Session 1- Introduction

Gender vs. sex

 Gender is cultural, learned through socialization and can be changed
o Socially-constructed roles, behaviors, expressions and identities
of girls, women, boys, men and gender-diverse people
 Sex is biological and given by birth
o Biological attributes of humans and animals, including physical
features, chromosomes, gene expression, hormones and
anatomy
 
What is gender equality?
 Equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men
 Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that
women's and men's rights and responsibilities and opportunities will not
depend on whether they are born male or female
 Gender equality is not a women's issue, it should also engage men!
 

 
Gender equality matters for development
 Increasing women and girls' education contributes to higher economic growth
 Improving women's education and health and increasing the share of
household income controlled by women, changes spending and investments
in ways that benefit children
 Gender-diverse companies are more productive
 
Many gaps to achieve gender equality in…
 Education
 Access to labor market
 Laws
 Time uses
 Salaries
 Access to finance and savings, property
 Leadership (public and private)
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
International Framework for Gender Equality
 Gender equality is a principle enshrined in the UN Charter of 1945, the
founding treaty of the international community
 The first international tool setting the principle of equality between men and
women
 Several subsequent international commitments have specified this obligation
in more detail and ratification of the agreements has made it legally binding
for the signatory states
Key commitments for gender equality
 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW)
 Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women
 Beijing Platform for Action
 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women
 International Conference on Population and Development
CEDAW
 International treaty adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, described
as an international women's bill of rights and ratified by 189 states
 Legally binds countries that have ratified the Convention to eliminate all forms
of discrimination against women in public and private life
 It aims to achieve substantive equality where women are able to enjoy their
human rights in practice and given equal access to opportunities to achieve
equal results
 Defines the meaning of discrimination against women
 By accepting the convention, states commit themselves to undertake a series
of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms including:
o To incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in
their legal system, abolish all discriminatory laws and adopt
appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women
 
SDG 5: Gender Equality
 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
  Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and
private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of
exploitation
 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and
female genital mutilation
 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of
public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the
promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as
nationally appropriate
 Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for
leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive
rights
 Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, and
access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property,
financial services, inheritance and natural resources
Leave no one behind:
 Discrimination
 Place of residence
 Socio-economic status
 Governance
 Vulnerability to shocks
 
Intersectionality
Analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political
identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege
 In 18 countries, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working
 In 39 countries, daughters and sons do not have equal inheritance rights
 In 49 countries lack laws protecting women from domestic violence
 There are 72 countries where women are barred from opening bank accounts
or obtaining credit
 
Women, Business and the Law 2021
 Mobility
 Workplace
 Pay
 Marriage
 Parenthood
 Entrepreneurship
 Assets
 Pension
 
 Over the past decade, 131 countries enacted 274 legal and regulatory reforms in support of
gender equality
Sessions 2 & 3- Conceptual Framework for
Gender Equality
 Gender equality and development proposes a conceptual framework to explain gender
inequality and recommends public policies which can be adapted to countries, issues and
sectors
 

 Impact of more gender equality on growth is in turn captured by the gender

equality arrow that flows back into higher growth and how policies also affect
these interactions and ultimately gender outcomes
 Benefits of economic development on gender outcomes can be seen clearly
through this framework as emerging from the workings of households,
markets and institutions
 
 Mechanisms
a. Informal institutions: gender roles, stereotypes, beliefs, social
norms affecting households
b. Formal institutions: laws, judicial and police services,
infrastructures
c. Households: decision-making process
d. Markets: labor, credit, land and goods
e. Design of policies to reduce specific gender gap needs to take
into account what happens in the households, in the markets
and in the formal and informal institutions
  Gender equality outcomes areas
a. Gender outcomes result from interactions between households,
markets and institutions
b. Endowments: education and health
c. Economic opportunities: ability to fully participate in economic
activities and access and control of productive assets
d. Agency: one's ability to make choices- and to transform them
into desired actions and outcomes
 
Paternity leave
 Employment-protected leave of absence for employed fathers at or in the first
few months after childbirth
 In general, periods of paternity leave are much shorter than for maternity
leave
a. Offered as a shared entitlement but mainly taken by women
 Becoming more common: statutory right to paternity leave found in 78 out of
167 countries studied
 Paternity leave is paid in the majority of countries
 It is becoming more common although take-up rates are still low!
 
MATERNITY LEAVE: There has been gradual global shift towards maternity leave periods
that meet or exceed the ILO standard of 14 weeks: the majority of countries now provide
leave duration in line with Convention No. 183. More than 100 countries now finance
benefits through social security, reducing employers’ liability. However, analysis showed
that benefits in more than half were neither financially adequate nor sufficiently long-
lasting. Expanding is critical for the approximately 830 million women workers who are not
adequately covered in practice, mainly in developing countries coverage in law and in
practice.
PATERNITY LEAVE: Paternity leave is usually a short period of leave for the father to take
immediately following childbirth to help care for the child and assist the mother. Research
suggests links between fathers’ leave, men’s take-up of family responsibilities and child
development. Fathers who take leave, especially those taking two weeks or more
immediately after childbirth, are more likely to be involved with their young children. This
can have positive effects for gender equality in the home and at work and may indicate
shifts in relationships and perceptions of parenting roles and prevailing stereotypes.
Paternity leave provisions are becoming more common and reflect evolving views of
fatherhood. A statutory right to paternity leave is found in 78 of the 167 countries with
information available. Parental leave is typically offered as a shared entitlement, mainly
taken by women. Take-up rates among men are low, especially where leave is unpaid.
 
Paternity leave as a law/policy.
Market failures: discrimination, information problems or limitations in the type of contracts
available.
Institutional constrains: legal restrictions, customary practices, social norms or other formal
or informal institutional arrangement that fail to enforce rights.
=inefficient gender outcomes! Impeding economic development.
 

o UNICEF estimates that almost 2/3 of the world's children under age 1 - nearly
90 million- live in countries where dads are not entitled by law to take paid
paternity leave.
o In these countries, this policy is typically decided by employers
 o The decision to provide paid paternity leave is not just a question of income
"It's the decision of valuing the roles that fathers are playing with their
infants"
o Currently, women in Spain have 16 weeks of maternity leave
o Some parties were in favor of increasing paid paternity leave to 16 weeks to
give men parity with women but resistance from other parties
Around the world
o US: no paid parental leave, a maximum of 12 weeks unpaid parental leave for
mothers and fathers
o Africa: no paternity leave at all although Kenya offers two weeks and French-
speaking west allows 10 days while new dads in South Africa get 3 days
o Asia and the Pacific: Thailand, Pakistan & Malaysia offer no paternity leave;
Japan and South Korea have some of the most generous policies in the world.
One year of paid leave is available for the father but very few dads take
advantage of it
Paternity leave in japan
o A member of parliament is taking paternity leave for the first time in the
country's history, wants to encourage more fathers to take up the option
o Up to 52 weeks of leave at 60% but only 2% of the population takes it
Paternity leave in Sweden
o Daddy month: policy by which families in which each parent took at least one
month of leave received an additional month to add to their total allowance
o In 2016, new fathers received a third month of required paid parental leave,
close to 90% of Swedish fathers take it
 
 
Reducing occupational segregation
o Women and men work in difference sectors
o Women are more likely to engage in low-productivity activities
o More likely to be in unpaid family employment or work in the
informal wage sector
Policies
Public action: address the root causes of segregation (differences in education, training and
experience, stereotypes about roles in society)
o Promote education: basic literacy for adult women, technical and vocational
education/training, including in non-traditional skills
o Provide careers advice for young women and encouragement to study STEM
and other male-dominated subjects
 
Gender pay gap
o Women earn on average 24% less than men, with variation across regions
Policies
Iceland makes it illegal to pay men more than women. Under this legislation companies and
government agencies with more than 25 employees will be required to obtain government
certification for their equal-pay policies
Reducing differences in time allocation
Across the world, women spend more hours per day on care and housework than men.
The differing amounts of time that men and women allocate to care and related household
work are one factor driving segregation and the consequent earnings gaps that we just
saw. In most countries, women bear a disproportionate responsibility for housework and
care, while men are responsible mostly for market work. When all activities are added up,
women typically work more hours than men, with consequences for their leisure and well-
being.

And everywhere they devote more time each day to care and housework than their male
partners: differences range from one to three hours more for housework, two to ten times
the time for care (of children, elderly, and the sick), and one to four hours less for market
activities. Even as women take up a bigger share of market work, they still remain largely
responsible for care and housework (Example of Sweden!).
Example: childcare in Colombia
o Increases mother's participation in formal sector and number of working
hours (full-time contract)
o Subsidies to designated homes turned into community child-care centers
o Madre communitarian takes care full time of 12-15 children of her community
o 800000 low-income children under age 6 served by the program
Example: childcare in Indonesia
o Only 53% of working age women in Indonesia are part of the labor force
o Lack of childcare may constrain women in both urban and rural areas from
participating in the workforce
Example: Bolsa Familia in Brazil
o Programs that aim to reduce poverty by making welfare programs conditional
upon the receivers' actions, primarily women
o By giving women a guaranteed paycheck, governments help them break free
of bad marriages
o Provides financial aid to poor Brazilian families, if they have children, families
must ensure that the children attend school and are vaccinated
o If they exceed the total of permitted school absences, they are
dropped from the program
 
Conditional cash transfers
ADVANTAGES
o Empowering effect on women
o Participate more in the spending decisions of households
o Improvement of women in the community
DISADVANTAGES
o Reinforce the traditional role of women
o Perpetuate stereotypes
Example: Rwanda's rapid decline in maternal mortality
Problem: following the 1994 genocide, health system in ruins and high maternal mortality
rates
POLICIES/ACTIONS
o Rapid roll out of health insurance
o Nationwide expansion of equipped public health centers
o Well-trained community health workers
o New mobile technologies to track pregnancies
RESULTS
o Financial barriers to accessing services removed
o Faster response provided to pregnancy complications
o Number of maternal deaths reduced from 1400 per 100000 live births in 1990
to 290 in 2015

Gender-based violence
The World Bank with the participation of the Maria da Penha Fernandes Institute among
other Brazilian women's right movements and societies launched a campaign in March 2013
called “Real men don't beat women” (Homem De Verdade Não Bate Em Mulher).
Brazilian athletes, actors, and society members joined the action on the World Bank
Brazil’s Facebook page to inspire Brazilians to speak out against domestic violence in Brazil.
They joined on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posting self-pics holding a sign featuring
the campaign slogan under the hashtag #souhomemdeverdade, which in Portuguese means
“I‘m a real man“.
“Every four minutes a woman is killed by domestic violence in Brazil”, according to
the figure presented in a state meeting of the public prosecutor's office in Rio Grande do
Sul.
The World Bank, together with Brazil's National Congress and Camara TV, also promoted
a Short Documentary Contest on the Maria da Penha Law, which awarded five short stories
illustrating the lives of several women victims of violence.
 
Education
Example: education policies for boys
PROBLEMS
o Low enrolment rates
 o School underperformance
o Dropouts from school
POLICIES
o Strengthen data collection disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, socio-economic
background and geographic location
o Provide strong incentives to improve attendance
o Ensure gender-in-education discussions include boys
o Promote inclusive education in friendly environments
o Strengthen counselling and guidance
 
Why is gender equality important?
The World Bank’s 2012 World Development Report argues that gender equality matters in
its own right, but that it is also “smart economics” because it can enhance economic
efficiency. The World Economic Forum’s 2014 Global Gender Gap Report finds a positive
correlation between gender equality and per capita GDP, the level of competitiveness, and
human development indicators.
Figure 1 shows countries for which the gain in GDP from closing gender gaps is at least 15
percent. In rapidly aging economies, higher female labor force
Participation can directly yield growth and stability gains by mitigating the impact of a
decline in the labor force on growth potential
(Steinberg and Nakane 2012). The opportunity for women to earn and control income has
been associated with broader economic development (Heintz 2006), and total factor
productivity gains (Loko and Diouf 2009).
 No such thing as a gender equal country
 
 

Session 4-Gender Equality and Agency

A social norm is what people in some group believe to be normal in the group, such as a
typical action, an appropriate action, or both.
It involves:
A. Collective evaluation of behavior in terms of what it ought to be
B. Collective expectation as to what behavior will be and/or
C. Particular reactions to certain behaviors, including attempts to apply sanctions
or to induce a particular kind of conduct
 
Gender norms
A. Social norms that relate specifically to gender differences. Informal rules and
shared social expectations that distinguish expected behavior on the basis of
gender
Examples: women and girls should do the majority of domestic work
 
Gender stereotypes
B. Generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics or the
roles that are or ought to be possessed by or performed by women or men
C. Harmful when it limits women's and men's capacity to develop their personal
abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives
 
Gender bias
D. Tendency to prefer one gender over another. A form of unconscious bias, or
implicit bias, which occurs when one individual unconsciously attributes
certain attitudes and stereotypes to another person or group of people
 
Homophily
E. Tendency of people to be attracted by people similar to them
F. Similarity can be with respect to age, sex, beliefs, education, social class,…
G. Theory of social identity = categorization + comparison + identification
 
Network & networking
H. Selections are usually made in informal settings
I. Women don't devote enough time to cultivate these activities "after work"
J. Women do not have easy access to being part of the core of the network
 
Mentorship
K. Common issues women face at the workplace: gender income inequality,
work-family balance, gender bias and stereotypes, career advancement
barriers…
L. Many women have successfully navigated around these barriers and rise
through the ranks in the companies they work for
M. Women in leadership positions in your company can offer support to young
females and others who are early in their career
Lack of knowledge of the benefits of diversity
A. Masculine corporate culture (vertical segregation)
B. Lack of awareness (the business case)
C. Few female role models, the glass ceiling and glass cliff
D. Job descriptions and biases in hiring processes
 
Example: China promotes education drive to make boys more manly
A. A notice from China's Education ministry has caused a stir after it suggested
young Chinese men had become too "feminine, weak, timid and self-abasing"
B. China's government has signaled concern that the country's most popular
male role models are no longer strong, athletic figures
 
Country-specific gender norms
Cultural and social norms, and their manifestations, prevent women from realizing their full
economic potential
Afghanistan
A. For women, riding a bike in Afghanistan is viewed by society as controversial
B. Women didn't ride bikes in the country until 2008
Nepal
C. Nearly 8/10 girls in a region of mid-Western Nepal sleep in dangerous outdoor
menstruation huts during their period, despite the practice being outlawed
D. Women and girls cannot sleep in their houses while menstruating, they are
not allowed to touch male family members, cook or enter kitchens or eat
normal foods
Jordan
E. Only 14% of women work when 60% of non-working women say they would
like to
F. Societal expectations around women's role in the household play an
important part in keeping this percentage low
G. For women, getting married is one of the main reasons for leaving the labor
market
H. Long working hours make it difficult for some women to juggle work, caring
for children and other household responsibilities
I. Jobs in the public vs private sectors
o In part because of its flexible working hours, the public sector
has traditionally been one of the largest employers of women in
Jordan. However, job opportunities in this sector are decreasing
and Jordan will have to rely on the private sector to increase
female labor force participation.

 
 
J. Historically, in many developing countries, families have a pro-son bias = less
investment in their daughter's human capital
K. In an experiment in Ghana, Duflo found that girls are less likely to pursue
secondary education even when the financial barrier is removed
L. Students who passed secondary school entrance exams but could not enroll
for financial reasons were randomly awarded scholarships: only 64% females
did vs 81% of boys
 M. Consequently, they are less invested in their daughters’ human capital,
particularly in terms of career-oriented skill development. Hence, women
become disadvantaged as potential entrants to the productive workforce.
 
How can social/gender norms change?
N. Policies
O. Laws and regulations
P. Norms can change as countries develop with changes in ICTs with the
exposure to new ideas and practices through formal and informal channels
Q. Other initiatives
 
Social and gender norms shape agency…
The capacity to make decisions about one's own life and act on them to achieve a desired
outcome, free of violence, retribution or fear
Agency's dimensions
A. Self-esteem, self-confidence
B. Decision-making power
C. Ownership
D. Control over sexual and reproductive health and rights
E. Voice and collective action
F. Freedom from violence
 
 Agency has intergenerational benefits
G. A large body of evidence shows that women have greater agency when they
are educated and that benefits their children
H. A mother's education improves child nutrition and household wealth

Session 5: Endowments: Education and

Health
Endowments are the human capital that allow individuals to live health and productive
lives
 
Endowments matter
 Education and health investments have a huge impact on the ability of
individuals to function and reach their potential in society
 For both boys and girls, childhood investments in health affect outcomes
throughout the course of life
 Low birth weights and childhood exposure to disease have been linked to
lower cognitive development, school attainment and learning in
adolescence
 Less healthy children are at an elevated risk of becoming less healthy
adults
  Poorer health outcomes in adulthood in turn affect economic outcomes,
reflected in health-related absences from the labor force and lower work
hours and earnings
 
Health matters for gender equality
 Women and men are different physically and in the health risks they face
 Women live longer than men in most countries, mainly in the developed
economies
o In many Sub-Saharan countries the pattern is reverse
 Depending on the stage they are in the life cycle, women and men face
disadvantages for different reasons
 
Gender and health
 Missing girls at birth
 Excess mortality in adult women in reproductive years
 Excess mortality in adult men
 Health expenses for households
 
What causes excess mortality among girls during infancy and early childhood? One
possible explanation that has received a lot of attention is discrimination by parents
toward girls. In parts of the world like Afghanistan, China, northern India, and Pakistan,
such discrimination is a serious problem. Studies have shown delays in seeking medical
care and lower expenditures for girls. An economic rationale for such discrimination is a
link to the structure of returns, for instance, in districts within India, where the soil is
amenable to higher female labor use in agriculture, excess mortality among females is
lower than the average in India. Beyond economics, the impact of kinship structures on
the value placed on girls has also been advanced as the dominant hypothesis for why
excess female mortality is seen in some societies but not others.
 Girls at birth in China and India.
 Female mortality during reproductive years in Sub-Saharan Africa
 
Missing girls
 Discrimination expressed in preference for sons
 Link to the structure of returns
 Impact of kinship structures on the value placed on girls
Changes in informal institutions and, through them, household behavior are key to
resolving this problem. And it can be done. Korea, where the male-to-female ratio at
birth first increased sharply and then declined, suggests that broad normative changes
across society brought about by industrialization and urbanization can ultimately return
sex ratios at birth to normal ranges.
Even if households treat boys and girls similarly, it could be the case that health care
providers might discriminate against girls. Surprisingly, the main finding was that girls
and boys are treated very similarly once they are taken to health care facilities. There
were no differences between boys and girls.
 
 
 The Many Faces of Gender Inequality (Amartya Sen): It focuses on gender inequality
around the world. Discussion of how this inequality can take many forms, including
inequalities in mortality and natality due to poor health care and nutrition for women;
Practice of sex-selective abortions; Inequality in women's access to basic facilities and
special opportunities in many countries; Information on issues of professional,
ownership and household inequality; Implications of the varieties of gender inequality;
Reasons behind these inequalities in many countries; Suggestion on how gender bias can
be eradicated.
 
In recent decades, the spread of cheap ultrasound (enabling sex-determination
in early-mid pregnancy) and easy access to abortion courtesy of the
government's one-child policy, has led to the widespread abortion of female
fetuses.
Many factors contribute to the number of men who will never find a mate.
Economic inequality leaves a great many poor young men unable to attract a
wife. When a society allows powerful men to take several wives, too few women
remain for many poor men to take even a single wife. But most dramatically of
all, male-biased sex ratios consign the excess men to never having a family of
their own. Under each of these scenarios, large numbers of young men
competing for dominance elevate local rates of violence, homicide and
lawlessness.
 
Maternal mortality
 Deaths drop by half but disparities remain: chances of dying from
childbirth is one in 36 is Sub-Saharan Africa compared to one in 4,900 in
richer countries
 Every day, approx. 830 women die from preventable causes related to
pregnancy and childbirth
 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries
 Maternal mortality is higher in women living in rural areas and poorer
communities
 Young adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a
result of pregnancy than other women
 Skilled care before, during and after childbirth can save the lives of
women and newborn babies
 Between 1990 and 2015, maternal mortality dropped by about 44%
 Seeing that it is possible to accelerate the decline, countries have now united
behind a new target to reduce maternal mortality even further. One target
under Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to reduce the global maternal
mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 births, with no country having a
maternal mortality rate of more than twice the global average.
 
 
HIV/AIDS
 Contributing to excess female mortality in Africa
 Ratio of female to male prevalence for 15-24 year-old is 2.4 across Sub-Saharan
Africa
 Age-infection profiles for women and men show that after age 34, HIV
prevalence rates are similar for men and women
 Biology and behavior have both contributed to greater prevalence of HIV among
women
 Women are biologically 1.2 times more likely to acquire the virus because their
bodies are more susceptible to infection
 Women date and marry older men, which contributes to infection rates
 In Sub-Saharan Africa, women account for 60% of all adult HIV infections with
the gender gap in prevalence largest for younger adults
 
Mortality in Adult Men
Causes
 Armed conflicts/wars
 Homicides
 Violent crimes
 Drug-related violence
 Risky sexual behavior
 Alcohol consumption/substance use
 Smoking, poorer diets, different stress management
 Example: El Salvador
 One murder every hour (homicide capital of the world)
 More than 3830 people murdered in 2015 (one killing every hour)
  
Health
 Cost of health care is a major financial burden on families
 800 million people spend at least 10% of their household budgets to pay for
healthcare, often forcing them to choose between their health and other
necessities for their family, such as good, school fees or transportation
 UHC is about all people having access to the care they need without financial
hardship
 Lack of health is a waste of human capital:
 More money for health and more health for money
 Focusing on quality of care
 Protecting all people from pandemics
 Embracing innovation
 Mobilizing for collective action

Session 6- Education
 Educated women pass on the benefits of higher education to their children
o Children born to more educated mothers are less likely to die in
infancy and more likely to have higher birth weights and be
immunized
 High maternal mortality rates have implications for education
o Because reductions in maternal mortality ratios also reduce
maternal morbidity, improvements in the conditions of
childbirth increases in the labor force participation rate of
married women
 Overt discrimination that leads to male-biased sex ratios at birth can have
long-run implications for society
 Gender gaps in participation in education have shrunk dramatically at all
levels, although disparities persist in severely disadvantaged populations
 Men and women continue to study different disciplines, with similar patterns
of segregation across poor and rich countries
 Both boys and girls learn very little in school in many lower-income countries
 
Girls’ education and the SDGs
 Gender equality is a global priority for UNESCO and inextricably linked to its
efforts to promote the right to education and support the achievement of the
SDGs
 Through the education 2030 Framework for Action, SDG 4 aims to ensure
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all and SDG 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all
women and girls
 Education 2030 agenda recognizes that gender equality requires an approach
that ensures that girls and boys, women and men not only gain access to and
complete education cycles but are empowered equally in and through
education
The 4th SDG

 
 
Girls' right to education
 Treating both sexes equally is a matter of justice and equality
 All societies have given preference to males over females when it comes to
educational opportunity
 Achieving gender parity is understood as only a first step towards gender
equality
 Gender parity aims at achieving equal participation for girls and boys in
education
 Gender equality is understood more broadly as the right to gain access and
participate in education, as well as to benefit from gender-sensitive and
gender-responsive educational environments
 To obtain meaningful outcomes that ensure that education benefits translate
into greater participation in social, economic and political development of
their societies
 
 
 
 

 UNGEI strives to promote girls' education and gender equality through policy advocacy and
support to governments and other development actors to deliver on the gender and
education-related SDGS
 
 Gender segregation means women dominate health and education studies and men
dominate engineering and sciences
 
STEM Education
 Instead of being a barrier, technology and the internet can be a great enabler
for all girls and women
 Digital literacy is becoming almost as important as traditional literacy
 Over 90% of jobs worldwide already have a digital component according to
the ITU
 If governments equip girls with digital and ICT skills through prioritizing
education in ICT subjects, they will help ensure girls thrive in economies
where routine work has been automated and digital/creative skills are prized
 Technology can also be a powerful tool for girls to become leaders and agents
of change, allowing women and girls to organize more efficiently and
galvanize action for common causes
 
 World Bank: Girls' Education
 Every day, girls face barriers to education caused by poverty, cultural norms
and practices, poor infrastructure, violence and fragility
 The WBG has joined with governments, civil society organizations, multilateral
organizations, private sector and donors to advance multi-sectoral
approaches to overcome challenges
o Providing conditional cash transfers
o Reducing distance to school
o Targeting boys and men to be a part of discussions
o Ensuring gender-sensitive curricula
o Hiring and training qualified female teachers
o Building safe and inclusive learning environments for girls and
young women
o Ending child marriage
o Addressing violence against girls and women

Session 8- Gender Mainstreaming

 
Gender gaps
 Harmful social/gender norms
 Disparities in girls' schooling
 Excess deaths of girls and women
 Unequal access to economic opportunities
 Differences in voice and participation in households and in society
 Gender inequalities in time use are still large and persistent in all countries
 Women bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work
  Women are paid less than men
 Women tend to have less access to formal financial institutions and saving
mechanisms
 There are still discriminatory laws in several countries restricting women's
economic opportunities and freedom of movement
 Gender mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a long-term strategy to achieve gender
equality
 
Rationale behind gender mainstreaming
 Women and men have different needs and living conditions/circumstances,
including unequal access to power, resources, human rights and institutions
 Situations of women and men also differ according to their context (country,
region, age, ethnicity)
 
Gender mainstreaming in projects
 Process for making women and men concerns/needs an integral dimension of
the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects across
sectors so they benefit both of them equally
 First introduced at the 1985 Nairobi World Conference on Women
 Established as a strategy in international gender equality policy through the
Beijing Platform for Action and subsequently adopted as a tool to promote
gender equality at all levels
Who can mainstream gender?
Governments, private sector, NGOs, international organizations, MDBs,…
Where?
Legislation, policies, strategies, programs and projects
How?
Different processes and methodologies according to institutions
 Gender mainstreaming at the WB is a corporate requirement
Gender tag in projects - the WB
Identifies those projects that have a clear results chain: linking analysis, actions and M&E
Gender mainstreaming- ANALYSIS
 Gender mainstreaming needs to be done in a Project where is possible and
where it makes sense! To find out if it makes sense, we need to start with the
first dimension that is ANALYSIS.
 In all cases, it is important to identify the potential relevance of gender
through good analysis and consultations early in the design stage. The lack
of an evidence base hampers both the ability of teams to understand why
gender matters and how it can be integrated for good results.
 Important phase in which we are going to identify if there are any gender
issues relevant to the Project objectives.
 Different types of assessments will be made and consultations with Project
beneficiaries.
Resources for gender data:
 World bank data
 Women, business and the law
 National policies and laws, international treaties,…
 SIGI database
 WHO, UNICEF, UN Women,…
 Gender development index
 Focus group discussions
o Women may need special arrangements to facilitate physical
access
o Dedicated women-only consultations if social/cultural norms
discourage women from speaking only with men
 Key informant interviews (people who know what is going on with the
community)
 
Gender mainstreaming- ACTIONS
 Based on the findings from prior research, analysis and data collection made,
we will be able to decide the nature of actions to implement in the Project will
be decided.
 For example, in a Transport Project in a specific city, our analysis has told us
that there are serious problems or sexual harassment against women in public
transportation then actions should be implemented throughout the Project to
address this problem. In an agriculture Project, we can find out from analysis
for example that women are facing some barriers to fully participate and work
in this sector, so the Project may include some special components to recruit
and train women. In an education Project, actions may include special
subsidies for girls to attend school.
 What do we mean by safeguards within a Project preparation context? The
World Bank’s safeguards were developed over the last 20 years to help
identify, avoid, and minimize harms to people and the environment. These
safeguards require borrowing governments to address certain environmental
and social risks in order to receive Bank financing for development projects.
Examples of such requirements include conducting an environmental and
 social impact assessment, consulting with affected communities about
potential project impacts, and restoring the livelihoods of displaced people.
 Safeguard policies: Environmental assessment, Natural Habitats, Forests, Pest
Management, Physical Cultural Resources, Involuntary Resettlement,
Indigenous peoples, Safety of Dams, International Waterways, Disputed
Areas.
 Work with a gender focal point
 Organize travel missions to supervise the implementation of gender actions
 
Gender mainstreaming- M&E
 Rigorous evaluations are needed to demonstrate that gender interventions
have concrete outcomes. One of the most commonly observed constraints at
the operational level is the lack of effective evaluations of gender
mainstreaming activities.
Gender-sensitive indicators
 Quantitative indicators based on statistics disaggregated by sex
o Number of women members of a national parliament
 Qualitative indicators based on women's and men's experiences opinions and
feelings
o Involvement in decision-making processes

Session 9- Gender Mainstreaming in

Public Policies
 Policies and legislation need to be designed to address the needs of both women and men
by taking the relevant gender differences into account at all stages of policy-making
process
 

 At the country level, gender budget initiatives have estimated that governments commit
between 1 and 3 percent of own resources to promoting gender equality which is very
low.
 SDGS can provide excellent starting points for developing a vision statement
 
Priority checklist for a government strategic plan for gender equality
A. Government has a clear vision for gender equality that is anchored in key government
documents
B. Government has made a clear assessment of where it stands in relation to its goals for
gender equality and the necessary interventions to achieve its vision
C. Government has a results-oriented strategic plan to achieve its gender equality vision that
is endorsed by senior leadership, and developed through a consultation with
governmental and non-governmental stakeholders
 

Gender-sensitive policies/laws to address

1. Work life balance in the national parliaments
a. Setting limits to voting times to promote work-life balance
b. Aligning voting in plenary as well as sittings with school calendars and
holidays
c. Introducing parental leave provisions
d. Establishing childcare facilities
e. Providing breast-feeding facilities
f. Organizing gender training sessions
 g. Developing a code of conduct for MPs
PITFALLS TO AVOID
 Indirectly reinforcing gender roles and responsibilities (e.g., only providing
‘maternity’ leave).
 Focus of work-life balance efforts on women only.
 Lack of consequences for gender-biased behavior or sexual harassment.

2. Gender pay gap

a. Iceland makes equal pay the law
i. All companies employing at least 25 people will have to obtain
government certification of their equal-pay policies
ii. Employers face fines if they are found to be in violation
iii. Current gender pay gap in Iceland is about 14 to 18%,
government plans to eradicate it by 2022
b. New Zealand approves paid leave after miscarriage
 
Gender equality policies in Spain
o 2018 and 2019 will be remembered for the massive marches of the feminist movement
o Spain has moved from being a latecomer in gender equality policies to a pioneer
o Law allowing same-sex marriage
o Law on extension of rights to sexual and reproductive health
o Austerity policies have had a negative impact on gender equality institutions
o The institutionalization of gender equality, gender equality laws, plans, and social policies;
gender equality and employment, including gender pay gap and vertical segregation, labor
market reforms, part-time work, domestic work, and pension reforms; gender equality
and care, including maternity, paternity, and parental leave, childcare and care of elderly
and dependent people; political and economic decision-making, including electoral and
corporate boards gender quotas; gender-based violence; and sexual and reproductive
rights.
Gender mainstreaming in public policies in Spain
 Institute of Women is an independent organization responsible for mainstreaming gender
across sectors and monitoring the progress to achieve gender equality to promote
conditions that allow social gender equality and full participation of women in political,
cultural, economic and social life
 Equality units in all ministries to ensure effective gender mainstreaming by
o Providing gender-relevant statistical information
o Conducting surveys to foster equality between women and men in
ministries' work
 

 
  

 
Conclusion
 A continuous prioritization of gender equality in the political agenda
 A strengthening of equality institutions
 The increase in public budgets dedicated to equality
 Regulation through both legally binding and soft measures
 Mandatory gender quotas in politics, corporate boards and public administrations
 Effective implementation of gender mainstreaming into all policies
Could help Spain and other countries to achieve gender equality at all levels of the society

Session 10- COVID-19

  Gender inequality had diminished over the past 30 years
o The gap between male and female labor force participation decreased by
8% due to large gains in female labor force participation, especially within
advanced economies
o Educational attainment gaps also narrowed around the world with 35
countries having achieved full parity, and 120 countries closing at least 95%
of their educational gender gaps
o The maternal mortality ratio has dropped by about 38% worldwide
 
Health
Disease differences
 WHO said 58% of people who have died from COVID have been men even though similar
infection rates
 In the US twice as many men have died from the virus
 69% of all deaths across Western Europe have been male
 Biological: women's immune response to the virus is stronger
 Behavioral: smoking affects pre-existing disease like heart conditions or
cancer
The care sector
 Larger share of women in the health sector and care institutions which makes them more
exposed to contagion
 In Spain, 72% of infected health care workers are women
 Occupational sex-segregation might also bring different levels of exposure
 Women are more present in client-facing roles while men concentrate in logistics or
security
 Facing a double burden: longer shifts at work and additional care work at home
 Although women occupy a large portion of health workforce, they may have less decision-
making capacity within the sector and less access to protective equipment in times of
crisis
 65% in Africa and 86% in the Americas of nurses are female, while physicians are mostly
male
 Nurses not provided same amount of protective equipment
Disruption of key services
 Increases in teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality
 Dramatic increase in maternal mortality
 May leave millions of women out on family planning services
 Female genital mutilation
 
Education
School dropouts
 Social norms play a role in educational investment decisions
 Intra-household allocation of resources for home schooling and/or might be redirected to
boys over girls during the pandemic
 Boys may also be forced out of schooling to contribute to income generation activities
 May induce eve more female dropouts
  Closure of schools risks the creation of a lost generation deprived of formal education
 Over 11 million girls may not go back to school after the COVID crisis
Use and access to virtual learning
 Women are 8% less likely to use the internet on a mobile which would limit their capacity
to keep up with home-schooling materials
 Girls in developing countries will be expected to take on household and family care tasks
Female lower levels of education and access to education
 Disadvantage due to lower education levels in access to critical info
 Exclusion from male networks and societal limitations on women's mobility
 
Agency
Social norms on care responsibility
 Most primary caregivers for caring for children and the elderly are women which further
exposes them to infection
 As care demands and responsibilities grow, a higher burden on women's time and higher
stress levels lead to poorer mental health outcomes
Gender-based violence
 Increase risk of GBV
 Violence against women has increased by more than 25%
 Increased number of calls to helplines
 Increases risks of violence and harassment against frontline health female workers
 Access to essential protection and support services may be restricted
 
Economic opportunities
Employment
 Women tend to earn less
 Women have fewer savings
 Women are disproportionately more in the informal economy
 Women have less access to social protections
 Women are more likely to be burdened with unpaid care and domestic work and
therefore have to drop out of the labor force
 Women make up the majority of single-parent households
 Women are overrepresented in industries hardest hit by COVID
 40% of all employed women globally
 Informal employment is common
 Low pay, poor working conditions and lack of social protection
 58% of employed women work in informal employment
 Lost on average 60% of income
Unpaid work
 Before pandemic, women did nearly 3 times as much unpaid care as men
 Many mothers left work because of school closings
 Men more likely to do domestic work now
 
Masculinities
Health
 Men with COVID symptoms are more likely to avoid or delay seeking medical advice
 Some men may be taking covid measures less seriously
Labor
 May reshape the gendered division of labor
 Significant contribution to maintaining essential services
 Transportation, logistics, security, waste management, emergency and
funeral services
Violence
 Online sexual harassment and abuse is a massive issue in the pandemic, mostly
perpetrated by men
 
Covid-19 responses
 Gender inequalities are exacerbated in times or crisis or major shocks so a gender lens is
needed for a better gender-informed response, recovery and resilience-building
 When designing policy responses to the current crisis it will be important to:
1. Pay attention to existing gender differences and how they are likely to mediate gender
impacts and roles
2. To formulate policies that take pre-existing conditions into account to provide a tailored
approach
3. To develop a research agenda on gender-related impacts of covid