GENDER EQUALITYA KEY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

GENDER EQUALITY:

A KEY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

«Gender Equality is the equal enjoyment by women and men of socially valued goods, opportunities, resources, and rewards.

The aim is not that women and men become the same, but that their opportunities and life chances

become and remain equal.» (OECD, DAC, 1998).

GENDER POLICY

Despite positive initiatives and successes in addressing poverty reduc-tion over the last decade, measures aimed at alleviating economic marginalisation, undemocratic political practices, conflict, as well asunsustainable use of environmental resources have failed in significantlyreducing inequalities between the rich and the poor. Within this context,inequalities between women and men persist and grow, making genderdiscrimination the world’s most widespread form of exclusion.

Unequal power relations and participation in decision-making betweenwomen and men are amongst the structural causes of social and politi-cal instability that generates poverty. More than ever, the reduction ofgender inequalities has a strong contribution to make to social justiceand sustainable development.

Since the beginning of the 70s, there has been a reinforcement of theinternational women’s movement, with an emphasis on promoting equity and women’s access to health and education, local political participation and income. After the 1995 World Women Conference inBeijing, international agencies, as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations have developed strategies to increase gen-der awareness and competence among actors and have mobilisedresources to institutionalise the reduction of gender inequalities. Thesestrategies are monitored at international as well as at national levels.

GENDER POLICY

SDC approach to Gender andDevelopment

The aim of thenew SDC policyis to ensure thatall SDC inter-ventions in-crease women’sand men’sopportunities toexercise theirrights equallyand gain equalaccess to andcontrol overthe benefits ofdevelopment.The strategy toachieve thisaim is to main-stream theempowermentof women andmen as activeparticipants intransforminggender relationsin a process ofconstructiveengagement, andwhere possible,collaboration.

Gender has been integrated as a crosscut-ting issue in SDC’s activities since 1990. Thefirst SDC policy for gender balanced deve-lopment was formulated in 1993, and imple-mented to different degrees in countries andregions. The general level of gender aware-ness and competence is increasing in SDC,with some countries and regions incorpora-ting gender in their development approachand tools. However, a new gender policy isstill necessary to ensure a more systematicintegration of gender in the full range ofSDC’s activities.

SDC StrategyCapacity building has been a key area ofsupport to SDC’s staff and partners, inclu-ding skills training workshops and proceduredevelopment for gender aware planning andmonitoring. SDC has adopted a flexibleapproach to gender mainstreaming, withCooperation Offices developing context-specific strategies and tools assisted by theSDC Gender Unit.

This policy applies to all interventions under-taken in bilateral and multilateral work ofSDC, as well as humanitarian aid. This newpolicy is based on SDC experience and rein-forces the wider policy aims of SDC. TheSDC Gender Unit has developed a tool-kit tohelp collaborators to put this policy intopractice at different phases in the planningprocess.

SDC PrioritiesThe overall SDC priority is to reduce the growing gap between the poor and the rich,by facilitating a better distribution of thebenefits of development and improving thelife of poor women and men. Its strategy isto support national/local partners to act onmechanisms that create and perpetuatepoverty and inequalities, including betweenwomen and men, so as to improve the eco-nomic and social framework conditions,cover basic needs, and prevent environmen-tal problems and conflict.

A key principle of SDC is that fighting struc-tural inequalities and unequal power rela-tions between different groups in society isboth an aim and a prerequisite of develop-ment. Reducing inequalities between womenand men is a strategy to alleviate povertyand develop sustainable forms of develop-ment where women as well as men areequally involved in the governance of publicaffairs, at all levels.

SDC’s RoleConsist in supporting, accompanying andencouraging social change which reducespoverty and promotes sustainable develop-ment. SDC seeks to work with local actorswho are involved in these developmentalprocesses in their own diverse contexts, and who are willing to engage with SDCprinciples to reduce poverty and promotesustainable development, including genderequality.

GENDER POLICY

Why is SDC committed to Gender Equality?

Gender equality is embedded inhuman rights. Women and men expe-rience differences in exercising their socio-economic and political rights, because ofstructural inequalities and unequal powerrelations in society. The promotion of women’sand men’s equal rights does not assume auniversal model of gender relations acrossall societies and cultures. It merely reflects aconcern that both women and men haveopportunities to define what gender equalitymeans in their particular context.

Gender equality through the empowerment of women and menis critical for good governance. Inorder to increase women’s and men’s oppor-tunities to exercise their rights equally,women’s and men’s equal access to decision-making must be promoted. Enabling womenand men to participate equally in governance

structures to define their development priori-ties and strategies, will make a critical contribution to addressing underlyinginequalities.

Women’s and men’s dynamic contri-bution to society as individuals,workers, and citizens is critical forsustainable development. In manyparts of the world, women have limitedaccess to economic resources and decision-making. At the same time, men do not sharethe tasks associated with household manage-ment and social reproduction equally withwomen. While equally valuing women’s andmen’s contribution in every sphere, exclusionof women or men from some of these sphe-res contributes to inequalities, exploitationand unsustainable development.Development interventions that provideopportunities for women and men to

GENDER POLICY

The integration of gender is part ofbroader empowerment strategies

and positively affects opera-tional performance and theimpact of development inter-ventions. The incorporation ofgender methodology into develop-ment practices increases the rele-vance, efficiency, effectivenessand equality of interventions.Because it focuses on addressingand monitoring inequalities andsocial injustice, gender awareanalyses and planning helps

organisations to develop a visionof change, and to create the condi-

tions, methods and competence toachieve it. By so doing, it promotes

values of quality and equality in organi-sational culture.

Gender equality is embedded in Switzerland’s national and international commitments. SDC, likeany Swiss institution, has to promote equalopportunities for all the women and men itemploys. SDC is committed to the BeijingPlatform for Action and the Convention onthe Elimination of all Forms of Discriminationagainst Women. SDC is also obliged toreport to the OECD Development AidCommittee (DAC) on the intention andimpact of its interventions on gender. Through international negotiations and collaboration, SDC makes sure that genderequality is taken into consideration by itspartners.

Commitments of Switzerland to Gender Equality: – 1981: Adoption of equality law, definining the principle of

equality of rights and mandate to provide equality of rightsand its integration into the Swiss Federal Constitution

– 1992: Ratification of CCPR (International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights)

– 1997: Ratification of CEDAW (International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women)

– 1997: Ratification of CRC (International Convention on the Rightsof the Child)

– 1998: as a member of the OECD Development Aid Committee,SDC has been under the obligation to comply with DAC regulations and to report on the impact of its interventionson the reduction of inequalities between women and men

– 1999: Post-Beijing Plan of Action. Switzerland is committed to mainstream gender in all government activities

constructively engage in changing existinggender roles, unequal access to and controlover resources as well as decision-making,are critical to achieving gender equality andsustainable development, and must thereforebe promoted.

Empowerment of disadvantagedgroups is a key strategy for poverty alleviation and social change. Often, women and men experi-ence and fight poverty in different ways.Women are increasingly at the frontline inthe fight against poverty, at household andcommunity level. Increasing women’s partici-pation in defining development priorities andstrategies alongside men both empowerswomen and brings new perspectives, resour-ces and dynamics to reduce poverty andempower the poor.

GENDER POLICY

Guiding Principles

– All interventions are based on a genderaware analysis

No context is free of gender relations. Therefore, a gender awareanalysis at micro-, meso- and/or macro-levels, according to theintervention, is mandatory prior to the formulation of any countryprogramme and its associated procedures. Similarly, gender needsto be incorporated at the project design stage and reflected in theproject cycle. Such an analysis identifies problems and needs of dif-ferent groups of women and men, as well as key gender inequalitiesand issues in the context. The analysis leads to the formulation ofeffect assumptions for different groups of women and men. This allowsprogrammes/projects to identify strategic ways to contribute to thereduction of gender inequalities through a cross-cutting approachand/or identifying specific gender actions.

– Flexibility in implementation Like any social change, changes in gender relations challenge traditional

forms of power. Therefore, they can provoke resistance and they take time.Approaches to gender must be flexible and context-specific. Cooperation

offices and partners can choose how to strategically work with women and menas long as they contribute to gender equality. In many parts of the world, women

and men are actively seeking to construct more equal gender relations. It is impor-tant that interventions build on endogenous strategies and incorporate women’s and

men’s common as well as different/conflicting interests.

– Multilevel approachThe promotion of gender equality is effective and facilitates social change when

the different levels of intervention are tackled: policy dialogue and framework conditions at the macro level, institutional development and relations

between and within organisations at the meso-level and women and menin households/communities at the micro-level. This principle applies to

all SDC interventions: bilateral and multilateral development aswell as humanitarian aid.

GENDER POLICY

– Specific Actions for Gender Equality Specific actions to reduce gender inequalities (e.g. gender gaps ineducation or political representation) and/or to address genderissues (e.g. women trafficking) reinforces the impact of working with

women and men in interventions or complete a cross cutting appro-ach. They are planned on the basis of a sound gender analysis.

Specific gender actions can involve working either with womenand/or men.

– Equal Opportunities in OrganisationsAccording to Swiss national policy, SDC commitment to equal opportu-

nities must be reflected at Headquarters and in cooperation offices. Inaddition, SDC promotes equal opportunities within its partners, whether

public or private. This implies the active promotion of equal rights forwomen and men at work and the protection of workers against all forms of

gender-based discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment.It also implies taking positive action measures when needed to ensure gender

balance between women and men, and paying attention to the gender mix ofworking teams insofar as it impacts on programme/project achievements.

GENDER POLICY

Possible Entry Points forMainstreaming Gender● A dialogue within and between

cooperation offices and theirpartners (Governments and NGOs,donors, and target groups) is an efficiententry point to raise gender inequalitiesthat affect or are affected by the programmes.

● An analysis of the roles of differentgroups of women and men, their level ofaccess to and control over resourcesmakes a key contribution to a genderaware baseline in the initial stage ofthe programme.

● The identification of objectives/results for the reduction of gen-der inequalities and/or the protectionof human rights as part of programmeplanning is very helpful at the opera-tional level. It makes it possible to monitorwomen’s and men’s benefits from pro-grammes according to clear milestones.

● At all points of the planning cycle, it isuseful to develop indicators tomonitor programme outputs onwomen as well as on men, respectivelyand comparatively, as well as the out-comes in terms of social change.

● The elaboration of a strategicframework (a gender policy or guide-lines) specifying objectives, entry points,alliances, support needed, and processindicators is most helpful for integratinggender. The implementation of such a framework can rely on specific as well assectoral budgets.

● Working with gender aware orcompetent partners helps the pro-cess of mainstreaming in interventions.Gender awareness can be a criteria forthe selection of partners. SDC supportsgender competence as part of capacitybuilding to enhance planning and moni-toring skills in programmes. Developmentinstitutions are not neutral and can act aslevers or brakes for the integration ofgender equality. Often, organisationalchange is necessary to promote genderequality in interventions. This may includechanging relations and procedures withinand between organisations, and workingmore pro-actively with women organisa-tions to identify and maximise opportuni-ties for gender-related changes.

● Measures to increase equalopportunities (within SDC and itspartners) facilitate mainstreaming in pro-grammes and projects. The genderbalance of teams can be instrumental toreach women and men in target groups.Furthermore, experience shows that equalopportunities influence the implementa-tion of gender mainstreaming in policies,programmes and projects and has apositive effect on organisational culture.

GENDER POLICY

The Board of Directors is responsiblefor monitoring the implementation of theGender Equality Policy as well as EqualOpportunities. This means that the Board isresponsible for incorporating gender in allapproval processes (country programmes,policies, strategies etc.) and controllingsystems.

Heads of divisions (thematic and operational divisions) are responsible forintegrating gender in strategies, policies andcountry programmes, as appropriate.

Contry Directors monitor the integrationof gender into country and annual programmes, and the associated reportingmechanisms. They also monitor the changesin the country context, including changes ingender equality.

Programme officers and heads ofproject are responsible to monitor the integration of gender at the programme/project level. This responsibility is sharedwith partners and laid out in contracts.

The Governance Division (Gender Unit)is responsible for providing gender monito-ring support to SDC and its partners.

Who is responsible for monitoringgender in SDC?

Publishing detailsPublisher:

Swiss Agency for Development and

Cooperation (SDC)

Federal Departement of Foreign

Affairs (DFA)

3003 Bern

www.sdc.admin.ch

Order:

SDC distribution centre

Tel.: 031 322 44 12

Fax: 031 324 13 48

info@sdc.admin.ch

Available in English, German,

French, Italian, Spanish, Russian

Coordination:

Governance Division/Gender Unit

Editor:

University College London,

DPU Development Planning Unit

Layout:

Naceur Ben M'Barek

nbm grafikdesign, Bern

© SDC 2003

ISBN 3-03798-037-0