Plan © Plan Gender To understand why gender matters and how gender issues can be resolved

© Plan Introduction Girls and Women have faced discrimination for millennia and continue to do so, especially in developing countries. It is not coincidence that as women gain more equality, respect and less discrimination a country makes greater social progress. Indeed it is only by recognising the contribution women can make to society and providing the (sometimes special) conditions for them to make their contribution can a country grow.

© Plan Introduction Although traditionally women only gain equality in an urban context, it is now obvious how impactful on women and local communities, it is to empower rural women with greater knowledge, political power and responsibility. The gender issue is not just about women suffering though, for example: there are situations where women are doing better than men, especially in education, and so now teachers need to recognise gender differences in how they teach boys and girls -current teaching methods are better suited to girls than boys, it seems!

© Plan Introduction Furthermore gender issues also encompass transvestites (1 sex dressing/acting up as another sex), transsexuals (1 sex changing, biologically, to another sex), hermaphrodites (a person with both sexual genitalia) etc.

© Plan Key issues: 1) Gender differences are a historical fact but vary in different cultures, different societies, families etc. View/definition of a 'woman'/'femininity' varies across cultures and across time 2) Female role in society: birth and family care vs Male role in society: provision for family. Relevant? Changing?

© Plan Key issues: 3) Gender discrimination has massive implications and is widespread in society. Each gender has different needs but other genders do not understand these. Decisions often made without paying attention to gender differences

© Plan Key issues: 4) Women have always been ignored somewhat, but Women tend to play more useful roles in society and be more responsible members of society; Development must take into account their historical discrimination and meet women's specific needs. Women need to be able to participate more and have a fairer share of power. Engaging more women to participate in decision-making will ensure that their perspectives and needs are more likely to be reflected, To overcome gender issues, men must be an active part of the discussion.

© Plan Key issues: 5) Empowering women has significant affects, by letting them loose -they are untapped source of value to society. Worth making special allowances for Women, e.g. maternity pay 6) Recognition of women's roles in health, family etc. e.g. Lack of sexual health knowledge leads to women always being pregnant or looking after children. e.g. Rape's emotional and physical impacts. e.g. Periods affect on women (and different nutritional needs/vulnerabilities to diseases). e.g. Lack of strength (physical or emotional) leads to abuse at home.

© Plan Key issues: 7) Peer pressure affects both genders in multiple ways in different environments, e.g. single sex schools/dormitories, at workplace etc 8) 'Mixed' genders a growing trend with technological developments; face ethical questions, discrimination etc

© Plan Relationship to key Sustainable Development concepts: Balance:Between Male and Female -balanced policies and laws, balanced thoughts and actions Long-term:Its been shown that a society that treats women better, treats all other vulnerable groups better and that a more gender-equal society is more harmonious and able to benefit from women's contributions (which currently is not the case)

© Plan Relationship to values: Equality:girls and boys; men and women: all equal, all the time, everywhere Respect:Consideration for differences in gender and elimination of discrimination

© Plan Relationship to values: Interdependence:Females are more than 50% of the global population so everything affects them, and they affect everything. Gender unequal programs and policies have considerable knock-on affects elsewhere and into the future Responsibility:To treat women as equal, to stand up for equal rights, to take into account how actions affect different genders

© Plan Statistics + Two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls, and 75 per cent of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are women. Every extra year a girl spends at school could reduce child mortality by ten per cent. (UN, World’s Women) + Women earn only 50 cents for every dollar that a man is paid for the same work. + Around 70 per cent of the 1.3 billion people who live in extreme poverty, on less than one dollar a day, are women and girls + More than half a million women die in pregnancy and childbirth every year: of these deaths, 99 per cent are in developing countries. In parts of Africa, maternal mortality rates are 1 in 16. (UN, World’s Women)

© Plan Statistics + In 2006, women only held 15% of seats in national parliament + Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, and produce half of the world’s food, yet earn only ten per cent of the world’s income, and own less than one per cent of the world’s property. (UN) + Domestic violence is the biggest cause of injury and death to women worldwide. Gender-based violence causes more deaths and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war. (World Bank Discussion Paper)

© Plan Discussion questions: How you define a girl and a boy? Consider the potential implications of some of these differences on: How girls and boys react with each other; what classes they choose; who ‘speaks’; counselling; textbooks etc What girls and boys do in their spare time and how this affects their personality or aspirations for the future All boys/girls or co-ed schools and sports classes, popularity contests etc What female and male role models do people have –what implications does this have?

© Plan Debates: This house believes that men and women are equal and should not be treated differently at the workplace This house believes single sex schools are better than mixed schools

© Plan Simulation 1 person is the interviewer 1 person is the interviewee

© Plan Simulations -interviewer: You are a man, interviewing a woman who looks pregnant. You prefer to hire a man, or another woman, since she will soon need to take paid maternity leave (which she is allowed to, by law) and this will affect the business. But you cannot use that as a reason not to hire her, as that is against the law. Sit down and talk with the interviewee and discuss with her whether you should hire her or not. Explain the impact on your business, if she was to leave (need to find temporary replacement, and need to pay the woman who is not working, at the same time as paying the replacement)

© Plan Simulations -interviewee: You are 3 months pregnant and are interviewing for a job. You will take maternity leave once you are 8 months pregnant and you are legally entitled to 3 months paid leave which you intend to take. You know that if you tell the interviewer this, he might not want to hire you, and might want to hire a man instead. Consider how much to tell the interviewer, what promises to make, and how to convince him to employ you if he asks this question.

© Plan Art/Theatre: Watch some advertisements on TV/internet and see when women or men are used and why they chose one or the other.