Ottawa:  It was a policy born of a shining promise-that decentralized governments would help empower tens of millions of women in developing countries. But has shifting more power and resources to
the local level really improved women's lives? Has it resulted in more girls going to school, more pregnant women receiving a doctor's care, more women owning the land they till, and more women laying their rightful role in all levels of government?
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Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) will convene policy-makers, academics and feminists from across the globe in Mexico City, November 18-21, to discuss the impact of decentralized governments on women's right to education, health, security and political representation. IDRC has taken a leadership role in supporting ground-breaking research on this issue in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

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Promoted by many donor organizations, decentralization is intended to make government more effective and accountable by bringing it closer to the people. For women who have been excluded from political decision-making, decentralization theoretically allows them to challenge how resources are allocated in their communities, including services like basic health care, access to water and education.

New findings from research supported by IDRC, however, show the outcomes may be quite different:

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In southern Sudan, where 48% of women give birth without attendants, decentralization of health services has led to the introduction of user  fees at health clinics, a move that has been linked to increased  maternal mortality among poor women;

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In Benin, where climate change is reshaping the landscape of farming in the country's wetlands, male farmers, aided with the local government's  inaction, have pushed out female farmers who have traditionally etched out a living on this marginal land;

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In Nepal and India, decentralization has been a catalyst for greater female involvement in politics through obligatory quotas for women in parliaments and local governments. A new political class of socially powerful and elite women has emerged, but these same elite women often sit on multiple committees, blocking access by women of lower status;

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In Bolivia, where access to water and irrigation is the responsibility of state-level and municipal governments, local government authorities have only included land owners in their decision-making process.

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Although poor, rural and indigenous women usually participate in farming land, they do not own the land and have been excluded from all decisions touching on crop irrigation.

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The conference is being organized by IDRC in partnership with the Government of Mexico through the Status of Women Mexico (INMUJERES) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

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* For more information about IDRC, consult www.idrc.ca/decentralization or view a short video on IDRC's project in Rajasthan, India at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT6L__ipMbc. Gender equality

experts and  practitioners from IDRC and its partner organizations, as well as community leaders and municipal authorities from the developing world are available for interviews.