Gender Mainstreaming and Sustainable Livelihood Approach a Case Study from Sri Lanka in a longitudinal lens Colloquium on Poverty Research 2011-CEPA Paper by Maneka Jayasinghe and Rajith W.D. Lakshman

Research Problem How far rural development interventions which adopt gender sensitive approaches have been able to promote gender equality in the medium term? Rural development intervention: Gemidiriya Community development and livelihood improvement project (12 years project commenced in 2004 and c0mpleted the 1st phase in 2010 and is preparing for the 2nd phase) Whether the project uses a gender sensitive approach? Yes

Gemidiriya Community Development and Livelihood Improvement Project Gender Concern: reduction of gender imbalances in rural communities and thereby empowering women and mainstreaming them in development Gendered Targets of the Project: 50% of the women in the village should hold managerial positions in all committees All the village level decisions should be approved in the general meeting of the village with more than 50% female participation.

Gemidiriya Project Cont: Infrastructure Development Livelihood Improvement Capacity Building We have concentrated only on the Livelihood Improvement component of the project Credit and Savings Fund+ Onetime Grant Skill Development Innovative Seeds Fund

Data and Methodology Sample properties Primary data [Survey (110 households) and in-depth interviews (10 household), Interviews with project officers, members of the Gemidiriya village organization] Secondary data [Baseline data collected by the project in 2004 (adjusted for inflation), project specific and other literature] Sample properties 457 individuals, 51 % male and 49 % female 110 households, 12 % is female headed and 88% is male headed Marital status: 53 % is married, 42 % is unmarried Occupation distribution: 35 individual -Mining , 34 -cultivation workers and 34- laborers,15- garment factories, 10-working in tea estates.

Data and Methodology cont: The data is gathered and analyzed both at the household level and the individual level. The analytical framework we used is DIFD “Sustainable Livelihood Framework” We examined how the development intervention has been able to increase Financial , Social and Human Capital Ownership in the asset pentagon. Limitations of the Study and the methodology Some important information which are necessary to examine the financial, human and social capital ownership of the female over the time were missing or incomplete in the baseline survey, and hence the selection of the variables to examine the gendered impact was much tricky A period of six years is too small to compare some indicators such as level of education There was no data in the baseline survey on the savings behavior of the individuals during the prior to project period and hence, we included a two questions on savings; “are you engaged in savings? If yes, “for how long”. The project started operating in this village in year 2005 and hence individuals who answered “yes” and the number of years is greater than 5 years, they are considered as before the project savings and people who answered “yes” but number of years are less than 5 years, they are considered as after the project savings. Source: DFID Sustainable Livelihood Guidance Sheet, 1999

Research Findings Financial Capital: Income Level Table 1: Individual Level income by gender Criteria Number of individuals employed Mean income by gender t Value Sig. (2 tailed) Before the project income Male 124 Male 4556 2.60 0.010 (151) Female 29 Female 3216 After the project income Male 142 Male 9958 3.376 0.001 (180) Female 40 Female 6875 Table 2: Household level income by gender of the head of the household Criteria t Value Sig. (2 tailed) Before the project income* -1.159 0.249(108) After the project income** 0.927 0.356(108) Improvement in income 1.161 0.109 Source: * Baseline survey 2004 ** Household survey 2010

Research Findings cont: Financial Capital: Savings Behavior Number of individuals saved Minimum number of years saved Maximum number of years saved Mean number of years saved Median number of years saved Std. Deviatio n overall Before the project* 19 6 20 12.63 10.00 4.549 After the project** 58 2 5 6.69 4.00 4.943 Female 16 11.20 4.604 22 5.23 3.915 Male 14 8 13.14 12.50 4.58 35 3 7.71 5.00 5.35 Overall savings: number of people saved has increased from 19 to 58 during the period reflecting a 67% increase Female savings: female savings have increased from 5 to 22 which is by 77 % over the period In spite of the notable improvement in the number of saving individuals both male and female, still savings remain very low Source: * Base line survey 2004 ** Household survey 2010

Research Findings cont: Financial Capital: Access to loans Total Number people have access to loans Financial institutions Individu al Money Lenders Samurdhi Gemidiriy a (VSCO) overall Before the project* 25 9 3 13 - After the project** 51 10 2 12 27 Female 7 1 6 23 15 Male 18 8 28 After the project, loan applicants have increased by 51 % and now the most popular type of loans is Gemidiriya loans Female loan applicants have increased from 7 to 23 during the project period which is a 70 % increase. This improvement can be mainly attributed to low interest rates and greater flexibility of Gemidiriya loan scheme Source: * Baseline survey 2004 ** Household survey 2010

Research Findings cont: Human Capital: Education Cannot Read or Write Grade 1-5 Grade 6-11 Grade 12- 13 Diploma or Degree Total Gender Male 3 62 129 26 2 222 Female 5 43 121 37 211 8 105 250 63 7 433 Pearson Chi-Square Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) 7.126a 4 0.129 The Chi Squared test results indicate that there is no statistically significant relationship between education attainment and gender This slide is to provide a general picture of access to education in that village. The project does not have any specific target to improve formal education of the community. Furthermore, a period of 6 years is too small to evaluate educational attainment. However, information from the interviews revealed that some parents who could not afford their children’s education before the project came into operation are now able to afford children’s education. Therefore, access to formal education is rather indirect. Furthermore, one can say expenditure on health also falls under human capital development and if so, income improvement enable them to obtain better health service. Project intervention is apparent in “Human Capital improvement through skills development” Source: Household survey 2010 Human Capital improvement through Skill development: 15 individuals (1 female and 14 male have been able to improve their livelihood skills under skills development component

Social Capital: Female participation and Leadership Representation of women in Decision-Making Positions of Village Organizations (Percentage) Village Organization Officials 2007 2010 Board of Director 56 66 Finance Committee 60 Procurement Committee Social Audit Committee 80 Village Savings and Credit Committee (VSCO) 100 Apart from that Credit and savings fund transact with formal financial institutions and therefore it provides women to interact with formal institutions. Increased social interaction through project activities Improved connectedness with outsiders other than their own community Improved bonds and trust with neighbors particularly when working in “small groups” Source: 2007: Our Village SAARC village, Gemidiriya 2007 2010: Calculated by the author using West Mudunkotuwa Gemidiriya field office committee report

Conclusion Overall achievements: Impact on reducing Gender Imbalances Research findings show mixed results Overall achievements: Development interventions increases Financial Capital Ownership, Social Capital Ownership and Human Capital Ownership of the community Impact on reducing Gender Imbalances Where there is well defined targets, it is more likely to achieve those However, Where there is no targets, the achievements are not substantial The persistence of medium term gender disparity in livelihoods and hence the income levels leads to question the sustainability of these gendered initiatives.

Recommendations Set up well defined targets to reduce imbalances in the ownership of financial and human capital 1: Eliminate gender inequality in access to employment opportunities 2: Eliminating disparities in livelihood skills For example; there should be well defined targets in terms of increasing the percentage of female who are engaged in income earning activities within a given period and increasing female participation in skills development programmes and training programes by a given percentage within a given period

Thank you Q&A