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GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION

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Presentation on theme: "GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION"— Presentation transcript:

1 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION
The development debate has advanced considerably since the United Nation's First Development Decade in the 1960s, which emphasized economic growth and the "trickle-down" approach as key to reducing poverty. One of the notable advancements in the debate has been the move to consider gender equality as a key element of development. Women's concerns were first integrated into the development agenda in the 1970s. Disappointment over the trickle-down approach paved the way for the adoption of the basic-needs strategy, which focused on increasing the participation in and benefits of the development process for the poor, as well as recognizing women's needs and contributions to society. Activists articulated women's issues in national and international forums. Following these events, the women-in-development movement endorsed the enhancement of women's consciousness and abilities, with a view to enabling women to examine their situations and to act to correct their disadvantaged positions. The movement also affirmed that giving women greater access to resources would contribute to an equitable and efficient development process.

2 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION
The end of the 1970s ushered in the concern with gender relations in development. Microlevel studies drew our attention to the differences in entitlements, perceived capabilities, and social expectations of men and women, boys and girls. Contrary to the unified-household model, the household has been considered an arena of bargaining, cooperation, or conflict. Reflecting the norms, laws, and social values of society, the differences in the status of men and women have profound implications for how they participate in market or nonmarket work and in community life as a whole. These differences embody social and power relations that constitute the setting for the implementation of development programs, and these differences therefore influence program outcomes. In the 1980s and 1990s, research demonstrated that gender relations mediate the process of development. For example, analyses of stabilization and structural-adjustment policies showed that gender inequalities have an impact on the attainment of macroeconomic objectives.

3 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION
Since the mid 1980s there has been a growing consensus that sustainable development requires an understanding of both women’s and men’s roles and responsibilities within the community and their relations to each other. This has come to be known as the Gender and Development (GAD) approach. Improving the status of women is no longer seen as just a women’s issue, but as a goal that requires the active participation of both men and women. The Gender and Development app roach is based on the premise that development cooperation programs cannot succeed or the impact be sustained if the people affected do not support them. The role of gender analysis is to examine ways in which men’s and women’s differing roles, responsibilities, resources and priorities may affect their project participation. Through the collection of sex disaggregated data, it identifies how development pro g r a m s may impact differently on women and men. Gender analysis , an essential part of social analysis, considers the social, economic, political and cultural relationships between men and women, and how these will be affected by and influence development activities.

4 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AN INTRODUCTION
M a i n s t re a m i n g w o m e n ’s needs and perspectives into all activities is one of the primary objectives of GAD. M a i n s t reaming acknowledges that all development operations have a gender impact and do not automatically benefit men and women equally. A project which mainstreams gender considers women’s and men’s needs first at the country program level, and then at each stage of the project cycle. It ensures that women and men equally participate in every aspect of the project, both as beneficiaries and decision makers. Gender and Development moves away from the practice of adding “women only” components to projects and programs, which characterised the “Women in Development” approach. However, separate programs, projects and components for women will continue to need support, since these are often necessary to ensure that women’s practical needs are met. Separate programming for women may also assist with mainstreaming women’s interests, or be essential for advancing their status and promoting their human rights.

5 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Gender Roles and Responsibilities Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and relationships between women and men. These are learned , change over time, and vary within and between countries and cultures according to social, religious, historical and economic factors. Gender contrasts with sex, which describes a set of biological differences between men and women. Gender roles and responsibilities affect women’s and men’s ability and incentive to participate in development activities, and lead to different project impacts for men and women.

6 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Gender Analysis Gender analysis is the process of considering the impact that a development program or project may have on women/girls and men/boys, and on the economic and social relationships between them. Key issues for analysis include: the gender division of labour; access to and control over resources and the distribution of benefits; social, economic and environmental factors which influence all of the above; and decision making capacity. Gender analysis is a specific form of social analysis which requires the collection of sex disaggregated data. Incorporating a gender perspective into aid activities involves applying gender analysis throughout the project cycle.

7 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Gender and Development (GAD) This approach acknowledges that to address women’s concerns and needs, development assistance must take account of both women’s and men’s roles and responsibilities within the community and their relationship to each other. It re q u i res the active participation of men as well as women in order to raise the status of women and bring about sustainable development. The GAD approach is both strategic and practical, and starts with an examination of issues of power, decision making, work allocation and ownership and control of resources.

8 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Gender Division of Labour Both women and men have multiple work roles. These include: production, reproduction, essential household and community services, and community management and political activities. • Productive Role Productive activities include all tasks which contribute to the income and economic welfare and advancement of the household and community. Both women and men perform a range of productive roles. Women’s productive roles can include cash and subsistence farming (whether or not they control any income from their labour), fishing, foraging in forests, care of livestock, marketing and transporting, food processing for sale, cottage or home-based industries (micro-enterprises), and waged/formal sector employment.

9 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Reproductive Role Reproductive activities are those activities carried out to re p roduce and care for the household. Responsibility for contraception and decision making about reproduction may be in the hands of women or men, depending on the cultural context. Child rearing is generally primarily women’s responsibility, although in most societies men also play some role. Women’s other reproductive roles include pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

10 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Household and Community Services Essential household and community services are those which must be carried out daily to meet the family’s and community ’s basic needs, such as fuel and water collection, provision of shelter and clothing, cleaning, education, health care, care of the elderly and food processing and preparation. While females carry major responsibility for these services in most societies, men and boys generally also undertake some of these tasks.

11 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Community Management and Political Activities This refers to the management and conservation of resources for collective community consumption (such as fuel, forests and water), as well as participation in cultural and religious ceremonies, formal and informal political activities, and involvement in development organizations, such as non-government organizations or w o m e n ’s groups. In community affairs, men in many societies are often more likely to predominate at re g i o n a l and national political levels. However, women also have their own formal and informal structures for involvement in community affairs and decision making at a village or neighborhoods level, and increasingly also at regional and national levels through women’s organizations and networks.

12 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Gender Equality Gender Equality refers to equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men. This involves the removal of discrimination and structural inequalities in access to resources, opportunities and resources, and the promotion of equal rights. Equality does not mean that women should be the same as men. Promoting equality recognizes that men and women have different roles and needs and takes these into account in development and planning and programming.

13 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Practical Gender Needs Practical Gender Needs are the concrete and practical needs women and men have for survival and economic advancement, which do not challenge the existing sexual division of labor, legal inequalities, or other aspects of discrimination due to cultural and social practices. Meeting practical gender needs in development program may include the provision of services such as clean water, shelter and health care as well as income generating opportunities. If women are involved in decision making and training in new areas strategic interest may also be addressed through such practical projects. Strategic Gender Interest It refers to the relative status of women to men. They seek to bring about greater equality between men and women and to eliminate various forms of sexual discrimination. Strategic Interest may include legal rights, protection from domestic violence, increased decision making and increasing women's’ control over their bodies.


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