Gender Mainstreaming It is a pleasure to welcome all of you to this workshop on Gender Mainstreaming. You have taken time out of your very busy schedules to be here and that in itself reflects your recognition of how critical this issue is to development.

About Gender Mainstreaming “Build the capacity of the decision maker to mainstream gender in the… i Formulation ii Implementation iii Monitoring iv Evaluation …of policies, plans, program and project in all areas of development”.

Why Gender Matters for Policy Makers In our first session we are going to look at the need to take gender into consideration when it comes to development.

More women die of communicable diseases than men. Every 20 minutes a woman dies …. from preventable complications of pregnancy and child birth More women die of communicable diseases than men. The infant mortality rate from 1995 to 2000 was 98 for girls and 93 for boys per 1,000 births. The literacy rate for women (39%) is nearly half that of men ( 63%). The sex difference in child mortality is one of the highest in the world, with death rates for girls aged 1-4 years being 66% higher than for boys in the same age group. Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world in which men outnumber women in the population and women have a lower life expectancy than men. (The sources of data should be well- known to the trainer). For over 58 years we have lived with some very shameful numbers. In the time that we will sit and talk here together 6 women will have died from preventable causes. Our maternal mortality rates have not improved significantly. Whereas estimates range from 350 to 530, it is only now that a study is being undertaken to determine the maternal mortality rate. 300 in PIHS, 2001-2002 and 600 in Mehboob ul Haq (2005) Human Development Report. The mortality rate of women is higher than that of men for nearly all the communicable diseases. Pakistan Demographic Survey, 2001 The gender disparities in our social indicators are pronounced whether you look at the number of men and women dying from communicable diseases or infant mortality rates. We are also one of the few countries in the world with more men in the population than women. Biologically, if men and women receive the required nutrition and both have equal access to healthcare, Allah has made it so that women outlive men. Where this trend is reversed, it is clear that something is going quite wrong! This is not simply a question of resource constraint. There are countries with similar GDP’s who have much better social indicators and gender disparities are not pronounced.

At the bottom of the pile… UNDP’s Gender Development Index (GDI), Pakistan ranks 120th out of 144 countries (it is below both India and Bangladesh) The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) it ranks 64th out of 78 countries At the bottom of the pile… We have to ask ourselves why we are at the bottom of the pile? GDI is based on … GEM is based on …

Unpacking Gender (Just let the title of the slide appear) Through our discussion and the case studies we have explored the need for factoring in both men and women. Let us review the word ‘gender’ as this provides us with the lens that we need to mainstream women and men’s concerns in development. You must have come across this word many times: What does it mean to you? Flipchart participants responses. (Let the definition appear) Emphasize the following points: We use this word to help us to differentiate between remember that biological differences between men and women are the same no matter what the time or the place Sex refers to biologically-determined differences such as physical attributes that equip women to give birth and breast feed babies. These differences do not change. Many of the differences between women and men however are socially created or culturally determined. This happens when women and men are assigned different kinds of work and have different access to opportunities in education, health and livelihood. Gender refers to social relations between women and men, girls and boys defined by cultural values and norms. Gender relations between women and men can be changed. Gender relations vary in different cultures and different times. (Give examples) Gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being a man or a woman in a given society.

Engendering Development Means Recognizing…. Women and men often have different needs and priorities due to their different status and roles in society Development interventions have to be based on an understanding of gender roles Women and their needs and priorities have to be given as much importance as those of men Only then is humane, just and sustainable development possible The implications of this concept for development are that unless women and men are equally valued in a society and unless their different needs and priorities are addressed, development can be neither humane, nor just, and therefore not sustainable.

Message for Policy Makers and Planners Although development interventions claim to be neutral, it tends to benefit those who are: better off educated well-informed more accessible having greater access All of the above are more likely to be men than women Resources and facilities usually benefit those who are best placed to exploit them. An unconscious bias against the disadvantaged, especially against women In conclusion, we have to remember that unless we make a special conscious effort to mainstream gender, it will not happen.

When water flows it takes the path of least resistance … When water flows it takes the path of least resistance ….similarly to whom resources will flow is determined by our values, beliefs and commitments If no special conscious effort is made, resources will continue to flow as they always have and disparities will persist With this we conclude our first session on why gender matters. We will now have a five minute stretch break.

Gender Mainstreaming in Policies, Programs & Projects In our first session we are going to look at the need to take gender into consideration when it comes to development.

How can policy makers & planners ensure that the needs and expectations of all members of society are met equitably? The question we are addressing is now how you can make sure that the policies and plans you formulate can meet the needs of men and women, girls and boys.

Understanding Gender Mainstreaming “ …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.” In the last session we saw that the way forward was addressing gender concerns. Now lets see what this means. Essentially we have to, for any planned action look at implications for men and women. Please take a minute to read this definition. Any comments?

Gender Mainstreaming in … Situation Assessment & Analysis Project Goals/Objectives, Strategy & Project Management Monitoring / Evaluation Lets look briefly at the key actions which need to be taken at each stage of the project, program or policy making cycle. Project Implementation

Situation Assessment and Analysis Were gender disaggregated data and gender analysis used in the background and justification of the policy, program or project? The first question is ‘Were gender disaggregated data and gender analysis used in the background and justification of the policy, program or project?’

Story behind the Numbers Let’s apply this to a case study.

Case Study 1. Once upon a time the sex-disaggregated data for a National TB Program This data was collected in Vietnam over a period of 9 years from 1990 to 1999. The data is disaggregated by sex. What does this show us? (Participants will say it clearly shows more men than women have TB. At this stage, the trainer should agree with them) What action would you take if you were Secretary Health in Vietnam? (Let participants make suggestions for a few minutes) But there is a critical question you have not asked … Conclusion? Action?

The question you did not ask: Do these differences in notification rates reflect a true difference in TB incidence for women and men? Need for gender statistics When we find a gender disparity in numbers, we need to see what the story behind the numbers is. For that we need gender statistics, more specific information on the issue and gender analysis which tells us the cause of the difference and how to address it.

3. Gender statistics were collected, followed by gender analysis and gender-related issues emerged as follows: Differences in clinical symptoms in women and men: Sputum test regime: women tend not to come back to the clinic to complete their sputum test Quality of sputum produced by men and women Understanding of and belief about TB Health-care seeking behavior and TB diagnosis Compliance with treatment and recovery after treatment. In fact, these figures were misleading, women who were suffering from TB were not being diagnosed as suffering from TB for a number of reasons. (Select 3 to speak to)

Information is Power So, although sex-disaggregated data is critical, it is not sufficient, you need to know the story behind the numbers.

Gender Mainstreaming in … Situation Assessment & Analysis Project Goals/Objectives, Strategy & Project Management Monitoring / Evaluation Lets look briefly at the key actions which need to be taken at each stage of the project, program or policy making cycle. Project Implementation

Project Goals/Objectives, Strategy and Project Management Are the needs of both women and men reflected in the goals, objectives and strategies of the Project? Is there a clear policy for mainstreaming women? Has appropriate budgeting been assigned for sufficient for the development of both men and women? Does the strategy consider men’s and women’s practical and strategic gender needs? Project Goals/Objectives, Strategy and Project Management It is very important that objectives specify what the program, project or policy hopes to achieve for women and what it hopes to achieve for men, otherwise if you have only something like ‘community’ in the objectives, that means you have not analysed and addressed the needs of men and women and will have little success in meeting them. As we have seen working with women requires a conscious effort as they are not as visible for a whole range of reasons as men are, so how women are going to be included and how their needs are going to be addressed needs to be spelt out. All these efforts can come to nothing unless a budget is set aside for working with men and women. For example, the Barani Area Development Project in NWFP has specified that 40% of the budget will be reserved for women-specific activities. Finally, it is not enough to address only men’s and women’s practical needs such as potable water, health centres etc. Strategic needs that have to do with improving women’s position in society have to be addressed as well. For example, women’s representation in political structures, policies against sexual harassment etc

Gender Mainstreaming in … Situation Assessment & Analysis Project Goals/Objectives, Strategy & Project Management Monitoring / Evaluation Lets look briefly at the key actions which need to be taken at each stage of the project, program or policy making cycle. Project Implementation

Project Implementation Will both men and women participate in the implementation? Are those who will implement the Program or Project gender aware? Has adequate and appropriate resources been aligned to work with both men and women? If you are going to work with men and women, you will need to hire both. You may have the best strategies but if the people who are implementing the project are not sensitized, it won’t work. For example, the policy for girls schools is that there should be one within a 5km radius of the village. In NWFP, the government built a school that satisfied the requirement but was situated across a deserted stretch of land, so it never got utilized. In AJK in a World bank project for elementary education women and men monitoring officers were appointed men were given motorcycles and women were not given any transport. As a result the women officers could not perform their tasks. So this is another challenge.

Gender Mainstreaming in … Situation Assessment & Analysis Project Goals/Objectives, Strategy & Project Management Monitoring / Evaluation Lets look briefly at the key actions which need to be taken at each stage of the project, program or policy making cycle. Project Implementation

Monitoring/Evaluation Does the monitoring and evaluation strategy have a gender perspective? Do the indicators measure the gender dimension of each objective? Have appropriate methods and resources been assigned to obtain information from both gender? Is there provision for a communication strategy? Does the project redress a previous unequal sharing? You can only monitor effectively if you have sex-disaggregated indicators. You need both qualitative and quantitative indicators. For example, how many girl children and how many boy children were immunized How many women are members of district monitoring committees What is the extent of women’s participation in decision-making in the district assemblies You also need to make sure that both women and men are consulted when you are looking at impact. When it comes to impact, we cannot assume that it has had the same impact, you need to look at what the impact has been on women and men, girls and boys.

Policy Maker & Planner Must Not Assume It means that all Policy Maker & Planner …… at all levels, no longer simply assume that either gender (especially women) will automatically benefit from a proposed policy or program. Rather, it is consciously thinking about how this will happen. So the more consciously we address gender, the better the chances of having a positive impact on women and men. On this note we end our session on Mainstreaming Gender in Policies, Programs and Projects.