WUNRN
FAO - UN Food & Agriculture
Organization
Gender & Population Division
Sustainable Development Department
GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS
Gender analysis is a tool used in
the understanding of social processes and provides a method for responding with
informed and equitable options. Gender analysis helps us to recognize and
understand how the lives of women and men are shaped more by socially defined
values and perceptions, than by biological differences. It helps us to
understand how socially constructed roles assigned to men and women, which are
based on traditional values, lead to experiences, needs, interests and
priorities that are different, diverse and unequal.
Gender-based analysis challenges the
assumption that everyone is affected by policies and programs in the same way
regardless of their sex, a notion often referred to as 'gender-neutral policy.'
Gender neutral policies and programs are designed on the assumption that men
and women have similar needs and interests, and as a result they fail to
recognize that equal treatment does not produce equitable results.
Gender-based analysis makes visible
the different needs and perspectives of women, identifies barriers facing wmen
in carrying out their daily multiple roles, and illuminates the socially
constructed relationshps between men and women. But gender-based analysis, if
it is effective, goes beyond just identifying the differences and inequities
that limit women's full participation in local government initiatives. It
examines and makes visible the underlying value systems that breed such
inequities between men and women. It compares how and why women and men are
affected differentially by government initiatives and questions the values and
assumptions on which decisions are based. Also, it raises questions about how
community resources are allocated and managed, and how the benefits of
government initiatives are shared.
Gender analysis takes into
consideration the differences between women's and men's lives as well as other
differences within these groups, recognizing that different approaches may be
needed to produce outcomes that are equitable. Gender-based analysis provides a
means with which to ensure that the perspectives of both men and women are
factored into the design and implementation of government initiatives.
Effective gender analysis to monitor
progress on gender equity and sustainable development, requires good
gender-disaggregated data.
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