COURSE NAME: DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

COURSE CODE: GST 06101L

DPLM, & DBA
INSTRUCTOR:Ms. AIKA PHILEMON

MODULE 3: GENDER &SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 Background to gender and development
• Gender and development is an interdisciplinary field
of research focusing in understanding and addressing
the disparate impact that economic development
and globalization have on people based upon their
location, gender, class, background, and other socio-
political identities.
• The history of the field dates back to the late 1950s
when studies of economic development first brought
women into its discourse, focusing on women only as
subjects of welfare policies notably those centered
on food aid and family planning.
 Background….

• The focus of women in development increased

throughout the decade.
• By 1962 the United Nations General Assembly called
for the Commission on the Status of Women to
collaborate with the Secretary General and a number
of other UN sectors to develop a longstanding
program dedicated to women’s advancement in
developing countries.
 Introduction
• A decade later feminist economist Ester
Boserup’s pioneering book Women’s Role
in Development (1970) was published.
• This contributed to the birth of what
eventually became the gender and
development field.
 Background…..
• Since Boserup’s consider that development affects
men and women differently, the study of gender’s
relationships to development has gathered major
interest amongst scholars and international policy
makers.
• The field has undergone major theoretical shifts
beginning with Women in
Development(WID),shifting to Women and
Development(WAD), and finally becoming the
contemporary Gender and Development(GAD)
Gender studies emerged/came into being as a
result of various aspects found in our societies,
these includes;
The differences between women’s and men’s
interest even within the same household and how
these interact and are expressed.
The conventions and hierarchies which
determine women’s and men’s position in the
family, community and society at large, whereby
women are usually dominated by men
 The differences among women and among men,
based on age, wealth, ethnic background and
other factors
 The way gender roles and relations change,
often quite rapidly, as a result of social,
economic and technological trends
 Women subordinate position in the society
 Bad cultural practice that affects and oppress
women in the society
 Different gender concepts

 Definition of gender.
• Refers to socially and culturally constructed norms that
defines the differences and relationships between men and
women in the society. OR
• -Gender refers to culturally and socially constructed
difference between men and women ( as indicated by terms
such as gender affairs and gender politics that varies from
place to place and time to time.
• Gender refers to the state of being male or female
• Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to and
differentiating between masculinity and feminity.
• -Gender is defined by FAO as the relations between
men and women both perceptual and material.
• Despite this definitions gender is often
misunderstood as being the promotion of women
only,
•
Sex: Biological differences between men and
women.
• Its is assigned from birth
• In comparison sex denotes biological
determined thus unchangeable difference
between them.
 Gender relations Gender relations are the ways in which a
culture or society defines rights, responsibilities and
identities of men and women in relation to one another.OR
• Hierarchical relations of power between women and men
that tend to disadvantage women.
• Gender relations affect households security , family well being
, planning production and many other aspects of life .
• Rural people roles as food providers. Men and women act
differently because of their socially roles.
• Therefore they have different sets of knowledge and needs.
 Gender awareness
• Is the ability to directly know and perceive, to
feel, or to be cognizant of events. More
broadly, it is the state of being conscious of
something (Wyart and Tallon-Baudry, 2009).
• In gender, awareness is referred to
recognition that women and men perform
different roles in society and therefore have
different needs which must be recognized
 Gender roles are the functions which are socially
classified by sex without necessary being sex roles.
OR
• These are differences in behavior or activities that
men & women play in a society or community. Eg
cooking for family, fetching water and firewood.
• These roles are learned & change from culture to
culture & from country to country. They may also
change overtime within a given culture.
For instance, in Haya firewood collection is man’s
role which is different from some other cultures, also
there are some cultures where cash crops growing
may be a woman’s role, while in others it may be a
man’s role.
 Patriarchal system is a system where men are
dominant and women are subordinate. Men are
considered to have power , ownership and control
over things of value while women are considered
powerless and have no or fewer ownership.
• Is determined by cultures and life practise of a
particular society.
• It determines property ownership, access to and
control over resources, inheritance traditions
 PATRIARCHY SYSTEM AT VARIOUS LEVELS

• AT FAMILY LEVEL
• -Use of offensive language
• -Boys are permanent family members
• -Division of labour. Girls given overload work
• -Female beating/harrassment during marital conflict
• -Education favouring (boys) men than (girls)women
• -Control of resources

• The community level

• Women (No right to own property)
• -No right to choose her fiance
• -Paying bride price
• Institutional level
• -Religious institutions(ISLAM) Women are not
allowed for preach
• -Denial in leadership positions in church/mosques
• The school/Institutions
• Literature. Women portrayed as sexual objects
 State Institutions

• Poor government policies on women.For

example in government positions.
Gender stereotype: Is the way men and
women are portrayed in the society. Its’ all
about the feminity (women) and
masculine( men)
• Men are strong, energetic reframe from
crying, public and political figures
• Women, are soft, weak and vulnerable
• Affects division of labour, choices of subjects
on schools, and carrier
 Gender bias
• Bias is the action of supporting or opposing a
particular person or thing in an unfair way,
because of allowing personal options to
influence your judgment. In gender, Bias
refers to an action against women or men
based on the perception that the other
sex/race/ethnic is not equal to the other one
and do not have the same rights.
 Gender equity and equality

• Gender equality is a situation whereby women

and men have equal conditions for realising their
full human rights and for contributing to and
benefiting from economic social , culturally and
political development.OR
• Is the equal valuing by society of the similarities &
the differences of men & women, & the roles they
play. It is based on women & men being full
partners in their home, their community & their
society.
Gender Equity : Means fairness of treatment
for both men and women, according to their
respective needs.
This may include equal treatment that is
different, but which is considered equivalent in
terms of rights, benefits, obligations and
opportunities
Equity is a means. Equality is the result
Gender empowerment refers to a process by
which women, men, girls and boys in
disadvantaged position are helped to gain
more access to knowledge, skills, resources,
decision-making power and raise their
awareness and participation in development
activities and reach a level of control over
their own environment.
Empowerment is sometimes described as
being about the ability to make choices, but it
must also involve being able to shape what
choices are on offer. What is seen as
empowering in one context may not be in
another.
• Empowerment as action refers both to the
process of self-empowerment and to
professional support of people, which enables
them to overcome their sense of
powerlessness and lack of influence, and to
recognize and use their resources
(Robert,2008)
 Gender gaps
• Gender gap is the difference between men and
women as reflected in social, political, intellectual,
cultural or economic attainments or attitudes
• In gender, gap arise when there is a gender disparity
in development opportunities (i.e. access to
resources, education, health, services or power),
benefits and rights in the way gender roles are
organized. For example preferential treatment given
to boys/men and
 Gender Gaps….
 Economic gender gap
• Generally refers to the observed inequity in
earnings, whereby men earn significantly more than
women both on average and when performing the
same job. When economists speak of the “gender
gap” these days, they usually referring to systematic
differences in the outcomes that men and women
achieve in the labor market.
• These differences are seen in the percentages of
men and women in the labor force, the types of
occupations they choose, and their relative incomes
or hourly wages.
 Gender gaps….
• Education
Education encompasses access to basic and higher levels of education
• Number of girls in education decreases as they are moving to higher
levels.
• More boys in sciences than girls.
• Health
Looks at life expectancy between men and women and the associated
attributes.

• Politics
• Politics examines the difference between how men and women are
represented within decision-making organizations. Also there are also
discussions of gender gaps in representation in certain areas of society
such as education and politics.
• Gender needs are needs of men & women
determined by the different roles that they
play in the society & also by their relations of
subordinate position of women to men.
• Women & men have different gender needs
but almost the same human basic needs.
These are food, clothes, shelter, love, security,
leisure, education etc.
• Gender needs are divided into two
1 Practical Gender Needs (PGNs)
2 Strategic Gender Needs (SGNs)
 Gender needs……
1. Practical Gender Needs (PGNs)
 The need of men, women & children which come out of
existing gender roles.
• PGNs are met through actions, which assist them to perform
existing gender roles more easily. They do not address the
subordinate position of women in society, they are not linked
to women’s empowerment.
• They are short term, women can usually identify them.
According to Oxfam (1995) activities that address PGNs
include:
• Reducing their workload;
• Improving their health; and Increasing their incomes.
 Gender needs…..

2. Strategic Gender Needs (SGNs)

• The needs of men and women identified because of
women’s subordinate position in relation to men in
the society.
• These needs are often seen as feminist in nature as
they seek to change women’s status and position in
society in relation to men.
• As such, they are more likely to be resisted than
PGNs.
 SGNs example

• Increasing women participation in decision

making positions and politics
• Property ownership
• Inheritance of property
• Right to education
• Choosing spouse
• Avoid early marriages to girls
Gender discrimination The systematic,
unfavorable treatment of individuals on the
basis of their gender, which denies them
rights, opportunities or resources.
• Gender discrimination may be legitimized or
rectified (corrected) officially or through
public sanctions (authorities) through;
National constitution, Statutory (legal) law
and Customary/ordinary/normal law.
 Gender discrimination
• Across the world, women are treated
unequally and less value is placed on their
lives because of their gender.
• Women’s differential access to power and
control of resources is central to this
discrimination in all institutional spheres, i.e.
the household, community, labour market,
and political structure and social structures
 Gender discrimination
• Within the household, women and girls can
face discrimination in the sharing out of
household resources including food,
sometimes leading to higher malnutrition and
mortality indicators for women
• IMPACT OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION ON
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• -Gender inequality has a great impact
especially on women and poverty.
• Men have more opportunities to have an
income, have more political and social rights
than women.
• Women experience more poverty than men
due to gender discrimination.
• ITS EFFECTS
• -Increase of maternal mortality rate because
of abortion, pregnancy
• -Humiliation and exploitation of women due
to rape, forced prostitution, kidnapping of
girls.
• -Poor health to women due to bearing many
Children and being over worked by productive
roles, reproductive roles and community roles.
•-Disability and incapability of women due to
domestic violence.
•-Poor diet due to forbidding women ton eat
certain types of nutrition food . For example eggs
•-Poverty .This happens due to denial of poverty
ownership such as land inheritance
Strategies to reduce discrimination
• Capacity-building to overcome barriers to
claiming rights.
• The Convention on the Elimination of all forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in
1979 brought into international focus the
rights of women as human rights, including
the right to be free from discrimination.,
• Women activists regard this convention as a
key tool to support their struggle against
Discrimination in all spheres.
• Pushing governments towards attaining these
internationally recognized minimum
standards.
• Gender main streaming Gender mainstreaming
involves bringing the contribution , perspectives and
priorities of both women and men to the centre of
attention in the development arena in order to
inform the implementation.
• Is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender
equality
• It is not an end in itself but a strategy/ an approach/
a means to achieve the goal of equality.
• Strong commitment of gender mainstreaming is one
of the most effective means for the UN to support
promotion of gender equality at all levels
• -It is a strategy not only in the pursuit of gender equality , a
development goal in its own right but also in the
achievement of other development goals including economic
ones.
• .
 Gender balance
• United Nation (2010)refers gender balance as
the goal of having the same number of women
and men in different levels of an organizational
structure
• Balance is a state where things are of equal
weight or force. Gender balance is commonly
used in reference to human resources and
equal participation of women and men in all
areas of work, projects or programmes.
 Gender &dvt
– Gender and Development
• Is an approach to development based on the
premise/ground that all policies, programs
and projects should reflect the needs,
priorities, roles and the differential impacts of
development processes on men, women and
other vulnerable groups
 Gender &dvt
– Development
• Is a multidimensional process that involves
major changes in social structures, popular
attitudes, and the acceleration of economic
growth, reduction of inequality and the
eradication of absolute poverty.
• Objectives of development includes;
• To increase the availability and widen the
distribution of basic needs - food, shelter,
clothes and health
 Gender &dvt
• To raise the level of living including higher
income, provision of employment, better
education and cultural value
• To expand the range of economic and social
choice to individual and nation by freeing
them from dependence
 Gender &dvt
• It is clear that inequalities between women
and men have come to value ‘‘what is male’’
over ‘‘what is female’’ and thereby leading to
various injustice to women in society.
• Unless this undermining value is soft-pedalled
and dealt with, women will continue to
remain impoverished, excluded from needed
resources and their rights and facing
continuous marginalization.
 Gender &dvt
• In recognition of this reality, various
development strategies have been designed by
the UN and its intermediate organizations.
• Basically, there are three
strategies/approaches so far developed to
address gender inequalities affecting women,
especially those in developing countries, where
male dominant cultural practices still affect
intervention projects aimed at empowering
women and improving their conditions
 Addressing gender inequality and
discrimination
• There are three different approaches used to
address gender inequality and discrimination;
• Women in Development (WID),
• Women and Development (WAD) and,
• Gender and Development (GAD).
 Women in Development (WID)
approach
 Was developed in the early 1970's by the women
committee in Washington, DC
 An approach that attempted to integrate women into
dvt by making more resources available to women, in an
effort to increase women’s efficiency in their existing
roles.
 It concentrated on women’s productive roles after
realizing that their contributions were being ignored or
overlooked.
 Women in Development (WID)…
 An approach used in designing, planning,
implementing and evaluating women only programs.
 It involved only women as participants and
beneficiaries of development.
 It stresses the need for women to play a great role in
the development process
 Advocated legal and administrative changes to
ensure women would be better if integrated into
economic systems
 WID …………

• According to this perspective women’s active

involvement in policy making will lead to more
successful policies overall.
• Viewed women as passive recipients of dvt aid & not
as active participants in transforming their own
economic, political, social and cultural development.
• Viewed development as a vehicle to advance women
 Limitations of WID
Emphasized welfare needs and not market oriented.

Did not question the relations of gender inequality and

women subordination in developing countries

 Failed to address underlying root causes, which

perpetuate gender inequality in society.
 Women and Development (WAD)
 Introduced in late 1970s.
 An approach that focused on the relation between
women & dvt.
 Its perspective focused on the relations between
women and dvt process.
 It assumed that women’s position will improve if
and when international structures become more
equitable.
Women and Development (WAD)……..
 Focus on the point that development was only
made possible by the involvement of women. Thus
women should actively be involved in development
projects.
 It addressed to women’s productive roles & it
recognized that work done by women both inside
and outside the home was central to the
maintenance of the societies.
 Limitations of WAD
 Focused on women only ignoring differences among
them.
 Did not focused on issues of empowering women.

 Considered only productive roles of women (ignoring

the time burden)
 GAD ….

 Introduced in 1980s and officially adopted after the 1985. Have

its roots from WID and WAD.
 An approach that shifted the focus from women as a group to the
socially determined relations between women and men.
 GAD approach focuses on the social, economic, political and cultural
relations between women & men
 Analyses forces that determine how men and women might participate
in, benefit from and control dvt project/programs resources & activities
differently.
 GAD….

 Changed the focus from women only approach to women

in relation to men approach (participation, benefits and
control of resources).
 Empowered women and analyzed the economic, cultural,
ideological and political aspects and how they relate to
women issues.
 Looked into the basic causes as well as immediate causes
of women’s subordination and low status.
 GAD
 Takes into account the different practical and
strategic needs of women & men at all stages of
project/program cycle.
 Considers the oppression of women in the family and
community.
 Emphasizes on the participation of the state in
promoting women’s emancipation.
 Sees women as agents of change rather than passive
recipients of dvt. assistance.
 AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONS

• -Affirmative actions refers to steps taken to address

gender issues in all development projects and
programmes by distributing duties and
responsibilities involving both sexes.
• WOMEN EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES
• -Lowering admission/ Cut off points for female in
education institutions
• -Introduction of pre-entry programmes to female
students since 1997(six weeks remedial / pre-entry
programmes)
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES

• -Gender equal interventions on empowerment.

• Reforms in employment and labour Relations
Act 2004
• -Female scholarships and other forms of
financial assistance.
• -Enacting strict laws against negative cultural
practices such as Female Genital
Mutilation ,sexual Offences special provision
Act
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES

• Placing women in positions of responsibility and

influence so as to make the demonstrate their
capabilities. For example member of parliament
special seats.
• -Allowing women to inherit property land Act 2004
• -Enactment of laws against gender discrimination
• -Creation of NGO’S like TAMWA.TAWLA,TGNP ETC to
address women issues
• -Empowerment of women through education, Loans
and improvement of legal machinery to protect their
rights.
 -THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON GENDER

• Culture refers to the ideas , beliefs and

customs that are shared and accepted by
people in a given society. It is time relevant,
changing with circumstances. The change of
ideas and beliefs shared by people in a
particular society signifies that culture is
always not static but dynamic.
• Factors for cultural change
• -Cultural change is the process of social
adoption of new circumstances brought by
external or internal forces like introducing new
technology, new religion , new language and
increasing socio- economic development
• Factors
• -Migration/immigraton
• -Communication(imitation of new culture)
• - Influence of socialization agents. These
includes peer groups, schools, religion and
mass media

• Reading assignment: read more on the role of

cultural influence on gender issues