition refers to our material state and our immediate environment. This usually includes basic needs and our daily routine. Position, on the other hand, refers to women's economic, social and political standing relative to men.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Condition and Position Most development policies and programmes attempt to address women's condition but not their position in society.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender Interests

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Practical Needs & Strategic Interests Practical gender needs (PGNs) arise from a person’s condition Strategic gender interests (SGIs) arise from a person’s position in social relations of gender

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Practical Gender Needs PGNs are immediate perceived needs that are a result of the gender division of labour and related to men’s and women's condition.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Strategic Gender Interests Interests that are related to improving the relative position of women and men. They result from women’s subordinate position and men’s privilege. Therefore men do not share these with women.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands PGNs/SGIs Addressing PGNs does not automatically challenge women's subordination. PGNs and SGIs are not mutually exclusive. Addressing PGNs is important and may be a precondition for women to identify their SGIs. Addressing SGIs can sometimes be done while addressing PGNs. Depends on “how” PGNs are addressed

Amsterdam, The Netherlands PGNs tend to be immediate and short-term unique to particular men and women relate to daily needs and GDOL SGIs tend to be long – term common to almost all men and women relate to disadvantaged position

Amsterdam, The Netherlands PGNs easily identifiable can be addressed by provision of specific inputs (food, handpumps, clinic…) SGIs not always easily identifiable can be addressed by consciousness raising, increasing self- confidence, education, strengthening women’s organizations

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Addressing PGNs tends to involve women as beneficiaries and perhaps as participants can improve the conditions of women generally does not alter traditional gender roles and relationships Addressing SGIs involves women as agents or enables women to become agents can improve the position of women in society can empower women and transform gender relationships

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Transformatory Potential Acknowledges both men and women maintain and accept gender roles and relations, they are affected by them, but then also can challenge and transform them Considering the transformatory potential of an initiative can show us how PGNs can be met in ways that have the potential of transforming power relations

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Gender Unaware policy Gender Unaware policy design and analyses are those which are implicitly premised on the notion of a male development actor While couched in gender-neutral language, they are implicitly male-biased in that they privilege male needs, interests and priorities in the distribution of opportunities and resources.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Gender aware policy Gender neutral - accurate assessment of the existing gender division of resources and responsibilities Gender specific - intended to target and benefit a specific gender in order to achieve certain policy goals Gender transformative - interventions designed to transform gender relations more equitably