Gender and

Development

Safaa El-Kogali

8-9 December, 2005Rabat Morocco

What do we mean by “gender equality”?

Gender refers to …

• socially constructed roles and socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with females and males.

• Women and men are different biologically, but all cultures interpret and elaborate their innate biological differences into a set of social expectations about what behaviors and activities are appropriate, and what rights, resources, and power they possess.

Gender Equality is defined here in terms of:

• equality under the law

• equality of opportunity (including in access to human capital and other productive resources that enable opportunity and equality of rewards for work)

• and equality of “voice” (the ability to influence and contribute to the

development process).

What is the state of gender equality at the beginning of

the 21st Century?

Despite progress, gender inequalities are pervasive worldwide and exist across many dimensions of life.

Gender equality has tended to increase over time – except in political participation

Middle Income Countries

1970 1980 1990 1995

High Income Countries

1970 1980 1990 1995

Low Income Countries

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1970 1980 1990 1995

Fem

ale

/mal

e

ratio

Life expectancy

Primary enrollment

Secondary enrollment

Parliamentary representation

In no region are women and men equal in legal, social and economic rights

1

2

3

4

East Asia Eastern

Europe and

Central Asia

Latin

America

and the

Carribean

Middle

East/North

Africa

South Asia Sub-

Saharan

Africa

OECD

Ind

ex

of

ge

nd

er

eq

ua

lity

(1-4

)High Equality

Low Equality

Women still earn less than men – even when they have similar education and work experience

Female/male Gender Percent of gap

earnings ratio gap unexplained

Developed 0.77 0.23 80.4%

countries

Developing 0.73 0.27 82.2%

countries

Women are vastly underrepresented in parliaments

0

5

10

15

20

25

Wo

me

n's

sh

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of

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ry s

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95

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East Asia/ Pacific

Europe/ Central Asia

Latin America/ Caribbean

Middle East/ North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

OECD

among low-income than high-income countries

among low-income than high-income households

Gender disparities tend to be greater

Educational attainment in the Caribbean, Latin America

Rising male mortality in the Former Soviet Union

See also, “The Trouble with Men” The Economist (September, 1996)

In some contexts there are increasing concerns about male gender issues

How does gender inequality affect development?

Societies that discriminate on the basis of gender pay a significant price –

higher poverty, lower quality of life

slower economic growth

weaker governance

The future generation benefits from greater gender equality

In Sub-Saharan Africa, if men and women had equal schooling, child mortality would have been 25% lower in 1990.

In India, children of literate mothers spend two more hours/day studying than children of illiterate mothers.

In Brazil, income in the hands of mothers has four times the impact on children’s height-for-age as income in the hands of fathers.

HIV infection rates are higher in countries where gender gaps in literacy are wider

Urb

an a

dult

HIV

pre

vale

nce

Male-female literacy gap

0 10 20 30

.01

1

5

20

35

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Gender equality increases productivity and economic growth

In Sub-Saharan Africa greater gender equality in farm inputs could increase output by up to 20 percent

In Bangladesh, micro-credit to women has a larger impact on household income than the same micro-credit to men

Greater gender equality in schooling would have increased growth in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa from 1960-90

If women and men had more equal schooling, incomes would grow faster

0

1

2

3

4

Sub-Saharan Africa

South Asia Middle East/North Africa

Ave

rage

ann

ual g

row

th in

per

cap

ita G

NP

, 19

60-1

992

(per

cent

)

Actual

Predicted

Where women and men have more equal rights, governments are less corrupt

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7

Women's economic and social rights

Inde

x of

cor

rupt

ion

Policy approaches to promoting gender equality

and development

A three-part strategy to promote gender equality:

Reform institutions to provide equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men

Foster economic development to strengthen incentives for more equal resources

Take active measures to redress persistent disparities in command of resources and political voice

Secondary Education, 1995

High Equalityin Rights

Low Equalityin Rights

LowIncome

HighIncome

1.05

0.990.96

0.86

0.00

1.00

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ma

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ale

Enr

ollm

ent

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High Equalityin Rights

Low Equalityin Rights

LowIncome

HighIncome

0.19

0.070.110.06

0.00

1.00

Fe

ma

le-t

o-m

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ra

tioRepresentation in Parliament, 1995

A three-part strategy to promote gender equality:

Reform institutions to provide equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men

Foster economic development to strengthen incentives for more equal resources

Take active measures to redress persistent disparities in command of resources and political voice

There is a critical role for active measures that

Increase access to resources and services

Reduce the costs to women of their household roles

Establish gender-appropriate social protection

Strengthen political voice and participation

Investments in water and fuel infrastructure significantly reduce time on collection activities

Note: *Kasama and Dedougou are already within the 400m target.

Potential Average Annual Time Savings

0

200

400

600

Lusaka Rural (Zambia)

Kaya(Burkina Faso)

Mbale(Uganda)

Kasama*(Zambia)

Dedougou*(Burkina Faso)

An

nu

al

tim

e s

av

ing

s (

ho

urs

pe

r h

ou

se

ho

ld)

Potable water within 400m

Woodlots within 30 mins walk

Pension income for average workers with incomplete primary education (female/male ratio in parenthesis)

(0.89)

(0.43)

(0.35)

(0.29)

(0.60)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Female own pension (retire age 60)

Female own pension adjusted by MPG

Female own pension (retire age 65)

Female own or survivor's pension

Female own+survivor's pension

Male own pension

Pesos (thousands)

Female pension benefits as a proportion of male benefits

Design matters for gender equality in pension benefits

Taking gender considerations into account in policy and program design can promote gender equality …

… and enhance policy effectiveness.