CHAPTER FIVE

GENDER Analysis, Mainstreaming and Empowerment: Tools used for

Gender Equality and Equity

4.1 Definitions and Basic Concepts of Gender Analysis (GAs)

Gender analysis refers to the systematic gathering and examining of information on gender differences and
social relations. It is a methodology for collecting and processing information about gender. It provides
disaggregated data by sex, and an understanding of the social construction of gender roles, how labor is
divided and valued. Gender analysis is the process of analyzing information in order to ensure development
benefit and resource are effectively and equitably targeted to both women and men, and to successfully
anticipate and avoid any negative impacts of development may have on women or on gender relation.
Gender analysis is conducted through a variety of tools and frameworks, include sex disaggregated data, (for
a gender analysis all data should be separated by sex in order to allow differential impacts on men and
women to be measured).

Gender analysis and its purpose: Why gender Analysis?

This is the process of examining roles, responsibilities or any other situation with regard to women
and men, boys and girls, with a view to identifying gaps, raising concerns and addressing them. It is the
investigation and identification of specific needs of girls and boys, women and men for policy and
programme development and implementation.

Its purpose is to ensure that development projects and programs fully incorporate the role s, needs,
participation & benefit of women and men.

How gender analysis and policy can be linked?

Gender analysis is concerned with examining public policies and their outcomes through a gender lens. It
focuses on the differences in women's and men's lives, including those which lead to social and economic
inequity for women, and applies this understanding to public policy development, service delivery,
workforce issues, and budget allocations in an effort to achieve gender parity.

Gender analysis is similar to strategic planning but with a gender focus. It highlights best practices to be
encouraged or replicated and makes recommendations to address areas in need of improvement. Gender
analysis also recognizes that women's lives are not all the same; the interests that women have in common
may be determined as much by their social position or their ethnic identity as by the fact they are women.
Thus, different strategies may be necessary to achieve equitable outcomes for women and men and among
different groups of women.

Gender analysis differs from traditional research or analysis because it is specifically informed by baseline
theories about gender roles, relations and equality. In other words, gender analysis draws on demonstrated
sociological research findings about the roots of inequalities between men and women and how these
differences might be overcome. While there are many different theories that help explain existing and
potential inequalities between men and women, some basic theories that inform gender analysis include the
following:

 Because gender is largely a cultural and social construct, gender roles and relations can and do change
over time.

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 The gendered division of labour is the starting point for many gender imbalances and inequalities in
society.
 Access to resources is distinct from control over resources, and control over resources in virtually all
societies is unevenly distributed between men and women.
 Resources include material resources, but also time, knowledge and information
 De jure gender equality does not necessarily translate into de facto gender equality.
 Culture, attitudes and stereotypes profoundly influence access to and control over resources, and thus the
realization of de facto gender equality.

Steps in Gender Analysis

STEP 1 - Identifying, defining and refining the issue:-Policy analysis usually begins with identifying a
problem or an opportunity requiring policy development or analysis. This stage involves determining the
nature, scope and importance of the issue within the context of the current policy environment that warranted
placing it on the policy agenda.
STEP 2 - Defining desired goals and anticipated outcomes:-In this stage, desired goals and anticipated
outcomes for the policy are proposed. An analysis of intended/unintended outcomes usually examines the
degree to which the policy can meet or hinder other policies or government objectives. Outcome indicators,
monitoring processes, partners in defining outcomes, and accountability for achieving outcomes are usually
considered in this phase.
STEP 3 - Defining the information and consultation inputs:- This step is most often done along with the
research phase. It looks at what knowledge is needed, and what sources can best provide it. Available and
relevant data sources and partners in data gathering and analysis are identified.

STEP 4 - Conducting research:- This stage clarifies the research design, and the type of analysis to be done
(e.g. cost/benefit, social impact, relationships to government etc.). It is here that tasks and methods of
analysis and approaches to data presentation are discussed.
STEP 5 - Developing and analyzing options: An analysis of options and their outcomes and implications
are articulated and refined. The relationship of options and their impact on existing policies, programs and
legislation are also studied for example: economic, social, equity, community, environmental etc. Impact
analyses are developed preferably for each option while responsibility for implementation and the resources
required are also examined.
Step 6 - Making recommendations: The recommendation of options is often a collaborative effort, and
sometimes draws directly on public input and consultation. The rationale for the recommendations is derived
from the analysis of options, and presents the recommendation in terms of its favorable and unfavorable
impacts, implications, and the policy environment.

STEP 7 - Communicating policy: Communicating the recommended policy can play a significant role in its
acceptance and implementation. Timing, choice of media, language, and public involvement are important to
ensure that government intent and the impacts of the policy, program and legislation are understood. The
participation and acknowledgement of partners and consulting groups can be a key part of communicating
policies inside the government and to the public.
STEP 8 - Assessing the quality of analysis: At this stage it is important to review the analysis process.

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Gender Analysis Frameworks
1. Gender Analysis
Gender analysis is a type of socio-economic analysis. In the context of development assistance, it is intended
as a tool to illuminate the links between the existing gender relations in a particular society and development
problems it needs addressed.
As referenced in USAID’s ADS guidance, a gender analysis is mandatory in the process of developing
Assistance Objectives (ADS [Link]) where it is intended to answer the questions:
(1) How will gender relations affect the achievement of sustainable results; and
(2) How will proposed results affect the relative status of men and women and in the process of conducting
activity level analyses (ADS [Link]).
The gender analysis identifies the types of gender differences and inequalities that might otherwise be taken
for granted – such as how men and women have different access to and control over resources, carry out
different social roles, and face different constraints and receive different benefits. Once highlighted, they can
be addressed and alleviated by carefully designed programs.
2. Commonly Referenced Gender Analysis Frameworks
Frameworks are approaches used to generate data and information during gender analysis.
They serve different purposes depending on the situation and what is being analyzed.
This section introduces five of the commonly used gender analysis frameworks:
 The Harvard Analytical Framework, also known as the Gender Roles Framework
 The Moser Gender Planning Framework in the third world countries (By Caroline Moser)
 The Gender Analysis Matrix (GAM)
 Gender equality and empowerment framework /GEEW (By Sarah Longwe)
 People orientated planning (UNHCR)
 Social Economic of Gender Analysis (SEGA
 Capacities and Vulnerabilities Analysis framework, and
 The Social Relations Approach

Before discussing each framework, it is important to highlight some general points.

• In addition to those discussed here, there are other models for collecting and analyzing gender-relevant
information, and ways to put that analysis into effect in development interventions. No single framework
provides an appropriate way to address all development problems.
• Each model reflects a set of assumptions about how gender is constituted and the importance of
understanding gender issues to achieve successful development outcomes. Some emphasize equity or
equality as the key outcome, and do not address other development objectives. Program managers can learn
to identify these assumptions to choose the most appropriate model for their specific needs.
• The different institutional settings of the multi-lateral and bilateral development agencies, the foundations,
NGOs, and developing and transition country government systems call for adaptation of different gender
analysis frameworks. Not all models work equally well in every organization; many were designed by
specific organizations and are not easy to adapt to other institutional programs. Some are more research
oriented and are difficult to use in implementation; others are focused only on a particular implementation
style and may omit data useful to other approaches.
• Each model was developed at a particular point in time. Not all have been modified to reflect changes in
the way we think about gender or the way in which development priorities and approaches have changed.
• In hiring consultants to carry out gender analyses, to clarify which, if any, framework the consultant
follows. Some follow one particular model; others use a combination of methods depending on the situation
at hand.

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1. The Harvard Analytical Framework or Gender Roles Framework
The Harvard Analytical Framework (sometimes referred to as the “Gender Roles Framework” or the
“Gender Analysis Framework”) was developed by researchers at the Harvard Institute of International
Development (HIID) in collaboration with USAID’s Office of Women in Development. It represents one of
the earliest efforts to systematize attention to both women and men and their different positions in society.
Since, it is one of the early frameworks of analysis and was developed by researchers at Harvard.

It is based upon the position that allocating resources to women as well as men in development efforts
makes economic sense and will make development itself more efficient – a position labelled as the
“efficiency approach.”
Key to the Harvard Analytical Framework is adequate data collection at the individual and household level,
and adapts well to agricultural and other rural production systems. Data is collected on men’s and women’s
activities which are identified as either “reproductive” or “productive” types, and is then considered
according to how those activities reflect access to and control over income and resources, thereby
“highlighting the incentives and constraints under which men and women work in order to anticipate how
projects will impact their productive and reproductive activities as well as the responsibilities of other
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household members.” Data is collected in three components: an activity profile, an access and control
profile that looks at resources and benefits, and a list of influencing factors. The approach helps those with
little understanding of gender analysis useful ways of documenting information in the field: according to one
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donor, “It makes men’s and women’s work visible.” Because the approach emphasizes gender-awareness
and does not seek to identify the causes of gender inequalities, it “offers little guidance on how to change
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existing gender inequalities.” There is the expectation that having good data on gender will, on its own,
allow practitioners to address gender concerns in their activities; it assumes that both the problem and the
solutions are technical ones. Compared to more recent and more participatory approaches, the Harvard
method does not involve informants in describing their own views of the development problems they face.

2. The Moser Gender Planning Framework in the Third World Countries

(By Caroline Moser)
It takes the view that gender planning is technical and political in nature and involves a transformative
process. There are six (6) tools in the framework. These tools are, gender role identification, gender needs
assessment, balancing of roles, WID/GAD policy matrix, disaggregating control of resources and decision
making within the household and gender awareness.

This framework, developed by Caroline Moser, links the examination of women’s roles to the larger
development planning process. The approach introduces the idea of women’s “three roles” in production,
reproduction, and community management (see below), and the implication that these roles have for
women’s participation in the development process. In making these links, both between women and the
community, and between gender planning and development planning more broadly, Moser’s framework
encompasses both the technical and political aspects of gender integration into development.

The framework is composed of several components (or tools). In the first, the triple roles of women are
identified by mapping the activities of household members (including children) over the course of
twenty-four hours.

Reproductive Roles: Childbearing and rearing, domestic tasks that guarantee the maintenance and
reproduction of the current and future work force (e.g., cooking, cleaning, etc.)

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Productive Roles: Work done for remuneration, in cash or kind. (e.g., wage labor, farming, crafts, etc.)
Community Management Roles: Work that supports collective consumption and maintenance of community
resources (e.g., local government, irrigation systems management, education, etc.)
The second component identifies and assesses gender needs, distinguishing between practical needs (to
address inadequate living conditions) and strategic needs (for power and control to achieve gender equality).

The third component, or tool, disaggregates information about access to and control over resources
within the household by sex: who makes decisions about the use of different assets.

The fourth component identifies how women manage their various roles, and seeks to clarify how
planned interventions will affect each one.

Finally, the WID/GAD policy matrix evaluates how different planning approaches (welfare, equity,
anti-poverty, efficiency, and empowerment) have addressed the triple roles and women’s practical and
strategic needs.
3. Gender Analysis Matrix (GAM)
The gender analysis matrix was developed by A. Rani Parker as a quickly employed tool to identify how a
particular development intervention will affect women and men. It uses a community-based technique to
elicit and analyze gender differences and to challenge a community’s assumptions about gender. It seeks to
establish the different types of impacts of development interventions on women and men at community
levels. It helps the community to carry out analysis and to identify gender roles and challenge their
assumptions on these roles. It is a participatory planning tool.

Unlike some of the other tools described, this one is explicitly intended for use by the community for self-
identification of problems and solutions. The principles of the Gender Analysis Matrix are:
• All requisite knowledge for gender analysis exists among the people whose lives are the subject of the
analysis
• Gender analysis does not require the technical expertise of those outside the community being analysed,
except as facilitators.
• Gender analysis cannot be transformative unless the analysis is done by the people being analysed.
GAM is used to carry out analysis by each project objective at four levels of society: women, men,
household and community by various groups of stakeholders. They carry out the analysis by discussing each
project objective in terms of how it impacts on men’s and women’s labor practices, time, resources, and
other socio-cultural factors, such as changes in social roles and status.
4. Gender equality and empowerment framework /GEE (By Sarah Longwe)
The Women’s Empowerment Framework was developed by Sara Hlupekile Longwe, a gender expert from
Lusaka, Zambia. Her model is explicitly political, arguing that women’s poverty is the consequence of
oppression and exploitation (rather than lack of productivity), and that to reduce poverty women must be
empowered.

It focuses on what women’s equality and empowerment means and the extent to which development
interventions supports empowerment. Empowerment refers to the enabling women to take an equal place
with men and to participate equally in the development process to achieve control over the factors of
production on an equal basis. It introduces five levels of equality by which to assess the level of women
empowerment. The levels are, control, participation, access, welfare, conscientisation.

The framework postulates five progressively greater levels of equality that can be achieved (listed from
highest to lowest).
1. Control – equal control over in decision-making over factors of production.

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 2. Participation – equal participation in decision-making processes related to policymaking, planning and
administration.
3. Conscientisation – attaining equal understanding of gender roles and a gender division of labor that is fair
and agreeable.
4. Access – equal access to the factors of production by removing discriminatory provisions in the laws.
5. Welfare – having equal access to material welfare (food, income, medical care).
The framework is intended to assist planners to identify what women’s equality and empowerment would
mean in practice, and to determine to what extent a development intervention supports greater
empowerment.
The tool examines elements of a project’s design or a sectoral program to determine to see if it affects the
five different levels of equality either negatively, neutrally, or positively.
5. People orientated planning (UNHCR): It lays emphasis on participation of the people and
takes into consideration change to be of essence in planning but does not challenge the existing gender
relations.
6. Social Economic of Gender Analysis (SEGA): This framework focuses on the issue of
gender analysis mainly in socio-economic context. It emphasizes the need for economic empowerment and
equality in distribution of resources.
7. Capacities and Vulnerabilities Analysis framework: The main emphasis on this
framework is carrying out analysis to specifically identify the vulnerabilities of both women and men and
how these vulnerabilities can be addressed. It is meant for emergency situations. The analysis looks at cause
of vulnerability.
8. The Social Relations Approach: The social relations framework was created by Naila
Kabeer at the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, UK that draws on explicitly structural feminist
roots. It is more broadly oriented than earlier approaches, locating the family and household within the
network of social relations connecting them to the community, market, and state. Kabeer writes that the triple
roles model formulated by Moser is insufficiently attentive to “the fact that most resources can be produced
in a variety of institutional locations (households, markets, states, and communities) so that the same
resources may be produced through very different social relations.” In contrast, the Social Relations
Approach allows the resulting analysis to show how gender and other inequalities are created and reproduced
within structural and institutional factors, and then to design policies that can enable women to work to
change those factors that constrain them.

This framework lays emphasis on gender relations and particularly social construction of gender. It
emphasizes that planners examine their organizations and institutions and understand how they can bring
biases during the planning process.
The Social Relations Approach asserts that:
• Development is a process for increasing human well-being (survival, security and autonomy), and not just
about economic growth or increased productivity.
• Social relations determine people’s roles, rights, responsibilities and claims over others.
• Institutions are key to producing and maintaining social inequalities, including gender inequalities.
Four key institutions are the state, the market, the community and the family. These have rule (how things get
done), resources (what is used and/or produced), people (who is in/out, who does what), activities (what is
done), and power (who decides, and whose interests are served), all of which engender social relations.
• The operation of institutions reflects different gender policies. Gender policies are differing according to the
extent they recognize and address gender issues: gender- blind policies, gender-aware policies, gender-
neutral policies, gender-specific policies, and gender-redistributive policies.

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 Analysis for planning needs to examine whether immediate, underlying, and/or structural factors are
responsible for the problems, and what their effects on those involved.
Gender Analysis Tools /Models: The Harvard Analytical Framework
What are the tools in social and gender analysis?

The Harvard Framework consists of four major components:

The Activity Profile - which generally answers the question “Who does what?” but goes further to include
when, how, where, how often, etc., and by as many specific roles as necessary, such as elderly women,
single men, young boys/girls, etc. In other words, the activity profile provides a contextual data base or a
picture of the community in question with a detailed analysis of relevant. Productive and reproductive
roles. (Note: reproductive roles are more than those associated with procreating, but include household
activities related to family sustenance.)
The Access and Control Profile - which identifies resources and benefits associated with the productive
and reproductive roles in question and whether men or women control and benefit them. Resources and
benefits should be as broadly interpreted as necessary to adequately describe the community being analyzed.
Besides physical resources such as land, capital, inputs, these can include less tangible resources such as
time, access to education, etc.
The Influencing Factors - which identify the surrounding dynamics that affect the gender disaggregation
presented in the two preceding profiles. These factors can be past, present or future influences. They can be
factors of change (political, economic, cultural, etc.) or constraints or opportunities that especially impact
women’s equal participation and benefit.
Project Cycle Analysis - which applies the gender analysis to a project proposal or other vehicle of
development work, such as an evaluation, needs assessment, etc.
1. Daily activity schedule (24 – hour daily calendar)
This explains how women and men spend a typical day from the time they wake up until they go to bed.
Table 1: Daily activity profile

Women /Girls Time (hour) Men/ Boys

Before noon
(from wake-up time …)

After noon (….up to Bed

time)

The above tool describes how women, men, boys and girls spend their time during a typical 24 – hour day.
The purpose of this tool is to analyze the roles women, men, boys and girls are involved in so that it can be
taken into consideration when planning and implementing projects.
2. Activity profile: This is an explanation of the gender division of labour.
Table 2: Activity schedule

Activity Women Men Girls Boys

Productive

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Reproductive
Essential households and
community service
Community management
This tool is used in categorizing activities as productive, reproductive or communal. It shows who does them,
when and where. It helps to understand the gender division of labour.
3. Access and control profile: The tool is a data collection and analytical tool. It helps in
determining power relations and interests.
Table 3: Access and control profile
Resources Access Control
Women Men Women Men
Land
Equipment
Labor
Livestock
Cash
Other
Benefits
Outside income
Asset ownership
Basic needs
Education
Political power
Credit
Information
Other
This tool is used for analyzing the resources available and what benefits accrues to the people involved. It
further analyses which sex has access and who has the final decision making power (control) over them but
based on their gender roles.

4. Influencing Factors

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Table 4: Influencing Factors

Impact Opportunities Constraints

Political
Economic
Cultural
Educational
Environmental
Legal
International
Other

Gender analysis takes baseline theories such as these as its starting point.
4. Gender analysis matrix: This is a planning and monitoring tool. It can be used at all levels
including policy, institutional and programs/projects.

Table 4: Gender analysis matrix

CATEGORIES OF ANALYSIS Time Labour Resource Culture
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS
Women
Men
Household
Community
It is used to analyze current and potential impacts of development interventions on women and men. The
analysis is carried at the level of women, men, households (everybody including those that are not part of the
nuclear family) and the community against categories such as labour, time, resources and culture.

4.2 Gender Mainstreaming

Definitions and Concepts Gender Mainstreaming
What is gender mainstreaming?

It is the process of assessing the implication for women and men of any planned action, including legislation,
polices or programs, in all areas and at all level. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s
concern and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
policies and programmes in all political, economical and social spheres so that women and men benefit
equally and inequality is not perpetuated.

It is the process of integrating a gender equality perspective into the development process at all stages and
levels. Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for the achievement of gender equality. It is a globally accepted
strategy for promoting gender equality and to make gender equality as central issues at all activities - policy
development, research, advocacy/ dialogue, legislation, resource allocation, and planning, implementation
and monitoring of programmes and projects.

Gender mainstreaming is a tactic. It integrate gender concerns in analysis, formulation and monitoring of
polices, programs and projects. It is a never ending process, rather than a goal of ‘doing Gender’ once and
for all, because gender roles and relations continuously change. Gender mainstreaming aims to strengthen
the legitimacy of gender equality values by addressing gender disparity and gaps which have been

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highlighted in the division of labor, access and control over resources, access to services, information and
opportunities and distribution of power and decision making.
Mainstreaming Gender Issues looks into changing existing systems by ensuring that
gender concerns are taken into account from the beginning of programme design.

4.3 Policy Approaches to Gender Mainstreaming and Promoting Gender

Equality and Equity

Existing policy frameworks to Mainstream gender in International Levels

The Conference unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that was in essence an
agenda for women's empowerment and stands as a milestone for their advancement in the twenty-first
century. It specified twelve critical areas of concern considered to represent the main obstacles to women's
advancement and which require concrete action by Governments and civil society:

 Women and poverty

 Education and training for women
 Women and health
 Violence against women
 Women and armed conflict
 Women and the economy
 Women in power and decision making
 Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
 Human rights of women
 Women and the media
 Women and the environment
 The girl child

Mainstreaming was clearly established as the global strategy for promoting gender equality through the
Platform for Action at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.
The need to ensure that attention to gender perspectives is an integral part of interventions in all areas of
societal development was made clear in that document. For each of the strategic objectives identified in
Beijing specific reference was made to the importance of the mainstreaming strategy. For example, in the
chapter on Women in power and decision-making paragraph 189 specifically addresses mainstreaming: “In
addressing the inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels,
Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender
perspective in all policies and programmes so that before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the
effects on women and men, respectively.”

The strategy of mainstreaming is defined in the ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions, 1997/2, as “…the process of
assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or
programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and
experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and
programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and
inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.”

Mainstreaming is not about adding on a ‘women’s component’, or even a ‘gender equality component’, to an
existing activity. It involves more than increasing women’s participation. Mainstreaming situates gender
equality issues at the centre of policy decisions, medium-term plans, programme budgets, and institutional
structures and processes. Mainstreaming entails bringing the perceptions, experience, knowledge and

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interests of women as well as men to bear on policy-making, planning and decision-making. Mainstreaming
can reveal a need for changes in goals, strategies and actions to ensure that both women and men can
influence, participate in and benefit from development processes. It can require changes in organizations –
structures, procedures and cultures – to create organizational environments which are conducive to the
promotion of gender equality.
The Mainstreaming Mandate within The UN was reinforced within the United
Nations system in three important documents.

The ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions 1997/2

The Agreed Conclusions established some basic overall principles of mainstreaming:

 Responsibility for implementing the mainstreaming strategy is system wide, and rests at the highest
levels within agencies, departments, funds, and commissions; and adequate accountability mechanisms
for monitoring progress need to be established.
 The initial definitions of issues/problems across all areas of activity should be done in such a manner
that gender differences and disparities can be diagnosed – assumptions that issues/problems are neutral
from a gender equality perspective should never be made. Gender analysis should always be carried
out, separately or as part of existing analyses.
 Clear political will and allocation of adequate resources for mainstreaming, including if necessary
additional financial and human resources are important for translation of the concept into reality.
 Gender mainstreaming requires that efforts are made to broaden women’s equitable participation at all
levels of decision-making.
 Mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, women-specific policies and programmes, and
positive legislation; nor does it do away with the need for gender units or focal points.

The Secretary General’s communication on gender mainstreaming, 13 October 1997

More concrete directives were provided with the Secretary-General’s communication

in October 1997, with the following guidance to heads of departments, programmes,
funds and regional commissions:

􀂃Analytical reports and recommendations on policy or operational issues within each

area of responsibility should take gender differences and disparities fully into
account.
􀂃Specific strategies should be formulated for gender mainstreaming; priorities should
be established.
􀂃Systematic use of gender analysis, sex-disaggregation of data, and commissioning
of sector-specific gender studies and surveys is required.
􀂃Medium-term plans and budgets should be prepared in such a manner that gender
perspectives and gender equality issues are explicit.

The Outcome Document from the General Assembly, 10 June 2000

The Special Session of the General Assembly to follow-up the first five years of implementation of the
Platform for Action specifically requested the United Nations to ensure gender mainstreaming through:

 Allocation of sufficient resources and maintenance of gender units and focal points.
 Provision of training to all personnel at headquarters and in the field as well as appropriate follow-up.
 Promotion of full participation of women at all levels in decision-making in development activities and
peace processes.

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The legal frameworks of gender-based violence: International Laws addressing
gender-based violence

Human Rights Instruments

Acts of gender-based violence violate numerous principles of international human rights including: the right
to life, equality, security of person, equal protection under the law, freedom from torture and other cruel,
inhumane or degrading treatment.
Key international documents include:
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (As well, the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the
Sale of Children, Child Pornography and Child Prostitution)
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW (1981)
• The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (UN General Assembly) (1993)
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (entered into force July 2002)
• UN Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children
(adopted, 2000), (UNICEF Training of Trainers on Gender-Based Violence: Focusing on Sexual Abuse
and Exploitation).
Why are we doing gender mainstreaming?
Before we deal about the need of GM it is necessary to explain the important of gender.
Why Gender is Important?
Since the mid-1980s there has been a growing consensus that sustainable development requires an
understanding of both women’s and men’s roles and responsibilities within the community and their
relations to each other. This has come to be known as the Gender and Development (GAD) approach. The
main objective of GAD is mainstreaming women’s needs and perspectives into all activities. Mainstreaming
acknowledges that all development operations have a gender impact and do not automatically benefit men
and women equally. Thus it is necessary to adopt GAD approach for development programmes to benefit
both men and women and also for sustainable development and positive impacts on the society as whole.
From these points of views bellows are given some points that the reason why we doing gender
mainstreaming:
 Experience shows policies and programs are most effective when the impacts on gender are considered
and addressed.
 It has been recognized internationally that this significantly improves peace building operations.
 Gender mainstreaming contributes to the redresses of systemic gender-based discrimination.
 For example, while trade liberalization can provide new employment opportunities for both men and
women, the market access opportunities that it creates can be difficult for women to take advantage of
the system.
 Gender is becoming on the International Agenda.

In the followings are also described to the focusing tips of why gender mainstreaming is the key of gender
equality that had to the agenda of international community.

Gender on the International Agenda

For several years now, governments and development agencies have given top priority to gender issues in
development planning and policies. Gender equity, concerning resource access and allocation as well as
opportunities for social and economic advancement, has been a prominent item on the agendas of all recent
international meetings, which have also investigated the basic link between gender equity and sustainable
development, defining specific mechanisms and objectives for international cooperation.

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The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (known as the
"Earth Summit") explicitly included gender issues in Agenda 21, its platform statement. The World
Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, also made significant progress in recognizing the
rights of women and girl-children as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights.
This principle was taken up again by the International Conference on Population and Development, held in
Cairo in 1994. Discussions focused on gender issues, stressing the empowerment of women for equitable
development: "...the objective is to promote gender equality in all spheres of life, including family and
community life, and to encourage and enable men to take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive
behaviour and their social and family roles." The World Summit for Social Development, held in
Copenhagen in 1995, took gender equity as the core strategy for social and economic development and
environmental protection. The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, reiterated the
importance of these new options, drawing up an agenda to strengthen the status of women and adopting a
declaration and platform for action aimed at overcoming the barriers to gender equity and guaranteeing
women's active participation in all spheres of life. Governments, the international community and civil
society, including NGOs and the private sector, were called upon to take strategic action in the following
critical areas of concern:

• The persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women;

• Inequalities and inadequacies in, and unequal access to, education and training;
• Inequalities and inadequacies in, and unequal access to, health care and related services;
• Violence against women;
• The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign
occupation;
• Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to
resources;
• Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making, at all levels;
• Insufficient mechanisms, at all levels, to promote the advancement of women;
• Lack of respect for, and inadequate promotion and protection of, the human rights of women;
• Stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to, and participation in, all communication
systems, especially the media;
• Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and the safeguarding of the environment;
• Persistent discrimination against, and violation of the rights of, the girl-child.3 UN. 1995. Critical areas
of concern
Governments and international organizations were urged to promote the search for, and the dissemination of,
information on the main aspects of gender issues, and to encourage the production and dissemination of
gender-specific statistics for programme planning and evaluation. Specific recommendations concerning
statistics were formulated.
Strategic objective H.34 of the Platform for Action in Annex 1 states that all statistics concerning
individuals should be gathered, compiled, analyzed and presented as gender-disaggregated data, mirroring
the concerns and issues of women in society.
• Measure the full contributions of women and men to the economy;
• Measure unpaid work in agriculture, particularly subsistence agriculture, and other types of non-market
production activities included in the UN System of National Accounts;
• Develop methods for the quantitative measurement of unremunerated work that is outside the UN
System of National Accounts, such as caring for dependents and preparing food, for possible inclusion in
satellite or other official accounts that may be produced separately from the National Accounts;
• Develop an international classification of unremunerated work activities for measurement in time-use
studies;
• Measure underemployment of men and women;
• Define concepts and methods to measure poverty and access to resources;

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• Strengthen systems for gathering essential statistics and incorporate gender analysis;
• Develop data on morbidity and access to health services;
• Develop improved data on all forms of violence against women;
• Develop data collection on women and men with disabilities, including data on their access to
resources
The Platform also formulated specific recommendations concerning national statistics. Governments were
urged to review their statistics systems' coverage of gender considerations, disseminate statistics periodically
in appropriate published forms for a wide range of users and utilize gender-specific data in the formulation of
sustainable development policies and programmes.

Mainstreaming Approach

 Long-term Perspective

 Gender mainstreaming is a long term task.

 It requires thinking strategically; identify entry points, and taking advantage of unexpected
opportunities and willingness to compromise.
 Multi-faceted Approach

• This might include, participatory policy formulation, gender sensitization and planning
workshops, strategic actions and the development of effective monitoring and review procedures.
 Working in Partnership and Networking
Gender equality as a goal of development requires active collaboration between government
organizations and others.
 Involve Men as well as Women
• Men as well as women should be involved in the promotion of gender equality.
• Gender mainstreaming involves men as primary stakeholder.
Strategies and methods in gender mainstreaming
A strategy is a long term and broad plan for achieving an objective, while a method is a way
of carrying out the activities.
Levels of gender mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming can be done at the following levels:
1) Policy
2) Institutional /organizational
3) Programmes/project.
The process of gender mainstreaming at various levels

Effective gender mainstreaming can occur if the following are in place:

 A clear gender policy
 Practical coordination of all gender mainstreaming initiatives
 A clear guide on gender mainstreaming and best practices
 Training and capacity building
 Awareness creation and advocacy on gender mainstreaming
 Partnerships and networking for persons and institutions
 Research and information dissemination on gender issues
 Sex disaggregated data
 Resources mobilization
 Monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
 Methods used in gender mainstreaming

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  Carrying out a gender analysis regularly
 carrying out participatory training
 Consultative meetings and feedback for a Preparation and dissemination of Information, Education
and Communication (IEC) materials
 Creation of data banks and resource centre on gender mainstreaming and support
 services
 Creation of membership associations of people and organizations involved in gender advocacy
 Participation of member associations in trade shows and exhibitions
 Media and publicity programs.
Monitoring, evaluation and reporting in gender mainstreaming.
Monitoring is the systematic and regular tracking of progress during planning and implementation
of gender mainstreaming. It involves continuous observation, reflection and making decisions
regarding activities implemented.
Evaluation, on the other hand, refers to the periodic assessment of expected results in relation to
specific objectives of the implementation of gender mainstreaming. It is important to determine who
needs what type of information, for what purpose and how often. Appropriate instrument to be used
for data collection should be designed.
What needs to be monitored and evaluated?
 Inputs, activities, results and context
What tools should be used in monitoring and evaluation?
 Work plans, budgets, reports and projects documentation.
Reporting involves collection and documentation of information relating to the implementation of
gender mainstreaming. Such reports provide feedback and sharing of information for planning and
decision – making.
Types of reports
 Narrative / qualitative
 Quantitative

The Steps in Gender Mainstreaming

10 Steps for mainstreaming Gender into the Policy-Making Process

Gender mainstreaming, by definition, involves integrating a gender perspective and gender analysis into all
stages of designing, implementing and evaluating projects, policies and programmes.

STEP 1 A Mainstreaming Approach to Stakeholders: Who Are the Decision Makers?

Step 1 concerns the project and policy making context. The actors involved in the process, along with their
values and understanding of gender issues, will significantly determine the outcome of your policy or
project.
During Step 1 you should seek answers to the following three key questions:
• Who are the stakeholders? Do they include individuals or groups with a “gender perspective”?
Gender mainstreaming means that “gender” stakeholders need to be identified and included throughout the
policy or project cycle. Multiple stakeholders bring greater accountability and a wider variety of options to
the policy-making process. It also introduces a series of “checks and balances” against competing
viewpoints. Negotiating these multiple viewpoints will result in better policy-making.
• Is there gender balance in all institutions and bodies involved?
If strong gender imbalance exists among stakeholders or the core policy making group, take measures to
involve more of the underrepresented gender – be it men or women. This is a question of accountability and
credibility.

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• Where is gender expertise available?
Stakeholders with gender expertise will help you identify entry points for gender mainstreaming and
implement a mainstreaming approach throughout the entire project or policymaking cycle. These experts are
important allies.
Such expertise might be found with policy-making colleagues, academics, consultants, NGOs or community
groups, or development partners.
Bringing this expertise aboard is mainstreaming at its most basic level.
STEP 2 Mainstreaming a Gender Agenda: What Is the Issue?
During Step 2, you should first identify the main development problem or issue at hand. This can be
accomplished by answering a basic question:
• What is the subject of your project or policy-making initiative?
This subject then needs to be examined from a gender perspective, in order to discern where, why and how
specific gender mainstreaming initiatives may need to be applied. The following question will help you
decide what the “gender issue” is:
• Does this issue affect men and women in different ways?
The answer is likely to be “yes”. This means that the specific ways in which men and women are differently
affected need to be refined (see Gender Mainstreaming Steps 4 and 5). Gender analysis is a vital part of
clarifying the precise gender dimension of the issue (see Annex: Gender Analysis – A Brief Guide).
The Gender Briefs in Part II can help you identify the “gender issues” of various development problems.
Step 2 is thus your first look through the “gender lens.” While at this stage you will not yet be identifying
specific gender problems that require policy solutions, Step 2 should introduce an appreciation of gender-
related aspects of seemingly “gender-neutral” issues.
STEP 3 Moving Towards Gender Equality: What Is the Goal?
Once you have identified the “subject” of your project or policy-making initiative, you should discern what
your goal is. You can do this by asking:
• What do we want to achieve?
In Step 2, you will have identified any gender dimensions inherent in the policy issue. It is also equally
important to make this gender dimension explicit in your policy goal. This can happen in two different ways,
and can be identified by asking two different questions:
• Is the goal disaggregated by gender?
The policy or project goal should address any differences between men and women and seek to redress them.
If men and women have different needs, then the goal should be to meet both the needs of women and the
needs of men. If men or women are disadvantaged in the given situation, then the policy goal should seek to
redress this imbalance.
These goals are thus “corrective”; they are about meeting the practical needs of both men and women.
• Does the goal include a broader commitment to improving gender equality?
The policy or project goal should also be examined in the light of gender equality more broadly. Perhaps
elements of the institutions, structures or underlying principles that contextualize the issue fundamentally
hinder de facto equality between men and women. If so, the goal should be broadened to address these
elements as well. These goals are thus “transformative”; they are about transforming institutions and
structures (social, political, economic, cultural, etc.) so that full gender equality can be more readily
achieved.
These broad goals will be translated into specific targets and objectives (see Step 6), once you have refined
the question (see Step 5 and Annex: Gender Analysis – A Brief Guide) and are ready to develop concrete
policy interventions.
STEP 4 Mapping the Situation: What Information Do We Have?

In Step 2 you have discerned what your policy issue is and identified potential gender dimensions of this
issue. In Step 3 you have identified the overall intended goals your policy or project interventions, and
ensured these are gender-sensitive. In Step 4 “Mapping the Situation,” you must start thinking about refining

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both your question and your potential policy interventions. In order to do this, it is important to have an
inventory of:
• what you know
• what you don’t know
• what projects or policy interventions have already happened
• what is currently happening
• what other related interventions are planned
Answering the above questions will help you focus on “filling in the gaps”, commissioning or undertaking
necessary research and planning complementary initiatives rather than “reinventing the wheel”. Mapping the
Situation is also a critical stage for introducing efficiency into the mainstreaming process.
Three tools and exercises are suggested that will help you answer the above questions:
 Mapping Exercise
 Policy Review from a Gender Perspective
 Legislative Review from a Gender Perspective
Gender Mainstreaming Tool #1
A Mapping Exercise
One useful tool involves undertaking a “mapping exercise” in relation to the sector or policy issue you are
addressing, in order to systematically inventorize what you know and what you do not know, as well as prior,
on-going and planned interventions. You do not require any additional financial resources to perform this
exercise.
Time required: The actual time required to fill in the chart (below) is minimal. However, because you may
have to wait for inputs from counterparts and colleagues, you can expect the exercise to require one-two
weeks.
Helpful Sources of Information:
• Database of government legislation
• Database of government documents
• Database of government-commissioned research
• Database of donor-funded technical assistance
• Database of NGO activities
Methodology: Based on information you have and are able to access from colleagues and other
stakeholders, fill in the table below, row by row:
1. First row (Sectoral or Policy Issues): Identify the main policy issues of concern (i.e. these may be sub
sectors or sub-issues). Use as many columns as you need.
2. Second row (Gender Questions): Ask questions about potential gender dimensions of the sub issues (these
questions can be identified during
Gender Mainstreaming - Step 2 in answer to the question: Does this issue affect men and women in the same
way?)
3. Additional rows: From there, simply fill in what you know about this issue according to the categories in
the left-hand column (the information in italics is meant to guide you in filling in the table). Make note of
any questions where information is missing.
Using Your Results: Once you have filled in the table as far as possible, the gaps should highlight where
additional research, policies, etc. might be necessary. Updating your table can serve as a monitoring tool for
your progress in gender mainstreaming.
STEP 5 Refining the Issue: Research and Analysis:
“Mapping the Situation” (Step 4) will have underlined where specifically a gender mainstreaming
perspective is required: existing policies may need to be amended in order to include a gender perspective, or
new policies may need to be developed. Step 4 should have also made clear where gaps in your current
information base exist. During Step 5, you will need to conduct or commission research that will fill in these

17
gaps. This is absolutely crucial in order to guarantee the credibility, efficiency and effectiveness of any
projects or policies you develop.

This phase involves:

 Specifying the research question
 Determining necessary inputs
 Designing and/or commissioning the research
1) Specifying the Research Question:
The research question needs to be concrete and specific in order to be useful for policy making or project
development. The most crucial factor will be understanding what output is required from the research. This
is necessary in order to provide precise terms of reference for the researchers.
What Is The Desired Output Of The Research?
Situational Analysis: If you have absolutely no data on a given subject, a situational analysis may be
required. However, bear in mind that situational analyses do not provide you with concrete policy options or
recommendations.
Policy Options/Recommendations: If your goal is the development of concrete policies, policy researchers
and analysts should provide you with a “policy brief” that contains several options and highlights the
advantages and disadvantages of each. These considerations should examine:
• Efficiency (cost-benefit analysis),
• Effectiveness (coverage, scope, sustainability), and
• Extent to which gender issues are addressed: are needs of both men and women met? Are frameworks of
gender roles and relations transformed?
2) Determining Necessary Inputs:
Research can be conducted in one of two ways:
• in-house; or
• outsourced (to individual experts, civil society groups, think tanks or commercial research firms)
Your budget, technical capacity and expertise, alongside the scope of the research, are the factors which will
determine which route you choose. In either case, those conducting the research must meet the following
criteria:
• Substantive expertise concerning the sectoral or policy issue;
• gender expertise (i.e. professional and/or academic training in gender theory as pertains to public policy);
• specific technical expertise as demanded by the research question (i.e. economic modelling, population-
based survey design, etc.).
The appropriate balance of these three elements is crucial for producing viable policy options. You may need
to engage a team of researchers to ensure all three capacities.
3) Commissioning the Research:
Regardless of whether the research is conducted in-house or outsourced, you should refer to the following
questions when evaluating any research proposals:
STEP 6 Formulating Policy or Project Interventions From a Gender Perspective
Once you have collected and analyzed the necessary data and information, you will have to decide on the
appropriate course of action to move towards the goal articulated in Step 3. Choosing the “correct” course
for a policy or project intervention is rarely straightforward. It involves balancing a number of crucial
considerations, including:
Crucial Considerations for Policy Options:
• efficiency – cost-benefit analysis;
• effectiveness – the degree to which your goal will be met; and
• social justice, including gender equality – the extent to which social and historical disadvantages
between different groups in society are addressed and compensated.

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The economic, social, equity, community, environmental and other types of impact of each option need to be
assessed. To ensure a gender perspective, a “gender impact assessment” should also be conducted for each
option. This should consider the following key questions3:
Gender Impact Assessment Checklist:
 What benefit (financial, human) will the option bring to both men and women ?
 What cost (financial, human) will the option inflict on both men and women?
 How do both female and male stakeholders perceive the option in terms of its costs, benefits,
acceptability and practicality?
The results of this assessment should be considered when weighing policy options.
Additionally, you should consider:
 What might the wider consequences be of failing to adopt a gender-sensitive option?
After weighing these factors carefully, you will be ready to formulate your intervention. This will entail
preparing the actual policy or project document.
STEP 7 Arguing Your Case: Gender Matters!
One crucial aspect of gender mainstreaming involves developing arguments for gender equality.
Because experience has shown that decision makers are sometimes reluctant to devote scarce resources to
gender equality activities, decision-makers (especially those who control budgets) need to be convinced that
their investment in gender equality will pay off.
Decision-makers need to be presented with arguments that highlight, concretely and precisely, why gender
matters. In other words, you must illustrate what development problems gender equality contributes to
solving, and what specific benefits a gender-aware perspective will bring to the government, individuals –
both men and women – and the nation as whole. Well-defined arguments will increase your chances of
receiving financial and moral support for any planned interventions.
The “Added Value” Of Gender Mainstreaming:
Arguments for adopting a gendered approach and for promoting gender equality in all projects and policies
generally fall into one of the following 6 categories:
• Justice and Equality
• Credibility and Accountability
• Efficiency and Sustainability (the “macro” dimension)
• Quality of Life (the “micro” dimension)
• Alliances
• Chain Reaction.
Justice and Equality Arguments: These stress the value of democratic principles and basic human rights,
which demand gender equality. Justice arguments can be used to argue for equal representation and
participation of both genders in various contexts, premised on the basic notion of their shared human rights.
Most states are party to a variety of normative documents (for example, The Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and global conference documents from
Beijing, Copenhagen and Cairo), all of which establish gender equality as a fundamental principle.
States are obliged to fulfil these commitments, especially as many basic democratic principles articulated
here reflect most states’ own constitutions.
While experience has unfortunately shown that the justice argument alone is often insufficient to convince
governments to mobilize adequate resources, these arguments are nonetheless useful for providing reference
to specific mandates for gender equality and international commitments.
They remind governments that they are part of an international (or regional) community that espouses shared
values.
Credibility and Accountability Arguments: Credibility arguments ask decision makers to “do the math”:
because women and men each make up half of the population, any data, policy or recommendation that does
not recognize and address both genders equally will be ultimately flawed, and will thus have no credibility.
These arguments are useful for justifying gender impact assessments (studies that examine how men and

19
women are, will be or have been differently affected by actions or situational factors), or calling for more
gender balance in decision-making processes.
Accountability arguments in particular are useful for reminding governments of their responsibility to ensure
social justice and sustainable human development. In democratic states, governments must be accountable to
the population and must further the interests of all its members – both men and women. A failure to address
social justice or gender equality issues is also a failure of governments to be accountable to all citizens.
Furthermore, many gender-sensitive interventions are not just gender exercises for their own sake – they are
about holding governments accountable for their use of public funds and for the fulfilment of their political
promises. Gender mainstreaming can offer concrete mechanisms for introducing a greater degree of
accountability into governance.
Efficiency and Sustainability Arguments4: These arguments make clear an irrefutable fact:
Equal inclusion of men and women in all aspects of development and society pays off for the country as a
whole. Nations cannot afford to ignore the contributions and economic and social capacities of both men and
women in all spheres. The development of any country that does will ultimately suffer in the medium and
long term. This is an argument that addresses “macro” aspects of development – i.e. the welfare and
prosperity of a nation as a whole.

STEP 8 Monitoring: Keeping a (Gender-Sensitive) Eye on Things

Monitoring is an indivisible aspect of gender mainstreaming. Three aspects of monitoring include:

I. Levels of Monitoring
II. Gender-Sensitive Monitoring Plans
III. Gender-Sensitive Targets and Indicators.
I. Levels of Monitoring

Monitoring should take place at two different levels:

• Monitoring progress towards fulfilling substantive goals and objectives
• Monitoring the implementation process
Both require setting targets (goals) and developing indicators to measure progress towards meeting those
targets.
When monitoring progress towards substantive goals and objectives, indicators must be developed that track
the delivery of specified outputs (activities) and outcomes (impact).
When monitoring the implementation process, targets and indicators must be developed that track the extent
to which the process itself is gender sensitive.
Monitoring the process will:
• allow you to identify hindrances and gaps in the process that can be immediately redressed
• allow you to improve the design of future initiatives
• document obstacles to mainstreaming that can be later addressed in a wider institutional context
Questions to consider in monitoring the process might include:
• Are men and women equally participating in project decision-making?
• Are men and women treated with equal respect, as decision-makers, implementers and participants?
• Are those involved in project implementation continually motivated to maintain a gender perspective
(opportunities to update their gender knowledge and skills, and discuss gender issues in a non-
judgemental environment)?
II. Gender-Sensitive Monitoring Plans
Plans for monitoring both substantive progress and the implementation process should be developed and
included in the official document outlining your intervention. These plans should specify:
• who is responsible for monitoring tasks
• how other stakeholders will participate in the monitoring process

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• when monitoring will take place
• what tools will be used to record observations
• what mechanisms exist to review progress (periodic appraisal or review sessions)
Iii. Gender-Sensitive Targets and Indicators
Targets
We set targets so that we can “keep our eye on the prize” – targets make our goals concrete, and therefore
increase the possibility that they will be attained. Concrete targets also increase the possibility that concrete
resources (human, financial) will be diverted in order to achieve those targets.
Effective targets are:
• progressive but realistic
• time-bound
• measurable
Integrating a gender perspective means that effective targets are also gender sensitive: they consider the
situation and needs of both women and men.
Indicators
Progress towards achieving targets should be mapped with the help of specific indicators.
Effective indicators are:
• comparable longitudinally (over time) – indicators that are measured only once cannot show signs of
progress or decline
• comparable with other countries, regions or target audiences
• measurable – you need to be able to quantify or categorize your results
• precise – choose indicators whereby effects of external and environmental factors, other than those you
hope to measure, are minimized
• selective and representative – too many indicators are difficult to track
In programmes and policies that have been “gender mainstreamed,” all indicators should be disaggregated by
sex wherever possible. This helps identify the gender differentiated impact of our interventions.
Quantitative indicators can be defined as measures of quantity (total numbers, percentages, etc). They are
useful for showing what the average outcome is, or the degree to which a goal or objective has been attained.
Common sources:
• censuses
• labour-force surveys
• administrative records
• target population-based sociological surveys Qualitative indicators can be defined as people’s
judgements and perceptions about a subject. They are useful for understanding processes, but frequently
do not show how typical or widespread are the views expressed.
Common sources:
• public hearings
• focus groups
• attitude surveys and interviews
• participatory appraisals
• participant observation
• sociological and anthropological fieldwork

STEP 9 Evaluations: How Did We Do?

The culmination of the monitoring process occurs during Step 9: Evaluation. This stage is vital for
establishing good practices and lessons learned from your initiative, for the ultimate purpose of improving
initiatives in the future. Evaluation is also a question of accountability for resources used.
Three levels of evaluation include:
1. Evaluation of outputs (Have objectives been met?)

21
2. Evaluation of outcomes (To what extent has the development goal been achieved?)
3. Evaluation of process (How were outputs and outcomes delivered?)

STEP 10: En-Gendering Communication:

While “communication” figures as the last step in this gender mainstreaming guide, communication
considerations themselves need to “mainstreamed” or integrated at all phases of the project or policy cycle.
Communication with other stakeholders – from civil society to your superiors – is necessary at all stages and
all levels. In every case, the way in which you communicate (both pro-actively and reactively) will influence
the success of your project or policy.
One of the barriers to effective gender mainstreaming is a lack of information on various levels, including:

• about the situation, from a gender perspective

• about government or organizational mandates for gender equality
• about policies and programmes targeting gender equality
• about stakeholders and efforts of other actors in promoting gender equality

Part of your role must be to design and implement effective communication strategies to help bridge this
information gap for a diverse set of publics.

These publics include:

• Top-level policy makers and decision-makers

• Other policy-makers
• Different groups within civil society (men, women, activists, academics, etc)
• Donors and development partners

Gender responsive governance

Group Exercise discussion:

• Using examples, ask the student to explain what they understand by the term ‘governance’
• Let them give suggestions on how governance can be made gender responsive.
• The instructor to summarize key learning areas.

1. What is governance?
Governance is a process by which people determine their destiny. This involves identification of leaders to
guide those being governed to fulfill their vision and mission while guarding against mismanagement of the
same. It is about choices being made and holding each other accountable in terms of how they are being
governed, resource mobilization, distribution and expenditure.
2. Principles of good governance
• Those given the responsibility to run the organization must have legitimate authority
• Having a good corporate governance framework which promotes transparency and consistent with rules
of law
• Creation of divisions of responsibilities at different levels with clear lines of communication
• Monitoring and evaluation system which provides timely feedback
• Accountability and transparency in all operations
• Taking care of the organizations’ assets and prudent deployment of resources
• Equitable distribution of work, responsibility and resources
• Co-ordination and supervision
• Full active participation of all stakeholders.

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4.4 Empowerment: Gender and women
The concept of empowerment
Empowerment: is a term used generally to describe the process by which powerless people become
conscious of their own situation and organize collectively to gain greater access to public services or to the
benefits of economic growth (CIDA 1997).
Empowerment: A process through which men, women, boys and girls acquire knowledge, skills and
attitudes to critically analyze their situation and take appropriate action to change the status quo of the
underprivileged and other marginalized groups in society.
Empowerment is a process through which women, men, girls and boys acquire knowledge, skills, economic
assets, information, technology and its services and social support. In the process of acquiring the above, the
inner self develops willingness to critically analyze their situation and take appropriate action to change the
status quo of the disadvantaged and marginalized group of human beings in the society.

Beijing Declaration: ‘Women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all
sphere of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are
fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace (paragraph 13).’ (cited in DAC, 1998:
10)
It is a ‘bottom-up’ process of transforming gender power relations, through individuals or groups developing
awareness of women’s subordination and building their capacity to challenge it. The term ‘empowerment’ is
now widely used in development agency policy and programme documents, in general, but also specifically
in relation to women. However, the concept is highly political, and its meaning contested. Thus, there are
dangers in the uncritical overuse of the term in agency rhetoric, particularly where it becomes associated
with specific activities, or used in simplistic ways.
Central to the concept of women’s empowerment is an understanding of power itself. Women’s
empowerment does not imply women taking over control previously held by men, but rather the need to
transform the nature of power relations. Power may be understood as ‘power within,’ or self confidence,
‘power with’, or the capacity to organise with others towards a common purpose, and the ‘power to’ effect
change and take decisions, rather than ‘power over’ others.
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 is essentially a bottom-up process rather than something that can be formulated as a top-down
strategy. This means that development agencies cannot claim to 'empower women', nor can empowerment be
defined in terms of specific activities or end results. This is because it involves a process whereby women,
individually and collectively, freely analyse, develop and voice their needs and interests, without them being
pre-defined, or imposed from above. Planners working towards an empowerment approach must therefore
develop ways of enabling women themselves to critically assess their own situation and shape a
transformation in society. The ultimate goal of women’s empowerment is for women themselves to be the
active agents of change in transforming gender relations.
Whilst empowerment cannot be ‘done to’ women, appropriate external support can be important to foster
and support the process of empowerment. A facilitative rather than directive role is needed, such as funding
women’s organisations that work locally to address the causes of gender subordination and promoting
dialogue between such organisations and those in positions of power.
4.5 The need of gender and women empowerment for development
What is the difference between Gender and women empowerment?

Gender empowerment

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Gender empowerment: is the empowerment of people of any gender. While conventionally being reduced
to its aspect of empowerment of women, the concept stresses the distinction between
biological sex and gender as a role, also referring to other marginalized genders in a particular political or
social context.
Measuring GE:
Gender empowerment can be measured through the Gender Empowerment Measure, or the GEM. The GEM
shows women’s participation in a given nation, both politically and economically. Gem is calculated by
tracking “the share of seats in parliament held by women; of female legislators, senior officials and
managers; and of female profession and technical workers; and the gender disparity in earned income,
reflecting economic independence.” It then ranks countries given this information. Other measures that take
into account the importance of female participation and equality include: the Gender Parity Index and
the Gender-related Development Index (GDI).
In conclusion:

 Gender empowerment is an important and appropriate instrument for enhancing gender roles in
sustainable rural development.
 Gender empowerment in Ethiopia requires economic, legislative and policy measures to improve the
conditions of both male and female population.
Why Gender Considers as Women’s Empowerment?

Although ‘gender and development’ includes both women and men, however, in most cases focus is given to
only women. It is because of imbalance and unequal status of women in most of the societies where women
do not have the same opportunities and personal freedom as men do. Therefore, there is a need to focus
women compared to men. It is like two glasses, where one is half full and another is empty, thus the empty
glass should get water first and when both glasses become equal then fill both. If someone tries to fill both
glasses without noticing the level of water it won’t work.
Women Empowerment

Women Empowerment: is referring to the empowerment of women in our present society, has become a
significant topic of discussion in regards to development and economics. It can also point to approaches
regarding other marginal genders in a particular political or social context. Empowering women is a key to
achieving food security (Olumakaiye and Ajayi 2006). Improving access by small-scale farmers to
productive resources is one of the best mechanisms for ensuring sustainable human development (Bhatta
2001). Legislative reforms can be a powerful strategy for empowering women and girls and safeguarding
their rights (United Nations Children’s Fund 2006; Baden and Reeves 2000).

Measuring WE
Women empowerment can be measured through the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), which shows
women’s participation in a given nation, both politically and economically. GEM is calculated by tracking
“the share of seats in parliament held by women; of female legislators, senior officials and managers; and of
female profession and technical workers; and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic
independence. Other measures that take into account the importance of female participation and equality
include: the Gender Parity Index and the Gender-related Development Index (GDI).
Methods to empower: How to empower women?

To empower women is to empower the family and the community as a whole. There are many mechanisms
for women empowerment development approach/ some of them are:

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Women Land rights offer a key way to economically empower women, giving them the confidence they
need to tackle gender inequalities. Often, women in developing nations are legally restricted from their land
on the sole basis of gender. Having a right to their land gives women a sort of bargaining power that they
wouldn’t normally have, in turn; they gain the ability to assert themselves in various aspects of their life,
both in and outside of the home. Another way to provide women empowerment is to allocate responsibilities
to them that normally belong to men. When women have economic empowerment, it is a way for others to
see them as equal members of society. Through this, they achieve more self-respect and confidence by their
contributions to their communities. Simply including women as a part of a community can have sweeping
positive effects.

• Formulate Gender Empowerment and Affirmative Action policy and implement it properly

Based on this development approach, over the years, the government of Ethiopia has been making efforts to
empower women in decision-making processes in order to facilitate the attainment of the country’s
sustainable development goals. The establishment of the Women’s Affairs Office in the country and the
formulation of a national policy on women, which entitles and ensures women’s right to property,
employment and pension illustrate the commitment of the government to gender empowerment (United
Nations 2002). Bellows are described the Formulated Gender Empowerment and Affirmative Action policy
in Ethiopia.
4.6 Gender Empowerment Policy in Ethiopia
Following the Beijing conference of 1995, Ethiopia identified poverty and economic empowerment of
women and girls; education and training of women and girls; promotion of reproductive rights, health and
control of HIV/ AIDS; promoting human rights, elimination of violence against women and girls;
empowering women in decision-making; and forging positive links between women and the environment;
and introducing institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women as priority areas that need to be
tackled in order to ensure gender equitable development (MOWA, 2006). The gender policy primarily aims
to institutionalize the political, economic and social rights of women by creating appropriate structures in
government offices and other institutions to make public policies and interventions more gender-sensitive
and development oriented (UN 2003)

Empowering rural women through improved access to key productive resources and agricultural services is
the right choice for developing countries like Ethiopia where rural women’s contribution to agricultural
production and food security is quite immense. Facilitating access to productive resources - ranging from
land and water to infrastructure – by the poor is not a one-time event, but an institutional process that
requires permanent adaptation to changing circumstances of power, economics, and culture (IFAD 2007;
Peter 2006; Rahman 2000).

According to Elson (1998), macro-economic policy can worsen or improve the living standards of different
groups of women and contribute to narrowing or widening gender gaps in incomes, health, education,
nutrition, etc. An effective macro-economic policy is required for improving the livelihood of the
marginalized sections of society, especially rural men and women. Such a policy could create a virtuous
circle in which the policy itself contributes to the reduction of gender inequality, and thereby lessen gender
constraints and successful macro-economic outcomes (Elson 1998).
Effective gender empowerment policy is a very important component of Ethiopia’s sustainable rural
agriculture development model. The policy guides all strategies for empowering female farmers at the grass
root level. The principal components of the gender empowerment model are briefly described below:

Economic Empowerment: Ethiopian rural women face enormous challenges including lack of education,
access to resources such as land, time, capital, and financial services. Economic empowerment is one of the

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empowerment components that can effectively deal with the complex challenges of rural women (Ruzvidzo
2007; APF and NEPAD 2007; Baden and Oxaal 1997; UNICEF 2006).
Legal Empowerment: Legislative reform can be a powerful strategy for empowering women and girls and
safeguarding their rights (UNICEF 2006; Ruzvidzo 2007; Baden and Reeves 2000).
Political Empowerment: Women in politics advocate more often and more strongly for the rights of women,
children and families (UNICEF 2006).
Social Empowerment: It is important to organize female farmers into different groups to deal with emerging
socio-economic and environmental challenges.
Productive Resources: These resources are used to produce agricultural outputs. Land and irrigation water
are the two key productive resources for which access by rural women must be improved to guarantee gender
empowerment.
Agricultural Services: These services are important for supporting production and management of
agricultural products. Credit and agricultural extension services and rural institutions are important
agricultural services for which access of rural women must be improved through gender empowerment.

4.7 Ethiopian’s Affirmative Action policy to empower women

What is meant by Affirmative Action?

Affirmative Action: A policy or programme of taking steps to increase the representation of certain
designed groups seeking to redress discrimination or bias through active measures in education and
employment. It is usually achieved through discrimination against other groups.

Affirmative action is an action or a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and
minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities .To foster
diversity and compensate for the ways such groups have historically been excluded, institutions with
affirmative action programs prioritize the inclusion of minority groups in the employment, education and
government sectors, among others. For example; affirmative action programmes have allowed women and
minorities entry into professions formerly off limits to them.

In employment, affirmative action programs are recruitment and outreach efforts to include qualified
women in the talent pool when hiring decisions are made; training programs to give all employees a fair
chance at promotions; and in some cases the use of flexible goals and timetable (not quotas) as benchmarks
by which to measure progress toward eliminating severe under-representation of qualified women in specific
job categories.

In education, affirmative action programs for women include grants and graduate fellowship programs
aimed at helping women move into fields where their participation has been discouraged, such as
engineering, math and the physical sciences. They also include programs to prepare and motivate girls and
women for study in nontraditional fields. For women business owners, affirmative action programs include
laws that encourage government agencies and contractors to do business with qualified women owned
companies, as well as programs providing financial, management and technical assistance to women
business owners ( Article 35, Woman’s Bill of Rights; sub article 1).

Challenges in empowering women: In spite of the existence of some gender sensitive legislation,
polices and directives, implementation has been challenging due to variations in regional contexts, limited
capacities, lack of political will, paucity of sex-disaggregated data, high illiteracy rate, deep-rooted cultural
beliefs and practices and lack of resources.

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Moreover Gender empowerment in the country is facing a number major constraints, including the low level
of consciousness by the population about the roles played by women in the development of the country that
prevent women from fully participating in the development process of the country; lack of appropriate
technology to reduce the workload of women at the household level; and the shortage of qualified female
development agents to help motivate and empower rural women (United Nations, 2002).

4.8 Gender Equality and Equity

What Do You Know About Women In The World?
After students have chosen a corner of the room, ask a few students from the different corners to share.
1. Question: What do you know about women in the world?
Answer: 66%; about two-thirds of those who cannot read or write are women (Source: UNICEF, “Basic
Education and Gender Equality,”[Link]
2. Question: What percentage of elected government representatives around the world are women?
Answer: 17% (Source: UNICEF, State of the World’s Children 2007, p. 56, [Link]/sowc07.)
3. Question: Worldwide, women who work outside the home earn wages that are less than men’s.
How much less are women’s wages? Answer: about 20% less (Source: UNICEF, State of the World’s
Children 2007, p. 39, [Link]/sowc07)
4. Question: In the African country of Cameroon, women do more than 75% of the farm work.
What percentage of farm land is owned by women? Answer: less than 10 % (Source: UNICEF, State of the
World’s Children 2007, p. 42, [Link]/sowc07).
After the fourth question, have the class return to their seats. Discuss:
• What was your reaction to these facts?
• Which answers were most surprising to you? Why?
• What can you conclude about the situation of women, compared to the situation of men in the world, from
these statistics? (This is an opportunity to introduce the terms “equality” and “inequality.”)
Gender Equity
Gender Equity refers to the practice of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits, access to and
control of resources, responsibilities, power, opportunities and services. It is fairness of treatment for women
and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different
but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities. The goal of
gender equity, sometimes called substantive equality, moves beyond equality of opportunity by requiring
transformative change. An equity approach implies that all development policies and interventions need to be
scrutinized for their impact on gender relations. It necessitates a rethinking of policies and programmes to
take account of men’s and women’s different realities and interests.

Gender equity means that women and men have an equal chance of reaching the finishing line rather than
only an equal chance at the starting line. It is concerned with the promotion of personal, social, cultural,
political, and economic equality for all. The term gender equity emerged out of a growing recognition in
society of pervasive gender inequities. It taking into accounts the different situation of women and men/ girls
and boys come into.

Continuing traditions of stereotypical conceptions and discriminatory practices have resulted in the systemic
devaluation of attitudes, activities and abilities attributed to associate with girls and women. The negative
consequences of stereotypical conceptions and discriminatory practices adversely affect males as well as
female.

Gender Equality

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Gender equality: equality between men and women entails the concept that all human beings, both men and
women, are free to develop their personal abilities to make choices without the limitations set by stereotypes,
rigid gender roles and prejudices. Gender equality means that the different behavior, aspirations and needs of
women and men are considered, valued and favored equally. It does not mean that women and men have to
become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are
born male or female. Equality means that men and women have equal share of benefits, get equal treatment
before the law, equal access to social provision; education; equal pay for the work of the same value. This
involves the removal of discrimination and structural inequalities on the base of a person’s sex in access to
resources, opportunities and services, and the promotion of equal rights. It is important to recognize equality
does not mean “sameness.” Equality is not about providing the same programs, treatment, and opportunities
for girls and boys. It is about providing opportunities that mean the same to each gender.
While gender equality is one of the main aims of social policy in Ethiopia. Gender equality does not mean a
demand for identical similarity between men and women, but means that the differences between women and
men do not lead to differences in status or how they are treated in society. For this reason Finnish gender
equality thinking emphases that the mere provision of equal opportunities for men and women is not enough.
The end result of all activities must also be fair and in accordance with the principle of gender equality.
Since women have lower status than men all over the world, active measures are required to improve their
position in order to achieve gender equality. All countries are also committed to this through the Beijing
Platform for Action. To achieve gender equality it is necessary to act both at the grassroots level of everyday
life and at the various levels of political decision-making.

Since women have lower status than men all over the world, active measures are required to improve their
position in order to achieve gender equality. All countries are also committed to this through the Beijing
Platform for Action. To achieve gender equality it is necessary to act both at the grassroots level of everyday
life and at the various levels of political decision-making.
Why Gender Equality?
There are many fundamental reasons for working to achieve equality of women and men in any given
society.
1. Human right issue: unequal treatment and discrimination on the grounds of sex is considered as a
violation of universal human right. It is seen like any other discrimination such as religion, color and
ethnicity and this should be overcome.
2. Economic reason: women and men are the main actors of development and each constitutes half of the
population. If development is to succeed, the untapped potential of all men and women must be equally
and fully utilized in the process. Women’s equal share and participation in economic activity is a
precondition for sustainable development.
3. Political reason: Gender discrimination weakens a country’s governance and the effectiveness of its
development polices. Women’s unequal rights and poor socio-economic status relative to men also
limits their ability to participate in the political process as active citizens. Consequently, women would
be unable to influence decisions in their communities and at the national level. ‘Disparities in women’s
and men’s voice in the society are more broadly captured by their participation and representation in
the public life.
Advantage of Gender Equality
 Add value and dignity to women’s life in particular and humanity in general.
 Increased economic efficiency.
 Helps reduce Poverty.
 Addressing social, economic, political, environmental, developmental and cultural concerns.
 Increase institutional efficiency and effectiveness.
Challenges for achieving gender equality
 Discriminatory tradition attitude

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  Patriarchal society
 Discriminatory laws
 Very slow law enforcement system
 Lack of adequate knowledge and skill
 Poverty (lack of resource)
 Violence against women
 Implementation problem of polices, programs, guidelines etc concerning gender equality
 Lack of networking and coordination among groups working for gender equality.
 Problem of reaching the grassroots
 Absence of genuine commitment for Gender equality, etc

Strategy for Promoting Gender Equality

Implemented the Gender mainstreaming strategy and involving Men as he is more contributed to achieving
gender equality as well as implementing the gender and Media program in advocacy of women participation
in Ethiopia is vital. These three raised sample/examples strategies are shown how they could bring gender
equality in our country contexts.

Gender Mainstreaming
Mainstreaming a gender perspective in all types of activities (referred to as gender mainstreaming) is a
globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. Mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a means
to the goal of gender equality. Mainstreaming involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the
goal of gender equality are central to all activities - policy development, research, advocacy/dialogue,
legislation, resource allocation, and planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes and projects.
Development of an adequate understanding of mainstreaming requires clarity on the related concepts of
gender and equality.

Equality between women and men (gender equality): refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and
opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will
become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on
whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both
women and men are taken into consideration – recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and
men. Gender equality is not a ‘women’s issue’ but should concern and fully engage men as well as women.
Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and
indicator of, sustainable people-centred development.
UNICEF has found that strategies for improving gender equality include:
• Education: Equal education for boys and girls is a powerful way to combat gender discrimination. Parents
and communities must be encouraged to invest in girls’ education.
School fees must be abolished, and greater numbers of women teachers recruited. Schools must be created
where violence and bias against girls is not tolerated, and the curriculum and teaching methods reflect gender
equality.
• Legislation: Laws must be created to address domestic and gender-based violence. Property and
inheritance laws can be reformed to give women greater access to land and property.
And existing laws against gender discrimination must be enforced.
• Financing: Financial resources are necessary to achieving gender equality. Programs that benefit girls and
women – in education, health care, enforcing laws relating to equal pay and property rights, monitoring
inequality in the workplace, and investing in infrastructure (roads, wells, etc.) that reduce women’s work
loads and time burdens – all require adequate funds.
Government budgets must consider the impact on women of how money is spent.

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• Women empowering women: Community-based women’s organizations can be effective in giving
women a voice in shaping policies that affect women and children. They are sometimes overlooked by
national governments and international agencies, and should be partners in all forms of development
activities.
• Engaging boys and men: Men can be powerful allies in working for gender equality. When they are
involved and when both men and women focus on each other’s needs in addition to their own, there is the
potential for women and men to develop cooperative working relationships, communication between the
sexes, and more shared childcare and household responsibilities.
The strategies UNICEF is promoting are working. The rate of school attendance for girls around the world is
steadily increasing. Women are accessing education, moving into jobs once dominated by men, and
organizing with other women to create loan programs and income generating opportunities. They are making
steady inroads into decision-making at the community, state and national level. Many women are making
these gains while balancing responsibilities toward their children and families. Much is being accomplished
— and much remains to be done.
The Role of Men in Gender Equality: In Ethiopia

Gender equality is not a 'women's concern' but the responsibility of all individuals and of the society as
whole and requires the active contribution and input from both women and men.

In the past gender equality policies have been contextualised mainly as a women’s issue: the battle for
gender equality has mainly been fought by women and for women. In the last decade, however, there has
been an increasing acknowledgement of the crucial role of men in building gender equality as equal partners
with women. Men and masculinities have consequentially increasingly become subjects of studies and part
of gender equality policies in the EU.

Back in 2006, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on 'Men and gender equality noting
that “in order to improve the status of women and promote gender equality, more attention should be paid to
how men are involved in the achievement of gender equality, as well as to the positive impact of gender
equality for men and for the well-being of society as a whole.”

Two years before, in 2004, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) agreed
Conclusions on “The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality. The CSW emphasized that men
must take joint responsibility with women for the promotion of gender equality and recognized that men and
boys can and do make contributions to gender equality in their many capacities, and in all spheres of society.

From its side, the European Commission’s Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015 also
stresses the need for an active contribution and participation of men in order to advance gender equality:

“Gender equality needs the active contribution, support and participation of men and policies should also
address gender-related inequalities that affect boys/men such as literacy rates, early school-leaving and
occupational health.”

Study “The role of men in gender equality – European strategies & insights”

The Commission produced a study to fill the gap of specific and in-depth knowledge of the role and position
of men in gender equality issues. In this study three thematic workshops as well as a final conference were
organised, where institutional and academic representatives discussed and fed into the final study.

Three main issues are covered:

• “Men and Care’’– how men are involved in domestic duties and care-giving;

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• “Men at Work” – how men are involved in gender equality at work: for example the inclusion of men
in female-dominated sectors and occupations, in part-time employment etc.;
• “Men and Gender Equality’’– how to address men’s issues in gender equality: relevant topics and
strategies such as politics, health and violence. Men’s benefits from gender equality.

The study presents conclusions and recommendations on each of the areas analysed, as well as some
guiding principles on how to develop policies to improve the role of men in gender equality. These
findings represent key elements for policy makers at European and national level to design and carry out
more accurate policies and measures in these areas by using a more comprehensive approach, which
takes also into account the contribution, the needs and views of men.

Implementing the gender and Media program

The role of media in advocacy of women participation
In 1975 the First World Conference on Women was organized by the United Nations in Mexico City. It was
at that meeting that the UN hatched the idea of having a Women’s Decade. From then on African women
including women journalists continued to play a pivotal role in national and international consultations,
policy advocacy and programmes on women’s rights and later on gender equality. African women have
contributed significantly to subsequent world conferences such as in Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985),
Dakar (1994) and Beijing (1995).

The Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), adopted unanimously by 189 Member States of the United
Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, acknowledged the media as one of twelve “critical
areas of concern”. The inclusion of a section on media and communication was seen by many as a historic
breakthrough.

Section J of the Beijing Platform for Action addressed gender and the media focusing on universal concerns
about both the content of the media in regard to women and the representation of women within the media.
Key areas highlighted included:

 the lack of gender-responsiveness of the media through persistent gender-based stereotyping;

 the reinforcement of women’s traditional roles and the absence of women’s diverse lives and
contributions;
 the targeting of women as consumers;
 the use of women to promote consumerism by media advertising;
 the projection of negative images of women (women as inferiors) as well as degrading images of
women (women as sexual commodities) through pornographic or violent media representations;
 Women’s lack of participation in decision-making within the media, as well as in media regulatory
bodies.
 the reinforcement of women’s traditional roles and the absence of women’s diverse lives and
contributions;
 the targeting of women as consumers;
 the use of women to promote consumerism by media advertising;
 the projection of negative images of women (women as inferiors) as well as degrading images of
women (women as sexual commodities) through pornographic or violent media representations;
 Women’s lack of participation in decision-making within the media, as well as in media regulatory
bodies.
A number of media houses and organizations had in fact already started coverage of women’s rights as far
back as 1975, mostly in the area of women’s empowerment and development. But with the advent of Section
J in the Beijing platform for action, new perspectives on women and media emerged such as portrayal,

31
representation, participation , ownership and giving a voice to women to decide what goes into news and
programmes and how much space should be allocated to those issues. After the 1995 Beijing conference
several governments and non-governmental organizations started the process of integrating gender into their
policies and programmes. Quite a number of them established women’s desks or gender desks, although
initially a lot of them assigned those roles to women based on the misconception that gender is synonymous
with women and that gender concerns were only relevant to women.

Group work Exercise:

Case story: The Story of the Fox and the Crane
(Equal treatment does not mean fairness in outcome)
The Fox invited the Crane to dinner. He served the food on a large flat dish. The Crane with her long,
narrow beak could not eat.
The Crane invited the Fox to dinner. She served the food in a deep vase, and so the Fox with his short,
wide face could not eat.
Both friends had an equal opportunity for nourishment, but each time one of them could not take
advantage of this opportunity.
Discussion points: what is the implication of the story on gender equality and equity?

benefit from the country's legacy of intellectual and material resources; (2) Government has the duty to
ensure that all Ethiopians get equal opportunity to improve their economic condition and to promote
equitable distribution of wealth among them. CHAPTER – FIVE

Overviews of Gender issues and Ethiopian Government Policy Frameworks,

Strategies and Gender Mainstreaming Approaches Addressing gender inequality

Gender issues in Ethiopia

The social, political, and legal frameworks and realities; Gender and socioeconomic participation in
Ethiopia, Gender & environment; Gender and poverty, Gender and employment, Women & health and
Women & education are indicated high lightly in bellow:

In many developing countries, and among those in Ethiopia, gender issue has become an important area of
concern in national and sub-national economic development. Understanding the concept of gender is
essential to our understanding of how development processes affect men and women, girls and boys, in
different ways. As we pointed out in the introduction, gender is a social construction and codification of
differences between the sexes and social relationships between women and men. As Ethiopia strives to
continue its steady rate of development planning, it is becoming increasingly apparent that economic growth,
project efficiency and social justice are all calling for a new approach to the development planning which
systematically includes women.
It is not easy to outline the gender profile of a Country, since there are several aspects that compose the
general framework of the relationships between socio-economic and cultural roles of men and women. A
further problem is due to the interactions among the factors constituting gender profile. For example, it is
commonly verified that other factors as well as health services affect health. Primary education is
particularly crucial and water supply may also be important. But it is important to understand that the
provision of education is at least as important for the nation's health in the long run as the provision of health
care. There is also a link between transport policy and health; the building of roads makes it easier to provide
services, but it also increases the spread of diseases.
Forty years after the founding of Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the status of women in Africa
and their access to decision-making structures, adequate health care, education, housing, work opportunities
and so on, remain far behind that of men. This is in spite of evidence of the long-term positive effect on the

32
development of countries when girls and women have access to education and training, health care, housing,
and adequate food and nutrition. For over a decade, especially through the Human Development Reports
produced each year by UNDP, it has been made clear that development efforts have limited impact if they do
not involve women as full partners and beneficiaries and if they do not reach men and women equally (ECA-
CEA, 1999a; 1999b). As Africa moves into the twenty-first century, gender equality must be addressed as a
priority issue.
Women and men have different access to, and control over, productive assets. Economic capacities and
incentives are also strongly gender-differentiated in ways, which affect supply response, resource allocation
within the household, labour productivity, and welfare. These gender-based differences have implications for
the development of Sub-Saharan African economies, and directly limit growth.
Gender is also a critical mediating factor in distributing the benefits and costs of growth since, at the
household level, both resources and decision-making about economic opportunities are not efficiently
distributed. Within households, gender-based asymmetries in rights and obligations translate into differences
in capacity to cope with economic change.
Most African women are still working in subsistence agriculture where they are in-charge of food
production, processing and marketing. They are also responsible for the health and education of children
together with all domestic roles. In addition, many women invest in business, marketing products at the
local, national or even international level. Within the media, women’s groups are organising themselves not
only to defend their interests but also to improve some aspects of the individual life, in particular working
conditions. The strategies they are adopting to change their status represent a positive and dynamic
instrument to empower their status while still remaining integral parts of their community.
It is important to note also that women in Sub-Saharan Africa are systematically underrepresented in
institutions at local and national levels, and have very little say in decision making.
Gender-based barriers limit women’s participation and reinforce power gaps. As civil society emerges,
women’s organisations constitute an important resource for strengthening the social institutions for the
market economy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
There are different dimensions to gender inequality and it is possible to consider four different types of
measures:
1. Access and achievement in education (especially secondary);
2. Improvement in health (as measured by gender disaggregated life expectancy);
3. Indexes of legal and economic equality of women in society and in marriage;
4. Measures of women’s empowerment (percentage of women in parliament, year when women earned the
right to vote ….) (Dollar and Gatti, 1999).

It is then important to look at a broad range of indicators when considering the issue of women’s status in
society and gender differences. In the following pages we describe a synthetic picture of the relative situation
of the sexes in Ethiopia, starting from the current official position of Government (with a brief reference to
the recent history) represented by laws; then we intend to consider education, health and work, as indicators
of the multidimensional concept of gender profile.
Women, as vital human resources for development, constitute about half (49.7 %) of the total population in
Ethiopia, and account for a larger percentage of the agricultural labour force. As we have already pointed out
for the whole Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopian women are not only the principal food producers, but also bear
primary responsibilities for the care and nutrition of the whole family. Work in the household is often
considered as part of their duties.
Although there are gender based traditional divisions of labour in Ethiopia, women tend to work here longer
hours and shoulder larger responsibilities than men do. An average day for a woman starts at dawn and
continues through dusk. Apart from the burden of feeding the family, women have to care for babies,
children and the elderly. Despite their contributions, they are often seen and considered as weak and invisible
in development. Their role in the overall development endeavours of the country is either misunderstood or

33
totally underestimated. They are minority in decision making process and had no voice in matters that even
concern their households.
Ethiopian women are actively involved in all aspects of their society’s life. The fact that women are both
producers and procreators, as well as active participant in the social, political, and cultural activities of their
communities has enabled them to play an all round role. The majority of women in Ethiopia are concentrated
at the bottom of the ladder in terms of employment, education, income and status. Traditionally, women have
always assumed a role that is subordinate to their male counterparts. But things seem to be changing these
days for good, and now policy makers are considering women’s rights.
Today more than any other time, the government is exerting the maximum effort to realise the equality of
men and women. Ethiopia not only has signed international conventions related to the rights of women, but it
is also taking positive and affirmative actions to facilitate legal grounds for their active involvement in
various sectors. The establishment of Women’s Affairs Bureau, the incorporation of their issues in the
country’s policies and programs, ensuring of their rights in the constitution as well as the ratification of the
family law are but some of the litmus papers that prove the government’s willingness to the equality of
women.

The government not only had issued a national policy to facilitate women’s struggle for gender equality but
had also encouraged their participation through various policy formulations in the overall development
process.
International Conventions and laws

We want to mention some important Ethiopian laws and international conventions affecting the rights of
women.

In 1955 Ethiopian women received the right to vote. The Convention on the Political Rights of Women
(adopted 1952) was signed 31 March 1953, and ratified 21 January 1969. Then the Convention on the
Consent to Marriage, Minimum age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (adopted 1952) was signed
on 31 March 1953 and was ratified on January 21 1969. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women (adopted 1979) was signed on 8 July 1980, and ratified on 10 September
1981, but in some aspects Ethiopia shows a delay: the following conventions are still waiting ratification.
The Convention Against Discrimination in Education was adopted in 1960 and the Convention Concerning
Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Equal Value was adopted in 1951, but both were
neither signed nor ratified. The Convention Concerning Maternity Protection, adopted in 1952, and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted in 1966, were neither signed nor
ratified. Finally the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 1966) was neither signed
nor ratified.
Laws are reflections of society’s political and economic life and in Ethiopia women’s equality in front of the
law has undergone many changes depending on the prevailing system of government. For example, the civil
laws decreed in Ethiopia in 1960 can be defined as discriminatory towards women; and that is true especially
about the articles concerning citizenship, the family and the retirement benefits. However, in the last periods
the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia took tangible measures, which push a step forward in the status
of women and economic, social, cultural and political roles they have in the country.
To examine the “public and political” status of Ethiopian women, and to compose a detailed picture, we can
consider information about the new constitution (1994), the contents of 1993 National policy on Ethiopian
women and the Civil Code contents (Civil Code, 1960; Constitution of the F.D.R. of Ethiopia, 1995). Until
1993, when the National Policy on Ethiopian Women was introduced, there had not been a policy
specifically related to the affairs of women. The policy was formulated on the basis of the belief that a
coordinated effort was required to address gender disparities in Ethiopia. In particular, disparities relating to
working conditions in urban and rural setting and in both the formal and informal sectors were considered, as
were disparities relating to health, including harmful customs and practices, and education.

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 Existing policy frameworks on Gender Mainstreaming

The national policy on Ethiopian women; Women and their leadership role ; Men’s contribution to achieving
gender equality in Ethiopia; The legal and regulatory systems on women affairs; The institutional setup of
women affair in Ethiopia; The role of media in advocacy of women participation. Ethiopia has received the
Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and signed on 8 July, 1980 and
ratified on 10 December 1981 (State and Parties of the Convention, UNICEF, UNIFEM). There are other
international conventions as well, which deal with specific problems of women.

Ethiopia has also ratified the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention for the
Suppression of Traffic in Person and the Exploitation of Prostitution of others (Hadra Tesfay, March 1999).

To address the gender equality in the country Ethiopian government also enacted different policy
frameworks and implementing strategies with regard to gender and women empowerments.

These major government policies on gender are constituted in the following:

 National Policy on Women in 1993

 National Action Plan for Gender Equality (NAP-GE-2006)
 Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP-2006-2015) years.
 Ethiopian Women Development and Change Package( 1998 ) years
 The 1995 FDRE Constitution,
 The revised Federal Family Code enacted on 4 July 2000 (Proc.213/2000),
 Labour and Public Service proclamations (Labor Law: Proclamation 377/2003: Art. 87);
 Land Use Administration Laws (Art. 5 and 10 of Proc. 89/97) ;
 Laws on Violence against Women enforced since July 2004.
 Millennium development Goals, 2000 – 2015

The Government of Ethiopia made efforts to reduce the gender disparity and bring about gender equality
between men and women. Ethiopian women, as women in many countries in the world, are in disadvantaged
positions and are vulnerable to various forms of discrimination and violence. Recognizing the disadvantaged
position of women in the country, the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has put in place policies and initiatives
to promote women’s empowerment.
To this end, Ethiopia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) in 1981 and has pledged commitment to promote gender mainstreaming in all policies
and programs through the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The government also produced
the National Policy on Women (1993) aimed at institutionalizing the political, economic and social rights of
women by creating an appropriate structure in government offices and institutions.
It also provides for, under the Civil Service Proclamation of January 2002, equality of employment, salary,
promotion, performance evaluation, training, leave and disciplinary measures. Under the employment
section, it states that no discrimination shall be made on the basis of ethnic origin, sex, religion, political
affiliation or other grounds. In addition to this, the proclamation clearly stipulates that in the employment
process, preference will be given to the female candidate if they have the qualifications required for the
position.
A National Action Plan for Gender Equality (NAP-GE-2006) has been produced as an integral part of
PASDEP. The goal of the NAP-GE is to assist women to achieve gender equality through active and
empowered participation in all development programs. It also works towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs is another instrument that Ethiopia ratified with the aim of reducing poverty, promoting universal
elementary education completion for all children, both boys and girls, and elimination of the gender gaps at
all levels of education, by the year 2015. MDG Goal number three is specifically designated to “promote

35
gender equality and empower women”. The 2004 MDG Report for Ethiopia states that gender disparity
could be reduced if it focuses on women in rural areas, particularly on issues of equal access to basic assets
such as land and livestock.
Existing institutional frameworks for gender mainstreaming and integration
According to the Plan of Action (2008 -2012) on implementation of the Gender and Development Policy, the
following structures are in place for the implementation of gender mainstreaming:

Profound change in political, economic social and cultural relationships have dominated in Ethiopia that
provided women, government as well as NGO's with challenges concerning women's status.

This has called for concert efforts to put into action the goals and strategies laid down in the constitution, the
National Women's Policy and the overall Rural-Centred Development programme.
The national Gender Policy frame work and the constitution are meant to provide a frame work which all
government structure and development partners can use tackle women's' in their general or specific activities.
It is also an opportunity to have not only legislative support, policy frame work but also institutional
arrangements that enables the mainstreaming of gender concerns in all programs and activities as it was
recommended by the Beijing platform for action for the advancement of women.

In the five-years development strategic plan every effort being made empower women. It is rural focused,
agricultural led industrialization plan of development that we base and try to integrate the Beijing platform
for action prioritizing poverty among the twelve critical areas of concern.

Ethiopia’s Legislation for women’s rights are also the major laws that can be expected to address the barely
rights of women across the country. The laws are mainly focuses on Gender and socioeconomic participation
i.e. the social, political, and legal frameworks and realities, recognition, Access to employment, Legal and
Political recognition, Access to education, Improving health, Economic participation, Property right, Equal
pay act and Reproductive right in Ethiopia. The policy and programs on addressing gender issues are
indicated by each of them roles and responsibilities inclusion with gender strategy frameworks and
approaches.

Policies and Programs on addressing Gender equality and Women empowerments issues:

(i) FDRE Constitutional Provisions (Arts. 25, 34, 35, 38, 41, 42 and 89).
“The 1994 constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) which is the supreme law of
the land has been developed to protect the fundamental rights of women and their access to and control over
resource; to ensure equality between men and women before the law (Art 25) and equality of men and
women in marriage (Art 34) which provides that:
• They have equal rights while entering into, during marriage and at the time of divorce;
• Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses;
• Adjudication of disputes relating to personal and family laws in accordance with religious or customary
laws, with the consent of the parties to the dispute. Particulars shall be determined by law is allowed.
Article 35 (Women’s Bill of Rights):

The Constitution stresses on the importance of gender inequality as a basic requirement for the full
realization of all other rights and human freedoms. It has also devoted a separate provision dealing with the
rights of women and aiming at addressing the widely prevalent gender biased attitudes and practices. Related
sub-articles of Article 35 with the issue under discussion are;
 35/1 – equal enjoyment of all constitutional rights and protections

36
 35/2 – equal rights in marriage
 35/3 – entitlement to affirmative action/measures
 35/4 – protection from harmful traditional practices
 35/5 – right to maternity leave with full pay
 35/6 – right to consultation in projects affecting their lives
 35/7 – property rights (to acquire, administer, control, use and transfer)
 35/8--right to equality in employment (promotion, pay, pension entitlements)
 35/9 –right of access to family planning education, information and capacity.
Article 38 -The Right to Vote and to be elected
1. Has the following rights:
(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly and through freely chosen representatives;
(b) On the attainment of 18 years of age, to vote in accordance with law; 36
(c) To vote and to be elected at periodic elections to any office at any level of government.
2. Respect to the right to be a member of her own will in a political organization, labour union, trade
organization, or employers' or professional association.
Article 41 Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• the right to engage freely in economic activity and to pursue a livelihood of her choice anywhere within
the national territory;
• the right to equal access to publicly funded social services;
• State’s obligation to allocate an ever increasing resources to provide to the public health, education and
other social services;
• The State shall pursue policies which aim to expand job opportunities for the unemployed and the poor
and shall accordingly undertake programmes and public works projects;
• The State shall undertake all measures necessary to increase opportunities for citizens to find gainful
employment.

Article 42 Rights of Labour

(Women workers have the right to equal pay for equal work (art 1) (d).
Article 89 Economic Objectives:
(1) Government shall have the duty to formulate policies which ensure that all Ethiopians can

(3) Government shall take measures to avert any natural and man-made disasters, and, in the event of
disasters, to provide timely assistance to the victims. (4) Government shall at all times promote the
participation of the People in the formulation of national development policies and programs; it shall also
have the duty to support the initiatives of the People in their development endeavors. (5) Government shall
ensure the participation of women in equality with men in all economic and social development endeavours.
(6) Government shall endeavour to protect and promote the health, welfare and living standards of the
working population of the country.
The National Women Policy
The National Ethiopian Women’s Policy that was enacted in 1993 has mapped out the problems of Ethiopian
women in all field of development and identified the patriarchal system as the root cause that exposed
women to political, economic and social discrimination which is reinforced by traditional practices that give
credence to cultural/religious norms and values over women’s human rights.
The policy has indicated the status of women in relation to their roles of sustaining the household that
consequently hampers their access to social services, public affairs, access to and control over property; the
plight of women accrued to harmful traditional practices has been identified as an area that needs a concerted
effort by all stakeholders.
To fight back all discrimination against women and ascertain equality of men and women the policy has
established institutional machineries in all government structures up to the grass root level.

37
The objectives of the Policy are as follows:
- To facilitate conditions conductive to the speeding of equality between men and women so that women can
participate in the political, social and economic life of their country on equal terms with men and ensuring
that their right to own property as well as their other human rights are respected and that they are not
excluded from the enjoyment of the fruits of their labour or from performing public functions and being
decision makers;
- To facilitate the necessary conditions whereby rural women can have access to basic social services and to
ways and means of lightening their work-load;
- To eliminate prejudices as well as customary and other practices that are based on the idea of male
supremacy and enabling women to hold public office and to participate in the decision –making process at all
levels.

The policy outlines strategies for achieving these objectives, and, in addition, a Women’s Affairs Sector has
been established, accountable at the national level to the Prime Minister and responsible for drawing up
appropriate plans of action to facilitate conditions conducive to Policy implementation. The National Policy
on Women aims to institutionalize the political and socioeconomic rights of women by creating appropriate
structures in government institutions.
The expectation is that the Policy will provide the means for ensuring that women have opportunities to
participate in all facets of life and benefit from their contributions to society, on equal terms with men. The
policy should, however, be implemented in conjunction with other national policies such as those for health
and education, particularly since health status and levels of education have profound effects on the capacity
of both women and men to participate in development activities.
To redress all these issues the National Policy on women specifically addresses the following issues:
 Mainstreaming: “All development program at National and Regional levels should be able to integrate
gender concerns in their plans and program to see that women participate, contribute benefit and their
effort is recognized and technologically supported.
 Advocacy: “One of the contributing factors for the subordinate position of Ethiopian women is the
existence of harmful traditional practices that puts women in subordinate position and militates against
their equal growth and development. Thus more awareness and sensitization programs in different issues
on gender should be addressed and advocacy at different level both at the policy and grass roots is so
important and for this reason using different media and strategy through formal and informal
methodology is of paramount importance.”
 Capacity Building: “In order to make women more efficient in their work and be aware of their
problems they need to have skills through training, discussions, networking and other possible means to
bring out their potential and work in their full capacity. Thus to materialize the advancement of women
at all levels building the capacity of all the stake holders and more so the women themselves through
resource (allocation training) establishing appropriate infrastructure---etc. is a mandatory step towards
achieving our goal.”
 Organization: “To fight against all existing discriminatory practices and problems faced by the
Ethiopian women and for the achievement of good governance, a voluntary and Independent women
organization at different levels is believed to be an essential instrument. To ensure the participation of
women and to raise awareness and to encourage grassroots women around a new awareness of common
interest organization is of a paramount importance. Women if organized can serve as pressure groups
and can voice their interests and needs and fight for their rights.”
 National Machinery:“Women's Affairs Office under the social sector of the Prime Minister‖s Office
with a portfolio of a Minster is the national gender focal point. It is accountable to the Prime Minister
and is responsible for coordination and monitoring of Women's Affairs activities at a National level and

38
 creating a conducive atmosphere for the implementation of policy at various levels and in different
sectors.”
 Participation of Civil Societies: “The National Women's Policy with a goal of " --- facilitating
conditions conducive to the speeding up of equality between men and women---" needs and emphasize
the cooperation and collaboration of governmental and non-governmental organizations including any
stake holders that works in the country in order to bring changes in the lives of the people in Ethiopia
and particularly on the women are encouraged to work in harmony.”
“Various women's organizations are formed to promote women issues in different areas. Women organize
themselves by professions by common goal or interest and organize themselves and form associations by
gender.”
 Gender disaggregated Data: Disaggregated data such as census the number of population in the
country by age, by sex and by region as well as school enrolment rates and other important information
that reflects the human growth index will be reflected particularly on women.
 Women in Decision Making: Although the number of women in decision making is still low the
visibility of women in the public area has been enhanced by the representation of women in parliament
and the appointment of a number of women to high public places previously dominated by men. These
areas of women representations include women parliamentarians, women ministers, women bureau
heads, women department heads and other such positions.”

(iii) National Plan of Action for Gender- Equality (NAP-GE)

The National Plan of Action for Gender Equality is prepared in congruence to the Plan of Action for
Sustainable Development and Eradication of Poverty (PASDEP) development direction hence amenable to
be incorporated in the implementation process of PASDEP.
The plight of women assessed and major gaps are identified as follows: their vulnerability to poverty, lack of
access to and control over critical resources and ownership of property including lack of decision-making
rights; their extended labour time and workload; their vulnerability to traditional harmful practices; low
status of women and being considered as subservient to men’s needs and interest regardless of the
consequences on the health or psychological conditions; low girls Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) rate and
high chances of becoming pray to HIV/AIDS pandemic; absence of appropriate and viable institutional
mechanisms has been recognized as serious constraints to the implementation of policies and has hampered
efforts towards gender equality.
To curve these and empower women the following are identified as strategies of achieving gender equality:
(i) Promotion of women’s participation in development economic policies, (ii) improving the lives of women
and reducing their work load are areas given priority, while developing and implementing a guideline on
environmental management and women in pastoral areas; (iii)Increasing girl’s access to education (iv)
Strengthening non formal education program for women;(v) eradication of traditional practices harmful to
women’s health; (vi) Improving health care services; (vii) Implementing gender-sensitive HIV/AIDS
prevention(viii) Carry out massive and systematic training and awareness campaigns on national laws,
policies as well as international on gender equality (MoWA, 2005).
(iv) Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty (PASDEP 2005/2006-
09/10)
Under chapter IV of the Strategy document entitled under-cutting issues, gender is given a due attention and
dealt with as follows: “Unleashing the potential of Ethiopia’s 35 million women is central to the PASDEP
strategy”. PASDEP involves librating women from low productivity tasks, and increasing their participation
in the workforce and social and political process of the country. The measures to achieve this include the
major push to increase girl’s and women’s education, to improve access to water supply and sanitation, to
focus on services related to mothers and women’s health, and to adopt agricultural programs and technical
and vocational training to the needs of women. In addition safeguarding rights such as access to land, credit,
and other productive resources are central to the strategy (MOFED, 2005).

39
Targets aimed at alleviating poverty like increasing contraceptive prevalence rate, and delivery attended by
skilled attendants, decreasing teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion, integrating the National Women
Policy as well as the NAP –GE are supportive to the promotion of gender equality by relieving women of
their burden and promoting empowerment.
In this regard, areas of focus are girls’ and women education; employment of female health extension
workers; strengthening programs like agriculture extension, small scale credit, petty trading and environment
protection in a way they suit for women; mainstreaming gender in all sectors; improving water provision
services; focusing on women’s health care services; ensuring the land rights of women creating awareness on
violence committed against women and growing the share of women candidates for the upcoming election.
(v) Health policy
The existing policy was issued in 1993, and gave priority for the health of women and children. The policy
strategy depicts that family health services shall be promoted by assuring adequate maternal health care and
referral facilities for high- risk pregnancies.
The HIV/AIDS policy of 1998 recognizes the increased vulnerability of women and youth to the infection as
well as gender inequality as a contributing factor to its spread. The policy acknowledges the need for women
to have access to information and recognizes women's empowerment and decision making as essential
components for the prevention of the pandemic. The policy recommends that women and youth be the main
parties in planning strategies of prevention, and commercial sex workers be given priority in awareness
creation and education.
(vi) Education Policy
The Ethiopian Education and Training policy was issued in 19941. Following the Education policy, three
Education Sector Development Program (ESDP) were developed for translating the policy statement into
action. The programs goals relating to gender equity include: Increasing primary enrolment ratio, increase
girls’ share of enrolment in primary schools; Improve the quality of educational facilities; and improving
teachers training; Reform the curricula to make it relevant and gender sensitive; Reduce the dropout rate and
repetition rate of girls by half, and increase the number of schools especially in rural areas.
ESDP III that runs from 2005/06-2009/10 is a programme to implement the Education and Training Policy;
with targets for improved access, quality, efficiency, and equity. It indicates that admission, completion, and
transition rates of girls will be increased to reach those of boys. A number of steps are outlined to achieve
equality including the placement of contextually relevant measures to prevent social and cultural barriers to
girls’ education; creating girls friendly environment; providing curricula, textbooks, and teaching materials
that are free of gender bias; ensuring presence of female role models as teachers, head teachers, and
managers encouraging girls to join non-traditional fields in Technical Vocational Education and Training
(TVET) programmes; and continuing affirmative action in Teacher Training Institute (TTIs), Teacher
Training College (TTCs), and other higher educational institutions (MOWA, 2005).
(vii) Food Security Strategy
The food security strategy envisages provision of seed, fertilizer, and agricultural tool to poor farmers and
extending credit services to destitute women to help them develop sustainable livelihood through
cooperatives and other private sector initiatives; improving nutrition for children under five years of age,
pregnant and lactating mothers is within the development objectives of the strategy.
(viii) Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE)
Given the significant lack of capacity in the public sector and large scale private enterprise to absorb new
entrants into the labor force, the role to be played by the Micro and Small Scale Enterprises is critical for a
country like Ethiopia.
Accordingly, Ethiopia has adopted a Micro and Small Enterprise development strategy in 1997. The strategy
makes a particular reference to the importance of addressing gender-based inequalities in access to credit,
business services and training technology and information. However, there is little evidence of concrete
policy measures or programs to address the particular barriers faced by women-owned MSEs, and virtually
no provision has been made to facilitate grow the oriented women entrepreneurs (ILO, 2005).

40
(ix) Water Sector Development Strategy
The Ethiopian Water Resources Management Policy of 1999 and the Ethiopian
Water Sector Strategy of 2001 have the objectives of “making clean drinking water available” and “water
sanitation purpose” for both urban and rural community and incorporate gender mainstreaming as one of its
components.
The purpose is to relieve women from the burden of collecting water from distance. It enhances active
participation of women by involving them in community based water management projects through
increased capacity building.
(X) Land Use Administration Laws: Land ownership right
Land Use Administration Laws are all enacted in conformity to the constitutional laws (Art. 5 and 10 of
Proc. 89/97 of the Federal Land Administration Law) ensured equal rights of women in respect to the use,
administration and control of land with respect to transferring and bequeathing holding rights.

In accordance to Proclamation of Rural Land No.42/75 which is still enforceable, land is the property of the
People of Ethiopia, where the government representing the people is assuming ownership of land, and
entitled an individual farmer a usufruct right only. Nonetheless, the incumbent government has promulgated
a Federal Rural Land Administration Proclamation No. 89/97, has entitled farmers to use and transfer rural
land but not sale it.
Further, to the 1995 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Constitution under Article 35 that has entitled
women to have the right to acquire, administer, control, use and transfer of property, this proclamation has
explicitly stated that, women have equal rights with men with respect to use, transfer, administer and control
of land as well as men farmers
The Federal Rural Land Administration Proclamation No.89/97 has provisions for gender sensitive regarding
women’s equal access to land. It states that the land administration law of a Region shall confirm the equal
rights of women regarding the use, administration and control of land as well as in respect of transferring and
bequeathing holding rights [(Art. 6(10)]. It also provides for women’s participation in decisions on land
allocations. There are new regional initiatives that address some of the problems of rural women in terms of
access to land.
Land administration laws have been promulgated in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray paying attention
to women’s equal rights to land (Mehari Redae, 2003).
Women Development and Change Package (1998)
Its vision is: To have a well-developed democratic society that ensures equal participation and benefit of
women in the socio-economic and political aspects of the country; and brings about gender equality for the
wellbeing of the nation at large.
Its objectives are:-
Ensure real participation and equal benefit of women from all economic sector of the country. Ensure fair
participation and benefit of women from the social sectors; eliminate all forms of HTPs against women and
girls, and reduced domestic chore of women.
Ensure sustainable political participation and benefit of women in the leadership and decision-making affairs
at various levels; and contribute for building a democratic system of the country.
Main Objectives:

1. To ensure that women are active participants in our country’s development and they equally benefiting
from the economic growth,
2. To ensure the social participation & beneficiaries of women, to eradicate anti women attitude & harmful
practices and alleviating women's work load,and
3. To enable women have equal political participation decision making power in each level, to enable them
become sustainable participants and beneficiaries in democratic system building and around the constitution.
Key strategies:
1. Use women themselves to address the problem

41
 • Better understand the role of women’s participation
• Avail situations in which women can better participate
• Ensure women’s participation @ all levels
• Have a system for women’s organization (Leagues and Federation) so that they can work on their behalf
• Well implement both urban & rural focused strategies and ensure their benefit
2. Ensure political will of the government for effectiveness of the package.

Ethiopia’s Legislation for women’s right: Codes and subsidiary Laws

Family Laws

The revised Federal Family Code enacted on 4 July 2000 (Proc. 213/2000) is a significant legal document.
The Revised Family Code deals with equality between sexes in their interaction concerning marriage related
issues. As provided by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) constitution,

Regional States have their family laws. Thus far, Tigray, Amhara, Oromiya, and Southern Nations,
Nationalities, People (SNNP) regions have issued their own Family Laws; most of these laws are similar
with the federal family code. Both the federal and regional family codes have made marriage 18 years for
both sexes.

A. Forms of marriage and validation (Arts.2, 26, 27& 28)

Article 2 — Marriage Concluded before an Officer of Civil Status: the officer of civil status has accepted
their respective consent;
Article 26 — Religious Marriage
The conclusion of religious marriage and the formalities thereof shall be as prescribed by the religion
concerned.
2) The provisions of this Code relating to the essential conditions of marriage shall be complied with in
religious marriage.
Article 27 — Customary Marriage
1) The conclusion of customary marriage and the formalities thereof shall be as prescribed by the custom of
the community concerned.
Article 28 — Registration
1) Marriage shall be registered by a competent officer of civil status irrespective of the form according to
which the marriage is celebrated
B) Essential Conditions of Marriage (arts. 6-8, 11, 14 &16)
Article 6 — Consent
A valid marriage shall take place only when the spouses have given their free and full consent.
Article 7 — Age
1) Neither a man nor a woman who has not attained the full age of eighteen years shall conclude marriage
(reserve the exception provided by sub art 2 of this article).
Article 8— Consanguinity
1) Marriage between persons related by consanguinity in the direct line between ascendants and descendants
is prohibited. 2) In the collateral line a man cannot conclude marriage with his sister or aunt; similarly, a
woman cannot conclude marriage with her brother or uncle.
Article 9 — Affinity

42
 1) Marriage between persons related by affinity in the direct line is prohibited. 2) In the collateral line,
marriage between a man and the sister of his wife, and a woman and the brother of her husband is prohibited.
Article 11 — Bigamy
A person shall not conclude marriage as long as he is bound by bonds of a preceding marriage.
Article 14 — Consent Extorted by Violence
1) Marriage concluded as a result of consent which is extorted by violence shall not be valid.
Article 16 — Period of widowhood
1) A woman may not remarry unless one hundred and eighty days have elapsed since the dissolution of the
previous marriage.
2) The provisions of Sub-Article (1) of this Article shall not apply where:
(a) The woman gives birth to a child after the dissolution of her marriage;
(b) The woman remarries her former husband;
(c) It is proved by medical evidence that the woman is not pregnant;
(d) The court dispenses the woman from observing the period of widowhood. C) right to present error in
marriage (arts. 17- 19)
Article 17 — Opposition
Opposition may be made when marriage is to be concluded in violation of one of the essential conditions of
marriage.
Article 19 — Form and Time of Opposition
1) Opposition to marriage shall be made in writing and submitted to the office of civil status within fifteen
days from the notification of the marriage.
Article 18 — Opposition by whom Made
Opposition to the conclusion of marriage shall be made only by the following persons:
(a) In case of age, by the parents of the minor, public prosecutor or any other interested person;
(b) In case of relationship by consanguinity or affinity, by the ascendants of the future spouses, or the
ascendants of one of them, or by the brothers or sisters of the future spouses, who have attained the age of
eighteen years or by the public prosecutor;
(c) In case of bigamy, by the person alleging to have had a prior marital relationship with the bigamous
spouse or by the public prosecutor;
(d) In case of judicial interdiction, by his guardian, or by the public prosecutor.
D) Rights to administer and decide on family matters (art.50 &54)
Article 50 —Joint Management of Family
(1) General Rule. 1) The spouses shall have equal rights in the management of the family.
Article 54 — Determination of Residence
The spouses shall jointly decide their common residence.
(E) Pecuniary effects of Marriage (57-59, 62-64, and 68)
Article 63 — Legal Presumption
1) All property shall be deemed to be common property even if registered in the name of one of the spouses
unless such spouse proves that he is the sole owner thereof. Common Property of Spouses (Article 62) —1).
All income derived by personal efforts of the spouses and from their common or personal property shall be
common property. 2) All property acquired by the spouses during marriage by an onerous title shall be
common property unless declared personal under Article 58 (2) of this Code. 3)
Unless otherwise stipulated in the act of donation or will, Property donated or bequeathed conjointly to the
spouses shall be common property.
Article 64 — Income of Spouse (1) Normal Management
1) Each spouse shall receive his earnings. 2) The spouses may deposit their respective earnings either in
personal or joint bank account. 3) One of the spouses shall, at the request of the other spouse, render an
account to the latter of the income received by him.
Article 57 — Personal Property of Spouses (1) Property not acquired by Onerous Title

43
The property which the spouses possess on the day of their marriage, or which they acquire after their
marriage by succession or donation shall remain their personal property.
Article 58 — (2) Property Acquired by Onerous Title
1) Property acquired, by onerous title, by one of the spouses after marriage shall also be personal property of
such spouse where such acquisition has been made by exchange for property owned personally, or with
monies owned personally or derived from the sale of property owned personally.
2) The provisions of Sub-Article (1) of this Article shall apply only when the court, at the request of one of
the spouses, has decided that the property thus acquired shall he owned personally by such spouse.
Article 59 — Administration of Personal Property (1) Principle
1) Each spouse shall administer his respective personal property and receive the income thereof. 2) Each
spouse may freely dispose of his personal property.
Article 61 — (3) Agency
One of the spouses may freely entrust to the other spouse the administration of all or part of his personal
property.
Article 68— (1)
Requisite of Agreement of Spouses Unless provided otherwise by other laws, the agreement of both spouses
shall be required to; (a) sale, exchange, rent out, pledge or mortgage or alienate in any other way a common
immovable property to confer a right to third parties on such property; (b) Sale, exchange, pledge or
mortgage, or alienate in any other way, a common movable property or securities registered in the name of
both spouses: the value of which exceeds five hundred Ethiopian birr. (c) Transfer by donation of a common
property the value of which exceeds one hundred Ethiopian birr or money which exceeds such amount; (d)
Borrow or lend money exceeding five hundred Ethiopian birr or to stand surety for a debt of such amount to
another person.
F) Dissolution of Marriage (arts 74-77) Article 74 — Various Forms of Marriage Equivalent.

1) The causes and effects of dissolution of marriage shall be the same whichever the form of celebration of
the marriage.
2) No distinction shall be made concerning dissolution whichever the form according to which the marriage
is celebrated.
Article 75 — Causes of Dissolution of Marriage
The following shall be causes of dissolution of marriage:
(a) Death of one of the spouses, or declaration of absence, by the court, of one of the spouses;
(b) Dissolution order by court due to violation of one of the essential conditions of marriage; or (C) Divorce
Article 76 — Conditions of Decision for Divorce.
Marriage shall dissolve by divorce where: (a) The spouses have agreed to divorce by mutual consent and
such agreement is accepted by the court; or
(a) The spouses or one of them made a petition, for divorce, to the court.
Divorce by Mutual Consent
Article 77 —Petition for Divorce by Mutual Consent
1) Where the spouses have agreed to divorce by mutual consent, such agreement, which shall also regulate
the consequences thereof, shall be submitted in writing to the court for approval.
2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sub-Article (1) of this Article, spouses whose marriage lasted for less
than six months shall not be permitted to divorce by mutual consent.
3) Spouses who petition for divorce by mutual consent are not obliged to state the reason thereof.
Labour and Employment Laws

In accordance to Labor and Public Service proclamations, women are not to be discriminated against as
regards employment and payment on the grounds of sex; special protection is accorded to pregnant women
(Labor Law: Proclamation 377/2003: Art. 87); No sex-based discrimination and female candidates are given
preferential treatment to fill vacancies (Public Servants Proclamation 262/2002: Art. 13); Widows and

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widowers have been given equal status in pensions (Proc. 190/99) by amending Article 4 of the Public
servant law of the 1962 that discriminated women concerning pension.

Laws on Violence against Women

The 1957 Penal Code has been revised to incorporate provisions for violence against women and improve
the existing ones, and is enforced since July 2004. Issue like female genital mutilation is penalized. Other
Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP) are penalized; Domestic Violence is introduced in the HTP (has
attracted attention); Abortion is still illegal but the grounds for a legally sanctioned abortion is outlined;
Rape, sexual abuses, abduction have merited tougher and graver penalties. Trafficking for prostitution
purposes and forced labour is punishable.
The Institutional setup of women affairs in Ethiopia: National Machinery
Entrusted/handover with Women’s Issues
Structures of Women's Affairs:

The Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA) has been established at the Federal level. Similarly,
Women’s Affairs Bureaus (WAB) were established at regional level in all the regions in Ethiopia.
At Zonal and district levels, the women’s affairs offices were also established.

Currently, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs is a member of the council of ministers.

With the exception of Addis Ababa City Administration Women’s Affairs, all the rest regional
Women’s Affairs are members of the executive body of the respective regions. The Women’s
Affairs Standing Committee, of the Council of Peoples Representatives is the other institutional
machinery established to oversee the inclusion of women’s interest and needs in policies and laws
enacted by the parliament. Each parliamentarian Standing Committee has a women member so that
women’s issues will be tabled in the deliberation of the committees. There seems a deliberate move
of assigning a woman deputy chair person to most standing committees as well. A women
parliamentarian Caucus is under formation.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) was established in October 2005 and got its force by
proclamation No. 471/2005. The ministry is entrusted with the responsibility of initiating
recommendations on the protection of the rights and interest of women at national level and follow-
up their implementation; ensuring the gender sensitivity of policies, legislations development
programs of the federal government; ensuring the creation of that opportunities for women to take
part in development process; identifying discriminatory practices that affect women and submitting
recommendation to its effect; submitting recommendations on the application of affirmative
measures; ensuring that adequate attention is given to place women to decision-making positions in
various government organs and undertaking studies to promote the well-being of mothers and
children and implanting the same in cooperation with other organs are the main ones (Proc. No.
471/2005).
 The main national machinery entrusted with women’s issues is the Ministry of Women’s Affairs
(MoWA) that was established in October, 2005.
 The MoWA has structure at regional, Woreda, and sectors department levels.
 The Women’s Affairs at the federal level is a member of the council of ministers.

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 The Women’s Affairs Ministry has an administrative structure with four technical departments:
Gender Mainstreaming; Women’s Policy and strategy execution follow-up; Mother and Children;
and Capacity Building and Participation, that constitute eleven teams, while there are eight sectors
embodied in the structure to facilitate the smooth running of the ministry. The human power has
increased accordingly and the ministry has a total 54 technical and 81 support staff although some
positions are not yet occupied. Likewise the human power of the regional Women’s Affairs has
increased as well.
Women's Affairs Departments (WAD) in Federal Offices
The women's affairs departments are entities in ministries, commissions, agencies or authorities, whose main
function is the mainstreaming of gender in the formulation and implementation of development plans in their
respective institutions. The general objectives of the WADs were derived from the national policy on
women, and the specific objectives formulated by harmonizing the objectives of a specific institution, with
those of the national policy.
Women’s Affairs at Regional levels
The women’s affairs structure is established at regional, zonal, Wereda, and Kebele levels, all linked only
informally, and each having a line of command with their respective Administrative bodies, (council at
regional, Woreda, and Kebele levels). Regional Women Affairs Bureaus (WABs) report to the President. The
functions of WABs are also mainstreaming gender in development plans and implementation in their
respective regions. Woreda and Kebele offices have the same objectives as the above structures.
Issues like placement of the structures, at a position where they cannot be part of decision making, and
continuously being placed at lower levels; Financial and human resources limitations; Lack of clarity of the
mandates of the women's affairs structures; Absence of strong networking and collaboration with sector
bureaus, NGOs, Civil Service Organizations (CSOs), and community are the major constraints that dwindles
the roles to be played by Women’s Affairs. (Notice: Please note that all years are in Gregorian Calendar).
Gender and Sustainable Development Goals and Targets: In addressing
gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls (2016-2030)
• Following an inclusive process of intergovernmental negotiations, and based on the proposal of the Open
Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals,15 which includes a chapeau contextualizing the latter,
set out below are the Goals and targets which we have agreed.
• The Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and
universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development
and respecting national policies and priorities. Targets are defined as aspirational and global, with each
Government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account
national circumstances. Each Government will also decide how these aspirational and global targets should
be incorporated into national planning processes, policies and strategies. It is important to recognize the link
between sustainable development and other relevant on-going processes in the economic, social and
environmental fields.
• In deciding upon these Goals and targets, we recognize that each country faces specific challenges to achieve
sustainable development, and we underscore the special challenges facing the most vulnerable countries and,
in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and Small Island
developing States, as well as the specific challenges facing the middle income countries. Countries in
situations of conflict also need special attention.
• We recognize that baseline data for several of the targets remains unavailable, and we call for increased
support for strengthening data collection and capacity building in Member States, to develop national and
global baselines where they do not yet exist. We commit to addressing this gap in data collection so as to

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 better inform the measurement of progress, in particular for those targets below which do not have clear
numerical targets.
• We encourage on-going efforts by States in other forums to address key issues which pose potential
challenges to the implementation of our Agenda, and we respect the independent mandates of those
processes. We intend that the Agenda and its implementation would support, and be without prejudice to,
those other processes and the decisions taken therein.
• We recognize that there are different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country, in
accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to achieve sustainable development; and we
reaffirm that planet Earth and its ecosystems are our common home and that “Mother Earth” is a common
expression in a number of countries and regions.
Sustainable Development Goals (2016_2030)
Following the MDGs 2015 performance report by UN of international community has been formulated 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Including: Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all
women and girls, other critical Goals designed, that could be addressing the gender inequality and women
empowerment issues in our country are listed in bellow. The Goals in which directly influences gender
equality and women empowerment spheres are also included G1, G3, G4 and G5 that indicated within their
priority development areas.
These 17 SDGs are:
Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and
decent work for all
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for
all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable
Development.
Some of the SDGs where primarily contributed to Achieving Gender Equality and women
Empowerment in Ethiopia (G1, G3, G4 and G5)
Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on
less than $1.25 a day
1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty
in all its dimensions according to national definitions

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1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by
2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
1.4 By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to
economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of
property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including
microfinance.
1.5 By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and
vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and
disasters.
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
3.1 By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
3.2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of new borns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries
aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as
12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births
3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat
hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
3.4 By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention
and treatment and promote mental health and wellbeing
3.5 Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful
use of alcohol
3.6 By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
3.7 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family
planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and
programmes
3.8 Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-
care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all
3.9 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air,
water and soil pollution and contamination

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all
4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary
education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-
primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and
tertiary education, including university
4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including
technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and
vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in
vulnerable situations
4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve
literacy and numeracy
4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable
development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable
lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global
citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

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 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
5.2 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
5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation
5.4 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
5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of
decision-making in political, economic and public life
5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in
accordance with the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents
of their review conferences
Notice: please note that the reference of this module is indicated in your course outline. Hence you can use it
if you want to understand and more developed your knowledge and skills on gender and development.

GENDER ISSUES
PRACTICAL NEED STRATEGIC NEED

GENDER ANALYSIS: 3A’s

POLICY
POLICY MAINSTREAMING GENDER AND WOMEN Programme
Institutional
s
Organizational
IF DEVELOPMENT
IS NOT Project
ENGENDERED,

Empowerment IT IS IN DANGER”
Kofi Annan, ex- UN General Sect. Economic
• Capacity Built
Social
• Secured Political
• Accessed:
GENDER EQUALITY
Resources and
Opportunities

Legal
WOMEN
MEN

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