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The Role of Gender in Enhancing the Development Agenda of Any Country

Article  in  SSRN Electronic Journal · January 2015

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2847910

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 The Role of Gender in Enhancing the Development Agenda of Any
Country

By Dr. Jack Onyisi Abebe

Introduction

The universal adoption by United Nations (UN) Member States of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development in September 2015, marked a seminal moment, globally. Anchored on
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets, this Agenda 2030 speaks to the
most comprehensive development framework that Member State governments and other
stakeholders have committed, towards the overall goals of sustained and inclusive economic
growth, social development and environmental protection. For stakeholders and other advocates
of gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE), the Agenda 2030 also constituted a
critical milestone in efforts to advance accountability towards this agenda. In addition to the
inclusion of a stand-alone goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment- Goal Five. In
addition, ten of the other SDGs also contain over 40 gender-related targets (UN Women Internal
Analysis, 2015), thereby providing a more integrated, stronger imperative around which the
global community can frame efforts to address GEWE– within broader development initiatives.

As actors engage in supporting the Agenda 2030, it is important that they borrow from lessons
from the efforts on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which included among others,
the need to promote broad-based ownership of the agenda; the need to ensure coordination across
development policies and strategies, and coherence and capacities to deliver on this agenda
within government. Additionally, effective resource mobilization has been highlighted as critical.

Gender and development is important because it focuses on connections between gender and
development initiatives and feminists’ perspectives, and deals with issues such as health and
education, decision making and leadership, peace building, violence against women and
economic empowerment. Development cannot be realized without the very significant
component of gender. Countries the world over have proved that exclusion of women in
development has rendered their development efforts futile.

Gender

According to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, gender is a socially
constructed definition of women and men. It is not the same as sex (biological characteristics of
women and men) and it is not the same as women. Gender is determined by the conception of
tasks, functions and roles attributed to women and men in society and in public and private life.

According to the World Development Report (WDR) 2012, gender is defined as socially
constructed norms and ideologies which determine the behavior and actions of men and women.
The Gender approach is distinct in that it focuses on women and men and not on women in
isolation.
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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2847910

It highlights:

- the differences between women’s and men’s interest even within the same household and
how these interact and are expressed.
- the conventions and hierarchies which determine women’s and men’s position in the
family, community and society at large, whereby women are usually dominated by men
- the differences among women and among men, based on age, wealth, ethnic background
and other factors
- the way gender roles and relations change, often quite rapidly, as a result of social,
economic and technological trends

Compared with men, women control fewer political and economic resources, including land,
employment and traditional positions of authority. The WDR 2012 highlights the importance of
directly targeting the persistent constraints and obstacles to women’s equality (especially in areas
of economic empowerment, educational gaps, household/societal voice, and violence against
women) in order to enhance productivity and improve longer-term development outcomes.

The Development of Gender on the International Agenda

The concept of gender emerged with Ester Boserup’s influential work in the early 1970s which
challenged the notion of women as passive beneficiaries of development. She called for a focus
on Women in Development (WID), to acknowledge the contributions of women’s often invisible
labor. Following frustration with the slow progress of WID, other approaches emerged that
criticized the WID approach as being one of simply ‘add women and stir’. The Women and
Development (WAD) approach emphasized the need for structural changes in the global political
economy.

The Gender and Development (GAD) approach followed, focusing on larger inequities and
unequal relations. Further, states have continued to call for progress towards gender equality
through a number of international agreements, regional platforms and conferences. At the 1995
4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, the most influential conference to date, states
committed themselves (in the Beijing Platform for Action) to establishing mechanisms to
promote women’s rights – including national action plans, gender strategies and legal
frameworks.

In 2000, states confirmed their commitment to reducing gender inequalities through the United
Nations Millennium Declaration. The year 2015 marked a defining moment for the global
development effort with the adoption of the SDGs. The Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs)—the next generation development framework—was adopted in September 2015. The
SDGs build on the MDGs and apply universally and not just be meant for developing countries.
While countries in ESAR have made progress against the MDGs, gaps remain and several issues
that were not part of the MDG framework will be taken up by the SDGs, such as urbanization,
resilience, inequality, and governance. The new development agenda has been considerably
broadened which covers unfinished business of MDGs and brings other aspects such as security,
governance among other SDGs.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2847910

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprises 17 SDGs, 169 targets and about 300
indicators with a broader agenda providing an opportunity for focusing on women, girls, children
and persons with disabilities in any targeted development interventions.

Gender and Development

Gender is considered a critical element in achieving Decent Work for All Women and Men, in
order to effect social and institutional change that leads to sustainable development with equity
and growth.

Given that women are usually in a disadvantaged position in the workplace compared to men,
promotion of gender elements like equality and mainstreaming implies explicit attention to
women’s needs and perspectives. At the same time, there are also significant negative effects of
unequal power relations and expectations on men and boys due to stereotyping about what it
means to be a male. Instead, both women and men, and boys and girls, should be free to develop
their abilities and make choices – without limitations set by rigid gender roles and prejudices –
based on personal interests and capacities.

It is important to consider gender in development because of the following;

Organizations that work in communities and try to address development and to empower people,
should take the issue of gender very seriously. Many development activists target people but do
not try to understand the different realities of men and women's lives. Even in cases where
women are specially mentioned as the most important target group, proper analysis is seldom
done about the impact a project or policy will have on the lives of women.

Gender allows for a clear gender analysis which helps to identify, understand, and redress
inequities based on gender development initiatives hence sound inclusive development.

An example is a rural job creation project that aimed to deal with the fact that 40% of people in
a community are unemployed. The planners failed to further analyze this figure and did not
realize that in fact only 20% of men were unemployed while a massive 60% of women had no
work. About half the poorest families in the area were also headed by single women. The project
involved employing people to build a 40km road and required that 30% of the workers should be
women. Because of the higher percentage of men employed and the lower level of unemployment,
the project made a big difference to the economic situation of men and their families. The
economic status of single women who headed families was hardly affected. Women who did work
on the project also had great difficulty because they worked long hours and could not attend to
all their other responsibilities such as childcare, cooking, housekeeping, fetching wood and
water, etc. A proper analysis of the needs and conditions of women may have led to a project
that employed more women for shorter hours.

Understanding gender and applying a basic gender analysis are essential tools for development
activists. You do not have to be gender activists who want to work for the emancipation and
equality of women to use a gender analysis.
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Gender enables enhanced social and economic impact of development- Sustainable
development depends on integrating technical and economic considerations with social and
cultural aspects. The active participation of women and men in gathering information
differentiated by gender, and the analysis of this information and the decision-making process,
will lead to a more positive social impact.

The economic impact of the programme will be reinforced because the possibilities for
consolidating and increasing income related to development take into account income-generating
activities carried out by both women and men.

Women often have difficulty in fully participating in development activities due to low levels of
education and lack of direct representation in community decision-making bodies. Efforts to
involve women as both direct participants and beneficiaries can help them gain status within and
outside the context of the project.

Gender increases possibilities for successful action in development interventions-

Development planning that takes into account gender-based division of labour and gender-based
access to resources and control of resources will result in development initiatives based on more
complete information. In addition, it is possible to avoid negative impacts if guarantees exist that
the decisions concerning the initiatives shall involve men and women.

Gender allows for a more efficient use of resources in development- Taking into account
social, technical and economic considerations will ensure that development activities make better
use of often increasingly diminishing resources available. Involving groups and individuals not
normally party to planning and decision-making can often lead to gathering information which
might not be gained.

Gender Parity has become central to the development process everywhere- As the world is
focusing on development as a means of alleviating world poverty, removing particularly gender
inequalities will give the world a better chance to develop. Acknowledging and incorporating
these gender inequalities into programmes and analyses is therefore extremely important, both
from a human rights perspective and to maximize impact and socioeconomic development.

Gender enables development practitioners to determine the behavior and actions of men
and women in a development interventions- Understanding these gender relations and the
power dynamics behind them is a prerequisite for understanding individuals’ access to and
distribution of resources, the ability to make decisions and the way women and men, boys and
girls are affected by political processes and social development.

Gender helps to understand the relationship between men and women in development in
terms of power relations, decision making, control of resources and income in households-
This informs strategic interventions in development. Gender and Development advocates called
for a deeper understanding of the socially constructed basis of gender differences and how this
impacts on relationships between men and women. They argued for an improved understanding
of power relations and the gendered nature of systems and institutions which impact on the lives

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of women and men. Rather than incorporating women into the current patriarchal system, GAD
advocates argued for the transformation of the system into one characterized by gender equality.

Gender allows for prioritization of development initiatives- This is based on considered needs
of men and women, persons with disability, children and widows to have targeted investment
opportunities.

Social and institutional change- Gender affects social and institutional change that leads to
sustainable development with equity and growth.

Policy linkages- Gender allows priorities of men and women to be properly addressed and
integrated into policy documents of development initiatives. This allows for systematic and
coordinated approach to implementation of development interventions.

Data on Gender

It is understood that data is scarce on gender and sex disaggregation. This makes it difficult to
fully understand the experiences of women and men and to ensure that development initiatives
are targeted where they can be most effective.

Further, data disaggregated by age is also infrequently available, making it difficult to

understand differences between women and girls, and men and boys. Some research and
evaluations of development programmes have relied on qualitative data rather than quantitative
data. This reliance is criticized by some groups as not being rigorous enough.

It is important to acknowledge, however, that gender- and age-disaggregation of data is only the
first step. Data and analysis of the power differentials or underlying causes for these differences
is also needed. Ideally, what is required is a mix of quantitative and qualitative data and analysis
that presents evidence of what the differences are and why those differences exist.

Gender Analysis in Development

Gender analysis is the process of assessing the impact that a development programmes may have
on men and women and on gender relations in general (Hunt 2004). It is important in ensuring
that men and women are not disadvantaged by any particular activities or strategies. It also helps
to identify priority areas for action to promote equality while assessing gendered differences in
participation or resource allocation.

Gender analysis also helps to build capacity and commitment to gender equality in development
initiatives contributing to the noble role of gender dynamics in such initiatives.

Development initiatives must mainstream gender both within agencies (institutionally) and
programmes (operationally). Gender mainstreaming is the process of ensuring that gender is
considered at all times. As these are closely interlinked, gender mainstreaming must be
implemented both institutionally and operationally to be successful in development initiatives. It
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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 the 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.

Other roles of gender in development

 Mitigates unforeseen challenges and obstacles in development interventions

 Gender reduces dependency ration in a society
 Gender allows for affirmative action for the marginalized in a society
 Gender allows for equality

Conclusion

Gender considerations in development enhance sustainable development. Sustainable

development must extend to all aspects of women and male contribution; human security
whether environment, economic, social cultural or personal. Sustainable development demands
that priorities of both women and men and vision of development goals and approaches are
clearly addressed, integrated and promoted especially in policies related to education, science,
culture, communication and information.

Consideration in gender is based on three strategic principles:

- Universality - promotion and respect for universal freedoms and right, freedom of
expression and freedom from poverty.
- Diversity – ensuring the respect for cultural diversity and pluralism. The cultural sphere
and the media.
- Participation – ensuring the full participation of women in the emerging knowledge
societies and their involvement in policy dialogue and implementation (UNESCO, 2002).

References
Cornwall, A. (2007). ‘Revisiting the 'Gender Agenda'’, IDS Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 2, pp.69-78
OECD. (2013). Gender equality and women’s rights in the post-2015 agenda: A foundation for
sustainable development. OECD and Post-2015 Reflections. Element 3, Paper 1.
UN Women. (2013). A Transformative Stand-Alone Goal on Achieving Gender Equality,
Women’s Rights and Women’s Empowerment. In the context of the Post-2015
Development framework and Sustainable Development Goals. UN Women.
World Bank. (2012). ‘Overview’ in World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and
Development, World Bank, Washington DC
www.empowerwomen.org accessed on 5th March, 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.
www.unwomen.org accessed on 5th March, 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.

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 First Author (Jack Onyisi Abebe)
Dr. Jack Onyisi Abebe is a Specialist with over eight years of practical experience in knowledge
management and research, programme management and implementation, maintaining networks and
partnerships, monitoring and evaluation, evidence generation, development of content and editing of
communication and internal and external communications tools such as strategies, websites, intranets,
communities of practice, knowledge repositories, knowledge hubs and platforms, publications and
publishing processes and ensuring that quality information is extracted from the documents and
synthesized into best practice models, quick reads and shared with staff and other publics at country,
regional and global levels. He has worked with international development agencies including Pact, CARE
International, Abt Associates, Improve Life International and UN Women as a Regional Manager and a
specialist in knowledge management and research as well as handling the www.empowerwomen.org a
virtual community portfolio and the entire Eastern and Southern Africa knowledge management,
reporting, documentation and research with targeted knowledge management, reporting, documentation
and research interventions focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment. His current work as a
Regional Knowledge Management and Research Specialist and a Regional Manager for UN Women-
Eastern and Southern African Region- involves managing the knowledge management and research
portfolio and analyzing development interventions and managing the day-to-day research, knowledge
generation, mobilization and dissemination, communities of practice building, capacity building for staff
including linking countries in the region to regional priorities, evidence and data that translate to policy
and programming. He has facilitated, organized and has been a panel member on several high profile
meetings including international conferences- Regional Sharefair on Extractives Industries 2015- UN
Women/ AU, Regional Sharefair on Rural Agricultural Technologies 2014- FAO/ WFP/ IFAD/ UN
Women, The SEED Africa Symposium- 2014/2015/2016- The SEED/ UN Women/ UNEP among other
stakeholders, African Youth Dialogue Forum- 2014, CORAT Youth Entrepreneurship Event- Catholic
Church in Nairobi- 2014, African Timeless Conference 2014/ 2015- UN Women/ Timeless, Sustainable
Development, Consultative meeting on developing partnerships with African Universities on Gender
Equality and Women’s Empowerment 2016- UNECA/ UN Women amongst others. He is also the UN
Women Eastern and Southern Africa Focal Point on Sustainable Development Goals and has driven the
agenda of developing various strategies, tools and analysis for SDGs focusing on SDG 5 and other gender
related targets especially with a view on localization and linking SDGs to national, regional and global
development plans and frameworks. He has published several papers and journals which you can find on
diverse online platforms. Can be reached at jackabebe@gmail.com

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