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Sam GibsonThe Policy Practice

March 2020

Gender and PEA: a short introduction

Session objectives

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‘What is a gender-informed PEA?’

Links between gender and structures, institutions and stakeholders

Apply a gender lens to a range of PEA problems

Practical tips on how to prevent gender-blind PEAs

Links to tools and resources for further exploration

Gender is a critical social dynamic - among many

Make the Social Inclusion Assessment Tool your own!

• Add new circles (e.g. age or caste) and delete others;

• Increase or decrease the size of the circles – to represent how much different groups ‘matter’ in a particular country, or issue

• Use the circles to organise and visualise data as you gather it

• Explore how different identities intersect, e.g. gender and ethnicity

Gender enters the PEA conversation …. The critique phase

2014

2015

Gender and PEA in conversation … the ‘how to do it’ phase

2018

2018

PEA + LGBTI?‘Gender’ is not only about straight women and straight men.

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Gendered PEA (or gender-informed or gender-aware PEA)

Gender-neutral PEA

Gender-blind or gender-silent PEA

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Gender-neutral PEA; • Considers in the analysis how different social groups, including

gendered ones, influence and are affected by power and institutions … and determines that gender is not particularly relevant to the context or the issue.

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Gender-blind or gender-silent PEA• Hasn’t reflected on whether gender is or is not relevant; • Is entirely silent on gender.

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A gendered PEA (or gender-aware or gender-informed PEA)...

• Includes at least some relevant information on the relative position of women and men in politics and the economy - and insight on the pace and trajectory towards greater equality in society (for country context analyses). or the sector / issue/ problem.

• Is proportional. Some issues have more compelling ‘gender angle’ than others. Many PEA reports are already too big for more than a very small audience to sit still for. If the gender dimension in the PEA story is not strong, don’t feel that you have to force it.

• Includes a contributor or contributors with some gender credibility – not necessarily a ‘expert’, but someone with a basic understanding of gender analysis, some technical expertise, a commitment to serious reflection on the gender angle, or links to activist or research organisations.

Exercise: To what extent is gender relevant in that PEA?

For each PEA topic listed below, take a minute to reflect on your own or in your group whether gender is likely to be ‘highly relevant’; ‘quite relevant’; or ‘not so relevant’.

Against each topic, write a short statement justifying your rating.

a) Land titling in the Philippinesb) Fuel subsidy reform in Indonesia c) Procurement and distribution of textbooks in Perud) Urban planning in Tanzania e) New internet regulations in Pakistanf) Justice reform in Bangladesh

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PAUSE the session for a

few minutes to do the exercise.

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Have you completed the exercise?

If yes, continue to the next slide.

Discussion: How relevant is gender in these PEAs?

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• Land use and land titling

• Justice reformHighly relevant

• Fuel subsidy reform

• Urban planningQuite relevant

• Textbook procurement & distribution

• New internet regulationsNot so

relevant [?]

But even this ‘not so relevant’ category always requires at least a nominal gender/ inclusion analysis!

Land ownership and inheritance … high gender relevance

Photo credit: starbucksreserve.com

Urban planning – medium/high gender relevance

Photo credit: alamy.comPhoto credit: her.iePhoto credit: makingeuropeagain.eu

Photo credit: cnn.com

Textbook procurement and distribution – low(ish) gender relevance

Photo credit: theweek.inPhoto credit: huffpost.com

Questions for your next adventure in PEA-land … 1. Is gender flagged in the PEA TOR or the study questions? If not, should it be? If not, why not?

2. It may be that only a very light touch on gender is all that the problem or issue requires. If it’s decided that gender is not relevant, briefly state the reasons why not in your report. Consider who decides ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the question of gender relevance.

3. If gender is likely to be an important theme, would specialist gender expertise (particularly local expertise) add value to the team? If yes, line up the required brain power or budgets.

4. Does the structural analysis include consideration of the relative positions of women and men in the government, the main economic sectors, labour market, and armed conflict?

5. Does the institutional analysis reflect on ‘rules of the game’ that might be different for women and for men and does it reflect on the extent to which gender roles are fixed or changing in that country or sector?

6. Does the stakeholder analysis include enough individuals and organisations who can bring the perspective of less-powerful social groups?

7. Throughout your analysis, regularly ask: “where are the women?” (in the data you collect, the questions you ask, the case studies you prepare, your list of key informants, the people invited to the debrief, the members of your the PEA team, and in the pathways of change you chart).

Sida’s Practical Guide to Power Analysis: Extract of gender-related questions

• How do gender norms reinforce power relations?

• How does gender intersect with the distribution of formal and informal power in society in terms of the public sphere (political institutions, social institutions, rule of law, the market and economy) and the private sphere (domestic life and family, intimate relations)?

• What can be said about both the situation of women in general and about particular groups of women (such as women who do not cohabit with men, whether single mothers, widows, non-married women) as well as about particular groups of men who may be disadvantaged by dominant ideas of masculinity?

• Is legislation gender neutral, or do particular laws reinforce and sustain subordinate or discriminated gender roles?

Source: Pettit, J. (2013) Power Analysis: A Practical Guide. Stockholm: Sida

Want to know more?

These are all good – and relatively concise.

• Putting gender in political economy analysis: Why it matters and how to do it. A practitioner’s guidance note by R Haines & T O’Neil of CARE International UK. Clear practical focus. May 2018; available at www.gadnetwork.org.

• Gender and Power, a DLP concept brief by Diana Koester. May 2015; available at www.dlprog.org. Strong on theory and concepts - in particular feminist power analysis.

• Gender, Inclusion, Power and Politics (GIPP) analysis. The approach combines traditional PEA lines of enquiry with gender and inclusion analysis by examining how gender and other social inequalities shape development challenges, outcomes and access to power andresources. Available on Social Development Direct’s web site.

• From Silos to Synergy: Learning from Politically Informed, Gender Aware Programs. Draws on 14 programmes that have applied both gender and political analysis approaches. Focus on implementation more than analysis. By Helen Derbyshire et al. Feb 2018. Available at www.dlprog.org.

• Gender - the power relationship that Political Economy Analysis forgot? February 2014 blog post by Evie Browne. https://www.dlprog.org/opinions/gender-the-power-relationship-that-political-economy-analysis-forgot

• Gender in Political Economy Analysis. 17 Jan 2014 GSDRC Helpdesk Report, by Evie Browne.

• S. Nazneen, S. Hickey, and E. Sifaki, (2019) Negotiating Gender Equity in the Global South: The Politics of Domestic Violence Policy, Routledge: London. Draws PEA lessons from Rwanda, India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. Start with this great little 28-minute podcast interview with Nazneen: https://www.ids.ac.uk/events/podcast-s2-ep05-negotiating-gender-equity-in-the-global-south-sohela-nazneen/

• Podcast interview with Serene Khader, on “Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 3: Missionary feminism” (November 2019, 30 minutes) https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/missionary-feminism/11708672

• Podcast interview with Caroline Criado Perez , on “Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men”. July 2019. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/invisible-women/ Not overtly linked to political economy, but provides good examples of why we more topics than we thought are in fact ‘gender relevant’

And … when it’s time to start your PEA, take a minute to pause and put on your new Gender

Goggles …