DMCDD´s Gender Policy

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Content

1. Introduction

2. Purpose of policy and guideline

3. DMCDD’s gender policy

4. Principles for DMCDD’s gender approach

5. Guideline: from policy to practice

6. Links

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1. Introduction

Danish Mission Council Development Department (DMCDD), member organisations and partners are dedicated to work for the promotion of gender equality and the attainment of equal rights for men and women. We are jointly committed to this task on all levels of the societies, where we work as well as within our own organisations.

DMCDD, members and partners share Christian core values that inform and guide our understanding and approach to development work. • As Christians we believe that men and women alike are created in God’s image. In Genesis 1 it is a fundamental point that both genders have the likeness of God and that God desires to relate to every created person, men as well as women.

• As Christians it is our obligation to treat men and women without moral or ethical denouncement. In the New Testament it is a central quality of the meetings between Christ and men or women that conversations take the form of dialogues in respect for the other part’s dignity.

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Gender inequality in figures:

Gender disaggregated statistics demonstrate that there is still a long way to go:• Among the world’s one billion poorest people, 60% are women and girls

• Two-thirds of global illiteracy affects women and 70% of children out of school are girls

• Measured in terms of parliament seats, women globally only account for 16%

• Female paid income is less than male, both because women work in low-paying sectors and because women earn less than men for the same job

• In Sub-Saharan Africa close to three-fifths of those living with HIV are women, and young women (15-24) are at least three times more likely to be infected than men at the same age.

• Domestic violence is the most common form of gender-based violence: Between 10 and 69 per cent of women report they have been physically abused by an intimate partner in their lifetime (WHO 2002)

• Men and women are equal in Christ. Paul summarises the core principle in the letter to the Galatians 3, 28: »There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither Slave nor Freeman, there can be neither male nor female – for you are all one in Christ Jesus«.

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2. The purpose of policy and guideline

DMCDD, members and partners agree that addressing gender relations and promoting gender equality is fundamental to successful and sustainable development. With this publication DMCDD therefore wishes to outline an explicit gender policy as well as operationalise this policy through a set of guidelines and tools. With the policy we hope to inspire and support partners in their work for the promotion of gender equality and equal rights in all the particular contexts and projects in which they are involved.

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3. DMCDD’s gender approach and policy

DMCDD’s partners in South are characterized by the great credibility they enjoy due to their long-term relations with the local societies they serve and work with. The gender approach of DMCDD, members and partners has traditionally focused on individual women and their particular needs in their daily lives on grassroot level. Activities have involved the formation of women’s groups and the start up of income-generating projects. There-by DMCDD, members and partners have sought to create opportunities for women to obtain a larger degree of independence and manoeuvring space as well as empowering them to formulate their own needs towards their families, communities or church societies. The strength of this approach has been that our members and partners have had success in improving women’s possibilities within their existing life situations and traditional and local roles.

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Acting and advocating for gender equalityLooking ahead, DMCDD, members and partners envision broadening our gender approach and focus. We opt to continually improve as practitionersand advocates for gender equality, both internally in our organisations and externally in the societies where we are engaged in development work. While continuing to create opportunities for women in their everyday lives, we further want to divert focus to how gender equality can become a joint interest and venture of men as well as women. To this end, it is our policy to invest efforts in involving the men and local leaders in the socie-ties in which we work. We have for too long perceived the gender aspect in development as basically a women’s issue. This has had the consequence that our intentions to include women too often have resulted in the develop-ment of mere survival strategies for women within the existing structures, rather than engaging in efforts to change unjust societal structures, that oppress women and hinder equal rights, equal access to resources and equal influence. It is our aim to broaden our focus from the individual women at community level to a focus that encompasses society as a whole. We must ask what structural changes are needed in order to secure equal rights, equal access to resources and equal influence on grassroots level in men´s and women’s daily lives, and we must ask what our particular organisations can do to help achieve that. Our efforts to promote and advocate for gender equality will therefore take place on local as well as national, regional and international levels.

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Gender and developmentDMCDD believes that gender is about relations and that gender relations are fundamental to development. We have to understand the dynamics of gender relations to understand the cultural environment and the power relations in a given local setting. Gender analysis is therefore an essen-tial tool in designing successful development projects. For example, if we want to secure a better income for poor families, it is imperative to ensure that men and women are united and work in the same direction. We have to meet the interests of women and men alike to make sure that they will participate constructively in the process and finally own the intervention. If the aim is to empower women to claim more influence in decision-making at household- or community-level, it is crucial to consider how the interven-tion will affect the position and the interests of men. How can e.g. women’s increased manoeuvring space be seen as an advantage for the men? In most cases, the quest for gender equality will entail empowerment of women and consequently a lessening of control over women by male duty-bearers. This poses the crucial challenge of being immensely cautious that we in our work for heightened gender equality do not undermine male identity and sense of self-worth, which is often related to traditional male roles and

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obligations as providers and family heads. Instead an approach should be adopted where men and women are continuously brought to reflect upon how the one gender can act as duty-bearer for the other gender’s rights and vice-versa.

Gender and cultureSome DMCDD partners have proved to be much further ahead in their gender reflections and gender sensitive work than their Danish partners. The issue of gender equality is indeed a global issue, and not just another Northern invention. However, gender equality is an important issue of debate within member and partner organisations. It is therefore important to stress that the present policy respects and wishes to support gender ap-proaches that build on the traditions and cultures in the different societies of intervention, diverse as they are. It is important to adjust approaches to particular cultural and socio-economic contexts in order for them to be relevant or have any impact. For example, it has an immense influence on what type of work can be undertaken whether the setting is rural or urban. Different challenges pertain to working with different age groups, and it is necessary to always consider what structures or authorities are in place, or who can secure sustainability.

Advocating for gender equality internally and externallyA central challenge is the quest to advocate for gender equality both inter-nally and externally. Recently, local churches have been successful in under-taking advocacy on gender issues directed towards leaders in the church as well as local duty-bearers and decision-makers. This has proved that local churches can have a quite powerful impact through advocacy work, due to their popular foundation in local societies. DMCDD wishes to strengthen and support advocacy for the promotion of gender equality aimed at broa-der parts of societies. We believe that DMCDD, members and partners can do much more for the promotion of gender equality, for example in cases of divorce, custody rights, inheritance rights and violence against women.

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4. Principles for DMCDD’s gender approach

DMCDD’s principles for the promotion of gender equalityThe following four principles should be guiding for future DMCDDinterventions:

Dialogue: DMCDD, members and partners work to foster open and respectful dialogue and mutual understanding between the two genders in all development interventions and at all levels.

Participation: DMCDD, members and partners do their utmost to promote genuine equal gender participation, including more space of manoeuvre for the weaker part, most often women, as well as heightened influence on decision-making on joint issues at all levels.

Mutuality and responsibility: DMCDD, members and partners perceive men and women alike as responsible change agents and work for the promotion of mutual respect between men and women. Men are duty-bearers for women’s rights as women are duty-bearers for men’s rights. Change processes that positively influence the life and work conditions of one gender should receive active support and responsible action from the other gender. Men’s and women’s time and resources should be considered equally valuable for joint development.

Role models: DMCDD, members and partners take upon themselves to sincerely act as visible role models for each other and to the communities they work in all interactions. As duty-bearers for men’s and women’s rights DMCDD, members and partners are advocates for the rights of women and men and for equal access to resources and influence.

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5. Guideline: from policy to practice

With offset in the four principles of Dialogue, Participation, Mutuality and Role Models, the following provides guidelines and tools for practical implementation.

1. DIALOGUE

Dialogue: DMCDD, members and partners work to foster open and respectful dialogue and mutual understanding between the two gen-ders in all development interventions and at all levels.

The principle of dialogue is deeply rooted within and grows out of DMCDD’s, members’ and partners’ thinking and practice. Dialoguing is a way of working with and changing people’s mindsets in an open minded and respectful manner. Dialogue constitutes a central idea and method of churches and church organisations in advocacy work. In order to create de-velopment interventions that genuinely improve the lives of poor men and women, gender dialogue must cut across all our practices and interventions as a way of enabling the voices of poor men and women to come through more clearly to form their work and lives. At all levels there should be cre-ated rooms for honest and open exchange of stories, life stories between

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men and women to avoid rigid intellectual and mental positions vested in power structures.

The following simple checklist offers guidance to include gender dialogues in projects/interventions and at all levels:

Gender dialogues should be undertaken as a part of the planning and monitoring process at:• Target group level – men’s and women’s voices• Leadership – partner organisation level – perspectives of men and women in the organisation• Partnership level – the project cycle. Gender dialogue as a planning and monitoring tool• Danish partner organisation – capacity, promotion, communication, etc.

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The following tools can help implementing the principle of dialogue: • The approach Appreciative Inquiry, of which DMCDD, members and partners already have experience in the field. • The mediation methods successfully applied in the mini-project Fighting Domestic Violence in Tanzania. • The Most Significant Changes method to secure dialogue and a quali- tative aspect as part of the monitoring process

The tools (or links to the tools) can be found at DMCDD’s website. The DMCDD Application Guide lists some gender sensitive questions to be used during preparation and monitoring of projects.

2. PARTICIPATION

Participation: DMCDD, members and partners do their utmost to promote genuine equal gender participation, including more space of manoeuvre for the weaker part, most often women, as well as height-ened influence on decision-making on joint issues at all levels.

Insistence on formal representation of both genders in democratic proces-ses, in decision-making bodies, in capacity development, in activities and programmes that make a difference in people’s lives – is important and a strategic signal of change. But it is not enough to remain as a figure, a pro-portion – 50 % participation of women. Without an adequate and deeper understanding of why the percentages of women and men participants are important, it will not make any difference in real life.The requirement of formal representation will no longer be accepted as a stand-alone measure. DMCDD, members and partners will commit each other to take the next step and go one level deeper: seeking how to trans-form formal representation into effective participation. And account for it! It is an ambitious path to take, which may take different directions and may be best served by a whole menu of supporting measures.

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To qualify participation at target group level is a first step in the right direction. The most important tool in advancing from here is to continue posing Questions as to how everybody’s participation and benefit will be reached: why, what, how will it come about, who, what next, what will happen then, what will it cost, etc. It has to be analysed how we ensure the optimal participation of both genders; e.g. in some cases it is needed to have the young men on their own, or to give groups of elderly women more extensive training to ensure they feel safe to raise their voices to the men etc. An example could be a goal of offering health education to youth in secondary schools: using both ‘girls-only’/’boys-only’ groups for education and exchange as well as mixed groups for dialogues across, there is a need for having both women and men teachers involved, and in teams at the same school/within the same commu-nity in order to reach the different groups. A simple calculation will present the percentage of men and women in the programme, but this time derived from a highly strategic thinking which will support the achievement of objectives and impact.

If the project strategy is developed from the bottom-up, justifying and qualifying gender based participation at target group level before ‘setting the %’, a much more relevant, sound and probably ambitious strat-egy grows organically out of the context and unfolds the future direction.

The qualification of participation also implies that DMCDD, members and partners keep questio-ning and prompting responses as to the ambitions behind any project design. How can information about for instance voting rights and procedures be transformed into actual voting and candidates? An earlier start, an extended project period, higher ambitions – may make a difference in perspective.

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What will be required to make room for dialogue and people being heard at meetings – and not just being present? Quality and innovative thinking about meeting forms and processes may change the mindset and perspec-tive.

At the level of partnership and organisation development, gender balanced leadership training of both genders can pave the way for higher aware-ness of dynamics in leadership styles, inclusion/exclusion mechanisms in organisational behaviour, methods in multifaceted organisational develop-ment, etc.

3. MUTUALITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

Mutuality and responsibility: DMCDD, members and partners perceive men and women alike as responsible change agents and work for the promotion of mutual respect between men and women. Men are duty-bearers for women’s rights as women are duty-bearers for men’s rights. Change processes that positively influence the life and work conditions of one gender should receive active support and responsible action from the other gender. Men’s and women’s time and resources should be considered equally valuable for joint development.

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The challenge in many change processes – and this is no exception – is to ensure broad ownership and mutual responsibility to the changes and responsibility of taking appropriate action. Whether men or women – all humans should be respected as responsible change agents in their own lives, and stigmatisation in roles as passive victims and active offenders should by all means be avoided. This principle is rooted in resource based thinking, where acknowledgement and appreciation of resources and self-responsibility in itself will support dignified development.

On the other hand, it should not be regarded as a cat flap or gateway to leaving the responsibility for change with the weaker part in isolation. Due diligence is a key word for DMCDD and her members and partners when it comes to the struggle against inequality – be it in economic, social or gen-der terms. Diligence is related to mutuality and responsibility – as citizens, as humans – of fellow humans.

At the individual level, it should be appreciated that change in one end of a relationship will change the whole relation:• Let the men change themselves – don’t ask a woman to change a man!• Change a man - get a woman to vote • Rehabilitate a husband - save a wife• Always ask how the opposite gender can sustain/ maintain change

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To sustain any change, it has to be founded in broader social structures:• Family supports women empowerment• Community structures are active change agents on behalf of women• Get men to speak up for women• Get women to speak up for men

In a wider perspective it is highly important to lift the ownership and the change responsibility from individual to group level.

4. ROLE MODELS

Role models - Walk the talk: DMCDD, members and partners take upon themselves to sincerely act as visible role models for each other and to the communities they work in all interactions. As duty-bearers for men’s and women’s rights DMCDD, members and partners are advocates for the rights of women and men and for equal access to resources and influence.

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Credibility comes with practice! DMCDD members and partners have unique opportunities to act as role models for how the genders should relate to each other and how the vulnerable should be helped. This is an integral element of Christianity.

A part of this is to document cases of good practice to inspire members and partners will be collected and put on the website.

The following matrix guides collection of good practices from different contexts in relation to the three fields of Danida’s strategy for Gender Equality: Rights, Resources and Influence.

All it takes to walk the talk – or practice what you preach – is to take every little bit back home and remember to implement it there, too. This will lead to mutual learning and inspiration between all partners – and with time a common stance on zero tolerance in gender issues.

The Gender policy was approved in 2007 and will be revised in 2011.

Rights Resources Influence/Voice

Capacity development

Ex: Hiv/aids education for youth

Ex: income generating activities

Ex: Voting campaigns

Advocacy Ex: Advocacy for women’s rights among local leaders

Ex: Advocacy for health services

Ex: Voting campaigns

Service delivery Ex: Health

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6. Links

The Application Forms, the Application Guide and the questionnaire for the Sectoral Panels of DMCDD Mini Programme have based on the gender review and gender policy been revised in 2007. These documents can be found at the website along with the other references from this policy.

DMCDD website is at www.DMCDD.org.

Please find more references, including the DANIDA gender strategy at konsnet.dk, the website of the the Danish NGO Gender Network.

The website of DANIDA can be found at www.danida.dk

Danish Mission CouncilDevelopment DepartmentPeter Bangs Vej 1DDK - 2000 Frederiksberg

Tel: +45 39612777Fax: +45 39401954

E-mail: dmru@dmr.orgWebsite: www.dmru.org