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Themes > Gender

Gender

ANSA-Africa identifies gender as a significant cross-cutting factor to add value to and facilitate the improvement of gender imbalances on the demand side of service delivery. Social accountability issues are gendered because gender relations are central to change the balance of power between women and men in societies. Gender is understood as the socially acquired attribute of masculinity and femininity by which women and men are identified. Gendered relations are increasingly recognised to be central to the development of policies and implementation to promote effective service delivery. Given that the gender gap is based on gender-based inequalities that arise through social and political processes in our societies, evidence shows that benefits in society accrue more to men than women. Such differences and inequalities between men and women are manifest, for example, in economic, educational, social, political, technological and health sectors. Some concrete examples of the gendered dimension of social accountability issues are: food security, sexual and reproductive health, education of the girl child, water, transport, sanitation, electricity and hygiene.

Recent experience shows that gender-based discrimination prevents societies as a whole, women and men, from reaching their full potential. Global efforts to combat inequalities such as the Millenium Development Goals (MDG 3) and the Platform for Action adopted in 1995 at the UN World Conference on Women highlight that a primary goal of all development is to mainstream gender equality in all areas of social and economic development. Gender mainstreaming, a process rather than an end itself, should prioritise gender in all areas of social accountability: policy development; advocacy, dialogue; resource allocation; planning and implementation. The centrality of women’s roles in political-economic development could be understood against the background of vast inequities that prevail.

Santé de la femme dans la région africaine de l’OMS: appel à l’action
24 June 2008
Le rapport du directeur régional à la cinquante-huitième séance de la Santé Organisation Régional Bureau Mondial pour l'Afrique à Yaounde, Cameroun, le 1–5 septembre 2008.

Women's health in the WHO African region: a call for action.
24 June 2008
Report of the regional director at the fifty-eighth session of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa at Yaounde, Cameroon, 1–5 September 2008.

African experiences in strengthening citizen's voice in revenue an expenditure planning
Ms Mary Rusimbi, March 2008
Presentation on selected African experiences on strengthening citizens’voice in public resource generation and management through civic action at local level.

Solemn statement and recommendations: 11th consultative meeting on gender mainstreaming in Africa
22 January 2008
We, members of the African Civil Society and Women’s Movement meeting under the aegis of "Gender is My Agenda Campaign" on the occasion of the 11th Pre-Summit Consultative Meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 22^nd to 23^rd January 2008, on the theme "Industrial Development…

Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009
2008
Our 2008/2009 report demonstrates that one of the most powerful constraints on realizing women's rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals is a deficit of accountability to women.

Exclusion, Gender and Education: Case studies from the developing world
Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed, 24 September 2007
No one disagrees that girls ought to go to school—for their own sake and because educating girls ensures a better future for their children and their societies. And in fact, in the last two decades girls' enrollment rates in developing countries, especially in primary schooling, have increased dramatically.…

Capacity development for promoting gender equality in the aid effectiveness agenda
September 2007
In the context of discussions on financing for development and aid effectiveness, and particularly with the roll out of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005, there has been growing recognition of the importance of integrating gender equality in national development planning and programming…

Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and Inefficient - Gender Inequity in Health: Why it exists and how we can change it
Gita Sen, Piroska Östlin, Asha George, September 2007
Gender differentials in health related risks and outcomes are partly determined by biological sex differences. Yet they are also the result of how societies socialise women and men into gender roles. For example, in many societies, practices around sexuality sometimes include ritual (and painful) 'deflowering'…

Gender-responsive budgets in the commonwealth progress report: 2005-2007

September 2007
At the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting in 2005, Ministers recognised the critical importance of gender-responsive budgets (GRBs) and the need for progress and sustainability on this issue. The Ministers therefore agreed to report on progress biennially at the Finance Ministers Meeting, with the…

Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women: Paradoxes and possibilities
Isabella Bakker, 29 August 2007
This paper focuses on the central paradox which the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment current faces: universal commitments to gender equality versus the relatively limited progress that has been made over the past years in implementation at the national level. With this…

Gender Protocol Alliance dismayed by leader’s inaction

18 August 2007
The Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance[1] is disappointed that SADC leaders failed to walk the talk of gender equality at their just ended summit in Lusaka by not signing the Protocol on Gender and Development. As representatives of sixteen regional and national NGOs working to promote the rights…

Financing for Gender Equality and The Empowerment of Women: Experiences from Tanzania
Edward Hiza Mhina, August 2007
Between 1997 and 1999, Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), an NGO based in Tanzania, has been engaged in researching how the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education & Culture, Ministry of Science, Technology & Higher Education, Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperatives, Ministry of Health and…

Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base
12 July 2007
The Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (GID-DB) represents a new tool for researchers and policy makers to determine and analyse obstacles to women’s economic development. It covers a total of 161 countries and comprises an array of 60 indicators on gender discrimination. The data base has…

Gender Justice: a guide to gender accountability for IFIs
July 2007
Although publicly-funded International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have missions to reduce poverty and promote economic growth, IFI projects often ignore gender inequality and increase poverty, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS, particularly among women and girls.

Epidemic of Inequality: Women's Rights & HIV/AIDS in Botswana & Swaziland
25 May 2007
Deeply entrenched gender inequities perpetuate the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Botswana and Swaziland, the two countries with the highest HIV prevalence in the world.¹ The legal systems in both countries grant women lesser status than men, restricting property, inheritance…

Tanzania Gender and Economic Growth Assessment

May 2007
Tanzania has been at the forefront of creating a positive legal framework and political context for gender equality.

Gender-based violence and property grabbing in Africa
Kaori Izumi, 22 March 2007
Property grabbing is a new form of gendered violence against women, threatening the security of women across Southern and East Africa. Forced evictions are often accompanied by further acts of violence, including physical and mental harassment, and abuse. Widows are particularly vulnerable, partly as…

Gender and Economic Growth Assessment for Ghana 2007

2007
This study presents an assessment of the role of gender in economic growth in Ghana with emphasis on constraints to enterprise operations, investment and growth among womenowned firms. Anecdotal evidence suggests that women own up to a third of businesses in Africa, and that this represents a significant…

A New Weave of Power, People & Politics: The Action Guide for Advocacy and Citizen Participation
Lisa VeneKlasen with Valerie Miller, 2007
A New Weave of Power, People & Politics provides a well-tested approach for building people’s participation and collective power that goes beyond influencing policy and politics to transforming public decision-making altogether. Based on 25 years of participatory research, community development, neighborhood…

Gender Equality – At the heart of development: Why the role of women is crucial to ending world poverty
2007
The world is unequal and it is most unequal for women and girls. Most of the poorest people in the world are women and part of what makes them poor is the discrimination they face purely because of their gender.

Food: Women farmers are invisible actors in hunger drama
11 October 2006
Women shoulder more and more of the burden of providing food in many parts of the world as they plant, plough, harvest and fish, gather fuelwood, fetch water, cook, breastfeed, and sell foodstuff.

Lessons from evaluations of women and gender equality in development cooperation

Berit Aasen, October 2006
In 2005 Norad commissioned the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) and partners to carry out an evaluation of the Strategy for Women and Gender Equality in Development Cooperation (1997-2005). The evaluation showed significant weaknesses in the institutionalisation of activities,…

Promoting gender equality in new aid modalities and partnerships: Experiences from Africa
July 2006
The March 2005 Paris Declaration commits the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) donors and developing countries to work together on five key principles for enhancing aid effectiveness. The principles—Ownership, Alignment, Harmonization,…

Development: Gender equality equals growth
2 June 2006
The document released ahead of the UN Special Session on Women in New York next week echoes what gender activists have been championing for years - that societies which discriminate on the basis of gender pay a significant price in more poverty, slower economic growth, weaker governance and lower quality…

Rights-Belgium: A lobby group pushes for women advancementFarah Khan
Farah Khan, 15 May 2006
The UN Third Conference on the world's 49 least developed countries is meeting this week in the Belgian capital to interrogate what has gone wrong with efforts to reduce the number of people living in poverty in the world. In the past 30 years, poverty has increased - only 25 countries were initially…

The political gender gap in Africa: Similar attitudes, different behaviors
Carolyn Logan, Michael Bratton, 1 March 2006
Differences in political values, attitudes and behaviors between women and men have long been the subject of scrutiny in Western societies. Gender differences in family, work, and community roles and experiences have been seen as key factors contributing to an observed “gender gap” in these societies.…

Agreed conclusions of the commission on the status of women on the critical areas of concern of the Beijing platform for action
2006
The Economic and Social Council established the Commission on the Status of Women in June 1946. The Commission reports directly to the Council, and through the Council to the General Assembly.

Key issues and challenges for gender inclusive African national statistical systems and capacity building
Alfred Latigo, 2006
In close consultation with the the UNECA and the UNSD a meeting was held in Cape Town, South Africa, entitled the "2006 Africa symposium on statistical development: the 2010 round of population and housing censuses". The meeting in Cape Town considered a number of

Women: Still something to shout about
Nikki van der Gaag, 2006
The 'world's most ruthless killer' is coded as Z59.5. It has meant 'widening gaps between rich and poor, between one population group and another, between age groups and between the sexes'. It has caused more suffering to more people than anything else on earth. And it has got worse over the last…

2004 World survey on the role of women in development: Women and international migration
2006
In its resolutions 54/210 of 22 December 1999 and 58/206 of 23 December 2003 the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to update the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development for consideration by the General Assembly during its fifty-ninth session. The present World Survey addresses…

Making it happen: Political will for gender equality in education
December 2005
Why do some countries succeed in promoting gender parity and equality in education while others do not? The answer often given is ‘political will’. All too often, however, no further explanation is offered. There has been little effort to understand why governments are unwilling or unable to change their…

Gender equality and empowerment of women through ICT
September 2005
“The so-called digital divide is actually several gaps in one. There is a technological divide—great gaps in infrastructure. There is a content divide. A lot of web-based information is simply not relevant to the real needs of people. And nearly 70 per cent of the world’s websites are in English, at…

Resource guide: Gender and conflict in Africa
August 2005
USAID AFR recognizes that policy is one of the main instruments for creating lasting changes. Therefore, the creation of a new and innovative gender policy with specific guidance on gender and conflict to guide AFR and influence its organizational culture and practices is vital. When equipped with the…

Gender and conflict in Africa: Annotated bibliography
August 2005
This annotated bibliography provides summaries of articles, toolkits and other materials on gender and conflict in Africa. It is meant to complement a ‘Gender and Conflict in Africa Resource Guide’ that identifies and provides Web links to organizations and other resources that work on humanitarian,…

Best practices: Gender and conflict in Africa
August 2005
More than 50 percent of the world’s active violent internal and regional conflicts are in Africa. These conflicts have directly or indirectly affected over 75 percent of the region’s countries and populations, conscripted over 300,000 child soldiers, displaced over 30 million people from their homes,…

Africa bureau fragile states framework: Gender issues and best practice examples
August 2005
USAID’s Africa Bureau has developed a new Strategic Framework for the Agency and its programs in Africa that support US government foreign policy goals as articulated in the National Security Strategy (2002) and the State-USAID Joint Strategic Plan. The framework also aligns USAID programs with the “White…

The millennium development goals in Africa: Progress and challenges
August 2005
The urgent need to address poverty around the world and the opportunity provided by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have made them the rallying cry of a global partnership and the cornerstone of international and regional development policy. For the first time in history, a diverse range of players…

Uganda: From periphery to center - A strategic country gender assessment
2 March 2005
Lack of control over productive resources by women remains one of the root causes of poverty. Women explained that they lack control over land, the crops their labor produces from it, livestock, and other productive resources. Yet they are responsible for meeting family needs. They complained bitterly…

Women and water
February 2005
There is widespread recognition that the world is facing a growing water crisis, affecting the well-being of millions of the poorest people. Rapidly growing populations, urbanization, agricultural intensification and climate change (such as global warming) all contribute to greater competition and scarcity…

Child labour, gender inequality and rural/urban disparities: how can Ethiopia’s national development strategies be revised to address negative spill-over impacts on child education and wellbeing?
Tassew Woldehanna, Bekele Tefera, Nicola Jones, Alebel Bayrau, 2005
The Ethiopian Government has emphasised the intensification of agricultural activities in order to increase livelihood options and provide better safety nets for the poor (e.g. through food or cash‑for‑work programmes).

Women in politics: 2005
1 January 2005

Women in Ministerial positions
Portfolios held by Women Ministers
World and regional averages of women in Parliament
Women in Parliament

Decade review of the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing platforms for action: Outcome and the way forward
12 October 2004
The African ministers in charge of gender and women affairs met at the Seventh African Regional Conference on Women (Beijing+10), in Addis Ababa, October 2004 to review the status of implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action.

Tanzania: Strategic country gender assessment
C. Mark Blackden, Magdalena Rwebangira with support from Zahia Lolila Ramin, 30 June 2004
This Strategic Country Gender Assessment (SCGA) summarizes relevant gender issues in Tanzania to support dialogue with Government and civil society and to inform the World Bank’s work program. Specifically, the SCGA aims to support the Government of Tanzania (GOT) to integrate gender issues more systematically…

Sao Tome and Principe: Country gender assessment
7 June 2004
Sao Tome and Principe (STP) has a distinctive gender profile, different from that of neighboring African countries. Gender equality is emphasized in the Constitution and reiterated across the various laws and legislation. STP is a signatory of all international conventions that promote gender equality…

Zambia: Strategic country gender assessment
Mabel C. Milimo, Monica L. Munachonga, Lillian Mushota, Nelson Nyangu, Sr. Auxilia Ponga, June 2004
The Zambia Strategic Country Gender Assessment (ZSCGA) is the principal means by which Zambia and the Bank, and other development partners, participate in a collaborative process to:

analyze the gender dimensions of development in the country;
identify gender-responsive…

Making risky environments safer
April 2004
Natural disasters—particularly erosion and other forms of soil degradation, pollution of freshwaters, shoreline erosion, flooding, loss of wetlands, drought and desertification—impact directly on women in their roles as providers of food, water and fuel.

Analyse strategique des enjeux lies au genre au Burkina Faso
Mme Rosalie Ouoba, Mme Mariam Tani, Mme Zéneb Toure, October 2003
La situation sanitaire, malgré l’évolution positive de certains indicateurs, demeure préoccupante compte tenu de leurs niveaux actuels. Les indicateurs de mortalité indiquent un niveau de mortalité toujours élevé.

The Kenyan strategic country gender assessment
October 2003
Kenya is a country of great economic and social variation between geographic regions and among income groups. Over half the country’s population lives beneath the poverty line as illustrated by figures from the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation, which states that the overall…

Malawi: Strategic Country Gender Assessment (SCGA)
Naomi Ngwira, Garton Kamchedzera, Linda Semu, 1 June 2003
This is a report of a strategic country gender assessment (SCGA) on Malawi. In 2001, the World Bank developed a country-wide gender strategy that called on all countries to undertake country gender assessments in recognition of the importance of gender in poverty reduction, economic growth and human…

Women, nationality and citizenship
June 2003
This issue of Women2000 and Beyond considers discrimination against women in nationality laws. It examines laws that differentiate between women and men in the acquisition and retention of nationality, as well as in relation to the nationality of their children, highlighting the legal and practical disadvantages…

The ABC of gender responsive education policies
26 March 2003
There is a wide body of literature on girls’ education problems in Africa and their underlying causes. Consequently, most of us know or at least can find out what these are. What has remained problematic, however, is the acquisition of the technical skills required for systematically assessing, designing,…

Rights, equality and education for all
2003
‘Education for All’ means what it says. The international community has committed itself, in the Dakar Framework for Action, to having all eligible children attending fee-free primary schooling by 2015.

The convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and its optional protocol
2003
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights constitutes the first international instrument to detail the rights and freedoms of individuals, and contains 30 articles covering the integrity of the individual, political and civil rights (such as freedom of thought, expression, religion, association…

Strategic country gender assessment
4 November 2002
This Strategic Country Gender Assessment (SCGA) summarizes relevant gender issues in Benin both to support the dialogue with the government and to inform our own country strategy.

Strategic country gender assessment: Briefing note for the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy
14 January 2002
This brief Strategic Country Gender Assessment (SCGA) summarizes relevant gender issues in Ghana as part of the effort to support the more systematic integration of gender concerns into the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS).

Women, peace and security
1 January 2002
On 31 October 2000, the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, which builds on the Presidential Statement of 8 March 2000 and a series of Council resolutions on children and armed conflict, the protection of civilians in armed conflict and the prevention of armed…

Gender mainstreaming: An overview
2002
Gender mainstreaming was established as a major global strategy for the promotion of gender equality in the Beijing Platform for Action from the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The ECOSOC agreed conclusions (1997/2) established some important overall principles for…