1. 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

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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
Male
2.60
0.010 (151)
Female 29
Female
After the project income
Male
Male
3.376
0.001 (180)
Female 40
Female
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 ** Household survey 2010

8. 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 ** Household survey 2010

9. 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 ** Household survey 2010

10. Research Findings cont: Human Capital: Education
Cannot Read or Write
Grade 1-5
Grade 6-11
Grade
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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. Thank you Q&A