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GENDER ANALYSIS
What is gender analysis?
Gender Analysis in Development
Cooperation
What can gender analysis tell us?
Where is gender analysis used?
When in the process is gender analysis
applied?
Who undertakes gender analysis?
Elements of Gender Analysis
Tools for Gender Analysis
Related Sites
Casimira walked for nearly 3 hours |
Gender analysis refers to the
variety of methods used to understand the relationships between men and women,
their access to resources, their activities, and the constraints they face
relative to each other. Gender analysis provides information that recognizes that
gender, and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age,
disability, and/or other status, is important in understanding the different
patterns of involvement, behaviour and activities that women and men have in
economic, social and legal structures.
Gender analysis is an essential element of socio-economic
analysis. A comprehensive socio-economic analysis would take into account
gender relations, as gender is a factor in all social and economic relations.
An analysis of gender relations provides information on the different
conditions that women and men face, and the different effects that policies and
programs may have on them because of their situations. Such information can
inform and improve policies and programs, and is essential in ensuring that the
different needs of both women and men are met.
At the local level, gender analysis makes visible the varied
roles women, men, girls and boys play in the family, in the community, and in
economic, legal and political structures. A gender perspective focuses on the
reasons for the current division of responsibilities and benefits and their
effect on the distribution of rewards and incentives.
Gender
Analysis in Development Cooperation
An understanding of socio-economic relations, and with it
gender relations, is an integral part of policy analysis, and is essential in
creating and implementing effective development co-operation initiatives.
Analysis of the different situations of men and women can provide an
understanding of the different impacts that legislation, cultural practices,
policies, and programs can have on women and men.
Gender analysis offers information to understand women's and
men's access to and control over resources that can be used to address
disparities, challenge systemic inequalities (most often faced by women), and
build efficient and equitable solutions. The information gathered during the
research stage of the analysis should make the differences between women and
men explicit (using sex-disaggregated data) so that policies, programs and
projects can build effective actions that promote equality. Since gender
relations will change in each context and over time, a gender analysis should
be done within each development initiative.
Gender analysis can also provide insights on how gender
equality can be promoted within efforts for sustainable development to ensure
maximum efficiency in pursuing development goals. To be most effective, it must
be part of each step of a development initiative: from conception and design to
implementation and evaluation. By being part of this process, gender analysis
has already led to changes in strategies for development cooperation that
previously did not meet the needs of women.
CIDA's Policy on Gender Equality
section entitled Gender Analysis as a Tool outlines some important
considerations.
What
can gender analysis tell us?
An analysis of gender relations can tell us who has access,
who has control, who is likely to benefit from a new initiative, and who is
likely to lose. Gender analysis asks questions that can lead us in a search for
information to understand why a situation has developed the way it has. It can
also lead us to explore assumptions about issues such as the distribution of
resources and the impact of culture and traditions. It can provide information
on the potential direct or indirect benefit of a development initiative on
women and men, on some appropriate entry points for measures that promote
equality within a particular context, and on how a particular development
initiative may challenge or maintain the existing gender division of labour.
With this information measures of equity can be created to address the
disparities and promote equality.
In the case of primary education, gender analysis can tell
us that a gender gap exists in most countries; that is, there is a gap between
girls' and boys' enrolment and retention in school. In the majority of
countries where there is a gender gap, the gap works against girls, but in
others, it works against boys. In India, an average six year-old girl can
expect to spend six years in school, three years less than a boy of the same
age. Girls in rural areas are at even greater disadvantage: their risk of
dropping out of school is three times that of a boy. In Jamaica, however, it is
boys who are at higher risk of missing out on education. Boys are often pulled
out of school and sent to work to boost family income, and thus, their drop-out
rate is higher than that of girls'. In their efforts to balance the need to
meet the needs of both girls and boys, governments are increasingly using
gender analysis to investigate the source of the gap and what measures can be
adopted to reduce the distortions in the educational system.
Where
is gender analysis used?
Development cooperation always involves people. Within CIDA,
a gender analysis that addresses the connections of gender with factors such as
race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, and/or other status, among
others, is required for all policies, programs and projects. While it is easy
to see the people involved in more practical and tangible initiatives, such as
capacity building for local authorities, any policy or project will ultimately
have an effect on people, and must work to promote the equal status of women
and men.
For example, the development of a country's environmental
policy, should involve a holistic socio-economic analysis that addresses gender
relations to fully understand the situation and ensure that the policy and its
directives promote equality. This might involve understanding the perceptions
of women and men of the environment, a sex-disaggregated account of activities
performed and their affect on the environment, and the uses men and women make
of natural resources, such as land and water.
Many of women's contributions to the economy continue to go
unrecognized because their work is not easily counted within the conventional
structures. Women do a majority of the work within the informal sector and the
home and as a result, much of their work is not counted or is underrepresented
in official statistics. The lack of a gender analysis in economic policies can
result in women's perspectives and priorities being left out of strategies for
development.
When
in the process is gender analysis applied?
Gender analysis takes place throughout the entire
development process, throughout research, to problem definition, planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation. By examining basic assumptions each
step of the way, the interrelationships between social context and economic
factors can be understood and initiatives that respond to those needs can be
designed. CIDA-led initiatives must undertake gender analysis at the planning
stage and integrate the findings and recommendations at each step of the way,
from planning through to evaluation.
For example, the Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial
(SENAI) or National Industrial Apprenticeship Program in Brazil, a technical
training program, built in gender analysis from the beginning and responded to
the under-representation of female students. Consequently, a portion of the
program focused on a sensitization campaign geared towards students and
industry. In it, promotional materials showcased female role-models in
non-traditional jobs, such as posters with women involved in construction. As a
result of undertaking and following through on the gender analysis, the number
of women in technical courses jumped from 13.5% to 31.3% in seven years.
Who
undertakes gender analysis?
It is the task of analysts, policy-makers and program
managers located in both donor and partner countries, in both government and
civil society, to work in partnership with women and men involved to advance
gender equality. This participatory process provides the context for the
creation, implementation and evaluation of development initiatives to promote
gender equality. Additionally, a gender analysis should identify local and
national initiatives undertaken by both governments and civil society in order
to strengthen and complement these efforts.
Individuals, groups and communities affected by development
initiatives must be involved from the beginning of the process in order to
determine the gender dimensions of the issue at hand. Without local knowledge
and expertise, some of the intricacies of the gender roles and social
relationships may not be easily understood.
A traditional
birth assistant |
In the case of the organizations
delivering food aid to vulnerable members of the Dinka people of South Sudan
there was a puzzling issue. When Dinka mothers began voluntarily to remove
malnourished children from therapeutic feeding programs, the organizations
involved were surprised. They questioned their own assumptions of the
vulnerability of people and the way that food aid was being distributed. They
then set-up discussions between members of aid organisations and women and men
involved in decision-making about food in the local communities. During the
discussions it became clear that each group had different definitions of need
and different ideas of how aid should be distributed. For example, both Dinka
people and organisations identified widows and people with disabilities as
vulnerable. Dinka people, however, also identified male and female farmers and
fishers with no livestock or fish, and men and women without daughters. The
donor strategy often called for the provision of food aid to one child within a
family, but the Dinka explained that gifts are to be distributed within the
clan and the family. This exchange has led to devising methods to better
account for local definitions of social assets, and to establishing a more
appropriate manner of distributing aid that takes into account local practices.
Elements
of Gender Analysis
For a good gender analysis, resources and commitment to
implement the results of the analysis are necessary. Consider three important
points:
Undertaking gender analysis begins with examining the issue
so that the broad reality of gender roles and relationships is taken into
account. Gathering information to enrich the understanding of the gender roles
and relations in a specific context means asking difficult questions. When
doing research, consider if you are challenging the existing gender division of
labour, tasks, responsibilities and opportunities. Who are the intended
recipients of the benefits of the proposed policy, program or project, and who
could potentially lose? Both women and men must be consulted on the issue at
hand, and have the opportunity to contribute to the definition of the solution.
At the same time, it is important to keep in mind the long term impact of a
policy, program or project in terms of women's equality with men. How will
these enable women to have increased control over their lives?
Take, for example, the case of maternal mortality. Every
year at least 585,000 women die of pregnancy or childbirth related causes
around the world (WHO, 2000). A medical approach to maternal mortality can only
partly address this tragic and complex problem. Broadening the focus and giving
attention to equality issues such as child marriage, limited access to
reproductive health services and family planning, female genital mutilation, and
women and girls eating last and least can reduce and transform the recurring
nature of maternal mortality. Reconsidering an issue using gender analysis
expands the understanding of the challenges women face and the range of
solutions available.
Tools
for Gender Analysis
There are a variety of tools that have been developed to
assist people in asking these questions. Each tool is different, with some
advantages and disadvantages, some account for other social characteristics and
factors better, while others are more participatory. Following are some
examples.
The Women's Equality and Empowerment
Framework builds on an analytical framework
based on the interconnected principles of welfare, access, conscientization,
participation, control and empowerment.
The Harvard Analytical Framework
is a tool to collect data at the community and household level. It has three
main components: an activity profile ('who does what?'), an access and control
profile ('who has access and who controls what?'), and an analysis of
influencing factors ('how does gender influence the profiles?').
Module 1 of the ILO/SEAPAT's Online Gender Learning &
Information, entitled Some Gender Planning Approaches and
Strategies offers descriptions of the Harvard
Analytical Framework, Moser’s Gender Planning Framework, the Women’s
Empowerment Framework and the Social Relations Framework.
Regardless of the tool or method used, information should
account for differences between men and women, boys and girls, and should ask
questions for the reasons behind these differences. Without this, development
initiatives will come short in their efforts to support sustainable
development.
CIDA's Policy on Gender Equality Gender Analysis Guidelines
provides some thoughts on what to ask and what to do when carrying out gender
analysis.
Related
Sites
Navigating Gender: a Framework and a
Tool for Participatory Development is a manual to
help apply the often theoretical understanding of gender issues in practical
work through concepts, definitions, case studies and examples. The manual was
published by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Department for International
Development Cooperation, Finland.
Gender Based Analysis, A Guide for
Policy-Making, published by Status of Women
Canada, describes the methodology involved in undertaking gender analysis.
The Gender Based Analysis
Backgrounder of the Bureau of Women's Health and Gender Analysis of Health
Canada describes the importance of Gender Based Analysis in the development of
health policy programs and legislation.
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's Gender Equality Analysis Policy
provides a useful guide of questions to ask.
Sources:
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