INTEGRATION OF GENDER INTO MCA-N COMPACT T Mufeti, F Kapembe & D Yates MAY 2011 MCA NAMIBIA

Gender! What is it? 2 Refers to social roles, responsibilities & relations between men & women The gender roles of women & men are socially constructed Gender vs. affirmative action

Definition 3 The term gender refers to culturally based expectations of the roles and behaviours of males and females. The term distinguishes the socially constructed from the biologically determined aspects of being male and female. Unlike the biology of sex, gender roles and behaviours can change historically, sometimes relatively quickly, even if aspects of these roles originated in the biological differences between the sexes. Because the religious or cultural traditions that define and justify the distinct roles and expected behaviours of males and females are strongly cherished and socially enforced, change in gender systems often is contested. In some countries, there are groups which seek to impose more stringent divisions between males and females than currently exist, while feminist movements seek to reduce or eradicate these divisions.

Lessons learnt 4 males and females have unequal rights, resources, and voice in decision making in almost all countries, including the developed countries the average extent of the gender gap varies from region to region and from country to country gender disparities tend to be greater in low-income than in higher- income countries within countries, disparities are greater among the poor than in the well strata of society. the nature of gender inequalities varies from region to region and country to country, and from community to community within a country.

Gender inequalities 1 5 roles and responsibilities or gender based division of labor Gender based disparities in access and control of resources Gender biases in rights and entitlements expectations and identities have an impact on development, economic growth and poverty reduction ……..

Gender inequalities 2 6 Acts to undermine economic growth Reduces the well being of men, women & children Contributes to poverty expectations and identities Take a note of examples around you or in your community…

GRN & Gender 7 GRN – very committed to ensure: gender issues integration into all laws, policies & Programmes  MGECW  National Gender Policy – NGP  National Gender plan of Action – NGPA

NGP & NGAP 8 Prioritise gender balance in power and decision making  Aims at improving women participation in politics and decision making  For achieving transparency & accountability in GRN  For new perspective and experiences to political agenda  For social & economical development Awareness and attitude change

NGP & NGAP 9 Promote & facilitate equal representation of women & men at all levels of the decision making structures at national, regional and community levels Build capacity of women in management & leadership positions Change negative attitudes towards gender equality Increase awareness of negative practices that inhibit women's participation on power sharing at all levels of society

NGPA – some results 10 Namibian Women Parliamentary Caucus – 1996  Promote gender sensitive legislations  Greater role for women in the Namibia Parliament 50/50 Campaign  Gender equality in political representation (Sister Namibia) Awareness campaign

NPD3 Goal indicators, Baseline, Targets 11 IndicatorsBaselin e % Target s % Women in Politics Parliament2750 Local Authorities4550 Women in decision making positions in GRN3350 Parastatals2150 Private Sector3350 Women in informal sector 5360 Women owning SMEs 3845 Ration of girls (women) to boys (men) enrolled: Primary Education Secondary Education Tertiary Education (UNAM & PoN)

MCC and Gender 12 Since Oct. 2006, MCC has a policy on how gender analysis will be integrated into the Compact development process. MCC’s Gender Policy based on growing evidence that gender inequality is a constraint to growth and poverty reduction. Incorporating gender = economic and project effectiveness argument. Lack of understanding of gender differences can lead to ineffective or biased project design roles and responsibilities access and control of resources

13 Gender Policy: Integration of gender into all stages of development and implementation of Compact. Requires eligible countries to utilize an analysis of gender differences and inequalities to inform the development, design, implementation, and monitoring of MCC-funded programs.

MCC and Gender 14 Gender Integration Throughout the Stages of a Compact Proposal Development and Program Design: Due Diligence and Program Refinement Compact Implementation MCA-N Responsibilities in Compact Implementation Ensure that sex-disaggregated data will be analyzed in monitoring performance and results and evaluating impacts. Where projects have specifically addressed gender differences and inequalities in design, countries will monitor gender indicators

MCC and Gender 15 MCC Responsibilities in Compact Implementation  MCC will integrate gender into its oversight and assessment of a country’s performance during implementation  MCC will assess the extent to which Compact programs reflect findings on gender differences and inequalities and meet intended gender outcomes  Some disbursements of MCA funds may be conditioned upon the satisfaction of targets and progress on indicators measuring project performance

MCA-N Gender sensitive activities 16 INP CBRLM Communal land support Conservancy support

MCA-N Gender Approach: Gender integration 17 Gender Analysis Gender Mainstreaming  Attention to gender equality to become the centre of all interventions Gender sensitive indicators  Demonstrates changes in roles and relations  Assesses the progress towards gender equality considerations

Gender Analysis 18 Understanding of women and men’s roles and relations Base for developing better targeted development interventions for both women & man needs and constraints Main requirement

Examples of Gender Analysis 1 19 Determine if the project benefits are structured to be accessible by women and vulnerable groups Study the degree to which activities may inadvertently lead to additional inequitable or “elite capture” of benefits Assessment of who contributes and who benefits, using appropriate tools. Consider divergent interests between men and women; young and old; more and less powerful

Examples of Gender Analysis 2 20 Construction teams and local communities participate in HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment programs with attention to drivers of the epidemic. Identify any specific gender inequality (e.g. property rights, access rights, inheritance rights, etc.) and plan accordingly

Gender Mainstreaming 21 Safeguards are needed to ensure that MCA-N investment i) Does not adversely affect vulnerable groups, ii) Provides access to training, grants and other benefits that is equitable

Gender Mainstreaming 22 Equality under the law Addressing norms and behaviors and culture Equal access to and control over income and productive resources, Equal access to education Autonomy to make life choices, free from fear of violence, Equal powers of participation and decision- making.

What has been and can be done? Gender training for decision makers – Traditional Authorities; Land Boards; Making training times and venues more accessible to women Capacity development for women to fully participate Considering safety issue Using female trainers/field workers Including areas traditionally of concern to women 23

Examples of gender-sensitive indicators are: Quantitative: Participation of all stakeholders in project identification, design and implementation meetings (attendance and level of participation/contribution by sex, age, and socio-economic background). Degree of rural women and men's inputs into project activities, in terms of labor, tools, money, etc. Benefits (e.g. increased employment, land registration etc.) are going to women and men, by socio-economic background and age. Qualitative: Degree of participation of women in important decision making 24

25 Questions & Discussion