How the government can improve fair treatment among

both Genders and The people oriented planning framework

with relevant examples.

BY:

AYUBA PHILEMON
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Council of Europe defined gender mainstreaming as:

“The (re)organisation, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so

that a gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies at all levels and at all
stages, by the actors normally involved in policy-making”.

Gender Mainstreaming is the major global strategy for ensuring that the government
pursues gender equality in all aspects of the development process to achieve the vision of
a gender-responsive society where women and men equally contribute to and benefit
from development. Its importance has been extensively discussed since governments
committed to this concept in the Beijing Platform for Action during the Fourth United
Nations World Conference on Women in 1995.

It endeavors to look more comprehensively at the relationship between men and women
in their access to and control over resources, decision making, and benefits and rewards
within a particular system—it may be an organization, a government or an entire society.

This became imperative because of the unequal and unjust representation and
participation meted to the female gender especially those living in the rural areas. Over
the years, women tend to suffer violence at the hands of their intimate partners more
often than men; women’s political participation and their representation in decision-
making structures lag behind men’s; women and men have different economic
opportunities; women are over-represented among the poor; and women and girls make
up the majority of people trafficked and involved in the sex trade. These issues – and
others – need to be addressed in efforts to promote gender equality. Achieving greater
equality between women and men will require changes at many levels, including changes
in attitudes and relationships, changes in institutions and legal frameworks, changes in
economic institutions, and changes in political decision-making structures. Therefore,
Gender equality as the goal; gender mainstreaming as the strategy.

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1.1 As a student of Gender mainstreaming in Development, discuss how the
government can improve fair treatment among both Genders.

AS a student of Gender mainstreaming and Development, I recommend that the adopts a

strategy to improve the quality of public policies, programme and projects, ensuring a
more efficient allocation of resources in order to achieve increased well-being for both
women and men, and the realisation of a more socially just and sustainable society.

Gender equality issues need to be mainstreamed at all stages of policy making or project
programming, but it is especially important to take it into account at the planning stage,
when the problems, concerns and needs of the beneficiaries are identified and the ways to
address them are defined. Therefore gender analysis and gender impact assessments are
crucial tools for gender mainstreaming. These tools support the practical implementation
of gender mainstreaming. Other factors are equally important to ensure proper gender
mainstreaming, such as political will, commitment to and awareness of gender equality
issues, knowledge, resources (including expertise) and availability of information.
Gender mainstreaming is a responsibility of all actors and is relevant for all policy areas
that deal with the needs of people and at all levels. Policy areas which at first sight do
not seem relevant, might contain (hidden) aspects of gender inequality.

To achieve a gender friendly society, I recommend that government should consider the
following with the backing of a strong legislation in order to write the wrongs and
achieve a gender inclusive society. My recommendations thus, the government must
ensure the following policies, legislation, programmes and recommendations are put in
place.

1.1.1 Ensure Equal Opportunity and Equity in Education: Access to quality

education is fundamental to gender equity and equality. Yet around the world, too many
people especially the female gender continue to face barriers to education that undermine
their full potential and ability to compete on a level playing field. Government must
promote equitable access to education from early childhood through employment; enact
reforms to eliminate discriminatory practices and other barriers; and strengthen other
policies governing the response to gender-based violence, assault, and sexual harassment
in education.

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1.1.2 Promote Gender Equality Under the Law: To promote the civil rights and full
participation of women across economic, political, and social life, pursue reform to
secure full gender equality under the law. Support legislation that would prohibit
discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employment,
housing, and public accommodations, among other sectors.

1.1.3 Promote Gender Parity and Gender Equality Issues in Security Processes:
Women in Nigerian security outfit face some form of discrimination in the cause of their
duties till date. For example, it is a dismiss-able offence for a female police officer to get
pregnant outside marriage, this is not the case with their male counterparts. There is a
need to enact reforms to improve gender integration in the uniformed services and foster
the recruitment, promotion, and retention of women, which is a critical step for force
readiness, military effectiveness, and national security. This includes removing the
prosecution of sexual assault, and the investigation of sexual harassment, from the chain
of command, as well as creating specialized units to handle these cases and related
crimes.

1.1.4 Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal

Workforce: The Federal Government must be seen as a model employer on diversity,
equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The need to strengthen our ability to recruit, hire,
develop, promote, and retain a diverse group of people in our workforce while removing
barriers to equal opportunity, creating respectful workplaces, and ensuring that women’s
voices are heard, including through the advocacy of a union if they choose.

1.1.5 Increase Gender Parity and Diversity in Leadership Roles: As a matter of law,
there should be transparency about diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in
leadership positions across a broad array of sectors, including public, private,
multilateral, and civil society, taking steps to incentivize disclosure of representation in
managerial positions and board composition, which strengthen companies’ bottom lines.

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2.0 Discuss the people oriented planning framework with relevant examples.

The People Oriented Planning (POP) framework is an adaptation of the Harvard

Analytical Framework by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR)
for use in refugee situations, designed to overcome some of the Harvard Framework's
initial weaknesses. According to Gender Mainstreaming in Development (PADM 202)
courseware; The Harvard Analytical Framework also known as the gender analysis roles
framework was developed in 1985, by researchers at the Harvard institute for
international development in the USA working in collaboration with the WID offices of
USAID at a time when the ‘efficiency approach’ to integrating women in development
work was gaining prominence in development circles.

The Harvard Analytic Framework concentrates on the activities and resources of different
categories of people, rather than on relationships between different groups. This leads to
an emphasis on men and women, old and young, as separate groups with different and
separate activities. Therefore, it presents some weaknesses as it focuses more on projects
rather than programs, and on efficiency rather than effectiveness. It does not help identify
strategic gender needs and gives no guidance on changing gender inequalities hence, this
is what the people oriented planning framework is created to correct and improve upon.
The major purpose of the People Oriented Planning framework is to ensure that there is
an efficient and equitable distribution of resources and services.
The People Oriented Planning framework is based on Three key cardinal ideas namely;

Change, Participation and Importance of Analysis.

2.0.1 Change: In planning for refugee situation, one of the major factor to take into
account is the role of change. To effectively and efficiently plan, refugee workers must
critically analyse social and economic roles of women, men and children in the refugee
community and understand how these planned activities will affect and be affected by
these roles. This is paramount because, when people flee from disaster or conflict, their

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lives change rapidly and dramatically and continue to change. Even in long-term refugee
settlements where women’s and men’s roles may stabilize, these will be different from
those which existed before the flight, and the new roles may be regarded as temporary by
refugees themselves. In refugee context, these roles are disrupted, roles and
responsibilities of women, men and children continues to change constantly as the stages
of the refugee conditions evolves from from departure through flight, arrival and asylum
to durable situations. For example, the roles of women prior to flight maybe restricted to
just cooking, and taking care of the children while the men fend for the family, perform
sanitation around the household, fetch firewood, water etc. These roles will start evolving
and differ adjust to change in a refugee situation. It is therefore essential to understand
the dynamics of change working within the society. These to a great extent, determines
the acceptance and success of any project.

2.0.2 Participation: Refugee participation is a major factor in determining whether or

not a project will succeed. Women, men, and children must be involved in the refugee
community. Failure will lead to adverse consequences on increased cost, fatigue and lack
of communication within the refugee community.

2.0.3 Importance of analysis: Whatever type of project is being planned (water, food
distribution, health promotion, and so on), socio-economic and demographic analysis are
critical components of project planning.

2.1.0 Three (3) Components People Oriented Planning Analytical Framework:

The 3-Steps framework which follow is a planning tool for refugee programs. It serves as
a map to provide direction and guide in analysing specific refugee population and
situation. it helps to develop a clear definition of needs and the resources of the various
members of the refugee population.
These 3 components of POP analytical framework are;
 Determinants Analysis
 Activities Analysis
 Use and Control of Resources Analysis

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2.1.1 POP TOOL I: Determinants Analysis (Refugee Population Profile and
Context Analysis): Asks the questions—Who are the refugees? What is the refugee’s
context?
In every refugee situation, preliminary demographic assessment must be taken at the
earliest in order to facilitate assumptions for future planning. To achieve this goal, due
consideration must be accorded to two areas that shape the roles and responsibilities of
men and women in refugee situations which are the population profile both of the
displaced groups and of their host community or country and secondly, the social and
cultural context of both refugees and hosts will influence, possibly change, the gender
division of use and control of resources. In drawing up a population profile and gaining
an insight into the contexts The following questions can serve as a guide;

Who are the refugees?

For example,
 Are they families or individuals?
 Are the mostly males or females?
 Are they families or Individuals?
 Are they mostly young or old?
 Are they mostly children?
 Are the children accompanied or not?
 Are there many single heads of heads of households?

This assessment is necessary because in a conflict situation, adult males are killed, the
adolescent boys flee, women and children evacuate the region there by causing major
distortions in the demography by changing the entire population profile.

Next is the the question of what is the refugees’ context?

Factors which will have shaped gender relations before the flight and during asylum are
broad and interrelated, but may include the following;
 Community norms and social hierarchy, such as family/community power

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structures and religious beliefs, can be particularly important among refugee
groups where men’s and women’s roles are changing.
 Demographic factors,
 Institutional structures, including the nature of government bureaucracies and
arrangements for the generation and dissemination of knowledge, technology, and
skills.
 General economic conditions, such as poverty levels, inflation rates, income
distribution, international terms of trade, and infrastructure;
 Internal and external political events
 Legal parameters
 Training and education
 The attitudes of the host country or community;
 The attitude of refugees to development/assistance workers.

These are questions to both the host and the refugee population. Identifying these
determinants is key to consider which ones affect activities or resources, and how they
are affected by them. This helps in identifying external constraints and opportunities
which should be considered in planning programme in order to better assume the inputs.

2.1.2 POP TOOL2: The Activities Analysis: In most parts of Africa, roles differ
between males and females, boys and girls, young and old. For example, girl-child is
often assigned responsibilities related to house chores as sweeping, fetching of water and
helping out in the kitchen. While boys often help out in responsibilities as cutting
firewood from the bushes as well as helping out in the farms. The male gender are
saddled mostly with the responsibilities that is labour-intensive while the females
perform work that are less energy demanding. It is also the duty of the male folks to
protect and provide for the household. This tool enables you to find out who does what,
as well as when and where they do it. Because the gender division of labour and roles is
disrupted by flight, it is essential to find out what women and men were doing before, and
what they are doing now, or are able to do, in the refugee situation.

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 How strictly defined was, and is, the division of labour?
 Do adults or children carry out a particular task now?
 Was this different before?
 Which tasks used to be done every season, which ones were carried out every day,
and is this the same now?
 How long do the task take?
 Where are they carried out?
 How does this differ from before?

The activities analysis must be linked to the population profile, for a very good reason: If
refugees are mainly men, then the jobs which women normally undertook cannot be done
in the usual way. Protection is a crucial concern, particularly for women and girls. The
activity of protecting-including who offers protection under which circumstances is both
a legal and social concern: refugees have often lost their national status, as well as the
social network which may have offered them some protection. It is important to find out
what protection gaps are in the current situation. For example, what mechanisms are there
for protecting orphaned children?

2.1.3 POP TOOL3: Use and control of resources analysis: This tool helps in
determining how resources are distributed, and who has a say over their use, by asking
the following questions.
 What resources do people have/which did they bring with them?
 Who has which resources?
 What resources must be provided for which refugees?
The resources used and controlled by women and men before flight can be identified, and
the resources they now control and use as refugees can also be identified. This includes
both material resources and intangible ones such as community structures, social
networks, time, labour, and education. Women and men may have lost some resources
(such as land, full-time employment, or membership of a social network) and may be
unable to regain them. Men, women and children will have lost different resources. They
may also have gained new ones, for example, access to food items distributed by aid

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agencies. The new situation will affect gender relations, and may introduce opportunities
for positive change for women.

3.0 CONCLUSION

The need for gender equality was as a result of the share measure of various forms of
discrimination meted against women in the first place. Women in most part of the world
were victims of such unfair treatment over the years. That is not to say men have not have
not have their fair-share of such discrimination in some part of the world where women
seemed to have control of power and resources. While it is important to promulgate
policies that focus to address the issues of gender inequality in the society. It is equally
important to think through such policies and consider the implications it might have on
the overall interest of the parties the policies are made to protect.

4.0 REFERENCES

1. Distance Learning Center, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria - Nigeria, (2008),

Gender Mainstreaming in Development: Course Material, ABU, Press
Ltd.

2. www.cosera.com

3. www.study.com

4. Council of Europe; https://www.coe.int.web