Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment & Gender Equity

CAREGED 101

Overview

• Gender: what and why?• CARE’s Women’s Empowerment (WE)

framework & key concepts• Men and Boys

Gender is a social construct

Courtesy of: National Geographic Channel

Gender is a social construct

Courtesy Sonke Gender Justice Network

WHY focus on gender?

• “We seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.”

• CARE’s core values of Respect, Integrity, Commitment and Excellence promotes diversity and gender equity, choice and dignity for all.

• We believe we can more effective in our programs.

CARE’s efforts to advance Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

• 4 year investment in a Strategic Impact Inquiry• Development of a women’s empowerment

framework• Institutional commitment: GED trainings• CI Gender Policy

•Her own aspirations and capabilities

AGENCY

•The environment that surrounds and conditions her choices

STRUCTURE

•The power relations through which she negotiates her path

RELATIONS

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT is the sum total of changes needed for a woman to realize her full

human rights – the interplay of changes in:

CARE’s Women’s Empowerment Framework

Agency

StructureRelations

Girls’ Leadership

Voice/assertion

Decision-making/Action

Self-confidenceOrganization

Vision

• Long-term goal• Absence of discrimination

based on sex• Equality between men and

women exists when both sexes are able to share equally in the distribution of power and influence

Gender Equality

• Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men.

• To ensure fairness, strategies and measures must often be available to compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field.

• Equity leads to equality.

GENDER EQUITY

equal treatment before the law

equal access to social provisions

Equal access to education

Quota for female representatives

GENDER EQUALITY

GENDER EQUITY

Gender equity leads to gender equality

Women’s empowerment & girls’ leadership is a critical aspect of promoting gender equality

Engaging men and boys

WHAT DO MEN AND BOYS HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

Important part of the equation

A domain in the WE framework is RELATIONS

Programming in Action: Burundi

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU!