Gender Mainstreaming: Concepts and Approaches

REHMAT WALI KHANEducation Officer

(Focal Person), SHRDC-Islamabadrehmatwalikhan@yahoo.com

0092344231252400923335983705

What is it?

Gender Inequity Related Issues

What is Gender Mainstreaming?

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for developing policies, legislation, programs, projects, society and community’s development plans from gender equality perspective in order to benefit both women and men.

What is Gender Mainstreaming?

• Is a strategy for achieving gender equality • Strategy to end gender blindness in development

process.

• Ensures women & men, girls & boys have equal access to & control over resources, opportunities & benefits at all levels.

Women’s Empowerment vs Gender mainstreaming

Women’s empowerment – actions that are targeted specifically towards women. Aimed at redressing the historical exclusion and power imbalance from which women and girls have suffered

eg. Support to female entrepreneurs, training for female parliamentarians, action against gender based violence,

Gender Mainstreaming

• Looking at all programmes/actions through a “gender lens”

- ie considering the differential impact of our actions, systems, processes on men and women (boys/girls). Taking a gender perspective on everything from employment law to budgeting processes to infrastructure design.

What is Sex?

• Is the biological differentiation between women and men

• Is Natural • Is Permanent • Is determined by genetics

What is Gender?

• Is the social construction of roles, responsibilities and behaviour patterns assigned to men and women, boys and girls in a given society in time.

• Through process of socialization society provides gender identity to males and females

• Differs from culture to culture• Changes in time

Gender division of labour

Gender equality• Refers to equal chance for women, men, girls and

boys in allocation and access to resources and services.

• G/E is measured in terms of equality of opportunities and equality of results or reward for labour.

• Exists where sex-based discrimination is non-existent

• Is necessary for achievement of other devt goals i.e. poverty reduction ( ref. MDGs)

• Women’s empowerment is important so that they can influence this distribution by participating in decision making at all levels.

Gender Equity

• Refers to fairness, where fair treatment is accorded to both men and women. Equity sometimes calls for affirmative action to allow fair play, especially where two groups are competing for same resources and one has an advantage over the other. Example in a mining industry where employees are digging a mine within a given timeframe, it would be fair to allow women more time to complete their task. They are biologically weak in strength as compared to men.

Gender Issues• Are specific consequences of inequality, inequity and

differential treatment between women and men.• Include biases or discriminatory behaviour towards

individuals on basis of sex or social roles attached to them i.e denial of a girl-child education in favour of boy-child on grounds that a girl will get married & be an investment to another family or increasing men’s entry fees to an entertainment club on basis that they are more financially empowered.

• Gender issues affect women & men in society & have an impact on development

Gender Roles

Particular Economic and Social Roles which a society considers appropriate for men and women

Gender Discrimination

Distinction made on the basis of gender roles that prevents a person from enjoying full human rights

Empowerment

• Self-worth• Gender relations• Social change

Gender Awareness

Recognizes that there are socially determined differences between men and women based on learned behavior which affect ability to access and control resources

Gender Sensitivity

Is the ability to perceive existing gender differences, issues and equalities and incorporate these into strategies and actions

Gender blindness

Is the failure to recognize that gender is an essential determinant of social outcomes

Gender Concerns

• Arise from situations of disparities or imbalances that raise fear or worry that can not be ignored.

• Many people react to disparities/discriminations, having perceived them as unfair or undesirable at family level,school,community and at national level.

• When a gender imbalance does not cause anxiety in people then it remains a gender disparity i.e early and forced marriages are encouraged in some communities as much as it is a gender issue. It becomes a concern when majority of people in the community realize it is not good and should be stopped.

Gender gaps / disparities

• Refers to systematic differences in outcome that men and women achieve in an individual sector.

• It is imbalances/differences that arise due to social assigned gender roles/issues i.e gap between the number of enrolled male nurses vs women nurses; number of female pilots vs male pilots; piloting is viewed as masculine and not meant for women.

Gender stereotypes

• Are common perceptions or assumptions about the characteristics of a person based on false and unproven hypothesis

• statements like women’s place is in the kitchen, women cannot make leaders, men do not cry etc are stereotyped.

Gender Responsiveness

• Refers to taking into account gender gaps and gender issues to inform plans, implementation and design of any processes

• A gender responsive budget would require an analysis of actual expenditure and revenue of men vs women and adjusted appropriately to address any gender inequality.

Gender Analysis

• Is the systematic effort to research, document and understand the roles of women and men within a given context, and how a particular activity, decision or plan will specifically affect women or men.

• G/A makes visible the advantages and disadvantages experienced by men or women, in relation to an issue

• Provides the basis for taking steps to address disadvantages, and for devising remedial/ preventive interventions.

• G/A allows for more just and equal representation of all men and women in shaping human society.

Gender Responsive Budgeting

• Refers to process that responds to specific needs of women, men, girls and boys in setting priorities in allocation of resources.

• Gender Responsive Budgets highlight the differential impacts of resources allocation in various sectors as well as enable dialogue on ways to address these gaps. Gender budgets do not only look at monetary numbers but also policy analysis, implementation and M&E of programmes and the impact they have.

• Gender Responsive budgeting goes to the heart of mainstreaming gender in government activities.

Gender and Development (GAD)

• GAD aims at meeting women and men’s practical and strategic gender needs.

• Should be considered across all sectors and at all levels of broad devt policies

• Challenges the existing division of labour and power relations.

• Looking at only women is half the problem solved • Looking at women in relation to men and the way in which

relations between the two are socially constructed is fully solving the problem.

• GAD is more confrontational approach based on the premise that if women have to be part of mainstream; men have to be part of the change.

Three level of Gender Mainstreaming

- At legislation, policies, strategies level- At organization, department level- At household, family level

GM is 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?

Steps in GM• The steps to gender mainstreaming in a programme/sector:

1) Familiarize yourself with the key gender tools

2) Through analysis of data and information on a particular area/sectos, identify the emerging gender issues to be addressed

3) Engage with the national partner, advocate as necessary to identify the causes of the gender issue at stake

4) Work with the sector to identify the actions to address the issues, develop a costed action plan and set a monitoring framework

5) Reflect the issues into the programme/project of your agency and link up as necessary with other agencies for a holistic approach to the gender issue

Thank You