CHAPTER ONE

GOVERNANCE: AN OVER VIEW

1.1. GOVERNANCE: CONCEPTS, GOALS AND PRINCIPLES

"Most agree that the central component of governance is decision-making.”
(Institute on Governance website 2009)

1.1.1. Definitions of governance

The concept of governance-all “term" is essay, forum predictable, catch often and fluid processes
(Institute on Governance website 2009). It is a slippery term with multiple definitions, depending on the
agency using the term or the context in which it is used. However, put simply, governance refers to
decision-making by a range of interested people, or “stakeholders”, including those informal positions of
power” citizens. These and or di decisions have a huge impact on the ways in which women and men
lead their lives, on the rules they are expected to abide by, and on the structures that determine where and
how they work and live. In theory this means that multiple individuals and organizations –or stakeholders
–are involved in strategic planning: “They articulate their interests, influence how decisions are made,
who the decision-makers are and what decisions are taken”(Institute on Governance website 2009;
UNESCAP website 2009). Decision-makers are expected to be guided by this input, and accountable to
the stakeholders for the decisions they make and the way they are implemented through the management
of public affairs and public spending.

"Governance” is, with a various slippery definitions depending term on who is talking about it and the
context in which it is used. Put simply, governance refers to decision-making by a range of interested
people (or „stakeholders”) including those “citizens in. These positions decisions have a huge of impact
power an on the ways in which women and men lead their lives, on the rules they are expected to abide
by, and on the structures that determine where and how they work and live. They also shape how public
resources are allocated and whether services take account of both women probably the first
governance institution that comes to mind is government. Yet it is not only national governments that
make decisions about our lives; global governance institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the
World Trade Organization (WTO) also make decisions about our world, which then influence those made
by national governments. In turn, civil society organizations (CSOs) and citizens play a key role –putting
pressure on governments to take action to challenge gender inequalities, and holding them accountable
for the commitments they make.

1.1.2. What are the goals and principles of governance?

The goals of governance include:-
 Reducing poverty and more equal, democratic, corruption-free societies.
 promote social justice and gender equality,
 Realization of the rights of all citizens.
The principles of governance refers to accountable, transparent, inclusive and responsive
governance institutions are to their citizens. These principles –if defined applied and measured in
ways which reflect gendered concerns –can improve the performance of governance institutions.
For example, inclusive governance processes that meaningfully engage women as well as men
are more likely to result in programs that meet the needs of both, making them more effective.

1.1.3. Why focus on gender and governance?

Our lives and the world we live in are shaped by negotiations with, negotiations between and decisions
by a range of governance institutions. Who has the power to make these decisions? Whose voices are
heard during decision-making processes? What material impacts do these–their decisions h opportunities,
choices, access to rights and resources, and quality of life? Who are the winners and who are the losers?
The answers to these questions tell a story of gender inequality –inequality in decision-making and

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inequality in the outcomes of decisions, wherever they are made. Women are often excluded from
decision-making –whether within the household and community, in local and national government, or
within global institutions such as the United Nations (UN). Even when they are included in these
processes they are struggling to get their voices heard, and having to push for recognition of women's
right hold government to account for their commitments on gender equality. How can governance be
effective if women are unable to exercise their right to participate in making the decisions that affect their
lives and if it does not lead to a more equal world where women's rights are realized?

Changes in governance approaches over the past few decades –with their emphasis on decentralized,
democratized processes and principles of accountability, responsiveness, inclusiveness, equity and
upholding the rule of law –have great potential to enable social transformation. But despite this potential
and some progress in terms of electing more women to decision-making positions in some countries,
most governance institutions are failing to deliver sufficiently on gender discriminatory practices. In
some cases, they are creating further inequalities. For example, trade liberalization policies led by the
World Trade Organization (WTO) may have led to more employment for some women in developing
countries, but these women are often denied their labor rights. In many countries there is still a failure to
recognize rape within marriage as a crime –meaning that perpetrators cannot be called to account.
International frameworks exist to challenge these gender inequalities –in the form of the Convention of
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other human rights
instruments but signatory countries are not putting their commitments into practice, and others are failing
to ratify the relevant conventions.

Actively involving women in defining policies and processes at global, national and local levels, and in
shaping the institutions that produce them, means they are likely to respond to the different needs and
situations of both women and men, and contribute to gender equality. These changes should in turn result
in more gender-sensitive governance. Gender-sensitive governance is also a significant means to broader
social transformation because of the extent to which governance institutions help to shape perceptions of
the roles men and women should play in society. Finally, women’s equal in governance participation is
an important end in itself –it is quite simply a basic right for women who are so often deprived of a voice
in decision-making at all levels.

1.2. Types/Levels of governance

Governance happens at five interconnected levels –the household, community, local and national
government, and global institutions. The institutions and actors involved in governance processes vary
according to the level. For example, at the national level the institutions where governance happens
include businesses, schools, hospitals, the military and the media, as well as the government.

At the local level, governance takes place not only in local government offices but also in community and
household decision-making processes.

At a global level, governance is less easy to locate in particular institutions, but the term "global
governance” is often used to describe the c and rules through which international social and economic
policy is coordinated and regulated. The global sphere includes multinational corporations as well as
international institutions such as the UN agencies and WTO.

From a gender perspective, the inclusion of the household, or "family”, as well as communities as
institutions of governance is essential –this is where many gender inequalities are acted out, shaped by
decisions made at international, national and local levels that define rights and responsibilities.

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1.3. What is effective governance? or ‘good’ governance?
"Good governance means creating well-functioning and accountable institutions –political, judicial and
administrative –which citizens regard as legitimate, in which they participate in decisions that affect
their daily lives and by which they are empowered.” (Annan 1998)
"Good governance implies democratic governance, meaning an agenda for participation, human rights,
and social justice.” (UNIFEM 2008:2)

The terms governance and good governance are often used interchangeably by a range of
organizations –from donor agencies to CSOs. We make “asbeinga about distinction processes of
betwen decision-making, mechanisms and management, while "good” or "effective” refers to governance
the quality of these processes, judged against a set of governance principles (see below).

The notion of good governance is being applied in developed as well as developing countries, as a set of
standards all governance institutions should be striving for, and as a recognition that "bad governance” h
countries. However, it is most commonly used by international development agencies –including bilateral
and multilateral –which link the continuation of poverty in many countries of the South to "bad
governance” viewed as inefficient, undemocratic and often corrupt.

1.4. Principles of effective governance

Different players –including IFIs, bilateral or multilateral donors and CSOs –assess how effective
governance is on the basis of how accountable, transparent, inclusive and responsive, among other such
principles, governance institutions are to citizens. Despite concerns that IFIs and donors may impose their
own notions of "good governance” on developing counties, there is still social justice, and particularly for
enabling greater gender equality. However, they can be far more useful entry points for enabling gender
equality if they are defined, implemented and measured in gender-sensitive ways. To provide a starting
point for the process, definitions of selected principles are provided below, drawing on current
understandings, which tend to be gender blind in that they often do reflect the different needs, roles and
experiences of women and men.

This module focuses on seven governance principles that are fundamental to the overarching goals of
social justice and equality: accountability, transparency, responsiveness, equity, inclusiveness, upholding
rights, and following the rule of law. As all these principles are commonly viewed as contributing to
more democratic governance, understandings of democracy are critically explored and a definition
provided as a foundation for the report. Finally, we address the notion of citizenship, since the principles
all revolve around the notion of citizens as stakeholders in governance.

1. Accountability
Broadly, the notion of accountability means taking responsibility for the outcomes of decisions made, and
being answerable for failures to meet expectations. For example, the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC) is playing a strong role in facilitating public sector reform in Laos. Notably, SDC is
working closely with the Lao government to build capacity on gender and ensure it is mainstreamed
throughout its work.

Accountable governance means that those involved in governance decision-making in the public and
private sector are expected to adhere to publicly agreed standards, norms and goals, which may include
international agreements such as CEDAW, and citizens or "stakeholders” are entitled to demand
accountability when this does not happen. Governance decision-makers need to justify the way they have
designed, administered and implemented policies, and the way they have allocated and spent financial
resources –for example, by giving an account of what they have done with the national revenue or
through an assessment of specific performance measures. If they have not met their obligations,
corrective action can be taken, which might entail voting politicians out of office or setting up a judicial

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enquiry. CSOs at local, national and international levels are often expected to play a key „watchdog
processes through formal procedures such as CEDAW Shadow Reporting as well as through lobbying
policymakers.

2. Transparency
In support of accountability, transparency literally means that citizens should be able to "see through “the
workings of governance institutions. This means making information freely available and not preventing
citizens from seeking or sharing information. Transparent procedures include holding open meetings,
issuing publicly available financial disclosure statements, passing freedom of information legislation and
conducting budgetary reviews.

3. Inclusiveness
Inclusiveness is often linked to participation, equity and diversity. Inclusiveness primarily refers to
enabling people prone to marginalization –including women –to participate equally in governance
institutions and practices by voting freely in elections, by standing as elected representatives or through
their involvement in other forms of governance planning and administration. Inclusiveness is as much
about increasing citizen involvement in informal processes such as local consultations as it is about
involvement in formal institutions.

4. Equity
Closely linked to inclusiveness, equity refers specifically to the right of all citizens' to have an equal say
in governance processes, and to benefit equally from their outcomes. This means ensuring that decision-
making is informed by all voices, including those of the most vulnerable, and that resources are shared in
ways that meet everyone's needs. Equity is a goal as well as a principle of governance.

5. Responsiveness
Responsiveness in governance means acting on the information gathered through participatory processes
in ways that benefit all citizens. This means actively listening to what citizens are saying, and providing
services and policies that meet their diverse needs.

6. Upholding rights
Governance institutions need to guarantee the full protection of human rights –particularly of vulnerable
or marginalized people –as endorsed through the various elements of the UN human rights framework,
which include CEDAW and various other instruments that set out the minimum rights that individuals
should expect in different situations and circumstances. The realization of rights should also be a goal of
governance. In fact the establishment and implementation of rights frameworks are at the centre of the
work of some global governance institutions –such as the International Criminal Court, the UN and some
of its agencies, such as the International Labor Organization (ILO). Some argue, however, that notions of
universal rights contradict cultural norms and understandings. This argument has been applied by some
countries that have either failed to ratify international rights conventions such as the 1948 Declaration of
Human Rights and CEDAW, or who disagree with aspects of the conventions by placing reservations on
certain articles

7. Following the rule of law

When governance institutions follow the rule of law this means that they abide by fair legal frameworks
that are established through a consensus process and do not discriminate against anyone in society. These
laws must be enforced through impartial bodies, so require the establishment of an independent judiciary
and a police force that is not corrupt.

1.5. Why is gender-sensitive governance so important?

We need effective governance, underpinned by the principles outlined above, at all levels –from the

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global to the local, in developed and developing countries. How can governance be effective if it does not
lead to a more equal world where women have choices and their rights are realized? How can it be
effective if it does not take account of and respond to the differing needs and priorities of women and
men in public spending, policies, legislation and treaties? How can it be effective if women are unable to
exercise their right to participate in making the decisions that affect their lives?

1.6 .Challenges of good governance in gender

1. Failure to tackle entrenched gender inequalities
While there has been some progress, policies and legislation are still not eliminating gender inequalities.
For example, trade liberalization policies led by the WTO may have led to more employment for some
women in developing countries, but these women are often denied their labor rights. Another is the
continuing failure in many countries to recognize rape within marriage as a crime. While the international
frameworks exist to challenge these gender inequalities –in the form of the UN”s Convention on the
Elimin Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other human rights instruments –signatory
countries are not putting their commitments into practice, and others are failing to ratify them.

2. Decision-making is dominated by men

There are still far fewer women than men with the power to make decisions in governance institutions. In
2008, the world average of women in Parliaments was only 17.8 per cent. In the highest decision-making
bodies of European Union central banks, there are five times as many men as women. Local government-
initiated consultative processes also often fail to engage women sufficiently. Even decision-makers in
CSOs tend to be men.

3. Governance processes often exclude people with caring responsibilities –primarily women
The working arrangements of governance institutions are usually inflexible, making it difficult for
women to balance their work with unpaid caring responsibilities. In turn, the processes designed to
engage citizens in decision-making –such as participatory budgeting –can exclude women by failing to
provide crèches or other facilities.

4. Women are not treated equally in governance institutions and processes

Even when women are involved, they are often kept on the margins of decision-making or are confined to
„s policy areas such as health and education. This marginalization is also prevalent in CSOs and in local
government participatory processes.

5. What would gender-sensitive governance look like?

Gender-sensitive governance requires that gender are at equality the heart of the goals and practices of
governance. Policies and legislation should address the differing needs, interests, priorities and
responsibilities of women and men, as well as their unequal economic and social power. As already
noted, establishing clear, gendered understandings of the principles associated with effective governance
is important, but these principles need to be incorporated into the kinds of concrete approaches outlined
below.
6. Enabling more women to participate in governance

7. Changing the governance institutions themselves

A thorough gender analysis of everyday institutional practices is a good way to uncover attitudes,
behavior, thinking and policies that are discriminatory or gender-blind. Likely institutional changes
needed include:

 making rights more central to governance institutions and processes, with stronger systems of
accountability for honoring international commitments such as CEDAW;
 ensuring that policies are responsive to all citizens, informed by participatory processes that

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 identify the different needs of women and men;
 ensuring that all governance processes are transparent and accountable on gender inequality;
 building the capacity of women and men in governance institutions to understand gender issues –
in turn developing the political will needed to bring about change; and
 Promoting greater flexibility around working hours and ensuring free or affordable childcare
facilities are available and accessible.

8. changing mindsets –governance is for all

Finally, we need to break down existing ideas of governance as the domain of privileged men –removed
from the realities of ordinary people –and inspire both women and men to identify their own potential
roles in bringing about a transformed, more equal society.

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CHAPTER TWO
WOMEN IN DECISION MAKING AND LEADERSHIP
2.0. Introduction
People have always been questioning or having some sort of prejudice about whether or not there could
exist a difference in leadership behavior and effectiveness of men and women. This has for long period
resulted in continued discrimination of women in being selected as leaders up until very recently. Thus,
we still need read about leadership effectiveness once again but this time focusing mainly on women
leaders. The first three sections will discuss the concept gender in line with our central point of
discussion-leadership followed by closely related discussion sex-based discriminations that females face
in an attempt of holding leadership positions or in playing the role in general; and the deference in
behavior that men and women demonstrate in playing their leadership roles. The roles and contributions
of women in leadership will constitute the respective last two sections.

2.1. Concept of Leadership

Studies on leadership usually start with the idea that leaders are necessary for the functioning of
organizations, ranging from families to nations. Although people may not agree on the qualities of a
‘good’ leader, everybody seems to accept the idea that any group of people implies the existence of a
leader whether formally recognized or informally respected. According to Klenke (1996), leadership has
been historically conceptualized as the “man on the white horse”, to imply that the study of leadership has
been seen as the study of “great men”.

Additionally, it has been the study of political leadership exercised by a privileged group of “great men”
who defined power, authority and knowledge. This author describes how the concept of leadership has
been emphasized in the political sphere up to the level of thinking that there are no legitimate leadership
positions, roles or functions in the context of social movements, family or community and volunteer
organizations, contexts in which women have historically exercised leadership. Therefore, leadership is
viewed through the lenses of lives, prestige, courage and grandeur of those men that are known in politics
regardless of women who have been also performing well not only in politics but also in other leadership
positions like education, health care, industry, business, etc.

2.1.1. Definition of leadership

The manner, in which the phenomenon of leadership has been defined, has later influenced all studies in
relations to the concept. All measures, indicators, metaphors and symbols that have been applied to the
concept of leadership were established based on the definition given by Klenke (1996). It is true that
leadership implies different things to different people; and as Klenke said, the concept has always been
characterized by complexity and ambiguity. Therefore, though the call for leadership may be universal,
individuals, groups, organizations, and nations agree that there is little clarity concerning what the term
means. According to Bolman and Deal (1991), many definitions of leadership suggest an unquestioned,
widely shared canon of common sense that holds leadership as a good thing and that we need more of it.
As mentioned by the authors, for many people, leadership implies power, control, goal achievement,
motivation and vision. They strongly underline the fact that such kind of definition has traditionally
excluded women. The following are some of the formal definitions of leadership in scholarly literature of
the twentieth century:

 Leadership is both a personality phenomenon and a group phenomenon; it is also a social process
involving a number of persons in mental contact in which one person assumes dominance over the
others. It is the process in which the activities of the many are organized to move in specific direction
by one. It is the process in which the attitudes and the values of the many may be changed by the one.
It is the process in which at every stage the follower exert an influence, often a changing counter-
influence, upon the leaders (Bogardus, 1934, p. 5)

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 Leadership is “the influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with the routine
directives of the organization” (Katz & Kahn, 1978, p. 528).
 Leadership is “a particular type of power relationship characterized by a group member’s perception
that another group member has the right to prescribe behavior patterns for the former regarding his
activity as a group member” (Janda, 1960, p. 358).
 Leadership is “an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that
reflect their mutual purposes” (Rost, 1991, p. 102). This is one of the relatively recent definitions
which emphasize the role of followers.

It is essential to note that some feminist scholars such as Burns (1978) and Carroll (1984) define
leadership as a form of power. There are as well many other definitions that equate leadership with an
effective leader. This implies that they equate the process and the person. Another aspect of the
definitions is educational functions; the leaders are at all times expected to communicate to their
followers the knowledge they have acquired through their education. According to Northouse (2001)
there are significant components that are considered to be central to the phenomenon of leadership.

From Klenke’s idea, there is no one universal definition of leadership. The meaning of the concept is
shaped by the culture and the context. The argument here is that leadership has been changing its meaning
throughout history and in various societies. For instance, in traditional, hierarchical organizational
structures, leadership is defined on the foundation of position power of the top leader, top-down
communication and the status differentiation between the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the rest of
the employees. Nowadays, that hierarchical organization structure is starting to be replaced by the
networked organizations in which leadership is defined on the basis of leader-follower relations which are
structured around collaboration, teamwork, and empowerment.

2.1.2. Gender and Leadership

What is a gender student? We hope you have some idea that it has little to do with the biological
differences between a man and a woman any way. Of course gender is an attribute which has a social
environment origin. It’s a mere attachment of roles to a man or a woman; by a certain group of people o a
society at large. Gender has got a wide range of acceptance to be an issue of study today more than ever.
A possible difference between men and women in leadership behavior and effectiveness too has been a
pointed out by Dubrin 2007. According to him, gender refers to perceptions about the differences among
males and females. An example would be believing that women managers tend to be better listeners than
their male peers. Gender difference refers to roles that men and women occupy. Sex difference however
refers to actual (objective and quantitative) differences, such as the fact that the mean; height of men
exceeds that of women. Nevertheless the term gender and sex are still used interchangeably in general
usage and to some extent in scholarly writings.

As seen from the beginning of this curriculum, gender is the historical, social and cultural construction of
what it means to be a man/boy and to be a woman/girl. An important point to be mentioned here is that
gender has been defined “by default” to mean that what is attributed to one gender is typically denied to
the other or perceived as abnormal (Gherardi, 1994). Gherardi mentioned that in the study of leadership,
gender has been used in ways other than strictly categorical variable distinguishing women leaders from
their male counterparts. Women have been excluded in many disciplines engaged in the study of
leadership, they have been ignored as research participants in empirical studies, and their contributions to
society and to the understanding of leadership have been belittled, ridiculed, and distorted.

As the author has stated, the topic of women and leadership has until fairly recently been rarely
approached in empirical research. Most leadership research preceding the 1980s was carried out by men
and dealt almost exclusively with male leaders, variously defined as supervisors, managers,
administrators, or commanders. Similarly, almost all theories of leadership, past and present, have been

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developed by men, but in recent literature, we find a number of feminists who started to write on women
in the field of leadership. Apart from that, much of the knowledge of leadership has been drawn from the
description and analysis of male leaders reported by male researchers (Gherardi & Poggio, 2009).

Actually, for many people, even some scholars, leadership is synonymous to masculinity, and for some of
them, the term “women leader” is itself an anomaly. As Samara Singhe (2000) says, since time
immemorial, the history of the world is told as the history of great men who created what the masses
desired to achieve. And few exceptional cases of women leaders have had no place in history. This has
recently started changing since feminists are now bringing the gender aspect of the history of leadership.

Yet again in relation to gender, it is important to note that leadership is also influenced by the prevailing
context, a situation in which leadership emerges and is exercised. Different times call for different leaders
and different types of leadership; it is the context that influences what leaders must do and what they can
do. As a result, the analysis of women and leadership has consisted of examining different contexts such
as history, politics, technology, economics, media and many others. Contextual factors set the boundaries
within which leaders and followers interact and determine to what extent women can partake in
leadership (Gherardi & Poggio, 2009).

As these authors say, depending on the context, women can be encouraged to stand for leadership
positions and become influential in creating a conductive climate to the acceptance of women as leaders.
However, situational factors are also the ones to determine whether a woman leader is bringing that
conducive climate or if she is just fitting in the existing patriarchal system.

2.2. Sex-Based Discrimination in Selection of Leaders

Society still has sex-based discrimination practice in selecting candidates for professional jobs including
leadership. The belief that men are more competent than women in leadership has its age-old wrong
assumptions. These wrong beliefs included assumptions about the traits and skills required for effective
leadership in organizations (implicit theories), assumptions about inherent differences between men and
women (gender stereotypes), and assumptions about appropriate behavior for men and women (role
expectations).

a) Implicit theories: Biased beliefs about skills and behaviors necessary for effective leadership are
one reason for sex based discrimination. For a long time it was assumed that effective leaders
must be; confident, task-oriented, competitive, objective, decisive, and assertive, all of which
were traditionally viewed as masculine attributes. Effective leaders also require strong
interpersonal skills, concern for building cooperative, trusting relationships, and; use of behaviors
traditionally viewed as feminine. For example, we may think of qualities such as being
supporting, relationships,, and empowering- coaching and mentoring and career consultation).
However, today as popular conceptions of effective leadership become more accurate and
comprehensive role expectations of leaders will be less gender biased to the same proportion.

b) Stereotypes and role expectations: Sex-based discrimination in leadership selection reflects the
influence of popular stereotypes and role expectations for men and women. For a long time
women were assumed to be unable or unwilling to use the masculine behaviors considered
essential behaviors for effective leadership. Some laboratory studies according to Yukl a2006
found that even when women leaders use masculine behaviors, they are evaluated less favorably
than men who use them. The experience of working for men and women leaders over a period of
time can reduce the effect of gender stereotypes on evaluations of the leaders.

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 c) Other explanations Other wrong explanations for thinking that women leaders might not make
effective leadership include: lack of opportunity to gain experience and visibility in types of
positions that would facilitate advancement; higher standards of performances for women than
for men; exclusion of women from informal net-works that aid advancement; lack of
encouragement and opportunity for developmental activities; lack of opportunity for effective
mentoring; difficulties created by competing family demands; a lack of strong action by top
management to ensure equal opportunity; an intentional effort as by some men to retain control
of most powerful positions for themselves. The explanations are not mutually exclusive, and they
may combine to make things worse for female leaders.
a. Gender Differences in Leadership Behavior
Women generally tend to describe themselves in transformational terms. They helped subordinates
develop commitment for broader goals than their own self-interest. They describe their influence more in
terms of personal characteristics like charisma and interpersonal skills than mere organizational position.

Such women leaders encourage participation and shared power and information, which is a typical
indication of interactive leadership. This is a big plus for women as seen from their men counterparts.
Men describe themselves in somewhat transactional terms, viewing leadership as an exchange with
subordinates for services rendered. They influence others primarily through their organizational position
and authority.

2.3. The Role of Women in Handling Effective Leadership

Stereotypic as it may to address it without first conducting serious of in-depth analyses; we prefer to
refrain from putting leadership effectiveness roles that were said to have been played by women.
Nevertheless, the same way men were told for; we can cite some studies to give the following leadership
effectiveness areas that women might be best at. According to proponents of this view women are more
concerned with consensus building, inclusiveness, and interpersonal relations: they are more willing to
develop and nurture subordinate and share power with them.

Nevertheless, as we have already point out that gender differences are having social environmental rather
than biological basis it would be quiet sensible to link leadership effectiveness roles of women to those
points that make effective leader behaviors and attributes. These include attributes (traits, skills and
behaviors) integrity (honesty, trustworthy, just), visionary (show foresight, plan ahead), inspirational
(positive, dynamic, encourages, motivates, builds confidence), decisive, diplomatic (effective bargainer,
look for win-win solutions), achievement oriented, team integrator, and administrative skills. So women
play these roles.

In fact according to Yukl 2006, there are some other culture specific attributes leaders need possess which
female leaders by default need possess as well in the particular culture. These include: ambitious,
cautious, compassionate, domineering, formal, independent, indirect intuitive, logical, orderly, risk taker,
self-effacing, self-sacrificing, sensitive, status conscious, and willful.

2.4. Contributions of Women in Effective Leadership

Let’s now see the following facts unlike the stereotypic views on gender and leadership. It would make
clear that women are taking on leadership roles in greater number than ever before.

“In the United States, for example, 42 percent of the women who have ever served there were holding
office in 2003. Around the world, 43 of the 59 women ever to serve as presidents or prime ministers came
into office since 1990. The interesting proportion of women in leadership is evident outside of
government as well.” In 1972 women hold 18 percent of managerial administrative positions in the
United States, but by 2002 the figure had risen to 46 percent.”

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Source: Harvard Business Review, 2002 as cited in Hughes, et. al. 2006

Both the traditionally feminine and masculine leadership attributes, values, skills and behaviors As the
definition of effective leadership thus becomes more and more comprehensive by way of enlisting both
categories of attributes the bias soon fades away. Moreover, as conditions have already changed with time
it seems today that the traditionally feminine attributes are being required in a much more volume than
the masculine ones.

In other words, women if given the chance can effectively take over and handle complex leadership
matters in a better way using their strong attributes.

Generally, while it’s important to hammer the belief that women can equally succeed in effective
leadership to that of men, it would require strong empirical evidence before making any conclusion that
one sex is more competent in certain attributes, values, skills and behaviors than the other sex. The
important issue here is that women as well can contribute efficiently and effectively including in the area
of leadership.

Let’s now attempt to briefly discuss the Contributions of Ethiopian Women as Leaders. Obviously, recent
leadership history of Ethiopia is obviously men-dominated. Nevertheless, Ethiopia is a country that
history witnessed to have had a number of far-sighted and successful women leaders. One among them is
Queen Sheba /Negest Saba/ who gave birth to Emperor Menilik I, the Son of King Solomon of Judah.
Queen Yodit/Gudit/ of the Zagwe Dynasty is the other. Queen Fura of the Sidama people is not the last
one too. Each of them had led both women and men of their period to accomplish their purposes.

Of course the above is more connected with state leadership. Other recent examples of best leaders that
Ethiopia have had include Abebech Gobena-a woman in charge of running a famous Orphanage Non-
Government Organization. This still represents the private sector and women’s contribution in the field
of leadership in Ethiopia. Leadership in the Ethiopian public sector sounds little researched so far so long
as my reading is concerned. However, it should not be taken for non-presence as there are wonderful
women professionals here and there as can be noted from the media.

2.5. Global Context of Women’s Political Participation

Quoting the United Nations Deputy Secretary General Asha Rose Migiro, “when women are empowered,
all of society benefit” (National Democratic Institute, 2010). With this in mind, the empowerment of
women has drawn a lot of global attention. There are international instruments that have addressed
women’s equal political participation, such as Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(United Nations, 1948), which expresses that everyone has the right to take part in their country’s
government. As well, Article 7 of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women, under the United Nations Resolution 34/180, declares that there should be no form of
discrimination against women in terms of equal political participation. The article calls on all state parties
to take all measures necessary to protect women against inequity. Additionally, the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325 calls on all actors involved in negotiating peace agreements or writing
constitutions to guarantee that women’s equitable participation is fully addressed. There are other ways to
ensuring political parity in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 2 and 7), the
third Millennium Development Goal and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995);
however, none of these have helped women succeed in attaining the target of 30 percent of seats in
parliament.

A report of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) indicates that the global average of female
parliamentarians in 2010 was 19.1 percent (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2010). In 2000, the average was

11
only 13.1 percent. The IPU report also indicates that the election of female heads of state in some
countries has not translated into increased parliamentary representation. A good example of this situation
is the Philippines. Whereas they have had two female presidents in the last 25 years, only 22 percent of
the lower house is made up of women and the upper house is home to only 13 percent.

Another issue raised in the IPU 2010 report is that the legal framework can have an impact on the result
of elections. Accordingly, electoral quotas and proportional representation within a legal framework have
proven to be the most effective in increasing the electability of women. Increasing the number of female
candidates while using a “first-past-the-post” electoral system does not increase the odds that women will
obtain 30 percent of seats in parliament. For instance, during the 2010 mid-term election in the United
States, the Democratic Party fielded more than 70 percent of women candidates, who lost seats. This
therefore indicates that more women on the ballot does not necessarily translate into more women being
elected, especially when they are not fielded by popular parties at a particular point in time (Inter-
Parliamentary Union, 2010).

Meanwhile, a United Nations report on promoting women’s participation in elections has outlined key
elements of electoral processes affecting the participation of women in elections. The legal framework is
one key element that could facilitate or deny gender parity in political governance. The legal framework
for elections, in addition to the national constitution, includes the electoral system which is the means by
which votes are calculated into seats. Categorized into 12 different units, electoral systems can be
grouped into three broad families: a plurality/majority, proportional representation and mixed systems
(International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2006). Research has indicated that of the
three families of electoral systems, the proportional representation (list PR) is most appropriate in terms
of gender equity and governance. The United Nation’s report shows that 14 of the 20 top nations in which
women were significantly represented in parliament use quotas and the list PR system. The quotas, or a
reserved seat system, have been effective in Rwanda, South Africa and several Arab countries in
enhancing women’s participation. However, legal frameworks for many other countries, including
Zambia, have no PR system or gender quotas. The general mentality is that countries that include seat
quotas for gender parity do so to compensate for other barriers that prevent women from getting their fair
share of political seats. Nonetheless, other countries believe this allocation of seats to women, without
going through the regular electoral process is discriminatory and undemocratic (Dahlerup, 2002).

The second element that could assist or deny gender equity in political governance is general political
participation. Advocacy, activism, training and the internal democracy of political parties have been
identified as items central to increasing women’s political participation (Cole, 2011, p. 14)

According to Samara Singhe (2000), a number of women who accede to political office and celebrate
their individual visibility, is still very low. Politics is still considered a “man’s game and government as a
men’s club” (Samara Singhe, 2000, p. 2). Whilst every female who gains political leadership is expected
by her fellow women to enhance women’s rights and bring about solutions to women issues, some
women leaders are criticized by other women as well as men, of perpetuating gender inequalities or
promoting and sustaining the patriarchal way of leading rather than promoting women’s participation and
involvement in politics and development in general, especially at the grassroots levels. Some women who
have acceded to Presidency include Ellen Johnson Sir Leaf of Liberia (2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner),
Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Michael Bachelet of Chile, and Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica.

Wangari Mathaai of Kenya never acceded to Presidency but was a renowned leader for her bid in
protecting the environment through her Greenbelt Movement. She was the first African woman to win the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. The Greenbelt Movement has been carried out primarily by women in villages
of Kenya. The women have planted over 10 million trees to prevent soil erosion and provide firewood for
cooking fires.

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CHAPTER THREE:
WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
3.0. Introduction

Women’s movements have been among the most vibrant social movements across the world challenging
entrenched power dynamics in the most intimate relationship between men and women and within
families, as well as questioning the broader political and economic systems and structures that perpetuate
the inequalities of the majority of the world’s population. The origins of women’s movements are rooted
in women’s awareness of and dissatisfaction with their subordinate position in patriarchal societies.
Women are oppressed and their status and potential are downgraded in such societies.

3.1. Feminist political movements (suffrage movements)

3.3.1. Feminist movements at Global level

Feminist scholars in the west have been dividing the history of well-organized women’s movements in to
three waves. The first wave of women’s movements emerged in the mid 1800’s in the United States (US)
and United Kingdom (UK). The second wave of women’s movement began in the 1960’s and 1970’s in
both Europe and US. In the US, second wave activists were inspired to some extent by the successes of
the civil rights movements as well as the politics of the antiwar movement and student for a democratic
society.

The movement consisted of various group of political activists pursuing different goals, often tied to other
concerns such as moral reform or abolition. In the 1830’s the abolitionists saw a clear link between
freedom for slaves and freedom for women. From their work in the abolitionist movement, women
learned how to organize a political movement. The suffrage movement was also started with a demanded
of equal vote for women as for men. But after the right of suffrage won in 1920, the movement lost much
of its public momentum, and many say lay dormant up to the rebirth of feminism in the US in the 1960’s.
The third wave of the women’s movement emerged in the early 1990’s in response to perceived failures
and backlash against initiatives and movements created by the second wave of the women’s movements.
It is an activist movement mainly in the US and is still in infancy.

In this part of the chapter, we shall focus our journey on the modern feminist waves from the 19th to the
21st century and underscore continuities as well as disruptions. Our starting point is what most feminist
scholars consider the “first wave.” First-wave feminism arose in the context of industrial society and
liberal politics but is connected to both the liberal women’s rights movement and early socialist feminism
in the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States and Europe. Concerned with access and equal
opportunities for women, the first wave continued to influence feminism in both Western and Eastern
societies throughout the 20th century. We then move on to the second wave of feminism, which emerged
in the 1960s to 1970s in postwar Western welfare societies, when other “oppressed” groups such as
Blacks and homosexuals were being defined and the New Left was on the rise. Second-wave feminism is
closely linked to the radical voices of women’s empowerment and differential rights and, during the
1980s to 1990s, also to a crucial differentiation of second-wave feminism itself, initiated by women of
color and third-world women. We end our discussion with the third feminist wave, from the mid-1990s
onward, springing from the emergence of a new postcolonial and post socialist world order, in the context
of information society and neoliberal, global politics. Third-wave feminism manifests itself in “girl”
rhetoric, which seeks to overcome the theoretical question of equity or difference and the political
question of evolution or revolution, while it challenges the notion of “universal woman-hood” and
embraces ambiguity, diversity, and multiplicity in transversal theory and politics.

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3.3.2. Three Waves of Feminism: From Suffragettes to Girls
1. The First Feminist Wave: Votes for Women
During World War I, members of the National Women’s Party (NWP) protest outside the White House
with confrontational banners accusing the government of undemocratic practices. Germany had already
granted women suffrage, but the United States—the proponent of freedom and democracy for all—had
yet to enfranchise half of its citizens. The banner created an outrage, the police received orders to arrest
the picketers, and onlookers destroyed the banner (Campbell, 1989). Comparing Germany to the United
States was treachery. However, the picketers did receive some sympathy—after all, well-dressed, well-
educated, White, middle-class women were going to jail. This was no way to treat ladies!

The demonstrators knew what they were doing: Dressed in their Sunday best, they offered no resistance
to the police and thus both appalled and appealed to the public. They personified White, middle-class
femininity, while engaging in very unfeminine and less-than-bourgeois practices. The action was inspired
by radical agitator Alice Paul (1885–1977), who introduced militant tactics to the NWP: parades,
marches, picketing (mainly the White House) as well as watch fires to burn President Wilson’s speeches .
Alice Paul’s tactics were confrontational but also clever, and they were a thorn in the side of President
Wilson, who much preferred the less radical tactics of the National American Women’s Suffrage
Association (NAWSA).

The first wave of feminism in the United States was characterized by diverse forms of intervention that
have continued to inspire later feminist movements. But despite the activist talents of Alice Paul, the
organizational skills of Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947), president of NAWSA, and the splendid
oratory of Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919), also a former president of NAWSA, it was a long struggle
before women won the vote in 1920 (Campbell, 1989). The struggle went as far back as the Seneca Falls
Convention in New York in 1848, during which more than 300 men and women assembled for the
nation’s first women’s rights convention. The Seneca Falls Declaration was outlined by Elizabeth Cady
Stanton (1815–1902), claiming the natural equity of women and outlining the political strategy of equal
access and opportunity. This declaration gave rise to the suffrage movement.

In the early stages, the first wave of feminism in the United States was interwoven with other reform
movements, such as abolition and temper it was also supported by Black women abolitionists, such as
Maria Stewart (1803–1879), Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), and Frances E. W. Harper (1825–1911),
who agitated for the rights of women of color. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and several others from the more
radical parts of the women’s rights movement appeared as delegates to the National Labor Union
Convention as early as 1868, before any successful attempts to organize female labor .

When women’s rights activists gradually realized that disenfranchisement severely hampered reformatory
efforts, they became determined to rectify this obvious injustice. Still, for women to gain the vote was a
highly controversial issue. Even well-meaning skeptics feared that it would mean a setback for men of
color, who were also at that time campaigning for enfranchisement, not to mention southerners’ fears that
the thousands of illiterate women of color would also claim their rights. Thus, although women of color
continued to participate and representatives such as Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) and Mary Church
Terrell (1868–1954) also strove to show how the linkage of sexism and racism functioned as the main
means of White male dominance, the first wave of feminism consisted largely of White, middle-class,
well-educated women.

This tendency was only reinforced by the counterstrikes of both the abolitionist movement and the
working unions to also keep women involved in these movements. Furthermore, the Civil War in the
United States and, later on, both World War I and World War II meant a severe backlash for women’s
rights, as the focus then became demands of national unity and patriotism.

14
Suffragists confronted stereotypes of women and, in particular, claims of proper female behavior and talk.
First, they engaged in public persuasion, which in those days was considered most unwomanly. Campbell
(1989) put it this way: “No ‘true woman’ could be a public persuader”. Second, their very activity
challenged the “cult of domesticity,” which in those days dictated that a true woman’s place was in the
home, meeting the needs of husband and children. Women were further required to be modest and to
wield only indirect influence, and certainly not engage in public activities. So, when a woman spoke in
public, she was, by definition, displaying masculine behaviors. She was even ignoring her biological
weaknesses— a smaller brain and a more fragile physique—which she was supposed to protect in order
to ensure her reproductive abilities. Such claims led some women’s rights activists to argue that women
should indeed gain the right to vote from an argument of expediency.

This argument was based on the claim that women and men are, in fact, fundamentally different and that
women have a natural disposition toward maternity and domesticity. However, the argument ran that it
would therefore be advantageous to society to enfranchise women, so they would then enrich politics with
their “innately” female concerns. Furthermore, if women had the vote, the argument ran, they would
perform their roles as mothers and housewives even better. On the other hand, we find another well-used
argument: justice. Following this argument, women and men are, at least in legal terms, equal in all
respects; therefore, to deny women the vote was to deny them full citizenship.

Some first-wave feminists pursued the argument of women’s innate moral superiority, thus embracing
what might be called “difference first-wave feminism.” This argument was part of a sophisticated rhetoric
of equity, developed simultaneously in Europe and in the United States, which shared the modern,
Western political framework of enlightenment and liberalism, anchored in universalism. From this point
of view, patriarchy was understood as a fiasco that was both non-rational and non-profitable and thereby
illegitimate, but nevertheless reinforced women’s marginal societal status and domination and made
women a cultural emblem of deficiency. Politically, this view led to the claim that women and men
should be treated as equals and that women should not only be given acknowledged for their
contributions and competencies. This concept is often called “equal-opportunities feminism” or “equity
feminism,” and it is characterized by the lack of distinction between sex and gender. Even though bio-
logical differences were understood to form the basis of social gender roles, they were not considered a
threat to the ideal of human equity, and biological differences were therefore not accepted as theoretically
or politically valid reasons for discrimination.

One of the earliest manifestations of liberal first-wave feminism in Europe, Mary Wollstonecraft’s A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), was written in the wake of the French Revolution and is still
read as a seminal text. Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929) and Simone de Beauvoir’s The
Second Sex (1949) are central to the canon as well, even though both authors were also laying the
groundwork for radical second-wave feminism. Woolf introduced the notion of female bisexuality and a
unique woman’s voice and writing, Beauvoir the notion of women’s radical otherness or, rather, the
cognitive and social process of “othering” women as the second sex in patriarchal societies. We would
say that Beauvoir thereby produced an authoritative definition of patriarchy.

Parallel to this strand of liberal first-wave feminism, a distinct socialist/ Marxist feminism developed in
workers’ unions in the United States, in reformist social-democratic parties in Europe, and during the rise
of communism in the former Soviet Union. It was initiated by, among others, Rosa Luxemburg (1870–
1919) in Germany, Alexandra Kollontai (1873–1952) in Russia, and anarchist Emma Goldman (1869–
1940) in the United States.

15
Both liberal and socialist/Marxist feminism continued to develop and maintain strong voices in 20th-
century feminism, though they were soon challenged by other types of feminism, as we are going to see
below. The concept of equal opportunity framed a particular type of equity research, which arose outside
the academy in the first half of the 20th century, and gradually provided the basis for a growing field of
research in “the women issue.” Following the scientific paradigm of structuralism as a set of ways and
means of knowing, equity research initially took the basic format of muted group theory.

2. The Second Feminist Wave: “The Personal Is Political”

The term second-wave feminism refers mostly to the radical feminism of the women’s liberation
movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Presentation of second-wave feminism with the first
harbinger of a new feminism and the most publicized event in the United States: the protests associated
with the Miss America Pageants in 1968 and 1969 (Freeman, 1975). Inspired by the tactics of the more
activist parts of liberal feminism, radical second-wave feminists also used performance (e.g., underground
or Guerilla Theater) to shed light on what was now termed “women’s oppression.”

The Redstockings, the New York Radical Feminists, and other significant feminist groups joined the
1969 protest to show how women in pageant com-petitions were paraded like cattle, highlighting the
underlying assumption that the way women look is more important than what they do, what they think, or
even whether they think at all. Marching down the Atlantic City boardwalk and close to the event itself,
feminists staged several types of theatrical activism: crowning a sheep Miss America and throwing
“oppressive” gender artifacts, such as bras, girdles, false eyelashes, high heels, and makeup, into a trash
can in front of reporters. Carrying posters reading, “Cattle Parades Are Degrading to Human Beings,”
“Boring Job: Woman Wanted,” and “Low Pay: Woman Wanted,” feminists made their message loud and
clear: Women were victims of a patriarchal, commercialized, oppressive beauty culture. It was a perfectly
staged media event. A small group of women bought tickets to the pageant show and smuggled in a
banner that read “WOMEN’S LIBERATION,” while shouting “Freedom for Women” and “No More
Miss America,” hereby exposing the public to an early second-wave feminist agenda.

Radical second-wave feminism cannot, however, be discussed separately from other movements of the
1960s and 1970s. In fact, it grew out of leftist movements in postwar Western societies, among them the
student protests, the anti–Vietnam War movement, the lesbian and gay movements, and, in the United
States, the civil rights and Black power movements. These movements criticized “capitalism” and
“imperialism” and focused on the notion and interests of “oppressed” groups: the working classes,
Blacks, and in principle, also women and homosexuals.

In the New Left, however, women found themselves reduced to servicing the revolution, cut off from
real influence and thus, once again, exposed to sexism. This was now understood as a separate oppression
experienced by women in addition to racism, “classicism,” and was later renamed “heterosexism.” As a
consequence, they formed women-only “rap” groups or consciousness-raising groups, through which they
sought to empower women both collectively and individually using techniques of sharing and contesting,
explained in “The BITCH Manifesto” and the first second-wave publication, Sisterhood is Powerful,
edited by Robin Morgan in 1970. This type of activity and rhetoric was typical to the second-wave
movement and in particular to the Redstockings, who created their name by combining bluestockings, a
pejorative term for educated and otherwise strong-minded women in the 18th and 19th centuries, with
red, for social revolution. The Redstockings was one of the influential but short-lived radical feminist
groups of the 1960 to 1970s and produced many of the expressions that have become household words in
the United States: “Sisterhood is powerful,” “consciousness raising,” “The personal is political,” “the
politics of housework,” the “pro-woman line,” and so on. Key to this branch of feminism was a strong
belief that women could collectively empower one other.

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Radical second-wave feminism was theoretically based on a combination of neo-Marxism and
psychoanalysis, outlined by feminist scholars such as Juliet Mitchell in The Subjection of Women (1970)
and Shulamith Firestone in The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970). They
claimed that patriarchy is inherent to bourgeois society and that sexual difference is more fundamental
than class and race differences. They even claimed that women—due to their primary social attachment to
the family and reproduction—constitute a class and economy of their own, based on the unpaid work in
the home, the productivity of motherhood, and their function as a workforce reserve. The Freudian theory
of women’s “natural” dependency and sexual frigidity was at first denounced, then later rearticulated as a
mimicry of the unholy alliance between capitalism and patriarchy that.

At the core of this new movement was another significant book, Sexual Politics, by Kate Millett, in
which she insisted on women’s right to their own bodies and a sexuality of their “own”—a sexuality that
is disconnected from the obligations of marriage and motherhood. Yet other radical feminists, such as the
lesbian author Adrienne Rich and the African American lesbian author Audre Lorde (1934–1992), used
poetry, speeches, and writing to link heterosexuality and women’s oppression. Both great rhetoricians,
they claimed that heterosexuality is a compulsory institution designed to perpetuate the social power of
men across class and race.

In works such as On Lies, Secrets, and Silence (Rich, 1980) and Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches,
they explored how sexism, racism, and classicism work together by means of the heterosexual imperative.
Thus, in the early phase, radical second-wave feminisms were characterized by a claim for sisterhood and
solidarity, despite differences among women and a simultaneous investment in the slogans “Woman’s
struggle is class struggle” and “The personal is political,” directing the feminist agenda to attempt to
combine social, sexual, and personal struggles and to see them as inextricably linked.

Women’s liberation grew out of the New Left and provided alliances with socialist/Marxist feminisms in
areas such as the criticism of the dual work-load for women working outside as well as inside the home,
the demand of equal pay for equal work, and a breakdown of the gendered division of the educational
system and the labor market. Sheila Rowbotham explored these issues in her influential book Women,
Resistance, and Revolution (1972), and Angela Y. Davis expanded on the intersections of gender, race,
and class in Women, Race, and Class (1981). In addressing what they saw as “the woman question,” they
concluded that the emancipation of women would occur only with the destruction of capitalism and the
rise of socialism, when women would be freed from dependency on men and the family and be involved
in “productive” labor. In areas such as the criticism of “sex roles” and “the beauty myth,” however,
women’s liberation was closer to liberal feminism, which still had a strong hold.

Liberal feminists in all Western countries were inspired by Betty Friedan’s landmark book, The
Feminine Mystique (1963). Along with Rowbotham and Davis but from quite a different point of view,
liberal feminists maintained that the discontent experienced by many middle-class women in post-war
Western societies was due to their lack of social power and political influence. The solution they
advocated was not necessarily paid work out-side the home; indeed, one of their demands was payment
for housewives— a kind of citizen’s income—along with representation in public institutions, and so on.
Zillah Eisenstein’s work The Radical Future of Liberal Feminism (1981) can be said to anticipate the
continuity of liberal feminism from first wave, during the second wave, and on to today’s neoliberal
feminism. Typical liberal feminist concerns during the second wave, however, were documenting sexism
in private as well as public life and delivering a criticism of gendered patterns of socialization. In the
United States, for example, the National Organization for Women (NOW) documented sexism in
children’s books, and parents’ different responses to girls and boys were seen as examples of how deeply
sexism is embedded in conventional thought and practice.

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Whereas both liberal and socialist/Marxist feminists worked to access and influence the institutions of
society, radical feminists were critical of these institutions and skeptical of, if not outright opposed to, the
inclusion of more women in what they considered profit-driven, patriarchal institutions. The spiritual and
eco-feminist parts of the movement, represented, for instance, by Mary Daly in Gyn/Ecology (1978) and
Starhawk in The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979), turned to
the development of separate enterprises and eventually of woman-only corporations and zones. After a
few decades on the margins of feminism, this particular feminist perspective has been revived today in
numerous ways: from sustainable development and simple living to corporate feminism and

The conflict between integration and separation signaled a basic shift from an equity approach to a
difference approach. During the 1980s, this new framework grew into “difference second-wave
feminism,” outlined on a theoretical level by Nancy Hartsock (1983) in her paradigmatic article “The
Feminist Standpoint” and a range of subsequent works. “Standpoint feminism” articulated a specifically
feminist theory and practice that expanded the criticism of capitalism and patriarchy with a more complex
analysis of post-war welfare societies and their consequences for women on different levels and in
different situations. Nancy Chodorow and Carol Gilligan turned to a more woman-friendly psycho-
analytic theory in order to highlight women’s productive capacities in terms of motherhood and
caretaking, in works such as The Reproduction of Mothering and In a Different Voice. These
competencies, neglected by both liberal and socialist feminists and derided by early radical feminists,
were now reevaluated and understood as sources of knowledge, know-how, and empowerment. This
particular version of difference feminism again led to the thesis of the dual spheres, gender as culture, and
communication and the “genderlects” .

The need to address the differences among women simultaneously promoted the theory of different
standpoints and the divergences between them. As a consequence, difference feminism gradually grew
into what is now often referred to as “identity politics.” Identity second-wave feminism was marked by a
growing criticism from Black, working-class, and lesbian feminists, out-lined by, among others, bell
hooks in Ain’t I A Woman? Black Woman and Feminism (1981) and Trinh T. Minh-ha in Woman,
Native, Other: Writing Post coloniality and Feminism (1989).

In the context of the complex power relations of a postcolonial but still imperial and capitalist world, they
questioned what they saw as a predominantly White, middle-class, and hetero-sexual feminist agenda and
raised the issue of a differentiated- based on the contingent and diversified but no less decisive
intersections of gender, class, race/ethnicity, and sexuality. Identity feminism, in turn, inspired a new
interest in women’s lives and voices, which was at once more empirical and historical, and more mythical
and spiritual. This has been known as “gyno-criticism,” a method first developed by Elaine Showalter in
A Literature of Their Own (1977), or as “womanism,” in an African American context introduced by the
author Alice Walker In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983).

The method signaled, on one hand, a search for authenticity and continuity in women’s cultures and, on
the other, an interest in understanding differences among women as constitutive. The method was further
developed by Patricia Hill Collins, who argued in Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness,
and the Politics of Empowerment (1990) that it is necessary to expand the analysis from merely
describing the similarities and differences that distinguish the different systems of oppression according
to gender, class, and race—to focusing on how they are interlocked. Assuming that each system needs the
others in order to function, this discussion stimulated a distinct theoretical stance.

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In the European context, identity feminism took an apparently different direction with what is authors
Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray, and Julia Kristeva and introduced to the United States by editors Elaine
Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron in New French Feminisms (1981). French feminists explored
Western universalism and its paradoxical articulation through dualisms such as mind/body, man/woman,
and White/Black and their hierarchical ordering, in which one element is not only different from but also
less than the other. Developing a thesis of the “phallogocentrism” of Western thinking, they argued that it
constitutes the very foundation of (Western) language(s) through a binary logic that makes the phallus the
master sign and the father the origin of symbolic law. Consequently, French feminists pled for a
deconstructive feminine writing and pursued the idea of the revolutionary potential of women’s bodies as
the productive site of multiple desires, a plenitude of jouissance, and thereby another semiotic logic. In
her dissertation Spéculum de l’autre femme (1974/1985a), Irigaray took the criticism of phallogocentrism
a step further and maintained that Western thinking in fact posits “man” as the “one and only” (both mind
and body/matter) and “woman” not as the opposite and negative (body/matter), but rather entirely outside
of civilization/language. Her point was therefore that the project for women/feminists is not and cannot be
to identify with difference (such as body/matter), and she warned against the tendency to highlight an
alternate desire/logic.

Irigaray’s line of thought provides us with the intellectual tools necessary to grasp the dilemmas of
difference feminism and identity politics. With Irigaray, we can claim that difference feminism
perpetuates the dilemmas of Western universalism and its paradoxical attributions to “particularism” in
terms of the implied other, which guarantees the “one and only.” Gay rights activists, for example,
paradoxically perpetuate the notion of heterosexuality as the norm when they attempt to secure more
rights for homosexuals. Radically stated, identity politics unintentionally supports a hegemonic concept
of woman (as Western, White, heterosexual, etc.). The dilemma is exacerbated, moreover, because
difference feminism claims that sexual difference is universal, though in its particular manifestation as
gender also historical and social and therefore both contextual and changeable. The distinction between
sex and gender, emphasized by second-wave feminists, provides a sociological or cultural explanation,
which at first seems to solve the dilemma between sameness and difference but does not entirely answer
questions related to the sexed body, as well as differences among women. The difference argument has
also tended to oscillate between positive difference as inherent in women (be it biological or sociological)
and negative difference as relative (be it biological or sociological) to subordination. This line of the
argument crisscrosses the sex-gender distinction and is obviously neither intellectually nor politically
valid. Irigaray helps us open a door to a different kind of thought and action, in which a continued process
of diversification and multiplication takes over from the frozen pairing of equity (sameness) and
difference.

Second-wave feminism is not one, but many. As expressed by feminist communication scholar Julia
Wood (1994), the question may not be whether you are a feminist, but which kind of feminist you are.
This question is multiplied by the emergence of third-wave feminism. But before we turn to emergent
feminisms, let us conclude that second-wave feminisms have been highly theoretical and consequently
have had strong affiliations with the academy. Starting in the 1970s, second-wave feminisms have
generated an explosion of research and teaching on women’s issues, which has now grown into a diverse
disciplinary field of women’s, gender, or feminist studies. While first- and second-wave academic
feminisms are embedded in structuralism, the concept of difference and identity feminism is rooted in
standpoint theory and the methodology of critical discourse analysis. Difference and identity feminism
has influenced communication scholarship through the concepts of cultural feminism and gendered
communication styles or “genderlects.”

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3. The Third Feminist Wave: Transversal Politics
Lipstick feminism, girlie feminism, riot girl feminism, cyber-girl feminism, trans-feminism, or just girl
feminism—feminism is alive and kicking. Born with the privileges that first- and second-wave feminists
fought for, third-wave feminists generally see themselves as capable, strong, and assertive social agents:
“The Third Wave is buoyed by the confidence of having more opportunities and less sexism”. Young
feminists now reclaim the term “girl” in a bid to attract another generation, while engaging in a new,
more self-assertive—even aggressive—but also more playful and less pompous kind of feminism. They
declare, in the words of Karen McNaughton (1997), “And yes that’s G.r.r.l.s which is, in our case, cyber-
lingo for Great-Girls. Girl is also a young at heart thing and not limited to the under 18s.”

Karen McNaughton is only one of many who have been empowered by the Bikini Kill and Brat Mobile
in the United States in the early 1990s. In their manifesto-like recording “Revolution Girl-Style Now”
(1990), Bikini Kill celebrated the self-reliance and acting out of prepubescent girls and mixed the feminist
strategy of empowerment with the avant-garde or punk strategy of D.I.Y.: “Do It Yourself.” This message
was soon absorbed by a growing number of “riot girl” groups all over the United States and Europe and
further spread by “fanzines” and net-based “ezines.” Some riot girls made the new information
technologies the primary point of departure for their activism and as cyber-girls or Netgirls introduced
them to other girls and women in books such as The Cyberpunk Handbook (1995), Friendly Girls Guide
to the Internet–Introduction (1996), and Cybergirl! A Woman’s Guide to the World Wide Web (1998).
The movement has simultaneously criticized sexist language, appropriated derogatory terms for girls and
women, and invented new self-celebrating words and forms of communication. As such, third-wave
feminists have followed in the footprints of groups like Queer Nation and Niggers With Attitude by
deploying a kind of linguistic jiujitsu against their enemies. Instead of condemning the stereotypes used
against them, they exaggerate them, beginning with the very word girl.

Third-wave feminists are motivated by the need to develop a feminist theory and politics that honor
contradictory experiences and deconstruct categorical thinking. In To Be Real: Telling the Truth and
Changing the Face of Feminism (1995), editor Rebecca Walker described the difficulty that younger
feminists experience when forced to think in categories, which divide people into “Us” and “Them,” or
when forced to inhabit particular identities as women or feminists. Walker claimed that this is not because
they lack knowledge of feminist history or because of the media’s horrific one-sided portrayal of
feminism. Quite to the contrary, younger feminists honor the work of earlier feminists while criticizing
earlier feminisms, and they strive to bridge contradictions that they experience in their own lives. They
embrace ambiguity rather than certainty, engage in multiple positions, and practice a strategy of inclusion
and exploration. Meanwhile, they propose a different politics, one that challenges notions of universal
womanhood and articulates ways in which groups of women confront complex intersections of gender,
sexuality, race, class, and age-related concerns. One of the many contributors in To Be Real, Eisa Davis,
has called for “organic laughter” and “organized confusion” that will turn all the old “isms” into sitcoms,
reminding us how far feminism has come.

Third-wave feminism is also inspired by and bound to a generation of the new global world order
characterized by the fall of communism, new threats of religious and ethnic fundamentalism, and the dual
risks and promises of new info- and biotechnologies. A common American term for third-wave feminism
is “girl feminism,” and in Europe it is known as “new feminism.” This new “new” feminism is
characterized by local, national, and transnational activism, in areas such as violence against women,
trafficking, body surgery, self-mutilation, and the overall “pornofication” of the media. While concerned
with new threats to women’s rights in the wake of the new global world order, it criticizes earlier feminist
waves for presenting universal answers or definitions of womanhood and for developing their particular
interests into somewhat static identity politics.

20
In itself diverse and chaotic, third-wave feminism is consequently not one, but many. The common
denominator is the will to redefine feminism by bringing together an interest in traditional and even
stereotypically feminine issues, while remaining critical of both narratives of true femaleness, of
victimization and liberation. They flaunt their femininity and seek to reclaim formerly derogatory labels
such as “slut” and “bitch,” while stubbornly venturing into male-dominated spaces with third-wave
confidence to claim positions of power: We—the new feminists—embrace power, said new feminist
Natasha Walter in The New Feminism (1998). Third-wave feminists want to avoid stepping into
mutually oppressive static categories, and they call for acceptance of a chaotic world, while
simultaneously embracing ambiguity and forming new alliances. Thus, third-wave feminisms are defined
not by common theoretical and political standpoint(s), but rather by the use of performance, mimicry, and
subversion as rhetorical strategies.

Gender theorist Judith Butler signaled this paradigmatic feminist shift in her books Gender Trouble
(1990) and Bodies That Matter (1993). She fueled new emergent movements such as queer and
transgender politics, which take an interest in the intersections of gender and sexuality and helped
articulate “performance third-wave feminism” as a theoretical framework of the politics of transgression.
Central to this perspective is the understanding of gender as a discursive practice that is both a
hegemonic, social matrix and a “performative gesture” with the power to disturb the chain of social
repetition and open up new realities. Focus rests on the sustained tension between structure and agency,
spelled out as a tension between performance and performativity, in order to overcome the split between
society and subject and to situate the possibilities and means of agency and change. The possibilities for
change are found in the “fissures” of deferral and displacement that destabilize claims not only of identity
but also of truth and “the real” . Of immense importance to feminism, however, is that the approach
further destabilizes the distinction between the social and the material, discourse and body, and, not least,
sex and gender. These conceptual pairs are now seen as inextricably linked discursive practices, anchored
in the heterosexual matrix, which is now being challenged.

Another significant perspective that has contributed to third-wave feminism is Donna Haraway’s
(1987/1991) “cyborg,” which has also inspired the development of cyber-feminism. What make this
perspective unique is Haraway’s appropriation of technology and her posthuman acknowledgment of the
interaction between humans and nonhumans, which blurs the distinctions between humans, animals, and
machines. Moreover, like Butler, Haraway does not operate with an essential division between society
and subject, structure and agency, materiality and sociality, or flesh and soul.

In keeping with poststructuralist thought, she has underscored the arbitrariness of such classifications and
the continuous flow between supposedly “natural” categories, locations, and positions. The potential for
feminism, in Haraway’s thinking, is great and is still being explored by a range of feminist thinkers.

Third-wave feminism is tied up with the effects of globalization and the complex redistribution of power,
which challenge feminist theory and politics. It also mirrors the diversification of women’s interests and
perspectives and the breakdown of master stories of oppression and liberation. For example, postcolonial,
third-wave feminism is concerned with establishing a new critical global perspective and creating
alliances between Black, diasporic, and subaltern feminisms, whereas queer theory and politics create a
platform for what has now split into the lesbian, gay, bi-, and transsexual and trans-gender movements.
Queer and transgender feminists attack what they see as the crux of the problem: hetero-normativity.
They call for recognition of queers: not only gays and lesbians but also drag queens, drag kings, trans-
sexuals, masculine women, and feminine men. Emi Koyama (2003) summarized some of these concerns
in “The Transfeminist Manifesto.”

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Here, the primary principles of transfeminism are defined as the right (a) to define one’s own identity and
to expect society to respect it and (b) to make decisions regarding one’s own body. Transfeminists believe
that individuals should be given the freedom to construct their own gender identities as they see fit and
that neither the medical establishment nor cultural institutions at large should intervene. Finally, they
resist essentialist notions of identity in particular.

According to the post-socialist scholar Nancy Fraser (1997), the challenges to third-wave feminism are
great. She has argued that in order to avoid the pitfalls of identity politics, it is necessary to introduce a
concept of justice that simultaneously acknowledges and counters the claims of difference. Thus, Fraser
has suggested that claims of difference should be treated partly as a question of recognition within the
context of civic society and partly as a matter of redistribution within the framework of the state and the
public sphere. Her aim is to reframe universalism in order to promote a new combination of, on one hand,
local (singular and situated) social claims, and, on the other, the will and ability to expose universalism to
a “global” democracy. She thus has delivered an alternative to the “old” universalism, which sanctioned
the particularism inherent in identity politics, claiming that in the new democracy, everyone must
acknowledge the particularity of the position from which they speak, instead of claiming rights as
absolute and given.

An interesting and important contribution to third-wave feminist thinking is the notion of “transversal
politics.” Nira Yuval-Davis, the author of Gender and Nation (1997), who is herself a British Jew,
launched this notion, which is based on the possibility of dialogue between women across national,
ethnic, and religious boundaries. Theoretically, her work has been inspired by Gayatri Spivak’s theory of
strategic essentialism and Patricia Hill Collins’s theory of the partiality of standpoints and of situated and
unfinished knowledge. Yuval-Davis has also been inspired by the politics of feminist activist groups such
as the London-based Women Against Fundamentalism (WAF), which includes Christians Jews, Muslims,
Sikhs, Hindus, and others, and the Bologna feminists, who work with women from groups in conflict,
such as Serbs and Croats or Palestinian and Israeli Jewish women. What defines transversal politics is not
only the fact that differences in nationality, ethnicity, or religion—and hence in agenda—are recognized
but also that a commitment to listen and participate in a dialogue is required. Yuval-Davis has qualified
these methods as “pivotal,” because they encourage participants to participate in a process of “rooting”
and “shifting” and thus to explore different positions, engage in different negotiations, and eventually join
different alliances.

Participants are encouraged to position themselves as women with particular national, ethnic, or religious
roots, while also shifting to other ways of thinking, being, and practicing in order to realize the partiality
of their own positions and to identify possible common stands and interests.

Aligning herself with Bolognese feminists, Yuval-Davis (1997) called this form of dialogue
“transversalism,” as opposed to both universalism and particularism, which are inherent in liberal and
radical feminism, and also to the political naïveté of the rainbow coalitions of the 1980s or the “Million
Man March” to Washington, D.C., in the 1990s. It is crucial here that the boundaries of the groupings are
determined not by a notion of essential difference, which leads to a particular standpoint, but by a
political reality of partiality, which provides for diverse and provisional alliances.
3.3.3. The women’s movement in Africa
Women’s movement worldwide seems to concern themselves with the same grand themes women’s legal
and political rights. However, we see great differences in the focus and implications of these themes. The
most remarkable difference is the growing gap between north and south. Women from the north (Europe,
North America, Japan and North Asia) are harvesting the fruits of capitalism and global economy,
whereas women from south (central- America, Africa, and the east) are all too often confronted with
poverty, terrible labor conditions, faulty education and health care. The differences in living conditions
result in growing differences in women’s activism.

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Often differences are seen from a class perspective. Nonwestern feminists have been looking for an
authentic activism. Without adopting the values of western middle class feminism, differences in color,
race, and ethnicity are often the inspiration for specific forms of women’s activism.

We can discern different phases of the women’s movement in Africa. We may categorize these phases to
correspond with the pre-colonial times, colonial and post-colonial periods. The African women’s
movement in its present form, draws heavily from forms and strategies developed by women in pre-
colonial times, and similarly employed by African women during the colonial period.

Most African countries gained their independence from colonial rule in the 1960’s. Following this, the
independence African states drew up development plans covering various sectors like agriculture,
education, health, etc. By mid-1970’s, the development agenda in Africa was largely failing. A major
issue was that of women, inspite of their numerical strengths, and their major role in certain sectors of
development, had largely been ignored in the development agenda. For sustainable development, both
governments and donor organizations recognized that women must be integrated in the development
agenda. This began the era of “Women in Development”

The integration of women in development plans structurally linked the African women’s movement to the
larger orbit of international agencies and bodies as well as national governments hitherto, active in
African development agenda. The close connection between women’s participation and sustainable
development leads to government support of the women’s movement on the one hand, but also
government control of the movement in many instances, in many African states a looming and
interventionist role of the state regulatory, judicial, administrative or military force. For example, some
national women organizations became affiliated to the ruling parties, thus championing government
interests, and hijacking of the women’s movement by men, also during election and party politics.

There is a definitive variance between the concern of the western and the African women’s movement.
for example, in general, many western feminisms emphasize individual female autonomy, sexual and
reproductive issues and debate radical feminist position, while African feminism emphasize culturally
linked forms of public participation, economic and political issues. African feminisms debate is distinctly
heterosexual and prenatal, often concerned with survival and basic issues. They attach importance to the
reproductive role of women and the tendency to put the community before the individual. To African
women, motherhood is an inherent aspect of womanhood and should not be questioned. African feminism
recognizes colonial and neo colonial links between all kinds of oppression; political, economic and
ideological dimension of oppression.

The major success of the African women movement, among others, include the following activities
 Considerable work has been done in the area of gender sensitization and awareness
 Those involved in the movement have identified and clearly articulated their concern
 Gender sensitive development plans were formulated and implemented
 Those involved in the movement were able to make their voices heard in different areas that
affected their lives
 National gender sensitive statistics have been prepared
 A considerable work has been done in the area of monitoring and recording progress made by
women.
While recognizing important success, there are also limitations on the women’s movement in Africa.
Some reflect critically on the “centralization "of work around a few organizations and narrow strategies
and agendas.

23
Limited attention focused on based building and person to person connections, lack of professionalization
and service orientation that undermine the political agility and engagement necessary to affect change. If
we take gender based violence, African women dedicated significant energy and effort to challenge
violence’s; however, to what extent these movements have offered protection, refuge and temporary
assistance to thousands of victims all over the continent? To what extent have legal, policy and service
provisions challenged a social and economic order to challenge women’s problems?

3.3.4. The women’s movement in Ethiopia

Ethiopian women had been organizing themselves in different rudimentary forms to fulfill their various
needs. There were traditional associations through which women tried to help each other in times of
social and economic difficulties such as mahber.

The new ideas about women that prevailed following the end of Empress Zewditu’s reign and at the
beginning of the rise of the later emperor Haile Sellassie contributed to the formation of the first,
supposedly nationwide, Ethiopian women’s volunteer service Association in 1935.The association was
founded under the patronage of Empress Mennen, with membership drawn mainly from the upper
echelon of the urban society.

As it was formed on the eve of the Italian invasion of the country, the association devoted its energy to
the war effort, preparing gas masks, bandages and soldier’s rations. After the war, the association was
resurrected in 1941 by surviving members, under the patronage of empress Menen and her daughter. This
time it was called the Ethiopian Women’s Welfare Association, and it devoted mainly to raising funds
and sponsoring projects for urban women. Another women’s organization called the Armed Forces Wives
Association was formed with the objective of providing support to widows and the children of soldiers
who died in the war.

These associations did not have either the capacity or the organizational structure to mobilize the majority
of the Ethiopian women. They existed in the cities and had limited or no impact on government policies
and laws or development.

Towards the 1970’s there came a radical approach that raised the issues of women’s emancipation as part
of the movement for socialism. By making the socialist philosophy their major instrument, political
organization such as EPRP and MEISO raised the concept of women’s liberation as part of their struggle
towards socialism. Thus the idea that the revolution would not be successful without women’s
emancipation became a popular slogan.
After the 1974, revolution came a turning point that institutionalized women’s equal rights provisions in
the country’s constitution for the first time. The Derg’s constitution contained prominent aspects that
provided gender equality, and it even went as far as endorsing the idea of preferential treatment for
women. In addition to legislative measures, a national mechanism was created to integrate women in the
process of development. A new women’s organization known as Revolutionary Ethiopian Women’s
association (REWA) was established on July 17, 1980. The association focused on political consciousness
and participation of socialist movement.

The present government has issued the National women’s policy, which was formulated in 1993 with the
aim of creating appropriate structures within government offices and institutions to formulate equitable
and gender sensitive public policies. The main national machinery entrusted with women’s issues is the
Ministry of Women’s affairs (MOWA) that was established in October 2005 and got its force by
proclamation No 471/2005. Similarly, Women’s affairs Bureaus (WAB) were established at regional
level in all the regions of Ethiopia, at Zonal and district levels, the women’s affairs offices were also
established.

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Currently, the Ministry of Women’s affairs is a member of the council of ministers. The women’s affairs
Standing committee, of the council of people representative is the other institutional machinery
established to oversee the inclusion of women’s interest and needs in policies and laws enacted by the
parliament. Each parliamentarian standing committee has a woman member so that women’s issues will
be tabled in the deliberation of the committees.

There are also women’s associations operating at national level. These include professional women’s
associations including Women Health Association, Women Lawyers Association, Women Educational
Association, Association of Disabled Women, Women Media association.

3.3.5. Summary of the feminist movements

Each of the feminisms discussed in this chapter has played a crucial role in 20th- and 21st-century
feminist theory and politics, and together they constitute a source of inspiration for future scenarios. We
have described the basic exchange between feminism and Western philosophy that runs through these
feminisms, and now we will sketch a cognitive map to be used for navigation in the chapters to come. It is
both possible and useful to position them along the lines of “x,” Equity and Difference, and “y,”
Universalism and Particularism.

As already stated, we do not wish to suggest that third-wave feminism returns to the first position, thus
completing the circular movement around the quadrant. Rather, third-wave feminisms break the system,
positioning themselves for a transversal theory and politics of diversity and multiplicity, which we simply
call “transversity.” In this position, we see a potential for breaking up the “cannibalistic” reasoning of
Western thought, in which difference is a prerequisite of equity, particularism of universalism, and every
possible stand is thus “consumed” by the “one and only.”

In continuation hereof, it would be appropriate to make our own positions clear: We are in awe of both
first- and second-wave feminism. At the same time, we share an enthusiasm for the feminist concept of
transversal politics that we call “transversity,” and we are inspired by third-wave feminists’ attempts to
juggle complexity and ambiguity. To us, the concept of transversity presents feminists with a theoretical
and practical means by which we, as differently situated women, can simultaneously acknowledge our
diverse positions and work across national, ethnic, racial, and gender lines. Transversity commands
respect for the diversity of both women and men, while simultaneously presenting us with a sophisticated
theoretical framework within which to understand both the fragility of the ways gender is inscribed on
bodies and the ways in which power is expressed, negotiated, and ever present in gendered practices. We
are inspired by young women’s expressions of feminism, which, on one hand, seem to repeat gender
stereo-types and, on the other, mock them through mimicry and subversion. We share the desire to
reclaim laughter in order to unfold, acknowledge, and appreciate differences and remind us that we are
both different and similar. We believe that there is no position outside the social or outside power from
which to approach questions of gender and communication. We all continuously take part in powerful
constructions of gender when we perform in social life, and we cannot avoid the pitfalls of equity and
difference. This logic is often broken with contrastive arguments of equality and difference, mixing the
oppositional terms of equity/difference and equality/inequality. The consequence of such circular
argumentation is that if you want equality, you cannot have difference. In this way, you cannot have a
valid discussion of how the double pairings relate to each other. It demands constant effort to confront the
powerful discourses that force us to prioritize the aims and means of our struggle. This struggle is
hampered only by invalid argumentation, such as the above-mentioned pairing of equality and difference.
Factors hindering women’s political participation
There are common barriers to women’s participation in local government decision making in urban
centers in both industrialized and developing countries, some of which are listed below. However, it must
be remembered that many women have continued to brave the odds, run for political office and won.

25
The barriers they were up against include:
 Political parties are dominated by men who tend to resist greater participation by women.
Correspondingly, political parties are not pro-active in changing their own nature and supporting
more women to engage in local politics.
 The electoral process is fraught with corruption, violence, bribery and attacks on the dignity of
individual candidates. This is a major deterrent to women’s involvement in politics.
 Together with lack of transparency and accountability in municipal affairs and budgets,
corruption had tarnished the credibility, respect and status of local government in the eyes of the
public. This has acted as a further deterrent to women’s involvement in politics. Cultural beliefs
that subordinate women to men and define women’s place as in the home and the public sphere as
a man’s world, do not encourage women to run for political office.

These beliefs can further undermine women’s self confidence to run for office. Women have limited
access to resources compared with men. This includes money, access to information, time, support for
childcare, transportation, campaign materials, and a “girls’ network” with long-standing power relations,
etc. There is little if any recognition of the unequal division of labor between women and men within
households. Women have numerous responsibilities in the family and these consume a lot of their time,
energy and resources. Political parties and local governments do not take account of the reality of
women’s role in social reproduction when organizing meetings and political events, or developing
election campaigns.

In some societies, women are at a disadvantage due to limited access to education. This restricts their
ability to engage in political processes, as they will have inadequate access to technical and legal
procedures and documents. However, in many smaller urban centers women have run for political office
and been elected despite low levels of literacy, and they proved to be exemplary councilors and mayors.

Most local governments are inherently patriarchal institutions. Their structures and procedures are
designed for and by men. The ways meetings are structured and discussion takes place, just like the time
schedule of meetings, etc., are all designed for men and to the male norm. These structures and processes
do not take into account women’s multiple responsibilities in the home and community, or the different
ways women have of communicating, discussing, listening, co-operating, and making decisions. As a
result of these and other factors, gender inequality in political participation makes a dismal picture world-
wide. In 2003, of 52 countries from all continents, the average proportion of women in local councils
stood at 15 per cent.14 Countries that have been most successful in bringing women into decision-making
bodies are those that have put in place affirmative action program or some form of quota system.
However, even with these measures, no country has managed to achieve full gender equality, with the
best wavering between 34 and 36 per cent of women on local councils and a minority of councils with 40-
50 per cent women. The proportion of women in positions of leadership is even smaller. Even in Latin
America, arguably a continent that has pioneered women’s access to political participation in local
government, only five per cent of mayors are female. The case of India on page 47 is illustrative of some
of the issues raised by quota

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CHAPTER FOUR: WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT

4.0. Introduction

4.1. Gender Equality and Participation in Local Government

The creation of new women’s groups, coalitions, and networks thereof, along with civil society
organizations, in order to focus on political power and women’s priorities at the local level. Alternatively,
the strategies include the strengthening of existing women’s and civil society groups and networks that
focus on local governance and citizen participation.

Training women in local governance – including politics, political parties, lobbying, advocacy, the
importance of women’s participation as candidates for elections, in political decision-making, as well as
participation in local government committees, consultations and other initiatives. Alliances and
collaboration with supportive political parties to influence platforms and policies with regard to women’s
equality and gender equity, as well as to lobby them to nominate and support female candidates and
representatives from marginalized communities to run for political office.

The development of, and lobbying for, election commitments, manifestos, platforms or pledges
committing both male and female candidates to pro-poor and gender equality demands, policies, or
agendas once they are elected to office.

The sponsoring of competitions and prizes for local governments on initiatives in favor of women’s rights
and gender equality, such as new and innovative gender-sensitive laws and policies, the establishment of
women’s and equalities offices and commissions, campaigns on violence against women and for security
and safety, the appointment of women in senior administration, gender-responsive budget initiatives, etc.
The designation and/or nurture of champions for women’s rights and gender equity in the mayor, local
councils, the media, etc.

Training and support for female elected local government officials. This includes on-going training in
municipal government and administration functions as well as budget and fiscal matters, legal reforms,
policy development and implementation, etc. along with other areas such as public speaking, lobbying,
information and the media. Additionally, experience suggests that female councillors should be trained to
strengthen their ability to lobby for women’s equality concerns and gender equity. Where such training
has included gender-sensitive analysis and planning, it has enabled elected female leaders to provide
leadership for women’s priorities in local government deliberations and budgets.

Women elected leaders must maintain an on-going engagement with women’s and civil society
organizations for support, advice, research, strategic planning, and also to survive in an environment
dominated by males, one that is not always supportive or inclusive of female elected leaders and can even
be hostile. The advent of female elected leaders’ or mayors’ groups has been a positive development in
self-organization and lobbying to influence national and sub-national laws and legislation, to expand
women’s political decision- making space, to support other women to seek political office and to place
the priorities of women, poor people, marginalized communities and the environment on local and
national agendas.

Adoption of declarations, charters and plans of action with regard to women in local governance, in order
to guide policy and programming at all levels. A significant part of gender equality work in local
government has focused on ensuring that women are fully represented on municipal councils and at all
levels of decision making. This has often been justified by the argument that when women participate in
decision-making, the decisions better respond to their needs and requirements.

27
This is undoubtedly true. However, gender equality in political participation should not need any special
motivation: it is the human right of all women to engage in issues of governance, and especially as they
relate to their living conditions. Where women do not participate fully on equal terms, they are deprived
of equal citizenship.
4.2. Barriers to Women’s Participation in Parliament
Women around the world at every socio-political level find themselves under-represented in parliament
and far removed from decision-making levels. As mentioned in chapter 1, in 2005, women hold barely 16
percent of parliamentary seats around the world. The factors that hamper or facilitate women’s political
participation vary with level of socio-economic development, geography, culture, and the type of political
system. Women themselves are not a homogeneous group; there are major differences between them,
based on class, race, ethnicity, cultural background and education. The exclusion of women from
decision-making bodies limits the possibilities for entrenching the principles of democracy in a society,
hindering economic development and discouraging the attainment of gender equality. If men monopolize
the political process, passing laws which affect society at large, the decision-making process does not
always balance the interests of the male and female populations. As noted in the Millennium
Development Goals, women’s equal participation with men in power and decision making is part of their
fundamental right to participate in political life, and at the core of gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Women have to be active participants in determining development agendas.

Women who want to enter politics find that the political, public, cultural and social environment is often
unfriendly or even hostile to them. Even a quick glance at the current composition of political decision
makers in any region provides evidence that women still face numerous obstacles in articulating and
shaping their own interests. What are the obstacles women faces in entering parliament? How can women
better cope with these hindrances? In this chapter we take the first step towards increasing women’s
parliamentary representation and effectiveness by identifying the common problems that women face.
We categorize the problems into three areas: political, socio-economic, and ideological and psychological
(or socio-cultural). In the chapters that follow, we identify some of the strategies to overcome these
obstacles and analyze what women can do once they enter parliament.

4.2.1. Political Obstacles

Men dominate the political arena; men formulate the rules of the political game; and men define the
standards for evaluation. The existence of this male dominated model results in women either rejecting
politics altogether or rejecting male-style politics.

At the beginning of the 21st century, over 95 percent of all countries in the world have granted women
the two most fundamental democratic rights: the right to vote and the right to stand for election. New
Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote, in 1893; and Finland was the first to adopt
both fundamental democratic rights in 1906. There are still a few countries that deny women both the
right to vote and the right to stand for elections. In theory, the right to stand for election, to become a
candidate and to get elected is based on the right to vote. The reality is, however, that women’s right to
vote remains restricted, principally because the candidates are mostly male. This is true not only for
partial and developing democracies, but for established democracies as well. The low level of women’s
representation in some European parliaments should be considered a violation of women’s fundamental
democratic right and, as such, a violation of their basic human rights. This unequal rate of representation
in legislative bodies signifies that women’s representation, rather than being a consequence of
democratization, is more a reflection of a status quo.

In most countries de jure difficulties exist, either by virtue of laws being enacted and not followed or by
virtue of laws not even existing in the first place. To achieve gender balance in political life, it is
necessary to ensure that commitment to equality is reflected in laws and national policies.

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‘The rising force of women organized at all levels of society throughout the world has given greater
impetus to the 30 percent target for women in political positions originally promoted in 1995. Introducing
quotas for electoral seats is considered an important strategy.’ Indeed, positive action is a necessary tool
to maintain at least 30 percent of women at all levels of decision making.

The Argentinean law on quotas, for example, requires all parties to nominate women to 30 percent of
electable positions on their lists of candidates. Such a law can effectively facilitate the election of women
to legislative bodies. When such laws are rescinded there is evidence that women’s representation is
affected. A case in point is Bangladesh where, following the expiry of the quota law in April 2001, the
number of women members of parliament (MPs) dropped from 10 to 2 percent in the October 2001
election. On the contrary, in Rwanda, the 2003 elections demonstrated a significant increase in the
number of women elected to the National Assembly.

Among all national parliaments, Rwanda is now closest to reaching equal numbers of men and women:
48.8 percent of seats are held by women, surpassing even the proportion in the Nordic countries. This is
largely because of a constitutional quota which reserves 24 of the 80 seats in the lower house for women.
Women in the Rwandan upper house are also guaranteed 30 percent of the seats.

Research indicates that political structures can play a significant role in women’s recruitment to
parliament. The system of elections based on proportional representation (PR), for example, has resulted
in three to four times more women being elected in countries with similar political cultures, for example,
Germany and Australia. Generalizations such as this are valid so long as there are cultural similarities that
are similar levels of social and economic development, between countries. In Russia, this generalization is
not applicable because of the different and evolving political culture—specifically, the weakly developed
party system, the existence of many parties and blocs (until 2003), the lack of confidence many women
have to contend with, and the tendency of political parties to marginalize women’s interests. A voter’s
political literacy (the capacity to make coherent choices and decisions when voting, which is clearly not
only dependent on level of formal education) plays a significant role, as does the political will to improve
the situation.

Among the political obstacles that women face, the following feature prominently:
 the prevalence of the ‘masculine model’ of political life and of elected government bodies;
 lack of party support, for example, limited financial support for women candidates, limited
access to political networks, and the more stringent standards and
 qualifications applied to women;
 lack of sustained contact and cooperation with other public organizations such as trade (labor)
unions and women’s groups;
 lack of access to well-developed education and training systems for women’s leadership in
general, and for orienting young women towards political life; and
 the nature of the electoral system, which may or may not be favorable to women candidates.

4.2.1.1. The Masculine Model of Politics

Men largely dominate the political arena; largely formulate the rules of the political game; and often
define the standards for evaluation. Furthermore, political life is organized according to male norms and
values, and in some cases even male lifestyles. For instance, politics is often based on the idea of ‘winners
and losers’, competition and confrontation rather than on systematic collaboration and consensus,
especially across party lines. It may often result in women either rejecting politics altogether or rejecting
male-style politics. Thus, when women do participate in politics, they tend to do so in small numbers

Political life is organized according to male norms and values, and in some cases even male lifestyles.

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Differences between men and women also appear with respect to the content and priorities of decision
making, which are determined by the interests, backgrounds and working patterns of both sexes. Women
tend to give priority to societal concerns, such as social security, national health care and children’s
issues.

The male-dominated working pattern is further reflected in the parliamentary work schedule, which is
often characterized by lack of supportive structures for working mothers in general, and for women MPs
in particular. In addition to their party and constituency work, and serving on different committees,
women parliamentarians are called upon to network within their parties, at multi-party levels and with
women outside parliament. Furthermore, they have to play the socially prescribed nurturing roles of
mother, wife, sister and grandmother. Currently, most parliamentary programs and sitting times are not
adjusted to take into consideration this dual burden that women carry. Many women MPs struggle to
balance family life with the demands of work that often involve late hours, much travelling and few
facilities.

In addition to their party and constituency work, and serving on committees, women
parliamentarians are called upon to network within their parties, at multi-party levels and with
women outside parliament.

4.2.1.2. Lack of Party Support

Women play important roles in campaigning and mobilizing support for their parties, yet they rarely
occupy decision-making positions in these structures. In fact, fewer than 11 percent of party leaders
worldwide are women.

Although political parties possess resources for conducting election campaigns, women rarely benefit
from these resources. For example, many parties do not provide sufficient financial support for women
candidates. Research indicates that a large pool of women candidates, combined with sufficient financial
resources, can significantly increase the number of women elected.

The selection and nomination process within political parties is also biased against women in that ‘male
characteristics’ are emphasized and often become the criteria in selecting candidates. An ‘old boys’ club’
can inhibit and prevent women from integrating themselves into their party’s work. This in turn impacts
on the perception of women as viable candidates on the part of those who provide money for election
campaigns. In addition, women are often not placed in winnable positions on party lists. Women’s
participation is therefore better realized when there are quotas with a placement mandate. In Sweden, for
instance, most political parties use ‘zipper’ lists where women’s and men’s names alternate on the party
lists, resulting in 45.3 percent women in parliament.

4.2.1.1. Cooperation with Women’s Organizations

During the last decade women’s parliamentary representation in long-standing democracies has increased.
One of the critical reasons for this rise is the impact of women’s organizations both inside and outside
political parties. Women’s organizations were well aware of the effect of single-member electoral
districts on women’s candidacies. They worked with political and government institutions to secure
electoral changes to facilitate women’s nomination and election. This strategy resulted in increasing
women’s representation within legislative bodies.

“As women parliamentarians, we need to share our experiences. This in itself will inspire women. We will
not feel that we are alone in this game, and other women will not feel isolated from the process. At every
opportunity, at every forum, each and every time we must share information, ideas, and knowledge. We
must make sure that women are the most informed people within society.”

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However, in new democracies there is less contact and cooperation between women politicians and
women’s organizations or other broad interest organizations such as trade and labor unions. This due
either to lack of awareness of the potential benefits of this networking function or to lack of resources to
invest in such contacts.

Although governments might declare their commitment to democratic forms of change, it is nevertheless
unrealistic to expect governments alone to secure women’s rightful place in all spheres of society. Civil
society in general, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and women’s groups, must play a
role in advancing women’s representation. Faith-based women’s organizations and unique outreach
networks are also critical allies.

Women also must think carefully about their own goals, strategies and tactics. It is important to help
women already in parliament to deliver on their promises and to equip them with the necessary skills and
strategies to ensure that issues raised by women are taken into account in the debate and the decision
making that take place in parliament. In order to empower women and enable them to participate in , it is
necessary to extend the scope of women’s participation at the grass-roots level and in local elected bodies.
This also constitutes an important step towards confidence-building and facilitates the sharing of
experiences.

The main mission of the women’s movement is to inculcate the right type of confidence and assertiveness
among them. It needs leaders who can express proper ideological messages and inspire confidence. New
ways of thinking and acting, educational activities, research about women’s status, and means of
communication among women’s organizations are needed. The challenge for women is to build a society
according to a paradigm that reflects their values, strengths and aspirations, and thereby reinforce their
interest and participation in political processes.

4.2.1.1. Electoral Systems

The type of electoral system in a country plays an important role in women’s political representation.

“We have several explanations for the high presence of women in the Nordic parliaments. One is the
proportional electoral system. In Finland, there is a proportional list but the individual choice of the
voters also comes into play. Another explanation is to be found in ideological debates in the country. In
this area in Scandinavia, politics is, so to speak, in the lead. The business world is falling behind, and the
academic world lags behind as well. We have not enough women university professors, and women are
also poorly represented in the trade unions.”

Bjorn von Sydow, Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag

4.2.2. Socio-Economic Obstacles

Socio-economic conditions play a significant role in the recruitment of women to legislatures in both
long-standing and new democracies.

The social and economic status of women in society has a direct influence on their participation in
political institutions and elected bodies. For example, researchers point to the correlation between
women’s legislative recruitment and the proportion of women working outside the home, as well as the
percentage of women college graduates. According to some researchers, socio-economic conditions take
second place to electoral systems in women’s legislative recruitment within established democracies .

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 4.2.2.1. The Feminization of Poverty and Unemployment
In 2004, the overall share of women in total paid employment was above 40 percent worldwide. ‘One of
the most striking phenomena of recent times has been the increasing proportion of women in the labor
force . . . In 2003, out of the 2.8 billion people that had work, 1.1 billion were women . . . However,
improved equality in terms of quantity of male and female workers has yet to result in real socioeconomic
empowerment for women, an equitable distribution of household responsibilities, equal pay for work of
equal value, and gender balance across all occupations. In short, true equality in the world of work is still
out of reach.’

Despite the increase in women’s employment rates, many of the economic gains made by women in
industrially developed countries since the 1960s are in danger of being eroded, which seems to be in part
a result of the restructuring of both the global and the domestic economies.

At the same time, in the majority of countries women’s unpaid labor activity amounts to twice that of
men, and the economic value of women’s unpaid labor is estimated to be around one-third of the world’s
economic production (or 13 trillion USD). In all countries a significant gap exists between the status of
women and that of men. Surveys carried out in the late 1990s reveal increasing gender discrimination in
salaries, recruitment, promotion and dismissal, as well as growing professional segregation and the
feminization of poverty. According to United Nations statistics, 1.8 billion persons in the world live in
poverty and 70 percent of them are women. The gender gap in earning is registered all over the world: a
woman’s average wage is equal to 75 percent of a man’s average wage (not including an agricultural
worker’s salary). The economic crisis in countries with so-called ‘developing democracies’ has
intensified the risk of poverty for women, which, like unemployment, is likely to be increasingly
feminized.

Women are major contributors to national economies through both their paid and their unpaid labor. As
far as the latter is concerned, rural women’s input and their role as a significant electorate should not be
underestimated. Although the importance of women’s biological and social roles is clear, their input in all
spheres of life often goes unrecognized. Eradicating poverty will have a positive impact on women’s
increased participation in the democratic process. The economic empowerment of women, along with
education and access to information, will take women from the constraints of the household to full
participation in politics and political elections.

4.2.2.2. The Dual Burden

In most countries women carry a disproportionate share of domestic work. Their participation in politics
is further constrained by poverty and lack of education and access to information. It must be recognized
that it is difficult for women to participate in political life when their major concern is survival and they
have no choice but to spend much of their time trying to meet the basic needs of families. This is
accentuated by the increase in the number of female-headed households (which stands at 25 percent
worldwide), particularly in developing countries, where this is partly a result of ongoing conflicts.
In addition to that, however, some women may have full-time jobs as wives and mothers as well as other
full-time careers (e.g. as teachers, lawyers or doctors). Becoming an MP in these conditions might then be
considered a third full-time job.
“Women believe that entering parliament means choosing between a private life or a public life. This is
not the case. Instead, women should view their life as a continuum. They should decide what they want to
achieve in life and prioritize these goals in chronological order. There is a certain right time to achieve
each of these goals, whether it is becoming a wife, mother, professional or a parliamentarian. Life is long
and women can achieve many things.”
Anna Balletbo, former MP, Spain

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 4.2.2.3. Education and Training
Literacy rates in developed countries are about 99 percent, as opposed to 84 percent in less-developed
countries. There is no consistent correlation between literacy rates and women’s political representation,
but many candidacy nomination procedures require a minimum level of literacy. This prevents women
from registering as candidates for elections. In addition to basic education, many women lack the political
training required to participate effectively in the political arena. An expansion of the pool of women who
are qualified for recruitment to political careers is therefore needed.

4.2.3. Ideological and Psychological Hindrances

The ideological and psychological hindrances for women in entering parliament include the following:
• gender ideology, cultural patterns, and predetermined social roles assigned to women
and men;
• women’s lack of the confidence to stand for election;
• women’s perception of politics as a ‘dirty’ game; and
• The way in which women are portrayed in the mass media.

4.2.3.1. Traditional Roles

“Women have tried to enter politics trying to look like men. This will not work. We have to bring our
differences, our emotions, our way of seeing things, even our tears to the process.”
Anna Tibaijuka, Professor, Tanzania

In many countries, traditions continue to emphasize women’s primary roles as mothers and housewives
and to restrict them to those roles. A traditional strong, patriarchal value system favors sexually
segregated roles, and ‘traditional cultural values’ militate against the advancement, progress and
participation of women in any political process. Societies all over the world are dominated by an ideology
of ‘a woman’s place’. According to this ideology, women should only play the role of ‘working mother’,
which is generally low-paid and apolitical. In addition, in some countries, men even tell women how to
vote.
This is the environment, in which a certain collective image of women in traditional, apolitical roles
continues to dominate, which many women face. The image of a woman leader requires that she be
asexual in her speech and manners, someone who can be identified as a woman only through non-sexual
characteristics.
Often it is supposed to be unacceptable or even shameful in the mass consciousness for women to be open
about their feminine nature. In fact, the more authoritative and ‘manly’ a woman is, the more she
corresponds to the undeclared male rules of the game. That is why some women politicians in general
have to overcome the difficulty of feeling uncomfortable in the political field, as though they are
somewhere where they do not belong, behaving in ways that are not natural to them.
Often women internalize many of these ideas and end up frustrated when they cannot match this almost
impossible image.

This sense of frustration is inextricably tied to a woman’s sense of having to be apologetic either for her
own womanhood or for betraying her sense of womanhood. Until they reconcile (or make the choice
between) certain collective images, dominant stereotypes, and their own feminine nature, their lives will
be difficult and it will be hard for them to accommodate these clashing expectations. A woman should be
prepared for the fact that when she becomes a politician she does not cease to be a woman. It is this
womanhood which should be placed first, since it contains different creative potentials and intellectual
strength. The ability to make decisions and implement them is not a gender-specific trait, but a common
human one; in other words, it is as natural for a woman to hold power as for a man to hold power.

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4.2.3.2. Lack of Confidence
Lack of confidence is one of the main reasons for women’s under-representation in formal political
institutions, whether parliaments, ministries or political parties. With confidence and determination
women can reach the highest levels in the political process. That is why women should believe in
themselves and should do away with the widespread perception that men have to be their leaders. Women
are equal to and have the same potential as men, but only they can fight for their rights. Women are very
good campaigners, organizers and support-mobilizes, but fear sometimes prevents women from
contesting elections and from participating in political life.

4.2.3.3. The Perception of Politics as ‘Dirty’

In some countries, women perceive politics as a ‘dirty’ game. This has jarred their confidence in their
ability to participate in political processes. In fact, such a perception is prevalent worldwide.
Unfortunately, this perception reflects the reality in many countries. Although the reasons for this differ,
there are some common trends.

The basis of passive corruption can be explained by an exchange between the advantages and benefits of
the public market (e.g. legislation, budget bills) and of the economic market (e.g. funds, votes,
employment), which seek financial gains by escaping competition and by fostering monopolistic
conditions. In addition to this, a significant increase in the cost of election campaigning has become
obvious, and this in turn increases the temptation to use any source of money that becomes available.

Corruption can have many faces. Bribery and extortion in the public sector, as well as the procurement of
goods and services, are key manifestations of it. Although new democracies need time to establish
themselves and to develop roots, corruption has spread further in countries where the process of political
and economic transformation is taking shape in the absence of civil society, and where new institutions
are emerging. However, in many places where the changes in the political and economic system have
already taken place, the market economy has become enmeshed in the ‘law of the jungle’, the mafia and
corruption.

4.2.3.4. The Role of the Mass Media

The mass media deserve to be called the fourth branch of power because of their influence on public
opinion and public consciousness. The media in any society have at least two roles: as a chronicler of
current events; and as an informer of public opinion, thereby fostering different points of view. Often, the
mass media tend to minimize coverage of events and organizations of interest to women. The media do
not adequately inform the public about the rights and roles of women in society; nor do they usually
engage in measures to promote or improve women’s position. Most of the world’s media have yet to deal
with the fact that women, as a rule, are the first to be affected by political, social and economic changes
and reforms taking place in a country—for example, they are among the first to lose their jobs. The fact
that women are largely alienated from the political decision-making process is also ignored by the media.
If there is a lack of proper coverage of women’s issues and the activities of women MPs, this contributes
to a lack of public awareness about them which in turn translates into a lack of constituency for women
MPs. The mass media still need to recognize the equal value and dignity of men and women.

The media can be used to cultivate gender biases and promote a stereotype about ‘a woman’s place’,
helping conservative governments and societies to put the blame on women for the failure in family
policy, and to reinforce the idea that women are responsible for social problems, such as divorce and the
growth of minor crime, getting worse.

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Another widespread trend in the mainstream media is to depict women as beautiful objects: women are
identified and objectified according to their sex, and are made to internalize certain notions of beauty and
attractiveness which relate more to a woman’s physical capacities than to her mental faculties. Such an
approach encourages the long-standing patriarchal stereotype of the ‘weaker sex’, where women are
sexual objects and ‘second-class’ citizens.

Admittedly, the mass media also tell stories about women politicians and about businesswomen and their
successes, but this kind of coverage is rare and infrequent. The presentation of topics such as fashion
competitions, film stars, art and the secrets of eternal youth is more typical. Not surprisingly, such views
hardly promote women’s sense of self-worth and self-respect or encourage them to take on positions of
public responsibility.

The role of the mass media in an election process cannot be emphasized enough, and we do not yet have
adequate global and comparative research. Practically speaking, if there is lack of proper coverage of
women’s issues and the activities of women MPs, this contributes to a lack of public awareness about
them, which in turn translates into a lack of constituency for women MPs. The mass media still need to
recognize the equal value and dignity of men and women.

4.3. Quotas or Dedicated Seats in Local Government

At the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, governments adopted the Beijing Platform of
Action and committed to enabling women into decision-making by ensuring that at least 30 per cent of
seats at all levels of government were earmarked for women. This international commitment, together
with women’s own political mobilization over the past several years, has led to a world-wide movement
in favor of mandatory quotas with regard either to electoral seats and/or to senior positions in political
parties. The 30 per cent figure was deemed as a minimum necessary if quotas were to have any impact on
existing power relations and mechanisms of decision- making. Through quotas, women have been elected
to local government in many countries around the world, including Botswana, Costa Rica, India,
Namibia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam. While quotas
have enabled many women to enter local politics, implementation has caused a number of problems. In
certain places, quotas have given women the opportunity to change local government policies by bringing
gender priorities into decision making. In many places, quotas have not lived up to expectations and
continue to disadvantage women. For instance, Uganda’s first local government election after the
establishment of quotas in 1997 proved to be less of a success for women.

A parliamentary act earmarked 30 per cent of local council seats for female contests. These were
additional seats and not part of the existing council seats. Furthermore, new wards were created for
women to represent. These combined three existing wards into one electoral seat, expanding women’s
constituencies and areas compared to other contenders. This meant that their costs for running a campaign
were much higher than those for other wards, and they had fewer resources than men to begin with. Then,
the elections for women’s seats were held after the ward elections and there were numerous problems
with the election process itself. All in all, mandatory female quotas undermined the legitimacy of women
as politicians, ultimately failing to enable women in local politics to become legitimate contenders and
decision-makers. In Namibia, extensive mobilization over many years has given women much stronger
representation in local government. A woman’s mobilizing and lobbying has also led to substantive legal
and legislative changes. Although the quota system has been at work over a number of elections,
Namibian women continue to face significant challenges. See the case on page 49 from the 2004 election.

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4.4. Gender Equality in Public Administration
Gender inequality in public administration is perhaps best highlighted by the fact that, around the world,
women contribute only a small proportion of civil servants in any single country. In 2003, with the
exception of former Communist countries, women averaged less than 10 per cent of staff in public
administration, defence and security, and between 10 and 20 per cent in education and health. This gives
rise to a number of interconnected inequalities. First, because women in general are poorer than men and
because public sector employment (particularly in developing countries) is one of the largest providers of
formal sector jobs, discrimination against women in this sector of employment contributes to keeping
them locked in poverty.

Second, if women are in a minority in the civil service generally, they are an even smaller minority in
decision-making positions. Thus, women as a group are excluded from public sector decision-making.
The implications are that women and their specific interests are excluded from administrative decision-
making.

Third, there is good reason to think that women’s exclusion makes the public sector less efficient than it
could be. Statistically, the probability of finding talented, hard-working and committed individuals
increases as your pool of selection widens. Simply put, your chances of finding the best person for a job
are cut by half if you are refusing to hire from half the population.

This is a problem not just from a human rights point of view. Efficiency and good governance in public
administration are critical gender concerns. As we try to move closer to gender equality, it is important
that we transform the system. But a system that is functioning badly (or barely functioning at all) will find
it difficult to transform itself.

Any attempt to implement changes, be they good or bad, is bound to founder against the wastefulness,
lack of accountability and corruption that are the hallmarks of an inefficient public administration. This is
all the more so when the changes you are trying to implement threaten the power of those individuals who
benefit from corruption and inefficiency. Since the system discriminates against women in the first place,
most of those individuals are likely to be men. In other words, any men and women trying to bring about
gender equality must put the issues of efficiency and good governance at the top of their agendas. Good
governance involves equity in both appointments and promotions.

For instance, in India it was estimated that side payments occurred in 50 per cent of all water sector
transactions in 2003. These underhand arrangements effectively made water more expensive for the
poorest of the poor (the majority of whom are women), and held back efforts to expand infrastructure for
the benefit of those without access to water; this in turn entrenched exploitation of women’s free labor
(since they are responsible for fetching water where no services exist). Clearly, we cannot seek gender
equality in service provision unless we simultaneously reform the way services are provided.

4.5. Gender Inequality and Constraints to Participation

The reality of women’s unpaid labor, generally known as ‘the double working day’, has the simple
consequence that women tend to be busy people. When they are not cooking, cleaning, shopping or
changing baby’s nappies, they are either working in the informal sector, on paid jobs, or trying to find
paid work. The problem with civic participation is that it requires time. Local governments can do a lot to
enable women to participate in municipal affairs.
When you are planning public consultations, public meetings or committee meetings, ask yourselves
some critical questions about the time and place of the meeting:
 Does the meeting start between 5 and 7 in the evening? In that case, many women cannot attend.
They will be busy dealing with children, including those returning from school, and preparing for
dinner.

36
 Does it start after dark? Depending on the degree of crime and safety in your town or city, many
women could be discouraged from attending. They will have to weigh the risks of being exposed
to gender-based violence against the benefits of participation.
 Is the meeting located in a well-lit venue, close to bus and taxi routes, and far from open fields
and bushes where women may feel unsafe? If not, women may not attend for security reasons.
Because women as a group tend to be poorer than men, they may not be able to afford public
transport to come to the meeting. Is the local government going to subsidize the fares, or provide
transport to get to the meeting and back safely?
 Depending on your town or city, women might not be literate. In some countries, women are
taken out of school at an early age and are left with a relatively low level of education. When you
make presentations at the meetings, have you made provision for the men and women who cannot
read? And for those with disabilities?
 Does your consultation or meeting provide child care? Sometimes men do not allow women to
attend meetings. Have you spoken to the men in the community about the importance of the
participation of women in municipal affairs?

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CHAPTER FIVE
MAINSTREAMING GENDER IN GOVERNANCE
5.0. Introduction
Gender inequality is pervasive throughout the world, although the nature and extent of gender differences
varies considerably across countries and regions. In most countries, men and women experience
substantial disparities in their legal rights, access to and control over resources, economic opportunities,
power, and political voice. Women and girls bear the greatest and most direct costs of gender inequalities,
but there are adverse impacts that affect all of society, ultimately harming everyone. ‘Gender
mainstreaming’ is a strategy for redressing these inequalities.

5.1. What is Gender Mainstreaming

5.1.1. What do we mean by ‘gender’ and ‘gender roles’?
The term ‘gender’ is often confused with ‘sex’. However, ‘sex’ generally refers to male and female
biology and anatomy, whereas ‘gender’ refers to a set of qualities and behaviors expected from men and
women by society. ‘Gender roles’ are therefore socially determined and can change over time, since
social values and norms are not static.

Gender roles are learned, and they vary widely within and among cultures depending on socio-economic
factors, age, education, ethnicity and religion. Yet, throughout the world, boys are expected to behave and
act according to norms expected of men, while girls are expected to act in ways considered appropriate
for women. The ways parents educate their children depend to a large extent on what the family and the
wider society consider proper roles, responsibilities and activities for men and women.

Women everywhere are generally expected to fulfill gender roles related to raising children, caring for
other family members, and managing the household. When food is prepared and served in the home it is
often done by women, and in many developing countries women are expected to grow the food as well.
While women are generally associated with reproductive roles, men are more likely to be linked to
productive roles, especially paid work and market production. Women’s overall participation rate in the
formal labor market is increasing, but they tend to be confined to a relatively narrow range of occupations
or are concentrated in lower grades than men. Women tend to work in the support sector, while men have
technical jobs, and men are more often elevated to decision-making positions in organizations,
community groups and/or political parties than women.

5.1.2. What are ‘gender gaps’?

In every society there are differences between men and women that can be identified as ‘gender gaps’.
These gender gaps are manifested in many different ways. For example, there are some situations in
which men are socially subordinated to women, such as young men in some parts of Africa who must pay
respect to older women. Generally, however, women and girls have fewer opportunities, lower status and
less power and influence than men and boys.

Examples of gender gaps

 While there are many gender gaps, some key measures are that:
 Women earn only ten percent of the world’s income, but are responsible for 66 percent of overall
working hours.
 Two-thirds of children who are denied primary education are girls, and 75 percent of the world’s
876 million illiterate adults are women.
 Worldwide, women hold only fourteen percent of parliamentary seats, and only eight percent of
the world’s cabinet ministers are women. Only 11 countries have met the UN target of thirty
percent female decision-makers.

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Gender discrimination and the denial of women’s basic human rights are important factors in women’s
poverty. Millions of women around the world have to work harder than men to secure their livelihoods,
and women’s productive roles have been historically ignored or under-valued. In addition, women have
less control than men over their income and assets, have a smaller share of opportunities for human
development, have subordinate social positions, and are poorly represented in policy and decision-
making processes (DFID, 2002). Men tend to represent the family in decision-making bodies within
communities and are more likely to benefit from available resources. For example, this occurs when the
services of extension workers and agricultural inputs are targeted at men, even when women work longer
hours in the fields.

The fact that relations of power between women and men tend to disadvantage women is often accepted
as ‘natural’. But power relations are primarily determined by society, not nature, and are subject to
change over time.

Gender inequality represents a huge loss of human potential, with costs for men as well as for women.
However, since women generally are more subject to gender discrimination, efforts to reduce gender
discrimination have tended to focus on women. As a result, initiatives have often targeted women only,
without addressing the underlying social relations between men and women. It is important, though, to
recognize that ‘gender issues’ are not synonymous with ‘women’s issues’. Furthermore, women do not
comprise a single interest group in all contexts.

Existing power relations determine to a large extent how resources are distributed, or who obtains access
to and control over resources. Access represents the right to use a resource or benefit, while control
represents the right to make decisions about the use of a resource or benefit. For example, a woman may
have the right to use family labor to assist with growing a vegetable garden, but her husband decides who
will help her and when the labor is available.

5.1.3. What is ‘Gender Mainstreaming?

As defined by the United Nations, gender mainstreaming is:
“… The process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including
legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. It 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 policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and
men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated.”

Gender mainstreaming is not only a question of social justice, but is necessary for ensuring equitable
and sustainable human development by the most effective and efficient means.

‘Gender mainstreaming’ was a key element of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the
Fourth World Conference on Women. It was defined by the UN Economic and Social Council as “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 programs in all political, economic
and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated.”

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Box 2: Beijing Platform of Action: Some strategic objectives
Women and poverty
 Revise laws and administrative practices to ensure women’s equal rights and access to
economic resources.
 Provide women with access to savings and credit mechanisms and institutions.

Women and the economy

 Promote women’s economic rights and independence, including access to employment and
appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources.
 Facilitate women’s equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade.
 Provide business services, training and access to markets, information and technology,
particularly to low-income women.
 Strengthen women’s economic capacity and commercial networks, and eliminate all forms of
employment discrimination.
 Promote harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men.

Women in power and decision-making

 Take measures to ensure women’s equal access to and full participation in power structures
and decision-making.
 Increase women’s capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership.

Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women

 Create or strengthen national machineries and other government bodies.
 Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programs and projects.
 Generate and disseminate gender-disaggregated data and information for planning and
evaluation

Gender mainstreaming is meant to be a strategy for promoting empowerment of women by enabling

women to critically assess their own situations, gain skills, build confidence, move into decision-making
roles and organize with others to effect change. It requires the transformation of gender power relations
by the women who are affected by inequalities and discrimination. The goal is for women themselves to
become active agents of change in transforming gender relations.

Empowerment cannot be ‘done to’ women, but appropriate external support can be offered, such as by
funding women’s organizations that work locally to address the causes of gender subordination, and
promoting dialogue between such organizations and those in positions of power. As a result of increased
awareness, women, individually or collectively, can themselves assess, develop and voice their needs and
interests, then build their capacity to challenge the current situation.

The concept of gender mainstreaming grew out of frustration with strategies for integrating women into
development devised in the 1970s, which included the establishment of separate women’s units or
programs within state and development institutions. By the 1980s, these strategies had resulted in little
progress towards improving gender equity.

With a mainstreaming strategy, gender concerns are seen as important to all aspects of development, for
all sectors and areas of activity, and are a fundamental part of the planning process. Responsibility for
the implementation of gender policy is spread across organizational structures, rather than concentrated
in small central units.

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Development programs generally follow one of two approaches for mainstreaming gender:
 The Women-in-Development (WID) approach aims to integrate women into existing development
processes in order to counteract the exclusion of women. It often involves special women’s projects,
or women’s components in integrated projects, designed to increase women’s productivity or income,
or to help ease their household tasks roles and responsibilities.

 The Gender-and-Development (GAD) approach focuses more on the relations between men and
women, with the goal of redressing the unequal relations of power that prevent women’s full
participation. It aims to achieve equitable and sustainable development in which both women and
men are decision-makers

In general, the Women-in-Development approach addresses women’s ‘practical needs’, while the
Gender-in-Development approach addresses gender-related ‘strategic needs’.

 Practical needs relate to people’s basic, material needs for day-to-day survival. Projects working
towards meeting these needs are often concerned with improving the conditions of women and
men through more efficient resource use, and are not designed to challenge existing gender roles
and divisions of labor.

 Strategic needs are addressed through initiatives designed to challenge existing gender roles and
relationships between women and men. In meeting strategic gender needs, a programs sets out to
change the relative positions of women and men in order to promote empowerment and gender
equity.

The distinction between practical and strategic needs is not clear-cut, however, and projects or programs
may address either or both, depending

Gender norms and practices lead to a gender division of labor, that is, socially constructed roles and
responsibilities. These gender roles and responsibilities give rise to different levels of access and
control, that is, women and men’s opportunities to obtain or use resources (food, credit, water, energy,
technology, etc.) or services (education, health, etc.) The ability and opportunity to acquire resources do
not necessarily imply that people will have the power to control the benefits that derive from these
activities. Therefore, we need to distinguish between “use of” and “control over” a resource. Women may
have access to land, seeds, water, and/or credit, etc., but do not necessarily have control over that
resource. The person that has control over a resource also tends to be the decision-maker.

The person that has the decision-making power reinforces the existing unequal power relation, which
then further underlines the socially constructed roles and responsibilities, leading to a vicious cycle of
reinforcing gender inequality. Interventions are necessary to break the cycle and the existing stereotyped
division of labor. It is important to identify entry-points that depend on prevailing gender norms and
practices in a given society or context. This requires meeting practical needs (immediate needs that can be
met in the short term) as well as strategic needs (beyond practical needs, for example, common laws may
need to be reviewed before gender equality can be achieved) for both men and women, and moving away
from simple participation towards meaningful participation and empowerment.

5.1.4. Why is “Gender mainstreaming” new?

Gender mainstreaming makes a gender dimension explicit in all policy sectors. Gender equality is no
longer viewed as a “separate question,” but becomes a concern for all policies and programs.

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Furthermore, a gender mainstreaming approach does not look at women in isolation, but looks at women
and men - both as actors in the development process, and as its beneficiaries.

Significantly, gender mainstreaming differs from a “women in development” (WID) approach in that it
takes as its starting point a thorough and rigorous analysis of the development situation, rather than a-
priori assumptions about women’s roles and problems. Experience has shown that gender issues differ
by country, region and concrete situation. At the same time, experience has also shown that rigorous,
gender-sensitive analysis invariably reveals gender-differentiated needs and priorities, as well as gender
inequalities in terms of opportunities and outcomes. Gender mainstreaming seeks to redress these
problems.

Given the above, it is clear that a “gender mainstreaming” approach does not necessarily make the need
for specific policies, programs or projects on gender equality obsolete. The level of intervention (from
basic “gender sensitivity” to comprehensive, targetted gender programs) will depend on the specific
needs and priorities revealed by a gender-sensitive situation assessment.

Finally, as a comprehensive strategy, gender mainstreaming should also address the environment
(corporate, office) in which policies and programs are developed and implemented. Thus a strategy to
integrate gender concerns into programming must be accompanied by a strategy to ensure that the
working environment is gender-sensitive, guaranteeing equal opportunities and treatment to both men
and women. Sufficient technical capacity and human resources to successfully implement gender
mainstreaming must also be ensured.

5.1.5. Why is Women’s Equality in Local Government an Issue of Concern?

Although women comprise over 50 per cent of the world’s population, they continue to be under-
represented as voters, leaders and as elected officials, including at the local level. As a result, women do
not have equal influence over the policy decisions that affect their lives. The participation of women in
local government can have a particular influence on local and national development, global affairs and/or
social issues that affect their families’ daily lives such as healthcare, education and infrastructure.

Factors that limit or facilitate women’s participation in political processes – as voters, advocates,
activists, and decision-makers — vary according to social or cultural circumstances, economic situation,
geography, and political context and systems. The factors commonly identified as barriers to women’s
participation include gender stereo-types and outright discrimination, personal obstacles such as lack of
confidence, culturally prescribed domestic roles, low voter education, women’s relative lack of financial
and socio-economic capital, “winner take all” electoral systems, and political institutions that are not
conducive to balancing family and public life.

5.2. Models for Gender mainstreaming in governance

5.2.1. The United Nations Development Program(UNDP) Model
The rise of gender mainstreaming advocates and their impact on the policies and procedures of the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) can best be explained with reference to the social movement’s
literatures that guide our discussion in the first section of this article, which call attention to a mixture of
political opportunities, mobilizing structures and strategic framing.
The UNDP is today characterized by a mixed political opportunity structure, featuring multiple points of
access to the policy process, as well as an influential set of elite donor governments. Since its creation in
1965, advocacy groups seeking to influence the development agenda of the UNDP have found their
primary access to policy and procedure through the decentralized structure of the organization, which
have been both a curse and a blessing to advocates of gender mainstreaming.

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Originally built around a small headquarters in New York, the UNDP now hosts a staff of over 5000
individuals in 132 country offices run by on-site ‘Resident Representatives’ who are responsible for the
coordination of all UN activities in their country. Voluntary donations from UN member states or
agencies finance UNDP programs, and all country projects require official consent of the recipient
government. While the vast majority of UNDP staff members and activities are located outside the central
organization and are dispersed over a wide variety of nations, the organization is itself accountable to a
36-nation Executive Board representing all major world regions. This board is itself accountable to the
UN General Assembly, represented through the Economic and Social Council. As we shall see, the
UNDP’s highly decentralized structure has provided gender mainstreaming advocates several routes of
access to the UN development agenda from both above and below the organization, as well as a series of
increasingly powerful elite allies. Characterized by these multiple points of institutional access and
sensitivity to the pressures of the international political environment — particularly from donor states and
the Executive Board — the UNDP’s open political opportunity structure has paradoxically led to a weak
capacity for policy implementation. Donor-driven resources and the lack of political will on the part of
many host governments that must work to ‘nationalize’ and sustain UNDP programs present substantial
obstacles to the implementation of policy.

This open but weak opportunity structure is central to our explanation of the UNDP’s adoption of the
gender mainstreaming mandate; yet political opportunity structure alone cannot explain how and why an
organization adopts a specific policy frame. The mobilizing structures both within and around the
UNDP’s relatively open opportunity structure have been historically quite strong, ranging over issue-
areas such as gender, the environment and the rights of developing nations, and incorporating a broad
range of actors including NGOs, internal elite allies, donor governments and, to a lesser extent, recipient
states. These strategic advocates of gender equality have, over time, positioned the gender mainstreaming
frame within the UNDP’s overall interventionist frame, which accepts the intervention of states and
international organizations in the marketplace in support of social goals.

In light of our predictions in the first section of this article, we therefore expect the UNDP to be
comparatively open to the adoption of the policy frame of gender mainstreaming, but we also expect
serious obstacles to the implementation of actual policies and programs at the country level.

The process of mainstreaming the UNDP has been a gradual one. In the early years, the organization’s
attention to women’s rights and roles in development policy centered around a weakly mobilized
constituency of advocacy groups, which proffered a rather vague conception of how to incorporate gender
into economic and social development. It was not until the UN Decade for Women that the UNDP made
its first visible response to pressure from women’s advocacy networks and sympathetic donor
governments, becoming one of the first international organizations to address women’s concerns with
respect to development. In addition to its establishment of WID guidelines, and the creation of
institutional ‘focal points’ to monitor efforts to include women into development policy, the UNDP
gained a series of elite allies in the mid-1970s through the creation of UNIFEM (the Voluntary Fund for
the UN Decade for Women). While these developments would come to play a vital role in the
establishment of a gender mainstreaming mandate down the road, UNIFEM’s initial function and
influence within the UNDP remained under-funded and institutionally marginalized. The UNDP’s early
attempt to incorporate women into development, therefore, did little to secure the actual advancement of
women within the ranks of the organization’s hierarchy and early assessments of WID policy found that
fewer than 16% of development projects affecting women actually incorporated women into the process
of implementation.

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5.2.2. The World Bank Model
As in the case of the UNDP, the World Bank’s adoption and implementation of a gender mainstreaming
mandate has also been shaped by its characteristic political opportunity structure, mobilizing structures of
women’s advocates in and around the Bank, and the dominant frame of the organization. By comparison
with the UNDP, however, the World Bank has traditionally been a more closed and centralized
organization, with few internal allies on women’s issues, a decision-making structure that places
significant discretion in the hands of Bank management, an overwhelming majority of staff located in the
Bank’s Washington offices, and few links to the NGO community. In formal institutional terms, the Bank
is responsible to its Board of Governors, characterized by a weighted voting scheme that gives the largest
donors the greatest voice in setting Bank policies and appointing its leaders. The Board of Governors, in
turn, appoints the Board of Executive Directors, who meets under the chairmanship of the Bank’s
President (who is always an American national). By all accounts, however, much of the day-to-day
decision-making about the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategies, as well as the identification of programs
and projects, takes place within the Bank’s Washington-based management. Given this relatively closed
political opportunity structure, the mobilizing structures around the Bank prior to the 1990s were
considerably weaker than those around the UNDP, consisting primarily of progressive donor states, a few
relatively isolated officials inside the Bank, and a highly critical but not very influential NGO community
outside the Bank.

5.3. Steps in mainstreaming gender in local governance

Mainstreaming gender into project planning should begin with collection and analysis of sex-
disaggregated data that can highlight significant social and economic variables. This is also the time to
assess the gender sensitivity of project staff involved in problem identification and development
planning, and to offer appropriate training where necessary. Stakeholder participation is a key element
in problem identification, and attention to gender issues is important in this context so that it is not
only men who have the time and opportunity to present problems and potential solutions. Framing
questions, and listening the responses, in a gender-sensitive way, will reveal points where there are
significant differences between men and women in terms of existing economic and social conditions,
priorities for action, planning approaches, implementation abilities, training needs, and hoped-for
outcomes. This discussion can help establish project objectives as well as indicators of success that
directly address the perceived needs of the participants.

5.3.1. Project identification, formulation and appraisal

The motivation to formulate a project is often to address a specific problem or to take advantage of a new
opportunity. This requires identification of the entry point and/or the problem to be addressed. Any
proposed project should be reviewed from a range of perspectives to determine whether to proceed to
writing a formal proposal and seeking funding. Consideration of gender perspectives should be part of a
broader review of policies, institutions, infrastructure, socio-economic and cultural issues, and the state of
the economy. The project formulation stage also represents an opportunity to improve the project design
prior to implementation by conducting a gender analysis of the project design. See Box 5.2.

Many analytical tools have been developed to assess projects from a gender perspective, and many of
them are identified as ‘participatory’. These tools reflect the view that participa-tion is essential and that
outsiders (such as extension and community workers) should play the role of facilitators rather than
teachers. Participatory tools and approaches can be used to collect and share information, to facilitate
learning and community planning and to empower people to take charge of their own development.

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 a) Stakeholder analysis
With this tool, particular attention is paid to the likely impact of the project on different stakeholders,
including men and women, their opportunities for participation, and the project’s contribution to
development. Stakeholder analysis reviews the following:
 Who are the different stakeholders? Are men or women represented?
 What are their interests? How do they differ for men and women?
 How will men and women be affected by the proposed project?
 What are the project priorities for men and women?
 What is the capacity for men and women to participate in the project?
Male and female stakeholders may have different abilities to influence the outcome of a project. For
example, target beneficiaries are often in a relatively weak position in terms of influencing projects. They
may be frustrated by a lack of access to information or be placed in a weak social position due to
traditional hierarchies. Other interested stakeholders may have the time, money, organizational capacity
or political power necessary to influence the project; however, if they are not interested, they could pose a
risk to the project’s success by withholding support. The inclusion of additional project activities might
ensure that influential stakeholders support a project and enable important yet weak stakeholders to
become more influential. Subdividing men and women into separate groups is – or should be – a common
step in stakeholder analysis.

b) Gender analysis
Gender analysis involves a systematic approach to identifying and examining the expected impacts of
development on men and women in the community. The main questions addressed are:

 Who does what work? How does the work differ for men and women?
 Who has access to and who has control over environmental and energy resources?
 Who has access to and control over the benefits from environmental and energy
resources?
 Who participates in decision-making?
 Which needs are being met?

The purpose of the analysis is to determine whether:

 The existing situation contributes to the well-being and development of the household;
 The existing situation contributes to the well-being and development of the economy;
 The existing situation is sustainable.

Where possible, use is made of sex-disaggregated data collected during the situational analysis.

Analysis may be used at the planning stage to determine whether the potential gender impacts of a
project are desirable and consistent with the project purpose and goal. The impact of the project is
examined in terms of:

 Tasks and skills: changes in tasks performed, levels of skill required and labor requirements
(how many people).
 Workload: changes in the amount of time it takes to carry out tasks.
 Resources/benefits: changes in access to resources and benefits as a result of the project, and
changes in control over resources and benefits.
 Socio-cultural factors: changes in social aspects of participants’ and the community’s lives as
a result of the project.

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Analyses that focus on gender relations differ in emphasis from those that simply accept existing gender
roles . They give more prominence to the connectedness of men’s and women’s lives, and to the
imbalances of power embedded in male-female relations. They also emphasize the interaction of gender
relations with other hierarchical social relations such as class, caste, ethnicity and race.
The main focus at this stage is to define the governance related gender issues that are country and
community specific and related to the kind of governance intervention that will be undertaken. Many of
these interventions may be aimed at strengthening the ratification of CEDAW in the RMCs by supporting
efforts to enact national laws and legal instruments to raise awareness and enforce equal rights for women
and men.

The gender analysis at this stage will aim to elaborate the following:
 Whether national policies on gender and good governance exist and the extent to which they are
being implemented;
 Gender disaggregated information on key good governance variables including:
 Proportion of women elected and appointed to decision-making bodies such as parliament,
municipal and local councils, cabinet, ministries and other governing bodies;
 Level of existing measures addressing barriers to women running for elections, for example,
legal, structural, social or financial;
 Ratio of female to male candidates occupying political positions;
 Level of women's equal participation with men as decision-makers, e.g. by occupying cabinet
posts;

 Establishment of affirmative action for female education, violence against women and attention
to gender perspectives in national budgets;
 Existence of reforms to enhance access to basic services and safety nets for the vulnerable,
particularly poor women and men;

 Existence of mechanisms for accountability for Gender Equality commitments.

5.3.2. Implementation
Much of the emphasis in gender-sensitive development is focused on increasing the participation of
women in implementation of initiatives. Although this is a vital goal, it does not come without
challenges. The difficulties faced by poor women and the costs of participation should be clearly
understood and addressed.

Barriers to involvement: The involvement of men and women requires attention to gender differences and
inequalities. Women’s responsibilities for childcare, household maintenance and family welfare often
make it difficult for them to participate in community meetings and activities. Men are more likely to be
consulted as community leaders, and even when women are included, they may lack the education,
experience and social standing to speak up. Therefore special efforts should be made to facilitate
women’s participation.

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5.3.3. Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation are integral stages in the project cycle. Monitoring is an ongoing process
during project implementation, whereas evaluation occurs periodically, typically once a project has been
completed. Both should incorporate measurable targets and gender-sensitive indicators.
This stage of the program will focus on tracking progress with regards to achieving gender targets and
objectives of the planned governance intervention.. Further areas of focus are:
 Verifying that all data generated by the Bank supported governance program is disaggregated by
gender and is gender sensitive and that it brings out a clear indication of the level of participation
in the implementation and monitoring of its component activities.
 Ensuring the documentation of success/failure in achieving program gender equality objectives,
as well as lessons learnt which can be replicated or avoided in similar Bank supported governance
programs.
 Facilitating the conduct of a mid-term review to evaluate if gender program goals and objectives
are on course and to redesign the program to address any serious challenges impeding the
effective implementation of the gender strategy under the Bank supported governance
intervention.

Monitoring considers the question ‘Are we doing the project correctly?’ Its purpose is to alert project
managers to any problems that arise during implementation. It ensures that inputs are made available on
time and are properly utilized. Monitoring typically reports, for example, on financial or physical
progress, such as the amount of money spent on an activity or the number of women and men attending a
field demonstration. While quantity is important, the quality is also important. For example, women may
be involved in project implementation doing low-wage activities, and may not be represented in any
significant way in project management.

A different kind of monitoring – impact monitoring – also works within the existing project design,
focusing on the transformation of inputs and activities to outputs. However, it is concerned with progress
of the project towards achieving its purpose, and the impact of the project on different groups of people.
Gender-sensitive monitoring ensures that the impacts of a project are assessed for both men and women.
If any unexpected negative results are observed, their causes can be identified and corrective action taken
to bring a project back on track.

a) Key questions that an impact assessment should answer are:

 What benefit (financial, human) will the option bring to both men and women?
 What costs (financial, human) will the option incur for both men and women?
 How do both male and female stakeholders perceive the option in terms of its costs,
benefits, acceptability and practicality?

Evaluations differ from monitoring because they adopt a broader perspective by challenging the original
assumptions of the project design and considering ‘Are we doing the correct project?’ Evaluations focus
on progress towards realizing a project’s purpose and goal, and even if a project does not have specific
gender-related goals, its impact on and relevance to men and women should always be considered. This
will help to inform new initiatives that can benefit from the experiences of the project.

Attributing gender, development and empowerment impacts to specific interventions can at times be a
challenge. For example, the goal of a project may be to improve income-generating opportunities for
men and women, but attention needs to be paid to ensure that any measured increases in income levels
are due to the project activities and not other factors (such as a one-time bumper crop).

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 b) Gender-sensitive targets and indicators
Measurable targets and gender-sensitive indicators should be developed at an early stage in the
planning process and included in planning documents. Unless gender considerations are included
throughout the design and planning process, and specifically included in the project objectives, they are
not likely to be tracked carefully in the monitoring and evaluation of the project’s success.

Collection of separate data on men and women ideally should be done at the beginning of the project
cycle, starting with gender-differentiated baseline assessments of existing conditions. Then it will be
easier to determine whether there are differing impacts on men and women throughout the project
implementation period. Looking at ‘households’ as a category, for example, without differentiating
between the separate needs and concerns of the men and women in the household, or identifying female-
headed households, can result in misleading data both about baselines and about project impacts.

a) Quantitative indicators measure changes over time that can be presented in terms of numbers,
percentages, or ratios, such as the number of women working in an environmental organization.
Quantitative indicators are useful because they are relatively easy to track. In many instances,
however, projects collect information related to the project’s financial or physical progress (such
as the amount of money spent on an activity, or the number of women and men attending a field
demonstration) rather than assessing the impacts of the project on the target group or the
livelihoods of the project beneficiaries – such as increases in their income levels or access to
resources.
b) Qualitative indicators, such as changes in opinions and attitudes over time due to project
activities, are more difficult to obtain and measure since they may require interviews with
participants or surveys of target beneficiaries. Collection of this sort of information, however, can
provide important perspectives on the actual effectiveness of a project concerned with an abstract
goal, such as gender empowerment, and on why measurable changes occurred. Qualitative
analysis might, for example, indicate what sorts of obstacles keep women from occupying more
seats in local community associations or other decision-making positions, or information on why
mainly men participated in a specific field demonstration. Sometimes, however, this type of
information is not gathered because it is considered too complex and situation-specific.

5.2.4. COMPLETION REPORTS

The project evaluation and completion reports (PCRs) should assess the extent to which the systems put
in place through the program design have contributed to the realization of its gender equality objectives as
follows:

Box 6: Gender issues in a Governance Program Completion Report

 Evaluate program progress in achieving gender equality objectives.
 Evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted gender strategy.
 Evaluate impact of the program on beneficiaries.
 List lessons learnt, identify key areas that influence program success or failure and
document best practices.

Assess through a range of tools such as ensuring the presence of a gender expert on the PCR team, who
can identify the extent to which gender equality objectives of the governance interventions within the
project were met;

• Ensure that the Gender Helpdesk (GHD) is utilized as a PCR peer reviewer, as the GHD can serve as
a tool for analyzing the programming, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of governance
initiatives with a gender lens ;

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• Ensure that a criterion is established within the PCR format that is gender specific and which the PCR
has to meet to enable the assessment of whether gender was properly mainstreamed in the project.

5.4. Strategies for Gender Mainstreaming in Governance and participation

Governance can be defined as “the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage
a country’s affairs at all levels.” It is manifest in the mechanisms, processes and institutions through
which decisions are negotiated and implemented. Gender balanced participation in governance processes
not only refers to the physical presence of men and women “around the decision-making table”, but also
to the quality of participation, i.e. meaningful engagement which stems from a mutual respect for diverse
opinions and standpoints.

As this brief highlights, governance refers not only to formal public decision-making structures and
processes (i.e. national and local government), but includes decision-making within the family,
community and private sector as well. Mainstreaming a “gender perspective” into governance thus
entails addressing the ways in which both genders participate in and are affected by various systems of
governance, as well as the interaction between these various systems.

5.4.1. Mainstreaming gender in Governance and Participation at the National Level

5.4.1.1. What is the Issue? What is the Goal?
A gendered analysis of governance immediately highlights the issue of participation and representation. A
presumed “commonality of interests” between men and women, as well as their needs and perspectives,
has often been used to legitimize an overwhelming presence of men in formal governance structures at
the national level – i.e. parliament and government (or Cabinet of Ministers). However, a gender analysis
of political processes and policies reveals that men and women do not always share the same needs and
perspectives, and that it is thus crucial that women be represented as well, so that their interests – as half
of the population – are adequately addressed. Thus once this “commonality of interests” is challenged; a
mandate emerges for more balanced participation of men and women, to ensure that both genders
participate in the decisions and actions that affect them.

At the same time, it is crucial that to understand that more balanced participation will not come about
simply from a formal mandate or invitation to women. The systemic barriers that often keep women out
of major public governance structures are profound, and must be addressed before any serious progress
can be made.

5.4.1.2. Barriers to Female Participation in Governance Structures

1. General attitudes and culture in society which construe men as the only real political factors
tend to legitimate men and their actions, while disqualifying women. In the same sense, women
in politics are often more closely scrutinized and criticized than men.
2. The assumption of a commonality of interests between men and women often negates the need
to represent women as a social group. While “women” are by no means a coherent, internally
identical group, they do share some common needs and interests which require representation.
3. The lack of a written and citable political commitment to social and gender equality and
justice (i.e. National Plan of Action or other policy document) makes it difficult to hold
governance structures accountable for low female participation.
4. Women can be discouraged and intimidated by the use of masculine terminology in politics
and governance, either under the flawed assumption that men are the only legitimate actors
here, or that masculine terminology can also include and represent women – which it does not.
5. A lack of media representation of women’s political voices, views, demands and leadership,
means that other women lack a model with which they can identify and find legitimacy for their
own views.

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 6. The masculine culture of politics, including the “old boys network” of patronage and connections
and the pervasiveness of after-hours get-togethers (e.g. on the basketball court, in the sauna) to
reach agreements on political questions keeps women out of many informal yet integral aspects
of decision-making.
7. The unequal division of family responsibilities, including household management and childcare,
places women at a disadvantage in terms of time needed to be active in politics. Similarly,
limited social services inhibit women’s access to “disposable time”.
8. Women’s lower wages and limited entitlements to social benefits, alongside prevalent social
expectations that women spend their income on their families, inhibits or prevents expenditure
on an uncertain political career.
9. Public and private forms of violence exercised by men against women curbs and controls
women’s self-determination and risk-taking behavior.

As mentioned above, the objective of more balanced participation in national governing structures is less
an end in itself than a means towards improved quality of governance – increased participation of
women should help foster gender-awareness in political processes and policy practice. At the same time,
we need to remember that a critical understanding of gender issues does not come naturally to
professionals, whether women or men.

Therefore, real change in how a government approaches gender requires attention to three issues:
(a) Critical mass: In order for a group with common interests (in this case, women) to be heard and
taken into account, it has been proven that a presence of not less than 30% is necessary.
(b)Capacity Building: Because gender-based planning is not something anybody is competent at
instinctively, training and capacity-building are essential – for both women and men.
(c) National Machinery: Various institutions or bodies at the national level that support the integration
of a gender perspective are necessary in order to guarantee effective planning and implementation.
National action plans or policies provide the official mandate for action, and can be used to measure
progress and evaluate results.

The goal of mainstreaming a gender perspective into issues of governance and participation at the
national level is therefore two-fold:

1. To ensure balanced participation between men and women in national governance, which
includes removal of structural and systemic barriers to women’s participation;
2. To ensure that gender issues are integrated into decision-making, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of national governance initiatives.

5.4.1.3. Why Bother?

The following are reasons as to why it is necessary to mainstream gender in governance at national level:
1. Justice: In the case where one gender (most often women) is barred or deterred from holding
public office because of either direct discrimination or systemic barriers, participation becomes
an issue of justice. As all citizens of a society have a right to political participation, it is a state’s
duty to ensure that both women and men are fully able to enjoy and exercise this right.

2. Credibility and Accountability: Gender-balanced representation is also a question of credibility

and legitimacy of government structures. Because women represent at least half of the
population, their presence in governance structure lends legitimacy to that structure: “When
democratic processes prevail, women in public office give meaning to the representative nature
of democracy and institutionalize and legitimize women’s voices in the sites of power.”
Furthermore, populations have greater trust in governments that are transparent and represent the
interests of the entire population.

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 Recent data analyzed by the World Bank has also revealed that more women in government may
lead to more honest governance: gender- differentiated attitudes towards corruption appear to be
a worldwide phenomenon.

3. Efficiency: Research carried out by the UN on governance issues revealed that men elected to
executive and legislative branches of government are largely unaware of household needs and
the ways in which these relate to socio-economic development at the community, local,
provincial and national levels. The absence of this perspective means that policies are not as
efficient and effective as they could be .Moreover, if GDG talented and qualified members of the
population (in this case, women) perceive insurmountable and non-objective barriers to their
career goals in politics, they are likely to leave the country in search of opportunities elsewhere,
such as Europe and North America. This “brain drain” detracts from the full economic and social
development potential of a country.

4. Chain Reaction: It is also important to realize that women in decision-making positions serve
as important role models, which will inspire other women to stand for and hold public office.

5.4.1.4. Possible Interventions and Entry Points of governance at national level

Using research to define and refine the problem: Given the diversity of factors that may hinder women’s
full participation in national governance structures, it is important to carefully identify the barriers in your
particular national context. Sociological surveys on attitudes towards female politicians (of both the
electorate and politicians themselves), as well as detailed analysis of the structures and processes of
politics (i.e. how ministers are appointed, what informal networks of decision -making exist, how
politicians are promoted within their own political parties, etc.) are invaluable resources for pinpointing
the source of the problem. Once the problem is precisely identified, concrete steps may be taken to
resolve it.

1. Civil service reform: One important entry point for the integration of a gender perspective
is civil service reform – currently taking place in a great number of countries around the
world. Civil service codes can include explicit non-discrimination and/or affirmative action
principles, while civil service training can incorporate gender issues and concerns.

2. Setting Concrete Targets for Gender-balanced participation: As experience has shown,

without concrete, time-bound goals, governments cannot be held accountable, and
sustainability of progress is less likely. Governments should therefore include a time- bound
target (e.g. not more than 60% of government positions and parliament seats to be held by
either men or women by 2010) in an official declaration of priorities or strategy for action.

3. Short -term statutory provisions for affirmative action, or quotas: Because of the many
diverse barriers that women face in entering governance structures, set quotas may be
necessary to give female participation a boost. This is also known as positive discrimination
or affirmative action. However, because there is often backlash against such measures, it is
vital that implementation of quotas be accompanied by public awareness campaigns to
explain why it may be necessary.

4. Fostering a gender-neutral and woman-friendly governance environment: This may

include expanding child- care facilities and parental support to allow women (and men) to
balance their roles as parents and politicians. The experience in Sweden suggests that such
measures can be particularly instrumental in bringing more women into public office.

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5. Establishment of a “Women’s Caucus”: Many countries around the world have established
multi -party, non- partisan women’s caucuses or coalitions, where female parliamentarians can
meet to discuss issues of particular concern to them and to articulate positions on various issues.
This “united front” has often been instrumental in bringing policy changes for the promotion of
gender equality that may not have been possible without a coalitionary approach.

6. Establishment and Strengthening of National Machinery for Gender Equality: This may
include a Ministry (or department) on gender or women’s affairs, a National Institution for
Gender Issues, an Office for Gender Equality attached to either the Prime Minister’s or
President’s Office, or a special ministerial portfolio on Gender Issues. The precise type and
mandate of machinery must be dictated by national needs and context.

7. Establishment of an inter-ministerial Gender Working Group: Because gender is a cross-

sectoral issue that needs to be mainstreamed into all areas of policy, an inter-ministerial working
group can be instrumental in ensuring the practical implementation of policy mandates. This also
helps avoid the problem of “marginalization” of gender as a “special issue” left only to the
experts (or women). Working groups also facilitate information sharing and capacity building.

8. Establishment of a Consultative Committee on Gender Issues: Because governance

structures often lack necessary expertise on gender issues to make important policy and
legislation decisions, a useful practice is the convening of a consultative group or committee that
can advise politicians and policy makers. Members might include NGO activists and experts,
although the main criteria should be the level of their gender expertise. Meetings can be held
either on a regular basis with a changing agenda, or may be convened in response to specific,
current policy questions. Such a committee is also an excellent way to promote more
accountable and participatory governance.

9. Preparation of an Annual Report on Gender: The preparation of such a report by the

government can be an important source of statistical information and a tool for tracking progress
and disseminating information to a wide audience. Such a report can either be prepared “in-
house” by the national gender machinery, or can be sub-contracted to a research organization or
NGO.

10. Establishment of a Gender Policy Resource Centre: Creating a central “clearing house” for
reports, bulletins, books and other information on gender policy can make gender mainstreaming
more efficient and can contribute to strengthening the profile of gender issues within governance
at the national level.

11. Example- setting: Women who have already succeeded in establishing themselves in political
positions can be extremely influential internationally and nationally in encouraging other women
to enter politics. Opportunities should be sought, either formally or informally, for these women
to speak to other women and girls – in the media, at schools or at other events.

12. Training Strategies for Increasing Women’s Political Participation: Low women’s political
participation at the national level is more often an issue of systemic barriers than women’s lack
of capacity. At the same time, because women have often not had the same opportunities as men
to hold political office, women’s disadvantage can be countered by providing training (to female
candidates and women more generally) in areas such as 32:

 capacity-building through networking

 negotiation skills

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  management
 budget analysis
 constituency-building and mass mobilization
 gender mainstreaming in politics and policies
 use of mass media
 political and voter education
 long-term strategies for engaging the younger generation

At the same time, it should be recognized that many male politicians require training in these same
areas – particularly in terms of integrating a social and gender justice perspective into politics. It is thus
crucial to involve potential and current male politicians in such training as well – not only will this
increase their capacity, but will create a more favourable and welcoming governance environment for
women. Involving men will also encourage broader discussion and debate on issues specifically
affecting men.

GENDER AND CORRUPTION

In the shadow of good governance stands corruption: a globally pervasive phenomenon whereby public
officials use their position either for direct personal gain, or to assert influence beyond their given
mandate. Corruption – which is found to a greater or lesser extent in all governments worldwide – can be
devastating for the progress of a nation.

Corruption is a question of accountability; corruption is also a gender issue. A recent study by the World
Bank33 suggested that increased participation of women in government could be “particularly effective in
promoting honest government”, as a strong correlation was found between high levels of women in
parliament and lower levels of corruption.

While it may be disingenuous to suggest that women are naturally “more honest” or “less corrupt” than
men, their increasing presence into government over the last several decades in many countries has
undoubtedly brought more attention to accountability and social justice. At the same time, it should be
noted that a critical mass (i.e. at least 30%) of women is required to instigate substantial change.

5.4.2. Governance and Participation at the Local Level

5.4.2.1. What is the Issue? What is the Goal?
Many local government issues overlap with issues discussed in the previous section on governance at
the national level. However, certain aspects and issues are specific to local government in terms of
gender mainstreaming.
 The issue of decentralization is one of these aspects. Ideally, decentralization will bring a transfer
of resources and devolution of decision-making power regarding issues and areas closest to and best
dealt with by local government. This means that local governments need to be particularly
responsive to the actual needs of the community – which inherently means attention to the particular
needs of both men and women at the community level.

 On the one hand, this highlights the importance of gender-balanced representation in official local
government structures. General trends around the world tend to show a higher proportion of female
representation in local government councils than in national government, although in few places has
gender balance actually been achieved.
 On the other hand, this highlights the need for participatory mechanisms, i.e. the need for local
governance structures to involve both men and women from the wider community in decision-making
and policy- making processes, so that both women’s and men’s knowledge can inform these decisions
and policies.

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Management of community services and resources is of particular importance here:
 Social, Health and Education Services: Because women are often responsible for caring for
children, the sick and the elderly, they often possess unique knowledge about the most efficient
and effective ways of providing social and health care services. This knowledge needs to be
understood and considered in the formulation of policies.

At the same time, because health and education are often considered “women’s business”, the
needs and perspectives of men in the community may not be adequately considered by policy-
makers. Bringing community men into this loop of participatory decision-making and
understanding their needs and perspectives might also encourage more male involvement in
areas of life connected to social reproduction.

 Planning, Housing and Transportation: These services have strong gender dimensions.
The rising number of female-headed households in both so-called industrialized and
developing countries, combined with the fact that women are generally more active in
informal community management, means that women’s needs and knowledge must be taken
into consideration when making decisions on house design, zoning and site lay-out.

Similarly, because women are often responsible for household management, they have specific
needs and unique knowledge when it comes to waste removal, energy, water supplies and other
community services.

 Furthermore, men and women often have different transportation needs: while men will
more often have use of a “family car”, women tend to rely much more heavily on public
transport. Furthermore, women often require public transportation at non-peak hours for the
completion of parenting and household-related chores. Transportation planning needs to take
these issues into consideration.

The goal is therefore two-fold:

1. To ensure balanced participation between men and women in local governance, which includes
removal of structural and systemic barriers to women’s participation
2. To ensure that a gender issues are integrated into decision-making, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of local governance initiatives.

5.4.2.2. Why Bother?

The following are reasons as to why it is necessary to mainstream gender in local governance:
1. Justice: Equal access to political decision-making for community service and resource
management is a human rights issue. Barriers to equal participation on the basis of gender
need to be removed because they are in violation of human rights obligations to promote equal
opportunities for all.

2. Accountability: Accountability is a two-fold issue for local governments: Local governments are
in a very direct way accountable in front of their constituencies, but are equally accountable to
central government because of the resources delegated by authorities. Because accountability
inherently implies transparency and responsiveness to actual needs, enhancing accountability of
local governance can also promote gender equality, and vice versa. Means to do this include
budget initiatives, public hearings and consultative/participatory mechanisms.

Furthermore, the International Association of Local Authorities (IULA), for example, has set the
goal of not more than 60% of either gender to be represented in local assemblies.

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 Local governments that are unwilling to commit themselves to this same goal should be held
accountable by their constituencies: why are local governments so reluctant?

3. Efficiency: “Women, as prime users of housing and human settlements, often have insights
which can improve design and prevent failure and wastage.” For example, while a grid lay- out
for housing may be the simplest to design, women in informal settlements may prefer a more
communal, circular pattern which allows for collective child-minding, greater sociability and
security and reduced isolation. While this knowledge stems from women’s experience, such
designs are also likely to encourage men to make greater responsibility for social reproduction
activities.

4. Quality of Life: Actions of local government affect the quality of life of community members in
a very direct manner. If the unique knowledge of both women and men in terms of community
planning is explicitly recognized, this could greatly improve the quality of life of all members
living in the community, and could ease the reproductive burden of women.

5. Chain Reaction: Participatory and “gendered” local governance often means strong alliances
with community-based organizations – many of which are led by women. It is important to
point out that this is an important way for women to gain skills in public sector governance –
community work is a common catalyst for women entering politics. Such hands-on,
community experience adds value to the work of anybody serving in public office.

5.4.2.3. Possible Interventions and Entry Points of governance at local level

Many of the strategies employed for promoting gender balance in national governance structures
can be transferred to local and regional levels of governance as well. Other ideas include:

1. Delegation of responsibilities to Gender Sensitive Community-based organizations:

Cooperation with CBOs often represents a very efficient and effective means of delivering
services to the community (e.g. providing drop-in counseling services, community-based
education initiatives, etc.) Moreover, such groups are often in a better position to identify
needs of community members. Specific collaboration with gender-sensitive organizations can
help mainstream a gender perspective into the provision of such services.

2. Cooperation with Local Government Association: The National Local Government

Association (or similar body) can be a very useful entry point for the provision of gender-
mainstreaming training and awareness-raising on gender issues.

3. Collection and Dissemination of Best Practices: Many local governments have implemented
community-based projects that represent excellent examples of gender mainstreaming.
Oftentimes these projects are sponsored by local governments in donor countries, yet the
bilateral nature of these project relationships mean that best practices are not always shared
with other municipalities. Research on best practices or case studies (followed by a seminar or
other means of disseminating and discussing the collected information) can help raise
awareness about these initiatives and generate ideas for their replication elsewhere.

4. Data collection: As another common problem is the incompleteness of statistical data and
analysis, the introduction of systematic data collection (by the local government association
or other body) on gender balance and other gender mainstreaming issues at the local
government level would greatly assist monitoring and evaluating progress.

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 5. Implementation of Accountability-Enhancing Mechanisms: Increased attention to
accountability can promote greater gender equality. These mechanisms can include:

 Starting budget initiatives, where expenditures and/or revenues are analyzed from a gender
perspective. Cooperation with community groups in the implementation of such initiatives can
enhance community participation and the credibility of the local government.

 Holding public hearings on issues that are of major concern to the community and may affect
men and women differently – example, new community development projects, new child-care
schemes, etc.

5.4.3. Gender Mainstreaming in Governance at the Household/Family Level

5.4.3.1. What is the Issue? What is the Goal?
Efforts to promote gender equality in governance and participation are often directed at elected public
bodies. Sometimes advances for gender equality in the public sphere can bring promote enhanced gender
equality within the home, but they may also bring backlash. In any case, issues of “gender governance”
within the home must be addressed as an issue in its own right, and cannot be expected to simply “trickle
down” from equality in other areas.

There are various spheres of governance and decision-making within the home and family:
 Time use and reproductive work: Even in cases where both adults in the family are employed
outside the home, the largest burden of reproductive work usually falls to women. For example,
in most OECD countries women's work burden averages 7 to 28 per cent more than men's. This
is likely to be the result of a family governance environment that does not address “time” as a
crucial resource. As with other resources, an egalitarian and democratic household should jointly
decide about where and how time should be spent, and by whom, to the maximum benefit of all
involved.

Furthermore, if time is not recognized as an important resource, it is likely that women’s

contribution to reproductive work will not be valued within the household, which can unjustly
decrease her decision-making power.
 Household Resources and Expenditure: Research conducted in both developed and developing
countries reveals that households demonstrate a strong bias in favor of men, whether young or
old, in terms of food distribution. Similar male biases are found for expenditures on health,
education, work tools and personal consumption.
 Furthermore, when states provide allowances, subsidies or other forms of state-sponsored
support to families (e.g. “baby bonuses” or welfare payments), there is no automatic guarantee
that these are being distributed equally to intended beneficiaries. This is because decision-
making processes within households may not be egalitarian and may not necessarily function to
the ultimate benefit of all household members.
 Family Planning and Parenting: In households with children, important decisions need to be
made about how children are raised, their schooling, what they are allowed to do at what age,
amongst other issues.
 Sexual Relations: Sexuality is a vital aspect of a fulfilling personal life. In many households,
women may have little control over their sexual life and little power to decide when and how
they would like to engage in sexual relations. In other instances, sexuality may be one of the few
means of “power” women can access, and thus it becomes a site of intense contest and conflict
between men and women. It must be recognized that both men and women have the right to
sexual lives free of coercion and violence.

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There are countless types of families and family decision- making models – while some are particularly
“patriarchal” (where men wield most decision- making power), others are in fact the opposite. In some
cases, women may enjoy a large degree of decision- making power within the home (particularly in
relation to child-care, parenting and home economic issues) and may perceive more balanced decision-
making as a threat–particularly as they may enjoy very little power outside of the home.

While some decision-making is a question of negotiation between partners, it is also crucial to bear in
mind that decision-making power is largely influenced by societal and community norms about who
should control finances, family affairs, sexual relations, and so on.

The goal in terms of governance in the family/household is:

 To promote gender balanced decision-making in all matters related to the family and household.

5.4.3.2. Why Bother?

The following are reasons as to why it is necessary to mainstream gender governance at household/family
level:
1. Chain Reaction and Accountability: Although family life is often seen as “private” (i.e.
something with which government should not concern itself), aspects of family life undoubtedly
spill over into all other areas of life: issues of family governance affect men’s and women’s
economic opportunities, their ability to engage in political life, their mental and physical health
and not least, the welfare of children and elderly family members. This is a good justification for
promoting an egalitarian, safe and healthy family governance environment.

Moreover, it should not go unnoticed that governments already insert themselves into many
areas of family governance – they provide child allowances or other family benefits; they
legislate access to family planning methods and abortion; they determine at what age and for
how long children should attend school; they determine taxation policy based on familial
relationships, and so on. Given this considerable degree of “interference” in family life, a truly
accountable government must ensure that all interventions promote, rather than hinder, gender
equality within the household.

2. Efficiency: Governance at the household level needs to be considered from a gendered

perspective, as this immediately brings to light the issue of reproductive (unpaid) labor. Unless
the contribution of reproductive labor is recognized as part of the macroeconomic processes of a
nation, truly efficient policies that maximize the potential of the whole population cannot be put
in place

5.4.3.3. Possible Interventions and Entry Points for governance at household/family level
1. Shift from Household-based measurements to Individual-based measurements: Because
women and men have different access to resources and decision-making in households, studies
that measure income, resources and other indicators should be careful to differentiate between
members within households, as there is no guarantee that all members benefit equally from
household resources.

2. Time-use surveys: Commissioning special research on time- use within families can provide
data that will help analyze and monitor how men and women divide reproductive work. This is
often a good indication of gender balance in household and family governance, as well.

3. Decision-making surveys: Commissioning decision-making surveys can provide more

precise data on how decision-making happens within households. Special methodology needs
to be developed so that surveys can be repeated and longitudinally compared.

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 Methodology should consist of interviewing an appropriate sample of men and women (who live in
households with both a male and female adult present). The main question that forms the base of such
a survey is:

Are major decisions on parenting/household budgets/reproductive work taken by you, your

male/female partner, or both jointly – never/ some of the time/ most of the time/ always?

4. Family and Parenting Education: Governments (and local governments in particular) can
support community-based services that offer classes and support groups for parenting and family
education. Gender aspects related to decision-making within the household should be integrated
into these activities. Prenatal classes offered to expectant parents can also integrate issues of
joint-decision making in parenting.
5. Review of Taxation Policy: Taxation policy should be reviewed, taking into consideration
unequal resource distribution within households. For example, a shift from direct taxation to
indirect taxation may harm non-earning household members, while savings from lower direct
taxation rates may not be transferred from earning members to others in the household.

5.4.4. Participation and Governance in The Private Sector

5.4.4.1. What is the Issue? What is the Goal?
With increasing privatization and policies of “rolling back the state”, the private sector is becoming an
increasingly important factor in national development processes. However, as the private sector continues
to develop and stabilize in transition countries, little attention is paid to the different roles of men and
women in these developments and how this may affect society more broadly. Again, incomplete
statistical data and gender analysis on women in decision-making positions within the private sector
hampers a better understanding of this issue, as well as meaningful solutions.

Access to Economic Resources and Opportunities: While profit is generally the bottom line in the
private sector, there are various ways to reach this end goal. However, not all of these paths equally
promote and enhance gender equality, either within the sector itself, or in other spheres of life that it
affects. At the same time, data from all regions of the world reveal that by far the majority of
entrepreneurs, owners of businesses and top-level managers in the private sector are men. As a result, for
the most part, priorities are set and decisions (for example, about employee benefits, child-care policies,
part-time regimes, parental leave) are made by men.

This male-dominated system of governance can also become a “vicious circle”: because private sector
policies may not favor women, women are cut out of opportunities to progress to the top decision-
making positions within the private sector and are also deprived of the opportunity to shape corporate
policy.

Access to Influence through Economic Power: Whether desirable or not, one aspect of free-market
societies is the fact that those holding economic power also hold a certain degree of influence – over the
development of the private sector and other government policies alike. Because governance of the private
sector tends to be male-dominated, the political influence is largely centered in the hands of men. Again,
this can again lead to the development of policies that do not necessarily promote women.

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The policy goal in terms of governance in the private sector is thus:
• To encourage private sector decision-makers to adopt a gender mainstreaming agenda, which
would include removing barriers to the equal participation of men and women in private sector
governance?

5.4.4.2. Why Bother?

The following are reasons as to why it is necessary to mainstream gender governance in private sectors:
Justice: An enhanced role of women in the private sector would most likely lead to their enhanced
economic resources and power. This in turn would mean a greater presence of women in the “private
sector lobby” of government and could bring more enhanced gender equality and social justice
perspective to this lobby.

Credibility and Accountability: Recent research has revealed that women in business are less likely
to pay bribes to government officials, whether due to higher standards of ethical behavior or risk
aversion. This means that increasing the role of women in private sector governance may also
improve the credibility and legitimacy of the private sector-government relationship.

Efficiency: Gender mainstreaming could have distinct economic advantages for the private sector.
Giving more women access to decision-making positions means that a wider pool of skills, innovation
and standpoints will be brought to the table, which can result in greater efficiency and effectiveness of
business.

Quality of Life: If enhancing women’s role in private sector governance means that more family-
friendly policies might be adopted, then this will also bring great benefits to the quality of life of
both men and women, and their families.
5.4.4.4. Possible Interventions and Entry Points of gender mainstreaming in governance at private
sector
Government support to “gender-friendly” private sector policies:
 Governments and policy makers can encourage private sector decision makers to adopt
policies that enhance and promote gender equality within the private sector.
 This could include affirmative action policies, child-care policies, paternal leave policies, and
others. Governments can also hold state enterprises accountable to the government for their
implementation or non-implementation of such policies.
 Cooperation with Business and Employer Associations: Governments can work together with
private sector organizations to help develop industry standards and policies that promote and
enhance gender equality. These organizations can also be a way to target members of the private
sector for participation in seminars, workshops and other awareness-raising events that link the
prosperity of the private sector with gender equality.
 Micro- finance initiatives: Government-sponsored micro-finance initiatives targeted at women
can give them a sometimes needed “head start” in becoming entrepreneurs and decision-makers
in the private sector. At the same time it should be recognized that micro- finance initiatives alone
cannot solve the problem, as not all women want to or will become entrepreneurs.

___________________________________ The End______________________________________.

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