WUNRN
CASH TRANSFERS & GENDER DYNAMICS
Direct Link to Full 44-Page Report:
ANALYSIS - ROLE OF CASH
TRANSFERS IN WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
Gender relations may
shift in an emergency.
Photo: Jason
Gutierrez/IRIN
"Gender relations are quite complex and you cannot assume US$50 is going
to change that," Sarah Bailey, research officer at the Humanitarian Policy
Group, told IRIN. "You cannot assume targeting women necessarily leads to
their empowerment or promotes gender equality."
According to a joint report by Oxfam Great
Britain and Concern Worldwide on cash transfers and gender dynamics
released on 6 May, most cash transfer programmes target women in the belief
that communities will benefit and that men are irresponsible with money.
Cash-in-hand instead of goods-in-kind aid in an emergency became popular after
the
While at first sceptical, donors and organizations now widely accept cash is a
viable mechanism for relief if markets are intact and there is capacity to
distribute money.
But while cash transfer policies tend to be gender-focused, such ideals remain
largely unimplemented or lack a clear way to measure results, said Nupur
Kukrety, social protection and food security adviser at Oxfam GB and also a
member of the steering committee of the Cash Learning Partnership.
"Having policy is one thing; getting it implemented is another," she
said.
Gabrielle Smith, social protection and safety nets adviser for Concern
Worldwide, said remaining realistic about one's goals for cash transfers in an
emergency environment was key.
Bailey concurred: "The objective is to provide critical assistance when
people need it most, saving lives and livelihoods in the aftermath of
disaster."
Gender analysis
Experts agree cash transfers in emergencies should at least aim to do no harm
to women, making context-specific gender analysis just as essential to cash
transfers as ensuring markets are working and prices are reasonable.
"Giving women cash in emergencies is an important step forward, but I
would see empowerment as a process that goes far beyond this to tackle the
multiple deprivations that women experience. This takes time so emergencies may
not provide the conditions for empowering women in this broader sense,"
said Maxine Molyneux, gender expert and director of the Institute for the Study
of the
Molyneux cited research that shows women are often the most vulnerable when
disaster strikes.
Assessments should be made both before and after a disaster, because often
gender relations shift in an emergency, said Puspasari Indra, East Asia
regional technical coordinator of emergency food security and livelihood for
Oxfam GB in
"Gender analysis should be done based on a triangulation," Indra
said. "You can do this quickly after the disaster by talking to local
organizations and then to local men and women. It does not have to be perfect;
it can improve."
Indra explained that gender analysis informed Oxfam's relief efforts after the
earthquake in
Demonizing men
The report found many NGO programmes in
Amina Abdulla, programme manager at Concern in
Though Molyneux believes women should be the recipients of cash transfers, she
said policies that failed to address gender inequalities could deepen gender
divisions.
"Men are usually completely marginalized from the activities of the cash
transfer programmes, which sends the message that they have no responsibility
for care in the family," Molyneux said. "I would recommend men are
integrated into these programmes and encouraged to think of their role in the
family in more positive ways."
Kukrety added: "Empowerment is not just about handing over a resource to a
man or a woman, it is much more than that. You can marry humanitarian response
with long-term development and then you can change gender roles."