Factoring Gender Into Economic Development

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Factoring Gender into Economic Development: Changing the Policies of the

International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
Pamela Blackmon a
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Valparaiso University, Valparaiso
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DOI: 10.1080/00497870802633343
FACTORING GENDER INTO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

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Women’s Studies Vol. 38, No. 2, December 2008: pp. 1–27
CHANGING THE POLICIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL

MONETARY FUND AND THE WORLD BANK1
PAMELA BLACKMON
Factoring
Pamela Blackmon
Gender into Economic Development
Valparaiso University, Valparaiso
The impacts of gender issues on a country’s successful economic

development have been widely recognized as an integral part of
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the development and policy initiatives at the United Nations

(UN). This is evident by the focus on gender issues in health,
education, and empowerment as part of the UN Development
Program’s Human Development Reports, and in gender equality
issues as part of the 2000 Millennium Development Goals for
developing countries. Clearly gender is an important component
of a broader and more integrated approach to successful eco-
nomic development through poverty alleviating measures includ-
ing a focus on women’s education and childhood development.
Women’s movements were influential in these changes at the UN
through their abilities to “secure recognition of their rights in the
UN’s social institutions” (Goetz 34). Indeed, the various UN Con-
ferences specifically designed to address the concerns of women
(Mexico 1975; Copenhagen 1980; Nairobi 1985; Beijing 1995)
are evidence of this influence as well as the growth of women’s rep-
resentation in NGOs (Goetz 34–5; Bhagwati 38–9; Dorsey; Hunt).
How successful have women’s movements been at also
changing the focus of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank to incorporate gender issues into their
economic development frameworks? While the UN has acknowl-
edged the importance of linking gender issues with successful
1
Earlier versions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the International
Studies Association, San Francisco, March 2008, and at the annual meeting of the Midwest
Political Science Association, Chicago, April 2008. I would like to thank Clair Apodaca,
Bethany Barratt, and Chad Rector for helpful comments and suggestions.
Address correspondence to Pamela Blackmon, Assistant Professor, Department of
Political Science, 1409 Chapel Drive, Huegli Hall, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso,
IN 46383, USA. E-mail: Pamela.Blackmon@valpo.edu
213
214 Pamela Blackmon
economic development in poor countries, it is also important to

examine whether the institutions that are most heavily involved
with promoting policies of economic development and growth
have also recognized the importance of these relationships. This
article will examine the degree to which the IMF and the World
Bank have incorporated gender development issues into their
economic development programs for the Sub-Saharan African
countries of Mauritania, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Tanzania,
and Uganda. The first part of the article outlines the theoretical
frameworks used to explain the importance of women’s roles in
economic development and poverty alleviation, and provides
explanations as to why conventional economic theories are not
able to capture these benefits. The second part of the article ana-
lyzes the various strategies undertaken by women’s movements
such as “Women’s Eyes on the World Bank” and the “African
Women’s Economic Policy Network” (AWEPON) during the mid-
1990s to change the policies of the World Bank and the IMF away
from the Structural Adjustment Programs of the 1980s. The next
sections describe how the case study countries have implemented
the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers as the new programs devel-
oped by the institutions, in addition to assessing whether these
Papers achieved the goals established by the two women’s move-
ments. The final section concludes with analysis as to the overall
effectiveness of the two groups in changing the policies of the
institutions to focus on gender issues in development.
Economic Development and Gender
There are two theoretical frameworks that this article will use in
order to explain the relationships between gender and economic
development: a Marxist feminist perspective and literature that
specifically addresses how improving the health, education and
earning potential of women also leads to greater economic devel-
opment. The Marxist feminist perspective seeks to explain how
gender differences contribute to capital accumulation by differ-
entiating between activities in the private and public spheres of
labor (Rowbotham; Barrett). The framework presumes a sexual
division of labor in which men work in the public arena performing
tasks which are paid, while women are engaged in unpaid labor
such as childbearing and household work which takes place in
Factoring Gender into Economic Development 215
the private sphere (in the home). Women then contribute to

capitalism through work that is unpaid but necessary so that a
“supportive home life” is provided for men to have relief “from
the alienating experiences of work” (Clark 225; Zaretsky).
There are many important points that the Marxist feminist
approach lends to an explanation of why women’s roles in eco-
nomic development have been marginalized, or better yet,
ignored. First, the categorization of public (paid) labor vs. private
(unpaid) labor contributes to an understanding as to why work
performed in the household, done generally by women, is seen as
unproductive: because it is not paid. In a capitalist based society
labor that is seen as valued is paid; if labor is not paid then it may
not be seen as valued, but more importantly, it is outside of the

price mechanism and therefore its contribution cannot be mea-
sured (Bhagwati 79).2 Therefore, classic liberal economic theo-
ries have presumed a very low value associated with women’s
labor (Elson; Folbre). This is important in understanding economic
development strategies as Anne Marie Goetz notes,
The fact that gender relations ascribe female labour to domestic tasks
means that this female labour is immobilized in activities which are not
responsive to market signals. Thus price signals, so key to neoliberal eco-
nomic planning, will not necessarily change the way a household allocates
its labour. The non-attribution of economic value or cost to household
work leads planners mistakenly to assume that women’s time has a zero
opportunity cost . . . (36)
Since the IMF and the World Bank operate under the economic
theory of classic liberalism (also referred to as neo-liberal
economics) in which the market is viewed as the most efficient at
allocating resources, contributions outside of this economic
framework could not be recognized. Indeed, one of the primary
problems with the Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) used
during the late 1970s and 1980s was that they recommended that
states implement these neoliberal policies which resulted in negative
2
Work that is performed on a volunteer basis is generally seen as valued, even though
it is not paid. Similarly, there are separate economic theories to explain monetary
donations to non-profit organizations since these decisions also fall outside of the price
mechanism and economic theories of supply and demand. For further explanation, see,
Walter W. Powell, The Nonprofit Sector. New Haven: Yale UP, 1989.
216 Pamela Blackmon
impacts on women more than on men. This was especially the

case when states reduced expenditures for social services in
health and education which had the effect of forcing women to
find ways to make up for these shortages. Programs followed
under the SAPs resulted in many problems because they failed to
factor in the role of women in economic activities (Buvinic and
Lycette).
During the latter part of the 1980s it became clear that coun-
tries that had followed SAPS were also seeing increases in poverty,
a situation attributed to, among other things, cuts in social expen-
ditures (Stewart). The importance of women’s roles in economic
development began to increase when studies showed that
improvements in alleviating poverty were related to improving

the economic and educational positions of women. The findings
of these studies became even more relevant when the number of
households headed by women also began to increase in develop-
ing countries in the 1980s. There are three broad areas in which
improving women’s roles in development contribute to alleviating
poverty. First, increasing women’s education results in lower pop-
ulation growth because women then have other options to partic-
ipate in higher skilled occupations apart from having many
children and being confined to home based labor activities (The
World Bank in Action: Stories of Development 4, 25; Sachs 36–7).
Second, and related to the former, many studies have shown that
increasing women’s income results in improvements in the nutrition
of children (Apodaca; Behrman and Wolfe; Leslie). This is also
related to the fact that women make different financial decisions
than men regarding how income is spent. Resources that are
controlled by women are more likely to be spent on family food
expenditures than are resources controlled by men (Buvinic and
Lycette).
However, barriers to increasing women’s income include the
fact that they are severely limited in their access to credit, in addi-
tion to restrictions on their participation in educational programs
and employment opportunities. Micro-credit programs, espe-
cially that of the Grameen Bank, in which small amounts of
money are loaned directly to the poor (and predominately to
women), have been successful in improving the lives of the poor.
The founder of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunnus explains
the importance of involving women in development programs:
If the goals of economic development include improving the general

standard of living, reducing poverty, creating dignified employment
opportunities, and reducing inequality, then it is natural to work through
women. Not only do women constitute the majority of the poor, the
underemployed, and the economically and socially disadvantaged, but
they more readily and successfully improve the welfare of both children
and men. (72–3)
Non-Governmental Organizations and Women’s Groups
Women’s Eyes on the Bank and African Women’s

Economic Policy Network
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have increased mark-

edly since the end of the Cold War and are having a greater
degree of influence over international politics, including
attempts to shape the policies of states, and by extension, inter-
governmental organizations (Salamon; Bennett and Oliver 282–3).
Jessica Matthews finds that international NGOs have been
successful in pushing for action on global issues and that
women’s groups and human rights groups often “link up” with
more powerful groups in the U.S. and Europe since they are often
better funded and more powerful (54). This is also the situation
with the two women’s groups analyzed in this article. The U.S. chap-
ter of Women’s Eyes on the Bank (there is also a Latin American
chapter in Mexico) was headquartered out of the Oxfam America
Washington, D.C. office (Women’s Eyes on the World Bank—
U.S.). Oxfam America and the Development GAP helped to orga-
nize and host the first meeting of eleven representatives of
African women’s organizations that were focusing on gender and
economic policy in October 1993; this meeting was the beginning
of the African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON)
(AWEPON 1996).
NGOs have also been more influential in the United
Nations than in the IMF and the World Bank since under
Article 71 of the UN Charter they were granted “consultative
status” with the Economic and Social Council (Willetts 31).
NGOs do not have similar mandates under the Articles of
Agreement of the financial institutions. The UN is an impor-
tant avenue for NGOs to be able influence states and to be
involved in a political process that accords them no formal
218 Pamela Blackmon
rights since it is a state-based organization. While women’s

groups and NGOs had previously been active within the UN to
push for women’s economic rights, the 1995 UN World Confer-
ence on Women in Beijing would be an arena for these groups
“to bring concerns about the impact of SAPs to the interna-
tional stage and advocate for change on a global level”
(Williams 236).
Women’s Eyes on the Bank
The NGO Economic Caucasus was established with the assistance

of Oxfam America at the Beijing Conference. This Economic
Caucasus became a forum for action for women to demand that

the World Bank take specific actions to increase the role of
women in the Bank’s economic policy making. Members of this
Caucasus then launched the “Women’s Eyes on the Bank”
(WEOB) campaign to monitor the Bank’s progress in achieving
the objectives outlined in the “Beijing Platform for Action” which
included
• Efforts designed to involve grassroots women as full partners in

the economic policy-making of the Bank
• Mechanisms to institutionalize a gender perspective in Bank
policies and programs
• Increases in Bank investments designed to improve women’s
access to and control over productive assets and services, including
health care, education, financial services, and land
• Increases in the number and diversity of women in senior
positions at the Bank (qtd. in Williams 237)
James Wolfensohn had just become president of the World

Bank in 1995, and his “enthusiastic participation in the confer-
ence” was noted in addition to his “pledge to engage in dialogue
with women’s groups to implement the petition’s demands”
(Williams 236–7). Wolfensohn’s role in this process should not be
overlooked. First, he was the first Bank president to attend such a
conference, although his immediate predecessor Lewis Preston
was also committed to poverty reduction through changes at the
Bank (Cleary 87). Second, in October 1996, Wolfensohn gave a
speech during the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World
Bank in which he explained that an important aspect of poverty

reduction would need to include “girls’ education and early
childhood development” (Voice for the World’s Poor: Selected Speeches
and Writings of World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, 1995–2005
51). Third, Wolfensohn established an External Gender Consul-
tative Group (EGCG) following Beijing that was designed to
strengthen Bank and NGO cooperation. The EGCG is comprised
of representatives from fourteen NGOs that meet annually with
Bank officials (Women’s Eyes on the World Bank—U.S. 9–10).
The purpose of WEOB was to monitor the Bank’s progress in
achieving the objectives set out in the Beijing Platform.3 The U.S.
chapter served as the main area for monitoring due to its proxim-
ity to the Bank’s headquarters (Williams 237).4 However, in the

1997 post-Beijing assessment of the Bank composed by WEOB
there were substantial criticisms of the Bank’s progress in incor-
porating gender with economic development. For example, this
publication criticized the Bank for only interacting with members
of the EGCG during the annual meetings, and when EGCG
members attempted to engage Bank staff in other settings there
was not support from the Bank’s gender staff (Women’s Eyes on
the World Bank—U.S. 9–10). An additional criticism focused
on the fact that the Bank still needed to “mainstream” gender
into the Bank’s programs and policies meaning that these issues
3
There are no similar groups that focus solely on the IMF. Researchers have noted that
social movements in general have had very little impact on the Fund, and that they general-
ly focus their attention on the Bank. Reasons for this include the neo-liberal economic
framework of the IMF, which often leads to an inability (or dislike) in dealing directly with
social movements. Therefore, most groups and research on them, focus on the Bank with a
very different type of culture, with the understanding that the Bank and the Fund do work
together on economic development programs. For additional information see, Jan Aart
Scholte, “In the Foothills: Relations Between the IMF and Civil Society.” Non-State Actors and
Authority in the Global System. Eds. R. Higgott and A. Beiler. London: Routledge, 1992; Jan
Aart Scholte, “The International Monetary Fund and Social Movements.” Contesting Global
Governance: Multilateral Economic Institutions and Global Social Movements. Eds. Robert O’Brien,
Anne Marie Goetz, Jan A. Scholte and Marc Williams. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000;
Edith Kuiper and Drucilla Barker, Feminist Economics and the World Bank. London: Routledge,
2006; Pamela Blackmon, “Rethinking Poverty through the Eyes of the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank.” International Studies Review 10.2 (2008):179–202.
4
The Latin America and Caribbean chapter is still active. Individuals that had worked
on the WEOB U.S. campaign in Washington were also employed at other NGOs, and in
1999 when these individuals left their NGO jobs, the work based out of the U.S. office
stopped. Additionally, the coordinator of WEOB, Lydia Williams, left Oxfam in 2000 for a
job elsewhere (Long 51).
220 Pamela Blackmon
would have to “be considered in all of the institution’s research,

policy development, lending, and evaluation activities” (Women’s
Eyes on the World Bank—U.S. 7).
African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON)
The representatives of African women’s organizations that would

eventually be know as AWEPON was formed earlier than the
Beijing Conference (in 1994) and was developed to specifically
critique the SAPs as they had been applied to Sub-Saharan Africa
(Goetz 38). AWEPON members did attend the NGO Economic
Caucus at Beijing and while acknowledging that it was important

for women’s organizations “worldwide” and the Bank to discuss
ways for women to participate in all aspects of Bank policy, the
report noted that “the positions of the African Women’s NGOs
must be considered in order to establish region-specific responses”
to the crises in Sub-Saharan Africa (AWEPON 50). AWEPONs
report titled, “Women Standing up to Adjustment in Africa” details
how SAPs have negatively impacted women in Sub-Saharan Africa,
as well as recommendations for how the IMF and the World Bank
should re-evaluate these policies (AWEPON).
The SAPs formulated by the World Bank and IMF were
designed to restrain the spending of countries as well as to
restructure their economies to be more in line with market-
oriented policies. Frances Stewart’s extensive review of these poli-
cies noted that policies for Africa included:
trade policies (import liberalization)

industry, energy and agricultural policies (reforming and deregulating
the price system)
reforms of the financial sector
rationalization of government and administration, public enterprise
reforms (with emphasis on privatization) and
social policy reforms (Stewart 9).
There has been extensive research documenting how these poli-

cies resulted in worsening the poverty situation for countries in
Africa as well as in Latin America. However, this article is focused
on how these policies contributed to increases in poverty due to a
failure to incorporate a gendered analysis of economic development.
This article argues that increases in poverty were due in part to

the inability of neo-liberal economic framework to factor in
women’s contributions to the economy. As a result, when women
then had to “make up” for losses in areas that had been factored
in; other areas that they had been responsible for suffered. The
following sections from the AWEPON report explain how the
SAPs directly affected women as well as explaining how measures
of poverty increased under the policies.
• Currency devaluation: (1) The inflationary effects of devaluation

impact women’s purchasing power of essential goods in the
food and health sectors; women in one region in Senegal
reported having to make decisions about reducing the proportion

of the household budget allocated for food as well as foregoing
expenditures related to health care, schooling or household
repair (AWEPON 8–9).
(2) Devaluation is designed to increase agricultural exports
however it is usually in the sectors controlled by men, such as in
the sale of livestock (AWEPON 8–9). Female farmers are pre-
dominately involved in agricultural production for export, but
the price of imported inputs rises dramatically under devaluation
and these farmers often cannot afford the higher prices for the
inputs (Lele; Whitehead).
• User fees: Designed to reduce excess consumption as well as pro-
vide additional revenue for the state; used in the water, health
and education sectors. Problems with user fees include the fact
that the fees collected were small and ineffective at generating
revenue; revenues were directed to the Ministries of Finance and
were used for fiscal policy purposes, and did not contribute to
health policy. While the programs were designed to exempt the
poor from fees, they were ineffective at doing so (Stewart 72–3).
User fees for health care facilities resulted in reduced access for
men and women to those facilities; the rising costs of childbirth
had resulted in women giving birth at home leading to increas-
ing rates of infant and maternal mortality; user fees for education
disproportionately affect females as seen by increasing gaps
between the education levels of boys and girls (AWEPON 21–4).
Often when decisions are made about which children to con-
tinue to send to school, boys are sent instead of girls.
222 Pamela Blackmon
In November 1994 meetings were held in Dakar during

which women from 15 African countries representing over 3,000
various women’s organizations attended an NGO forum and a
workshop on “Women and Economic Policy” (AWEPON 33). The
focus of the workshop was to discuss the effects of economic poli-
cies on women as well as to provide an arena where the women
could analyze the economic situation for themselves because,
“there (was) a lack of input into economic policy from women,
who are the ones most affected by SAPs” (AWEPON 33). Recom-
mendations and strategies developed at the workshop that were
included in the Beijing Platform for Action submitted during the
Beijing Conference included:
• Pressure for debt cancellation*, and using those funds to invest

in women’s production systems, especially for small farmers and
entrepreneurs using microcredit
• Grassroots research in which women were directly involved in
defining problems and formulating solutions in conjunction
with researchers and other NGO representatives
• Develop new ways to increase the power of the G–77 to be able
to influence decisions in trade and finance*
(*these were the most common recommendations mentioned as

well as participants stating that they were the most critical)
(AWEPON 45–6).
Women’s Eyes on the Bank and AWEPON were both heavily
involved in the Beijing Conference and in developing the Platform
for Action to try to change the structural adjustment policies of the
World Bank and the IMF. The following section will examine
whether the policies of the institutions have changed to address
the specific areas of gendered impacts on development that the
groups emphasized.
The PRSPs and Poverty Alleviating Measures
The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative begun in

1996 was designed to reduce the debt of poor countries through
debt relief thereby allowing countries to be able to spend less
money servicing their debt and more money on social expenditures.
Many NGOs (including Oxfam and the Jubilee 2000 movement)
had campaigned for many years for debt relief for the poorest
countries arguing that these countries would never be able to
alleviate poverty as long as they had to repay the financial institu-
tions as well as other lenders (Williams; Busby). The Enhanced
HIPC Initiative (E-HIPC) developed in 1999 continued the focus
on debt relief but would now require countries themselves to
prepare and implement Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers as a
condition for debt relief under the HIPC (The Poverty Reduction
Strategy Initiative: An Independent Evaluation of the World Bank’s
Support Through 2003). These papers would be fundamentally dif-
ferent than the previous policies of the institutions because they
would be “country-owned” not written by Bank or Fund staff but
would more heavily rely on the members of the government in

each country in addition to other stakeholders such as civil society
groups and NGOs (The Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative: An
Independent Evaluation of the World Bank’s Support Through 2003 3–5;
Blackmon).
Since the PRSPs are designed to be country owned they do
not have specific requirements as to how they will use debt forgiveness
toward specific poverty alleviating measures. An early paper
produced by the IMF and the International Development Associ-
ation (IDA) (the Bank group that would be responsible for the
E-HIPC) suggested ways in which countries could best track
spending designed to reduce poverty, as well as some of the
general poverty reducing measures that PRSPs had included thus
far. However, these decisions, including the process of tracking
government spending on poverty issues, would be the sole
responsibility of the country as explained in a publication
authored by IMF and IDA staff:
Each HIPC is expected to design, execute, and monitor its poverty-reduction

strategy and related public expenditure program, with the support of the
World Bank, IMF, and other creditors and donors. Such country owner-
ship, critical for implementation of good policies and for promoting
accountability and good governance, is built into the process of drafting
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) (Tracking of Poverty-Reducing
Spending in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries 5).
Proposals as to how countries should do this included developing

systems in order to track overall spending on poverty-related
programs primarily through the use of public expenditure
224 Pamela Blackmon
management systems (Tracking of Poverty-Reducing Spending in

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries 3). Tracking only HIPC funding was
inadvisable since these types of funds often do not show addi-
tional spending on poverty programs, and it would be difficult for
many countries to set up and manage separate accounts for these
funds, in addition to creating problems by making budgets less
flexible (Tracking of Poverty-Reducing Spending in Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries 6–8). While poverty reducing programs would be
specific to each country, the paper does note that in general,
main features of country strategies have included:
• Enhancing access of the poor to primary education, with

emphasis on reducing gender and regional disparities.

• Enhancing assess to primary and preventive health care ser-
vices and
• Emphasizing infrastructure programs in the areas of water,
roads, electricity and telecommunications (Tracking of Poverty-
Reducing Spending in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries 9).
On the face of it, it seems that the E-HIPC with the addition of
the PRSPs has addressed at least two concerns of WEOB and
AWEPON: the inclusion of debt relief for the poorest countries,
and possibly the introduction of a gendered perspective in Bank
programs and policies. However, the PRSPs have effectively
shifted the responsibilities for the PRSPs onto the countries
themselves; they are no longer part of the responsibility of the
Bank, or the IMF, for that matter. In order to qualify for debt
relief through the E-HIPC countries were required to maintain a
track record of three years under a reform and adjustment
program supported by the IMF and World Bank. This was
explained as being necessary in order to determine that the
countries would use the resources from debt relief effectively
(Andrews et al. 5). Once the countries met these criteria and as
long as they continue to make progress under their PRSPs, there
are no additional benchmarks to be met that would put the con-
tinuation of debt relief in jeopardy.
For example, in the appendix of the most recent paper that
assessed HIPCs progress in tracking poverty-reducing spending
there is a table representing grades for all E-HIPC countries in
2001 and 2004 as to whether they completed certain benchmarks
involving their public expenditure management programs (the

programs recommended to track poverty related spending)
(Update on the Assessments and Implementation of Action Plans to
Strengthen Capacity of HIPCs to Track Poverty-Reducing Public Spending
26). However, no country received lower than a “C” on any of the
sixteen indicators. Indeed, Guinea Bissau’s performance was not
assessed in 2001 but for 2004 the country completed no bench-
marks, and received a grade of “C” on 15 indicators, with a grade
of a “B” on one indicator; yet there was no discussion of withholding
future debt relief for the country. This is indeed very different
than the structural adjustment programs in which future loans
were denied when benchmarks were not met; and maybe this is a
positive change for programs designed by the institutions.

However, it does not allow for an easy comparison as to whether
countries have adopted more of a gendered focus in their poverty
alleviating programs. Although, the aforementioned paper did
find that HIPC countries had increased spending on poverty-
reducing programs. Specifically, that this spending had increased
as a share of total government expenditure by 2.3 percentage
points between 1999 and 2002 (Update on the Assessments and Imple-
mentation of Action Plans to Strengthen Capacity of HIPCs to Track
Poverty-Reducing Public Spending 23).
The following section will review the PRSPs of the five Sub-
Saharan African countries (Mauritania, Mozambique, Burkina
Faso, Tanzania, and Uganda) that were the earliest to qualify for
the E-HIPC to determine if the country prepared documents
have incorporated these gendered approaches. Then, indicators
for progress in improving girl’s access to education, reducing
under-five mortality rates and health expenditure per capita will
also be reviewed. The under-five mortality rate captures gender
discrimination better than the infant mortality rate due to the
lack of nutrition and medical interventions that often result from
gender discrimination (United Nations Development Group
(UNDP) 33).
PRSPs and Gender
In Burkina Faso’s most recent full PRSP there were many sections
detailing determinants of poverty by administrative region, agro-
climatic region, socio-economic group, and by gender (Burkina
226 Pamela Blackmon
Faso 13–27). In fact, in the section detailing the analysis of pov-

erty by gender, the limited access and participation by women was
noted as impacting women’s level of poverty as well as the poverty
of the general population, “due to the decisive role played by
women in production, healthcare, hygiene, nutrition and educa-
tion of children. There is thus an urgent need to speed up the
task of boosting the literacy rate of women” (Burkina Faso 22).
This type of analysis may represent a better understanding of the
dimensions of poverty and the recognition that improving the
education of women is an important step toward poverty reduction
initiatives.
Mauritania’s 2003 Progress Report listed programs that were
implemented in 2002 to target poverty in urban as well as rural

areas, and explained that programs to target poverty were
needed in the “periphery of urban areas and the major poverty
pockets in rural areas (which would) directly (contribute) to the
reduction of poverty and inequality” (Islamic Republic of Mauri-
tania 7 (Box 2)). While this is an important recognition of the
need to target programs in specific areas in order to reduce over-
all poverty and inequality, there was no mention of gender in
these poverty programs. The governmental authorities also pro-
posed that a “new phase” of commitment to implementing poli-
cies under the PRSP would be motivated by two recent and
important developments: the change to a new democratic gov-
ernment in August 2005; and the start of oil production in the
country in February 2006 (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Action
Plan 2006–2010 10–13). Unfortunately, while the change to a
democratic government would likely have a positive impact on
women, increased oil production may actually harm women’s
economic development potential.5
Mozambique’s first PRSP (referred to as PARPA, the Portu-
guese acronym for PRSP) covering the years 2001–2005 asserted
that a central goal of the government was a substantial reduction
in poverty, and in improving opportunities available to the poor
(Republic of Mozambique 1). Specifically, the report declared
5
Research by Michael L. Ross on the relationships between countries with large oil
reserves and women finds that economic growth based on oil production in a country
decreases the political influence of women by limiting their abilities to work in the export-
oriented manufacturing sector. Michael L. Ross. “Oil, Islam and Women.” American Political
Science Review 102.1 (2008):107–123.
that the objective was to reduce the poverty level from 70 percent
in 1997 to less than 60 percent by 2005 and less than 50 percent
by the end of 2010 (Republic of Mozambique 1). Data available
for the country’s poverty head count ratio show a substantial
decrease in the percentage of the population living below the
poverty line, from 69 percent in 1996/97 to 54 percent in 2002/03;
a further reduction than the government’s stated objective
(Republic of Mozambique 7). Compulsory fees for primary
school were also eliminated, which likely contributed to the
increase in primary school enrollment (Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper—Progress Report Joint Staff Advisory Note, Republic of Mozambique
7). This is an important step taken by the government to address
the inefficiencies of user fees that were part of many structural

adjustment programs.
Mozambique’s most recent PARPA (PARPA II) covering
2006–2009 provided a more quantitative analysis of indicators of
poverty. For example, there was a table illustrating trends in both
the poverty gap and the poverty head count indices including
assessments of differences nationwide, between the urban and
rural areas, and differences between provinces. In addition to
decreases in the level of poverty nationwide, estimates also
showed decreases in the poverty headcount index in both the
rural (from 71.3 percent in 1996/97 to 51.5 in 2002–/03) and the
urban areas (from 62.0 to 51.5 percent for the same year ranges)
(Republic of Mozambique 12 (Table 2)). However, there was no
discussion of the role of gender in decreasing poverty and
whether the reductions in poverty were correlated with greater
economic opportunities for women.
Tanzania’s second PRSP 2005/06–2009/10, dated June
2005, provides similar data to that of Mozambique’s PARPA II in
that there is evidence of a broader understanding of poverty as
well as details about specific actions that need to be implemented
in order to alleviate greater incidences of poverty in the rural
areas. Information is first provided on the percentage of the rural
population living below the poverty line (38.6) and the percentage
of the urban population living below the poverty line (25.8) (The
United Republic of Tanzania 5). Then, the report identified a
rural-urban divide evident in indicators including income pov-
erty, but also in human capabilities, and survival and nutrition.
Furthermore the report noted that:
228 Pamela Blackmon
Disparities are explained by the pattern in the distribution of population,

endowment in natural resources, climactic conditions, as well as in the
distribution of infrastructure, such as transport, schools and health facilities.
(The United Republic of Tanzania 5)
In the same section addressing poverty (three pages further) the

report details “the need to improve the economic prospects of
the productive sectors and social services” through improving
physical infrastructure in rural areas including roads and tele-
communications systems (The United Republic of Tanzania 8).
This last component was also listed as one of the main features
that countries have generally included as part of their PRSPs
(Update on the Assessments and Implementation of Action Plans

to Strengthen Capacity of HIPCs to Track Poverty-Reducing Public
Spending 9).
Uganda’s first PRSP (referred to as the Poverty Eradication
Action Plan (PEAP)) published in March 2000, and built upon
governmental policy initiatives begun in 1997 (Government of
Uganda). Actions taken that were noted to have improved quality
of life issues for the poor included the implementation of a policy
for free access to primary education for four children in each
family (Government of Uganda 17). Uganda’s most recent PRSP
published in 2004 begins by noting the trend in increases in
poverty from previous declines during the 1990s. The problem of
gender inequality as affecting poverty and economic growth
figured prominently in this PRSP. First, data were presented in
tables illustrating the fact that women-headed households were
less poor in 1999 and 2003 than they were in 1992. Although the
divorced and widowed female-headed households did show slight
increases in poverty from 1999 to 2003 they were still lower than
the category levels for 1992 (Government of Uganda 19).
Second, differences between women’s wages and men’s
wages were noted to be a problem as well as the finding that
women were increasingly “overburdened” due to work in the eco-
nomic sector as well as work on domestic activities. This section
on “Gender inequalities” concludes by pointing out that while
male-headed households in the country spend more of their
expenditures on alcohol, women-headed households spend more
on school fees. Unfortunately, there was no available data as to
whether women-headed households had been increasing. However,
the fact that the government had documented this information,

as opposed to academic researchers, should lead to policies to
provide greater economic opportunities for women.
The Effectiveness of Women’s Eyes on the Bank and AWEPON
The effectiveness of the women’s groups to change policies at the

IMF and the World Bank will be assessed in two ways. First, data
on improving girl’s access to primary and secondary education, as
well as data on the under-five mortality rates from each country
will be compared. Both women’s groups emphasized the neces-
sity and positive results from educating girls, which was also
covered in the review of the literature on gender and economic

development. Data on the under-five mortality rates from each
country will also be compared to determine whether this indica-
tor has improved while the countries were re-directing their debt
payments to poverty alleviating measures. Each country’s health
expenditure outlays will also be presented to determine if more
money was actually being spent on health expenditure as envi-
sioned by the PRSPs. This indicator is being used since a mecha-
nism to track the effectiveness of this part of the PRSPs is not in
place. The second way that the effectiveness of the groups will be
assessed is by determining whether there have been policy
changes at the institutions based on the recommendations pro-
vided in the Beijing Platform for Action submitted at the Beijing
Conference.
The country PRSPs showed mixed results as to whether the
policies under the E-HIPC with the PRSPs produced documents
that “institutionalized a gender perspective in Bank policies”
(qtd. in Williams 237). The PRSPs of Burkina Faso and Uganda
clearly addressed gendered issues in economic development and
addressed the relationships between gender and poverty. It is
likely that these PRSPs addressed these issues as a result of greater
participation and inclusion of NGOs and civil society groups.
While the PRSPs were designed to include these groups as part of
their framework, these groups have also expressed concern that
they have been the most marginalized when it comes to decision
making about the types of policies to implement (Long 52). The
data on the ratio of boys to girls in primary and secondary educa-
tion indicate that most of the countries have seen improvements
230 Pamela Blackmon
TABLE 1 Ratio of Boys to Girls in Primary and Secondary Education (in Percent),
for Selected HIPC Countries 2000–2005*
Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Burkina Faso 70 71 72 74 76 78
Mauritania 90 90 92 94 96 98
Mozambique 75 77 79 ... 82 83
Tanzania ... ... ... ... ... 95
Uganda 93 95 97 97 98 98
Sub-Saharan Africa ... ... ... 84 83 86
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators Database. *Data were not available
prior to 2000.
TABLE 2 Under-five Mortality Rate (per 1000 Live Births), for Selected HIPC
Countries, 1999–2005
Country 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Burkina Faso 199 198 197 207 207 192 191

Mauritania 183 183 183 183 183 125 125
Mozambique 203 200 197 197 158 152 145
Tanzania 141 165 165 165 165 126 122
Uganda 131 127 124 141 140 138 136
Sub-Saharan Africa 172 174 172 178 179 174 172
Sources: UNDP Human Development Reports, 2001–2007/2008.
(from 2000 to 2005) in the percentages of boys to girls in primary

and secondary education (see Table 1).
However, it is disappointing that only Mauritania and
Uganda have percentages that are higher than the average for
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), since all five of these countries have
been involved with the PRSP process the longest.6 The data on the
under-five mortality rates in contrast, shows marked improvement
in this indicator for poverty reduction compared to the averages
for SSA, for all countries except Burkina Faso (see Table 2).
Additionally, Mauritania, Mozambique and Tanzania showed
substantial decreases from 1999 to 2005 in this indicator. Since
this indicator “better captures the effect of gender discrimination
than infant mortality (since) nutrition and medical interventions
6
I did not include Tanzania since data was only available for one year.
are more important after age one” the decreases in the countries
appear to represent a more positive trend toward decreasing
gender disparities and, more likely, increases in spending on
health expenditures (UNDG 33). Indeed, all five of the SSA
countries increased their health expenditures per capita from
1998 to 2004 (the latest available data) (see Table 3).
Even though the countries had erratic progress, with
increases in some years followed by decreases, this measure seems
to indicate that countries are following the framework of the
PRSPs to increase funding to poverty alleviating measures including
increases in health expenditure.
The HIPC Initiative, which was designed to provide debt
relief for the poorest countries, and the E-HIPC, which combined
debt relief with a requirement that countries complete PRSPs,
addressed one of the primary concerns outlined by AWEPON in
its contribution to the Beijing Platform for Action. Pressuring
the institutions for debt cancellation had also been pursued by
large well-funded NGOs such as Oxfam and Jubilee 2000 (Busby).
The second component of AWEPON’s mandate was that those
funds be used for “women’s production systems” and this was not
achieved. Both WEOB and AWEPON wanted grassroots women
involved in helping to formulate Bank policies and programs.
Possibly, it was envisioned that this would occur with the PRSPs
since they were designed to involve civil society and grass roots
organizations in policy formation.
However, the participation of women in the design of pol-
icies at the institutions (more specifically the Bank) was not
TABLE 3 Health Expenditure Per capita (PPP US$), for Selected HIPC Countries
1998–2004
Country 1998 2000* 2001 2002 2003 2004
Burkina Faso 9 37 27 38 68 77
Mauritania 19 52 45 54 59 43
Mozambique 8 30 47 50 45 42
Tanzania 8 27 26 31 29 29
Uganda 18 38 57 77 75 135
Data not available for Sub-Saharan Africa.

*Data not available in PPP US$ for 1999.
Sources: UNDP Human Development Reports, 2002–2007/2008.
232 Pamela Blackmon
achieved because the formation of the PRSPs and the empha-

sis by the institutions that they be “country owned and driven”
effectively ended most of the institutions’ control over them.
Ironically, it was the powerful NGOs that pushed for these
country owned policies in the belief that greater attention
would be paid to poverty alleviation if the countries were in
charge of their development strategies instead of the institu-
tions (Stiglitz 50). The problem (or future challenge) is then
to persuade the governments of these countries to incorporate
a gendered analysis of economic development into their poli-
cies to reduce poverty. Finally, one of WEOB’s contributions to
the Beijing Platform was that the Bank “increase the number
and diversity of women in senior positions in the Bank” (qtd.

in Williams 237). According to WEOB’s Post-Beijing Assess-
ment, the Bank did improve its percentage of women
employed at its management and senior levels, and the assess-
ment requested that by 1997 35 percent of women be
employed at these levels (up from 27 percent in 1994)
(Women’s Eyes on the World Bank—U.S. 10). The Bank pro-
vides consistent information on the breakdown of their staff
beginning with the 2003 Annual Report, and this information
is presented in Table 4.
Even though the Bank did not meet this goal for 1997, by
2006, 34 percent of the managerial staff was represented by
women, one percentage point less than the targeted rate of
35 percent. Although the Bank was later in meeting this goal of
increased representation of women in upper level positions, it
seems clear that the Bank has been making progress in this area;
albeit later than WEOB would have liked.
TABLE 4 Managerial Staff Represented by Women in the World Bank

(in percent)*
Institution 2002 2004 2005 2006
World Bank 24 26 28 34
Sources: World Bank Annual Reports (2003; 2005; 2006; 2007).

*The World Bank provides information on its staff including the percentages of
“staff” and the percentages of “management and senior technical positions.” This
latter category was used for this table (World Bank Annual Report 2003:135).
Summary and Conclusions
The main goals of AWEPON were to end the structural adjust-

ment policies of the financial institutions, convince the institu-
tions to rethink the prevailing assumptions of liberal economic
policies and to incorporate the needs and priorities of women
into economic policies. The structural adjustment policies of the
institutions have been modified, and while other NGOs also influ-
enced these policy changes at the institutions, AWEPON certainly
played a part in this process in two ways. First, since the countries
in Africa (as well as Latin America) suffered the greatest increases
in poverty levels and this group specifically addressed the con-
cerns of African women and how they had been affected by the
structural adjustment policies, their contributions to the Beijing
Platform for Action added legitimacy to the push for policy
changes in the financial institutions. This legitimacy can be seen
in the fact that Wolfensohn attended the Beijing Conference (the
first Bank President to do so) and after receiving the Beijing Plat-
form he “committed the Bank to increasing dialogue with women’s
groups and taking the necessary steps to enact the demanded
changes” (Women’s Eyes on the World Bank—U.S. 5). The devel-
opment of the PRSPs could also be viewed as a rethinking of some
of the assumptions of the liberal economic framework in that they
are a fundamental change from the recommendations under the
previous SAPs that focused on trade liberalization and currency
devaluation; policies that negatively affected women’s contribu-
tions to the economy and increased poverty.
The main goals of WEOB were to ensure that the goals
under the Platform for Action were implemented with specific
attention to changing the Bank’s policies to incorporate a gen-
dered perspective in policies and in Bank managerial positions.
Again, the formation of the PRSPs in theory would have seemed
to have satisfied the criteria of incorporating a gendered perspec-
tive in economic programs supported by the Bank. However, one
of the main purposes of the PRSPs was that they be country
owned and country developed; which effectively means that the
Bank plays a small role in the development of policies in the
Papers. It is very possible that the formation of the Papers and a
focus on the fact that they be country owned was in response to crit-
icisms that the SAPs were ineffective in part because the countries
234 Pamela Blackmon
were not vested in them (Stewart and Wang 290). In short, it

forces the NGOs to deal more with governments and puts less
pressure on the Bank and the IMF. This strategy could be viewed
as a more effective one if there were stronger positive results from
the data presented in Tables 1–3.
Future research should focus on whether the indicators for
these countries improve over time. If these indicators, in addition
to other poverty alleviating measures show improvement, then
the women’s groups can claim victory on two out of three fronts.
Specifically, that while they may not have changed the policies of
the Bank and the IMF in an institutional sense, the PRSPs sup-
ported by the institutions recognize the importance of gendered
aspects of economic development.
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Factoring Gender Into Economic Development

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FACTORING GENDER INTO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

CHANGING THE POLICIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL

Valparaiso University, Valparaiso

The impacts of gender issues on a country’s successful economic

the development and policy initiatives at the United Nations

economic development in poor countries, it is also important to

Economic Development and Gender

the private sphere (in the home). Women then contribute to

not be seen as valued, but more importantly, it is outside of the

impacts on women more than on men. This was especially the

improvements in alleviating poverty were related to improving

If the goals of economic development include improving the general

Non-Governmental Organizations and Women’s Groups

Women’s Eyes on the Bank and African Women’s

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have increased mark-

rights since it is a state-based organization. While women’s

Women’s Eyes on the Bank

The NGO Economic Caucasus was established with the assistance

Caucasus became a forum for action for women to demand that

• Efforts designed to involve grassroots women as full partners in

James Wolfensohn had just become president of the World

Bank in which he explained that an important aspect of poverty

ity to the Bank’s headquarters (Williams 237).4 However, in the

would have to “be considered in all of the institution’s research,

African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON)

The representatives of African women’s organizations that would

Caucus at Beijing and while acknowledging that it was important

trade policies (import liberalization)

There has been extensive research documenting how these poli-

This article argues that increases in poverty were due in part to

• Currency devaluation: (1) The inflationary effects of devaluation

reported having to make decisions about reducing the proportion

In November 1994 meetings were held in Dakar during

• Pressure for debt cancellation*, and using those funds to invest

(*these were the most common recommendations mentioned as

The PRSPs and Poverty Alleviating Measures

The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative begun in

would more heavily rely on the members of the government in

Each HIPC is expected to design, execute, and monitor its poverty-reduction

Proposals as to how countries should do this included developing

management systems (Tracking of Poverty-Reducing Spending in

• Enhancing access of the poor to primary education, with

emphasis on reducing gender and regional disparities.

involving their public expenditure management programs (the

positive change for programs designed by the institutions.

PRSPs and Gender

Faso 13–27). In fact, in the section detailing the analysis of pov-

implemented in 2002 to target poverty in urban as well as rural

the inefficiencies of user fees that were part of many structural

Disparities are explained by the pattern in the distribution of population,

In the same section addressing poverty (three pages further) the

(Update on the Assessments and Implementation of Action Plans

the fact that the government had documented this information,

The Effectiveness of Women’s Eyes on the Bank and AWEPON

The effectiveness of the women’s groups to change policies at the

covered in the review of the literature on gender and economic

Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005