Gender Mainstreaming

Posted Thu, 2010-08-26 10:07 by zvikomborero

According to UNESCO, gender mainstreaming is a strategy that ensures equal benefits for both men and women for any programme, policy etc. This means the concerns and experiences of both men and women should be considered socially, economically and in all spheres of life. Furthermore, the 3rd Millennium Development Goal is to promote gender equality and empower women - a target that should be addressed at all levels by 2015. It's rather disturbing to me that in second half on 2010, this issue falls short and despite good intentions, there is very little - if any - progress. In practise, how many projects or programmes really take gender mainstreaming into account or even take the time to identify the gaps in gender equality and address them? In the UN Secretary-General's Review and Appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, a number of problem areas were identified regarding this. These include the development of accountability mechanisms and allocation of sufficient resources, targeting mainly health and education and not development and economic policies and as usual, political commitment. Of late and as part of the world cup campaign, people have called for education for all (I Goal campaign) and ahead of the upcoming United Nations Summit on MDGs there is a push to make this a priority for the summit. This in a way, maybe one form of addressing gender equality - after all, education is power and women empowered normally speak up and when they do, people are bound to listen!
We do however need other methods and strategies with real benchmarks or real indicators that can show people that gender equality is being addressed. That way we tap into all the available human resources and surely we should be able to solve some already recurring problems. These are just thoughts from one woman, but maybe this forum could shade light on this issue so that no stone is left unturned and we address this issue face on.

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General discussion

Gender mainstreaming

by femmecreole28 - 2010-09-01 08:51

This subject has been the main dilemma since years between men and women.

Here in Mauritius women for long was considered only good for household work and growing up of children, but after the Independence of our country and the coming of free education for all, things changes little by little. Women have been able to stand up and show the capacity and ability to work as men.

Mostly in under developed countries the voice of women is not really heard, but they are trying to make it heard, and affirming their identity. I do think that through the young generation things will change if we give young women the opportunity to prove to the society that they can make things change.

We have lived with this problem for a long time. Although under times of slavery, women were warriors always fighting for their children, their families and to get a place in the society. Why not give chance to women now that the world has evolved, to get out of poverty and bring development in their village and country.

Women are sometimes more able to do things if they are given the chance. Like in my village, Le Morne, here housewife are learning handicrafts and they also learning management, and they are given chance to work at home and sell their product to individual tourists and hotels.

We have also 2 or 3 Associations which do many things for women, to make them understand that they have capacity to be developed and by developing that they will bring a good life for their future and family.

Me, as a woman, I will always fight for my rights so that to show to others that their is no age to learn things.

Joanna Louis

Gender Mainstreaming

by fairuz - 2010-08-27 21:06

Perhaps the idea of gender mainstreaming should move beyond the notion of equality between the sexes. Perhaps it should be considered along the lines of promotion of access which could mean access to education, justice, health care, resources, job opportunities etc. Gender mainstreaming would require that laws and policies in place for promotion of gender equality, are effectively monitored and enforced. Gender mainstreaming should also be considered a mechanism for changing the balance of power. By the same token power relations are not changed, simply with the introduction of laws an statutes. Gender relations are systemic and institutional and require structural dismantling. It is not a simplistic numbers game. Gender mainstream is really about consciously and systematically creating the platforms for promotion of access, and at the same time, systematically destroying those barriers that restrict access.

Gender Mainstreaming

by Mwanahija - 2010-08-30 18:25

Gender mainstreaming should as well focus on capacity building in traditional fisheries. For instance, there are many steps that have been taken by many projects/programmes to curb the problem of illegal fishing in Tanzania coastal communities; one of them is the provision of engine boats, exchange of illegal fishing gears with legal ones, and other assistance related to fishing. In most cases men fishers are the ones who are benefiting from this assistance because they are seen as the only active fishers. But in the actual sense, in many developing countries women are also involved in traditional fishing in intertidal area (using poor equipments) especially gleaning for shellfishes. To bring gender equality in fisheries, women fishers should as well be recognized as active stakeholders in fisheries and assisted in their fishing efforts.

RE: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by Francois - 2010-08-31 09:15

Mwanahija has moved the debate on gender mainstreaming to a new level. Much has been said about the idea behind gender mainstreaming and what it is supposed to achieve in general terms. That's all very well, but let's get down to real examples. Our own experience is that women are very much involved in fishing, just as Mwanahija points out. In some of the DLIST demonstration sites we found that women sometimes fish actively with men in boats in the lagoons, and sometimes even the open sea, like in Madagascar. In some instances they fish as groups of women with nets, or here and there still in traditional ways where they form a semi-circle beating the surface of the lagoon with branches to herd fish into a trap. But certainly everywhere have we observed women being very active in the collection of shellfish, crustaceans and other sources of food. One may very well find that women fishers equal the number of male fishers overall. They are also often task with the processing of marine resources, in a variety of ways, and of course at the end of the day preparing meals for their families. In many places this burden is increasing as the result of diminishing resources for making fire to cook the food on. Women are also very much involved, and usually the main workers in the harvesting of other marine resources such as sea-weed in Zanzibar, which is back-breaking work that yield very little income. I want to echo and slightly rephrase Mwanahija's question: what are being done to assist these women? Are they catered for in projects? Do donors take gender mainstreaming into account when projects are designed and presented to them? Is the differential between assistance to men as opposed to women ever measured, let alone acted on? Perhaps there are projects that have positive experiences to share?

RE: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by zvikomborero - 2010-08-30 22:05

I agree with what Fairuz said in this discussion in that it's not a matter of numbers. A 50% men - 50% women ratio is not always the ultimate goal for there are many factors at play here. For instance, in the 50% men, how many represent young men, how many represent old men - same applies to women? Francois brought forth an interesting concept of the involvement of youth in projects as a way to mainstream gender. And yet again, what of the programmes that do exclude or disregard women and yet are very critical for sustainable development. Programmes/project such as those mentioned by Mwanahija to curb the problem of illegal fishing. What happens to the species that women collect if they are not accounted for in such projects? I really think we need to come up with strategies that cater for all "sectors of society" sooner rather than later and already they are good indications from the DLIST project of good and innovative strategies. I am also sure there are a number of strategies that we can share on this forum and I for one look forward to reading more about this.

RE: Gender Mainstreaming

by umaymah@ecoafri... - 2010-08-27 15:07

Gender Mainstreaming is more about a strategy to increase women’s involvement in the public sphere than to address gender equality directly. Without increasing women’s opportunities gender equality may not be achieved, as there are more men in leadership positions than there are women in the present day. Not forgetting that over a short period of time women have already become more involved, and by so doing women are becoming more empowered. This is one of the ways that proves that the more women become involved, gender equality is being achieved. Does it not make sense that in order to achieve gender equality women should first and foremost have increase opportunities, to have equal opportunities to men? While gender mainstreaming and gender equality is being addressed in society there are many issues that reinforce gendered norms within society. Men continue to be more involved in the public sphere and women continues to be associated with the private sphere/domestic sphere. It is also important to note that the public sphere is associated with paid labour whereas the domestic is associated with unpaid labour. This is the reason why women need to be brought into the public sphere. So that women can gain more social and economic benefits to be equal to that of men. Gender mainstreaming aims to bring women in the development process and increase the opportunities or benefits for women. Have gender mainstreaming given more privileged for women than men in these days, and who are the ones that are being disadvantaged?

RE: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by Frida Lanshammar - 2010-08-27 11:20

Thanks for your comment about the importance of gender mainstreaming Zvi. It is indeed very important to include women and men from all levels of society in programmes and policies. Being Swedish and having grown up in one of the most gender equal societies in the world, I think it is important to point out that gender equality is not something that can be achieved easily. It is a process that will take many generations and hard efforts from both men and women to be brave to stand up and oppose expectations and rooted traditions. But if we all try and work together, attitude changes can slowly be achieved and we can move towards a more equal future where men and women are given equal opportunities.
An example showing how one can try to push for gender balance is the work with the DLIST demonstration site in Ras Mkumbuu, Pemba, Zanzibar. When initiating the DLIST planning process with the communities in Pemba, it was very clear that the society in these rural villages were extremely segregated and the women were rarely involved in any decision making processes. The DLIST team tried to explain the importance of including the entire community in the planning process for the future and made it clear that the selected planning committee should consist of three men and three women. Many of the men, including the village leader (the Sheha), were very disappointed that the women had selected "stupid" and uneducated women to be part of the planning committee, giving these women as much influence as the men had. But after working with this planning committee and the communities for many months, we can see that things are starting to change. The women that are members of the planning committee are indeed uneducated (most adult women in this area have never been to school), but when they are given a chance to express their opinion and to influence decisions - they do a very good job. Women often see beyond their personal benefits and really care for the future of the entire community. And the men in the group and the community as a whole seem to listen more to the ideas and concerns expressed by the women now, compared to what they did when the DLIST project was first initiated.
I think there is a lot of hope and good examples out there and I think it is important to lift these, so that others can learn and see that it is indeed possible to change the situation even in remote and very conservative societies. Women are part of every community and they should be given the right to influence the future for themselves and their children. But they often need some support and help to get started...
Frida

Gender Mainstreaming

by Heather - 2010-08-30 22:12

Hi Frida,
Thanks so much for your input. Can you share some of the ideas the DLIST team told the community to explain the importance in including women in their planning process and decision-making?
Heather

RE-DLIST ASCLME:Gender Mainstreaming

by Nolusizo - 2010-08-28 21:55

Indeed the equality between women and men is fair and right. It is a worthy goal in and of itself, one that lies at the heart of human rights. It is also central to progress in human development. Through the implementation of a gender mainstreaming strategy, gender mainstreaming must respond promptly to changes in requirements, interests, and perceptions with regard to men’s and women’s social roles, and promote equality.

Gender mainstreaming should not be a game for a single player, the close cooperation between people and organisations is also essential. Throughout the world, vast majorities of women are disadvantaged. There are differences from country to country and region to region, because disadvantage is caused by cultural, religious, historical and social factors. However it good to know that DLIST already had a positive influence in some communities in Africa, hopefully this positive influence shall continue throughout the world.

RE: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by geovision - 2010-08-28 19:45

Hi Frida

Is it possible to write something about women empowerment for NAYD (Network of African Youths for Development, www.nayd.org . We have a magazine that gets distributed to thousands of African youths and others involved in youth-led sustainable development in Africa and I'm sure our readers would greatly appreciate your views on this subject especially with specific references to local contexts

thanks, Paul Shaw

www.geovision.co.uk
www.NAYD.org
www.waterforall.ltd.uk

Gender mainstreaming and Women Empowerment in Local Contexts

by umaymah@ecoafri... - 2010-11-22 13:01

Increasingly women are becoming more and more empowered in society. Gender mainstreaming is a strategy which aims to increase women’s involvement in the public sphere, and by so doing achieving gender equality. More particularly gender mainstreaming strives to increase the opportunities and benefits for women, in projects, programmes and policies.

Women play a vital role in society and therefore should have equal opportunities and benefits as men. Women therefore need to be included in decision-making processes. Without increasing women’s opportunities gender equality may not be achieved, as there are more men in leadership positions than women. However, the idea of a patriarchal society is beginning to change.

With reference to local contexts this article provides an insight into increased women’s involvement in the demonstration sites for the DLIST ASCLME Project (Distance Learning and Information Sharing Tool – Agulhas and Somali Large Marine Ecosystem). These demonstration sites include Hamburg in South Africa, Vilanculos in Mozambique, Kilwa in mainland Tanzania, Pemba in Zanzibar in Tanzania, Mombasa in Kenya, Mohéli in Comoros, Ambodiletra in Madagascar, Curieuse in Seychelles and Le Morne in Mauritius. All these demonstrations sites mentioned comprised of coastal communities that have strong ties with the coastal and marine environment.

The DLIST team works closely with these communities and encourages the local people to participate in planning processes. More importantly, it is interesting to observe the increased women’s involvement and participation within these local contexts.

In Hamburg, South Africa, the majority of the DLIST team consists of young women. Additionally the planning committee in Hamburg consists of fifty percent women and these women have been actively partaking in planning processes concerning Hamburg. Interestingly, it has been realised that women play just an important role in small scale fisheries as men do, and there is an increasing need for society to accept that women are also active in small scale fisheries. Coastal communities like Hamburg in the Eastern Cape are rich in marine resources such as abalone, oysters and black mussel. Significantly, women have been gathering these resources just as men do. Even though not many women in Hamburg engage in fishing from boats, women are most certainly seen as active fishers just as men in small scale fisheries.

Similarly, in Vilanculos, Mozambique the DLIST team engaging with the community consists of a majority of young women. Many of the women in Vilanculos have been involved in crab fishing. These women have also been participating in planning processes involving Vilanculos.

In Kilwa, which is located in mainland Tanzania, a large part of the DLIST team comprises of women and the government representatives that have taken part in the DLIST planning process are also majority women. There are two women in the planning committee and other groups of women have also been taking part in the planning process within the area.

Pemba in Zanzibar, Tanzania, has also experienced increased women’s involvement in the DLIST planning processes. The DLIST team consists mainly of women, and fifty percent of both the planning committees for the two communities, Wesha and Ndagoni, are women. Furthermore, women in Pemba are also actively taking part in planning processes.

The women in all of the DLIST demonstration sites have taken a very strong role in the planning process and women are represented in the planning committees of most of the sites. The women’s involvement in these different local contexts has shown the increasing active roles that women play within planning processes and society. The demonstration sites of DLIST ASCLME are only a few examples of many local contexts, where gender mainstreaming or women’s increased involvement is represented and can be actively encouraged. This is undoubtedly a further representation of women’s empowerment within society.

RE: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by Francois - 2010-08-30 13:40

Dear Paul It is very good to hear about your network, and this initiative. My own experience with working with youth has been very positive, precisely because they are not as set in their habits and ways of looking at the world as older people sometimes are. We have also been highly successful in mainstreaming gender in rural initiatives when there was active participation by youth. One example that comes to mind is the case of the Richtersveld World Heritage Site. When it was difficult to move this initiative through government or the established NGOs, the involvement of youth made all the difference. Without their involvement, the Richtersveld Community Conservancy would never have become a World Heritage Site. We also found that the youth groups we worked with, and the percentage of those in leadership positions ended up slightly more slanted toward young women who seized the chance to become involved in something that can make a difference to peoples' lives. However, it is when both young males and females were involved that you could see the power of a collective approach in taking on daunting obstacles. The same is largely true for the nine demonstration sites that we are running in the Western Indian Ocean region. These demonstration sites are already starting to show great progress in terms of gender mainstreaming, and will undoubtedly yield many lessons learned. It is also because youth are still idealistic and have the energy to not give up as easily, that makes them fertile ground for gender mainstreaming. But I would like think that we will move way beyond theory and lessons learned and experimental approaches to actually DOING things, and affecting gender mainstreaming not for its own sake but to actually make the world a better place (even if in the tiny, small way). Workshops are great but it is actually through doing that we found that people would learn fastest. Nonetheless, let's look out for opportunities where we can get together and discuss best practices. For one, I am sure the DLIST team will make contact with you to see how we can digest information you already have, or share the best practices from your network with the thousands of DLIST registered users, many of whom are very interested in this topic. Thanks for making contact, and lets share our networks to advance gender mainstreaming where we can.

Re: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by Julieta Americano - 2010-08-27 15:10

Very good comment, I am happy to know that DLIST go trow this communite and work hard to help them understand the real importance of have women in the plannig commite, I believe this work will also have a good impact here in Mozambique especially in the rural areas, because we still have this problem that women must only care about the family and not be part in several discussions that can beneficiate their community it can be a little difficult but not impossible, so finding the womens in the communite and talk to them will be a good start and a comfortable future for all members of community here in Mozambique. 2010/8/27 Frida Lanshammar

RE: DLIST ASCLME: Gender Mainstreaming

by umaymah@ecoafri... - 2010-09-08 10:25

The discussion on gender mainstreaming has been attracting many views and opinions this month. Gender mainstreaming has been recognised as an important strategy to increase women’s involvement and achieve gender equality. The main idea behind gender mainstreaming is to increase the opportunities and benefits for women, in projects, programmes and policies. Women play a vital role in society and should have equal opportunities and benefits as men. Women therefore need to be included in decision-making processes. The discussion has further encouraged the DLIST team to increase women’s involvement in decision-making processes. Nevertheless, the DLIST team have provided women and men with equal participative opportunities in planning committees. It has also been put forward that gender mainstreaming has been successful in rural initiatives. Interestingly, the discussion has reflected on local contexts. It has been realised that women play just and important role in small scale fisheries as men do, and there is an increasing need for society to accept that women are also active in small scale fisheries. The DLIST team has acknowledged that within the demonstration sites there are numbers of women that participate in small scale fisheries. It is important to acknowledge that women are very much involved in Small Scale fisheries. For example, coastal communities like Hamburg in the Eastern Cape are rich in marine resources such as abalone, oysters and black mussel. Significantly, women have been gathering these resources just as men do. Even though not many women in Hamburg engage in fishing from boats, women are most certainly seen active fishers just as men in small scale fisheries. South Africa Small Scale Fisheries Policy which has not yet been implemented, but nevertheless it aims to create a new sector for poor formerly marginalised coastal and/or fishing communities. The policy’s objective is to protect the rights of small scale fishers, but more importantly takes gender mainstreaming and gender equality into consideration. South African Small Scale Fisheries intends to formulate or develop a management approach that contributes to poverty alleviation, food security and socio-economic development. This policy recognises that both women and men have equal rights to small scale fisheries. However women as well as other disadvantaged groups are being more prioritised than men in obtaining Small Scale Fishery permits in the present day. Is this not the right way to go about gender mainstreaming, by increasing the involvement and opportunities for women, in order to achieve gender equality in the long run? Even though the policy has not yet been implemented, it has in the meanwhile given both women and men equal ability to apply for small scale fishery permits. The development and implementation of policies is one of the ways in which women can be assisted in Small Scale Fisheries. Such as the Small Scale Fisheries Policy that increases the opportunities for women involvement and gives women and men equal privilege to obtain Small Scale Fishing permits. More importantly, a policy that incorporates gender mainstreaming, may be seen as steps towards achieving gender equality in the long run. Will this policy if implemented, encourage women to be more involved in small scale fisheries projects? Or will the policy be successful in its objective but fail in practice when implemented?