mainstreaming gender in development: a critical review

8/7/2019 Mainstreaming Gender in Development: A critical review

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The books in Oxfam's Focus on Gender series were originally published as single issues of thejournal Gender and Development, which is published by Oxfam three times a year. It is the onlyEuropean journal to focus specifically on gender and development issues internationally, toexplore the links between gender and development initiatives, and to make the links betweentheoretical and practical work in this field. For information about subscription rates, please applyto Routledge Publishing, T & F Informa UK Ltd., Sheepen Place, Colchester, Essex, OC3 3LP, UK.Tel: +44 (0) 207 017 5544; Fax: +44 (0) 207 017 5198. In North America, please apply to RoutledgePublishing, Taylor and Francis Inc., Customer Services Department, 325 Chestnut Street, 8th Floor,Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA; Fax +1 800821 [email protected]/journals

The views expressed in this book are those of the individua l contributors, and not necessarily those of the Editor or thePublisher.

Front cover: Oxfam workshop for literacy teachers in East Timor.Photo: Annie Bungeroth/Oxfam

First published by Oxfam GB in 2005This edition transferred to print-on-demand in 2007 O xfam GB 2005ISBN 0 85598 551 8A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.All rights reserved. Reproduction, copy, transmission, or translation of any part of this publication may bemade only under the following conditions: with the prior written permission of the publisher; or with a licence from the Copy right Licensing Agency Ltd., 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE,UK, or from another national licensing agency; or for quotation in a review of the work; or unde r the terms set out below.This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for teaching purpo ses,but not for resale. Formal perm ission is required for all such uses, but normally will be granted immediately.For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation,prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher, and a fee may be pay able.Available from:Bournem outh English Book Centre, PO Box 1496, Parkstone, Dorset, BH12 3YD, UKtel: +44 (0)1202 712933; fax: +44 (0)1202 712930; email: [email protected]: Stylus Publishing LLC, PO Box 605, Herndon, VA 20172-0605, USAtel: +1 (0)703 6611581; fax: +1 (0)703 6611547; email: [email protected] details of local agents and representatives in other countries, consult our website:www.oxfam.org.uk / publicationsor contact Oxfam Publishing, Oxfam House , John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JY, UKtel +44 (0) 1865 473727; fax (0) 1865 472393; email: [email protected] website contains a fully searchable d atabase of all our titles, and facilities for secure on-line o rdering.Published by Oxfam GB, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JY, UKOxfam GB is a registered charity, no. 202918, and is a member of Oxfam International.

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mainstreaming have not moved beyond theintegrationist approach. But agenda-settinggender mainstreaming is desperatelyneeded, because women are still as margin-alised and excluded as ever from politicaland economic life. We cannot ignore thecentral role that governments and NGOsplay in this marginalisation and exclusion,and the potential they hold for social,economic, and political transformation inwom en's lives.Institutional andoperational gendermainstreamingA second useful distinction made by Jahan(1995) is between institutional and oper-ational gender mainstreaming activities.This is not an 'either/or' option. Gendermainstreaming should involve both kinds ofactivity, and indeed cannot succeedotherwise. Institutional activities addressthe internal dynamics of developmentorganisations: their policies, structures,systems, and procedures. Operationalactivities address the need to change theprogrammes of work in which the organi-sation is engaged (ibid.). All articles in thisissue focus to some extent on successesand failures of institutionalising genderconcerns into development. Caroline andAnnalise Moser (this issue) suggest that thisside of the equation has taken up mostattention to date. In contrast, little is yetknown of the impact of gender main-streaming efforts on the lives of women whoare involved with operational developmentwork. They suggest that this needs muchmore investigation in the years ahead.Operational mainstreaming: what arethe challenges?The litmus test of successful gendermainstreaming in operational w ork is thatdevelopment programmes support the twocomplementary goals of structural genderequality in society, and the empowerment ofwomen living in poverty. The need to pay

much more attention to the impact of gendermainstreaming on women themselves isamplified by articles from Vandana Desai,and Senorina Wendoh and Tina Wallace, intheir articles. But in assessing impact,development workers should adopt anuanced understanding of the multiplefactors which contribute to women'simpoverishment and lack of choices.Imported, b lueprint analyses and quick-fixsolutions suggested by donors with littleknowledge of local realities cannot beexpected to yield useful analysis. Nor willthey be embraced readily by womenor men- working at the local level, who can see thatsuch tools are either wholly inappropriate,or too crude, for the job they have to do.A key challenge faced in gendermainstreaming in grassroots communitydevelopment work is inadequate under-standing of the tension which exists betweensupporting the empowerment of women asa sex, and sup porting the empow erment ofindividual women and their households.Approaches to gender and developmentat this level often fail to deal with the issueof differences between women, whoseexperience of marginalisation on grounds ofsex varies dramatically according to otheraspects of identity, including relative wealthor poverty, ethnicity, caste or other factors.These concerns have been critically evaluatedby authors including Cornwall (2001). Auni-dimensional analysis of male-to-femaleoppression does not equip gender anddevelopment practitioners to analyse andaddress the complex relations of power,which constrain the agency of individualwomen. What is more, sometimes differencecan create obstacles to political action tofurther gender equality. If women do notfeel particularly disadvantaged by genderconcerns they may - quite legitimately! -pursue other priorities.As Vandana Desai points out in herarticle on NGO work in Mumbai, these issuescreate real challenges for organisationscommitted to gender mainstreaming. What isneeded is operational gender mainstreaming


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Editorialwhich addresses gender interests as theseintersect with other interests, for examplecaste or age. Operational gender main-streaming should start with womenidentifying their own political priorities andstrategies.We believe that development organi-sations wanting to challenge gender-baseddiscrimination, and improve the lives ofindividual women in communities, need toadopt a dual-faceted approach. This is tosupport feminist activity at all levels ofsociety, to ensure that individual women'schoices are not constrained by institutionaldiscrimination against them on grounds oftheir sex. At the same time, support isrequired for individual women withincommunities. For many, acute povertyconstrains them from embarking on anyactivity which is not immediately necessaryfor survival. For this reason, targetingresources on women needs to be seen incontext, as part of a commitment to theempowerment of women (Kabeer 1999). Inher article in this issue, Elsa Dawson makesthis point in the context of an analysis ofgender mainstreaming in Oxfam GB. Onceimmediate survival needs are satisfied,women may opt to pursue political action toensure that obstacles to future choices areremoved. Of course, for some women insome contexts, political action (which mayor may not be feminist) may appear to be thefastest route to gain essential resources. Butthe important point is that it is for women todecide these things for themselves. The roleof a development organisation is limited toresponding to women's own agendas, in astransformative a way as possible (Young1993). Development work with womenliving in poverty should be informed byaccurate analysis of the political location ofwomen, and a commitment to supportingthe goal of gender equality, as far as ispossible.Without this dual commitment to theempowerment of women and structuralgender equality, comm unity-level develop-

ment work may not even identify theinterests that women share on account oftheir marginalised position in society.Suzanne Clisby's article in this issuehighlights the fact that efforts to mainstreamgender into local governance in Boliviafailed to create opportunities for womento participate as equals and bring genderissues to the fore. This is because mixedcommunity groups contain power relation-ships, between women and women, andbetween women and men, that will privilegethe concerns of the most powerful. In such asituation, women's shared gender interestsare not likely to be included on the groupagenda.Institutional mainstreaming: assessingthe progressFor successful operational gender main-streaming to take place, changes are requiredwithin the institutions of development.Transforming organisations to enable womento participate as fully as men, in terms ofnumbers and substantive input, is critical forseveral reasons.The first of these reasons is the inherentquestion of justice for wom en. Women havethe right to participate in equal numberswith men throughout society, and thisincludes within social institutions of govern-ment and in NGOs. Another reason is that itis widely believed that women's equalparticipation affects the agendas of develop-ment organisations, making these reflectgender concerns. Care should be taken not toassume that there is a connection betweenbeing a woman and furthering the sharedstrategic interests of women; yet the evidencestill shows that it is fair to 'generally assumethat feminism is practised by women, andcertainly is defined by women's experiences'(Porter 1999, 5). If institutions reform toensure that women are able to take a full andequal role as decision makers, researchers,planners, and implementers in develop-ment, 'women [will] not only become a partof the mainstream, they also reorient thenature of the mainstream ' (Jahan 1995,13).


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Yet some critiques of gender main-streaming point out that ensuring thatwomen participate equally with men is notin itself sufficient to guarantee thatorganisations address gender inequality intheir operations, or internally within theirown culture, structure, systems, andprocedures. As Aruna Rao and DavidKelleher argue in their article, it is notenough to change the identity of the playersin the game; it is also necessary to change therules of the game. Cultural norms fromsurrounding society are reflected in thepractices and values of organisations. Tochange the practices and values involves thedifficult task of challenging formerlyunquestioned norms. Rao and Kelleher'siceberg image demonstrates clearly howthere are different levels at which changemust take place, if organisations are toaddress gender inequality successfully intheir work and in their own internalpractices. Only a small proportion of theselevels is actually 'visible' above the surfaceas formal rules. Other levels are 'submerged',and therefore hidden from view. Change atthese invisible levels is, nevertheless,essential.

Elsa Dawson's article focuses on OxfamGB's experience of gender mainstreamingin its South American programme. Theemphasis of Oxfam's gender mainstreamingstrategy for the region prioritised insti-tutional change. Elsa Dawson challenges thedichotomy between institutional and opera-tional approaches to mainstreaming. Forher, gender mainstreaming involves develop-ing contextually appropriate, locally ownedunderstandings of gender relations at everylevel of programme planning and imple-mentation. She maintains that this should bethe responsibility of everyone involved inplanning and carrying out developmentwork. Carrying o ut a gender analysis as aseparate specialist task can undermine thedegree of ownership felt by staff in theorganisation.

The role of agents inmainstreamingCritical to both operational and institutionalgender m ainstreaming are the people whobring this about. Feminist agents who workwith organisations involved in thedevelopment process have been identifiedas essential in transforming the policy,planning, and im plementation of develop-ment interventions (Goetz 1998,2004; Porterand Judd 1999). These agents can be foundin the vast majority of developmentorganisations, regardless of whether theorganisation is committed to gendermainstreaming of any kind. Sometimes theseagents occupy posts which are not chargedwith supporting gender mainstreaming, butthey are themselves feminists. Other agentswith personal feminist commitment can befound in positions expressly charged withgender m ainstreaming.

Feminist agents face a daily strugg le toplace and keep gender issues on theorganisational agenda, with regard to bothinstitutional practices and operationalactivities. Anne-Marie Goetz (2004) points tothe need for more recognition and supportfor these agents to be given by theircolleagues in the international women'smovements. She also highlights the needfor their work to be judged in context. Manychanges brought about may not beimmediately visible to those outside theorganisation. Women's movements donot only have a role in supporting gendermainstreaming by pressuring and influencingfrom outside, but are also needed foralliance-building, solidarity, and support.Feminist agents work alongside, andmust influence, colleagues who may notidentify themselves as feminists. Never-theless, these colleagues have a key role toplay in bringing about changes in develop-ment policy and practice. Developmentpractitioners, particularly at the imple-mentation level, are often the central actorsin the success or failure of gender main-streaming initiatives. A number of articles in


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Shamim Meer's article in this issuedemonstrates clearly the struggle of womento ensure that their shared interestswere incorporated into the agenda ofSouth Africa's post-apartheid government.However, this has resulted in what she callsa 'technicisation' of gender issues, which hasmarginalised women's collective politicalinterests and stalled progress towardsgender equality in South Africa. The energiesof women activists-turned-politicians wereoften taken up with the business ofgovernment. Mainstream politics has notproved to be an effective forum in which tochallenge gender inequality and promotewomen's rights. In matters like land reform,which affect both women and men, buildingin a gender analysis has met with resistance.Meanwhile, women's gender-specific concernsare still addressed, in the main, outside ofgovernment. The South African women'smovement has successfully organisedaround issues such as abortion and violenceagainst women.

Outside government, developmentorganisations with a political analysis ofpoverty are faced with particular challengeswhen they start to address gender inequality.If development organisations base theirvision and working practices on a commit-ment to ending unjust and unequal relationsbetween the global North and South,analyses of gender inequality withinSouthern communities potentially weakenthe power of this message. Added to this,such commitments to empow ering marginalgroups are not always genuine: populistapproaches are not always radicalapproaches (Pieterse 1998), and genderequality is a radical aim. Elizabeth Harrisonobserves that 'developm ent agencies are notin the business of promoting politicalrealignments or supporting revolutionarystruggles' (1995, 41). Aruna Rao and DavidKelleher, in their article in this issue, suggestthat development organisations containwithin their 'deep structure' a conservatismreflecting their administrative and technicalconcerns, which sho uld be uncovered and

examined in order to identify appropriatestrategies for gender mainstreaming. Thisrequires a political response, and an analysisof power, citizenship, and rights. Thispolitical response also needs to reflect anunderstanding of the added threat presentedby right-wing populist agendas, which canactively undermine support for women'srights, while appealing to women as apolitical group.Gender mainstreaming,men, and masculinitySome contributions to this issue have madereference to the importance of masculinity togender analysis, and to the importance ofmen in gender mainstreaming initiatives.Considering masculinity as an issue ingender and development work is a logicaloutcome of changing terminology from WIDto gender and development (GAD). Forsome, this outcome is not welcome. GAD setout to put a political edge on developmenttargeted at women, and to emphasise theneed to challenge inequality. But it hasended up being undermined by a focus onmen's experience of gender relations, whichthreatens to divert attention from the globalpicture of continued female marginalisationfrom power at every level of society. Ofcourse, local realities turn up examples ofmale powerlessness and poverty, in whichthe experience of particu lar men or boys isshaped by their gender identity. Genderedexpectations of men can make extreme andappalling demands on individual men whocannot live up to what society expects ofthem. In such contexts, development organi-sations are presented with the choice tospend resources on addressing male genderissues. What is critical is that resources arenot diverted from women, and that inaddressing male gender issues, a commit-ment to gender equality remains non-negotiable.2Men are also critically important as aconstituency which can either make or breakthe success of gender mainstreaming.


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10Kardam, N. (1993) 'Developmentapproaches and the role of policyadvocacy: the case of the World Bank',World Development 21(11) pp.773-86Mayoux, L. (1998) 'Gender accountabilityand NGOs: avoiding the black hole', inC. Miller and S. Razavi (eds.)Missionaries and Mandarins: FeministEngagement With DevelopmentInstitutions, London: IntermediateTechnology Development GroupMiller, C. (1998) 'Gender advocates andmultilateral development organisations:promoting change from within', in C.Miller and S. Razavi (eds.) Missionariesand Mandarins: Feminist Engagement WithDevelopment Institutions, London:Intermediate Technology DevelopmentGroupMolyneux, M. (1985). 'Mobilisation withoutemancipation? Women's interests, thestate and revolution in Nicaragua' ,Feminist Studies 11(2), pp. 227-53Molyneux M. (1991) 'The "womanquestion" in the age of perestroika', in R.Blackburn (ed.) After the Fall, London:VersoMoser, C. (1989) 'Gender planning in theThird World: meeting practical andstra tegic gender needs ' , WorldDevelopment 17(11) pp . 1799-825

Pearson, R. (1999) 'Rethinking gendermatters in development', in T. Allen andA. Thomas (eds.) Poverty andDevelopment in the 1990s, Milton Keynes:Open UniversityPieterse, J.N. (1998) 'My paradigm oryours? Alternative development, post-development, reflexive development',Development and Change 29:343-73Porter, M. (1999) 'Introduction: Caught inthe web?' in M. Porter and E. Judd (eds.)(1999)Porter, M. and Judd, E. (eds.) (1999)Feminists Doing Development: A PracticalCritique, Zed: LondonRao, A. Stuart, R., and Kelleher, D. (1999)Gender at Work, Bloomfield: KumarianRiddell, R.C. and Robinson, M. (1995) Non-governmental Organisations and RuralPoverty Alleviation, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press/Clarendon PressSen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom,Oxford: Oxford University PressUn ited Nat ions (1997) 'Re por t of theEconomic and Social Council for 1997',A/52/3,18 September 1997Young, K. (1993) Development Planning withWom en: M aking a W orld of Difference,New York: St Martin's Press


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14Most importantly, all organisationsidentify a dual strategy of mainstreaminggender equality issues into all policies,programmes and projects, combined withsupporting targeted actions for genderequality (100 per cent). The majoritymention the need for gender training (93 percent), and for systems and tools formonitoring and evaluation (93 per cent).Some form of gender analysis is identifiedby 86 per cent, as is support for women'sactive role in decision-making processes andempowerment mentioned by all exceptthe World Bank and the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB). Finally, the issue of the

responsibility for gender mainstreamingshows a combined approach, where all staffshare responsibility, but are supported bygender specialists. Exceptions to this approachinclude the Inter-American DevelopmentBank (IDB) and ADB, and the UN agenciesdedicated to gender. Institutionally, genderspecialists are often located within acentralised team, as well as 'embe dde d' indecentralised departmental and regionaloffices. In an assessment of the NGO Hivos,Dubel (2002) notes that this structure allowsfor top-down (policy development andprogrammatic support) and bottom-up(policy operationalisation) processes.

Other gender mainstreaming com-ponents less frequently cited include theneed to identify the roles and respons-ibilities of staff (57 per cent), andstrengthening gender equality in co-op-eration with other organisations (71 percent). Half mentioned the generation anddistribution of best-practice publications, aswell as attention to the allocation ofadequate resources. Just under half alsocited capacity building of civil society, andlearning through manu als and tool kits, asbeing important to gender mainstreamingstrategies.Among types of institutions, minimaldifferences are apparent. Bilateral organi-sations report more activities concernedwith strengthening civil society and working

with national women's machineries. UNagencies make use of networks and onlinedata bases to disseminate know ledge, andhave an extensive system of gender focalpoints within each agency. The UN is alsounique in that it has several agencies ordivisions dedicated to gender equality including UNIFEM, the Division for theAdvancement of Women (DAW), and theInter-Agency Network on Women andGender Equality (IANWGE) whichprovide support and co-ordination for theUN system. These last two entities were notincluded in Table 1, as they are not stand-alone operational agencies. They providesupport for gender activities in other UNagencies, particularly through supportinggender equality in co-operation with otherorganisations, and providing a range ofknowledge resources.Policy constraints: the problem ofinstrumentalismAlthough all institutions in this review havesucceeded in developing an explicit genderpolicy, evaluations highlight as a constraintthe issue of instrumentalism. Since genderpolicy is generally formulated within aparticular organisational context, withspecific pressures, mandate and ideology,the gender policy and the organisationalmandate need to 'fit' (Razavi 1997). Here thedebate concerns the extent to which genderequality policy should be developed as anend in itself or, as advocates of instru-mentalism argue, promoted as a means todevelopment. In this case poverty reductionis most frequently utilised as a usefulplatform. Advocates argue that thispromotes a win -win scenario, as in the 1995Human Development Report phrase'development, if not engendered, isendangered' (UNDP 1995).

Three main arguments are used todefend instrumentalism. First, it may beinevitable, given the constraints of thecontexts within which feminist advocatesoperate. Second, in the 'real' world of


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Gender mainstreaming since Beijing 2 1

ReferencesACORD (1999) 'Gender Equality: Policy,Good Practice Guidelines and ActionPlan for ACORD 2000-2003', London:

ACORDActionAid (2000) 'Gender Policy', London:ActionAidADB (1998) 'Policy of Gender andDevelopment', Manila: ADBCIDA (1999) 'CIDA's Policy of GenderEquality', Hull, Quebec: CIDACIDA (2000) 'Accelerating Change:Resources for Gender Mainstreaming',Hull, Quebec: CIDACornwall, A. (2003) 'Whose voices? Whosechoices? Reflections on gender andpart ic ipatory development ' , WorldDevelopment 31(8): 1325-42DAC (1998) 'DAC Source Book onConcepts and Approaches Linked toGender Equality', Paris: OECDDanida (2000) 'Gender Equality in DanishDevelopment Co-operat ion: AContribution to the Revision of Danish

Development Policy ' , Copenhagen:DanidaDerbyshire, H. (2002) 'Gender Manual: APractical Guide for Development PolicyMakers and Practitioners ' , London:DFIDDFID (2000) Poverty Elimination and theEmpowerment of Women: Strategies forAchieving the International DevelopmentTargets, London: DFIDDubel, I. (2002) 'Challenges for GenderMainstreaming - The Experiences ofHivos', paper presented at Women'sWorlds 2002, Kampala, 21-26 July 2002Guijt, I. and M.K. Shah (eds.) (1998) TheMyth of Commu nity: G ender Issues inParticipatory Development, London:Intermediate Technology PublicationsHadjipateras, A. (1997) 'Implementing agender policy in ACORD: strategies,constraints, and challenges', Gender and

Development 5(1): 28-34

Hivos (1996) 'Hivos Policy Document:Gender, Women and Development' ,The Hague: HivosHivos (2001) 'Report Gender Self-Assessment of Hivos Gender, Womenand Development Policy (1997-2000)',The Hague: HivosIDB (n.d.) 'OP-761 Women inDevelopment ' , Operat ional Policy,Washington, DC: IDBKabeer, N. (2001) 'Reflections on themeasurement of women's empower-ment", in Discussing Women's Empowerment:Theory and P ractice, Sida Studies No. 3.Stockholm: Novum Grafiska AB

Longwe, S. (1995) 'The evaporation ofpolicies for women's advancement', inN. Heyzer (ed) A Commitment to theWorld's Women: Perspectives onDevelopment for Beijing andBeyond, NewYork: UNIFEMMacDonald, M. (2003) 'Gender Equalityand Mainstreaming in the Policy andPractice of the UK Department forInternational Development' , London:WomankindMacDonald, M., E. Sprenger and I. Dubel(1997) Gender and O rganizational Change:Bridging the Gap between Policy andPractice, Amsterdam: Royal TropicalInstitute

Malhotra, A., S. Schuler and C. Boender(2003) 'Measuring Women's Empower-ment as a Variable in InternationalDevelopment', paper presented at theICRW Insight and Action Seminar,Washington, DC, 12 November 2003March, C , I. Smyth and M. Mukhopadhyay(1999) A Guide to Gender-AnalysisFrameworks, Oxford: Oxfam GBMayoux, L. (1998) 'Gender accountabilityand NGOs: avoiding the black hole', inC. Miller and S. Razavi (eds.)Missionaries and Mandarins: FeministEngagement with Development Institutions,London: Intermediate Technology


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needed community development. Indeed,over the past decade there has been atangible sense of both increased empower-ment and of greater enfranchisement intoregional and national political processesamong local actors (Imparato and Ruster2003; Byron and Zolezzi 2003; Booth andPiron2004).Nevertheless, in all the excitementthat the LPP has generated about people'sparticipation, far less attention has been paidto the actual gendered dynamics of the law.As I suggest here, the LPP fell short of itspotential to effectively mainstream genderinto the political processes, for two keyreasons. First, there was a lack of attentionpaid to gendered analyses of both practicaland strategic1 barriers to women's partici-pation at the policy level. Second, there w asa failure to provide adequate and systematiccapacity building to facilitate women'sparticipation at local and regional levels. Asa result, rather than encouraging wom en'sgreater participation and decision making,the LPP has in some cases had the reverseeffect of pushing wom en out of local spacesin which they were previously involved incommunity development. Moreover, asLind (2002) states, since the popular partici-pation measures were introduced, thepercentage of women politicians and insome cases of women's organisationalparticipation has actually decreased. Inaddition, she argues,even when women's organizations participate inthese new structures, they may gain visibilitybut they do not necessarily gain political oreconomic power. An unintended consequence ofdecentralization is that some women'sorganizations have lost out or been left withoutfunding or support (Lind 2002, 242).

While there is some evidence that this maybe a transitional phase, and one whichwom en are contesting w ith the suppo rt oflocal and international NGOs, it is never-theless important that generalised state-ments about the success of popularparticipation do not go unquestioned.

The 'beautiful dynamic' ofpopular participation?The Bolivian LPP was implemented from1994, and so precedes the Beijing Platformfor Action, and the subsequent focus ongender mainstreaming. In this regard, theLPP could be seen as particularly forward-thinking, in that it is a law that w as writtenwith an explicit intent to integrate genderawareness and gender equality into thepolitical process.Lauded as the most important andsuccessful of a series of reforms initiated inthe late 1990s, the LPP instituted democraticmunicipal government on a nationwidebasis for the first time (Booth and Piron2004). In its own words, it sets out to:

secure improvem ents in the quality of life ofBolivian women and men, with a more justdistribution and better administration of publicresources. T o strengthen the political andeconomic instruments necessary in order toperfect representative democracy, facilitatingcitizens' participation and guaranteeing equalityof opportunity in terms of representation ofwomen and men (Secretan'a Nacional deParticipation Popular 1994, 2).

The LPP created new layers of locally electedmunicipal government, and devolved 20 percent of national tax revenue to the local levelfor participatory community development.It divided the country into over 300 newmunicipalities, each with its own locallyelected leadership, within which localorganising committees known as TerritorialBase Organisations (OTBs, also referred to asArea-Based Community Organisations orABCOs) were established . The OTBs ineach community tend to be pre-existingsocio-territorial organisations such as neigh-bourhood committees {juntas vecinales), andayllus,2 or other forms of indigenousterritorial organisations officially recog-nised by the municipal government asrepresentative of a given community orarea. These local committees are responsiblefor producing the annual community


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30suggests that, political will allowing, theLPP could also have included certain targetswithin its own legislation.A second argument for the lack ofspecific targets for women's participationbeing named was that higher rates ofilliteracy and lower levels of educationamong women presented serious obstaclesto women's leadership participation thatcould not be legislated away.18 Issues ofilliteracy and a lack of formal training dopose problems when establishing new formsof governance and leadership, and womenare statistically over-represented in illiteracytables. However, I would suggest that theseproblems are by no means gender-specific,and do not constitute sufficient cause not tospecifically target women as potentialcommunity leaders.

Indeed the same standard does not seemto apply to m ale leaders. In Independencfain the High Andes, for example, a Quechuamale counsellor was elected to the newmunicipal governm ent. He spoke almost noSpanish (the official language of politics, inwhich all legislation is written), and hadvery little formal education, literacy, ortraining in leadership skills.19 There was noserious suggestion that only well-educated,Spanish-speaking men should be allowed tostand for municipal government. Any suchsuggestion would have been met withwidespread outrage from the majorityindigenous, rural communities across thecountry. Illiterate wom en are inherently noless capable of leadersh ip than illiterate men,and the way forward is to provide essentialcapacity building for all candidates, regard-less of gender.A third issue which most directlydiscriminates against women 's participationin the LPP is that of the definition andrecognition of the OTBs. As discussedabove, the problem for the overwhelmingmajority of women's organisations through-out Bolivia w as that they were not deemedto qualify officially as OTBs, because theywere classed as neither territorial nor asrepresenting the whole population of a

given barrio. It was claimed that this problemstems from an objective reality of genderrelations in Bolivia, rather than from anyinsensitivity to gender issues on the part ofthe legislative team.20 This 'objective reality'is that indigenous Andean traditions ofdomestic consultation are based on theconcept of complementary gender roles: thepublic /priva te spatial dichotomy. This, it isargued, leads to less purely patriarchalpatterns of decision making than appears atfirst sight (Taipinquiri 1996; Harris 2000).I find this fundamental premise flawed.However, for the purposes of this critique,

even if we accept that the distinction betweenfemale-dominated functional groups andmale-dominated territorial groups is atechnically legitimate argu ment, it remainsproblematic. In reality, community-basedwomen's groups, although not officiallyprecluding membership by women fromdifferent communities, do tend to beoverwhelmingly territorial in as much asthey pertain to a given neighbourhood.It would be a relatively simple matter tomake these organisations officially territorialand, as such, qualify as OTBs on thesegrounds. An argument against this was that,whether territorial or sectoral, women'scommunity organisations do not representboth men and women in a given neigh-bourhood in the same way as juntas vecinalesofficially do. This is despite the fact thatjuntas vecinales tend to be overwhelminglymale-dominated organisations.21 There isan important and wider issue here: itappears to be more acceptable for all-male orpredominantly male committees to purp ortto represent the whole than it is for female-dominated groups to do so.The evolution of gendermainstreaming in popularparticipationSo, to return to the question posed in thetitle: is the LPP an example of effectivegender mainstreaming or not? On the one


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Nevertheless, there are instances wherethe goal of gender m ainstreaming in popularparticipation in Bolivia is closer to beingrealised. Although these instances docurrently tend to be exceptions to the moregeneral pattern, since wom en's participationin the political sphere at any level remainsrelatively limited, they nevertheless demon-strate the possibilities tha t have been openedup by the Law. What has also been dem on-strated across the region is that, once awareof their rights under the LPP, womenare keen to become involved in decisionmaking. It is certainly not the case that, as Iwas told by several male communityleaders, 'women simply don't want toparticipate'.23

To mainstream gender concerns properlyinto popu lar participation is undoubtedly along, slow process, which would call formajor political and financial investmentover many years. However, the experiencethus far has generated some interestingdynamics. While the LPP has resulted insome women being pushed out of develop-ment processes at local levels, there havealso been tangible advances for otherwomen's groups. As Lind (2002, 246) notes,'some women's NGOs that are sub-contracted by the state have [...] benefitedto a large degree, in political as well asfinancial terms. Such is the case of IFFI inCochabamba.' She goes on, however, tosound a warning note: 'This perceivedpower is not necessarily permanent, itdepends on future political relationshipsand policies and IFFI may or may not retainthis power.'Lind is right to be cautious: as we haveseen at macro-development levels, it is alltoo easy to provide a gendered discourse atthe policy level, but with little concomitant'engendering' of development processes. Itseems clear that the LPP will not provideproponents of gender m ainstreaming witha textbook example of success. However,there is significant energy and commitmentamong both women and men across Boliviato use the Law as a tool to strengthen local-

level decision making, and within this, topromote greater opportunities for genderequality in participatory planning.

Notes1 The distinction between practical andstrategic gender interests or needs hasbecome an important reference point in'gender and development ' (GAD)discourses. See particularly Molyneux(1985) and Moser (1993).2 Ayllus are ancient forms of indigenousterritorial organisation in the Andeanregion. Ayllus tend to be associated withthe Aymara, one of the largestindigenous groups in the region anddominant on the Altiplano (Ticona et al.1995; Taipinquiri 1996; Vasquez 1998).Bolivia is unique among its SouthAmerican neighbours in that approx-imately 60 per cent of its population isindigenous, with the largest groupsbeing Quechua (30 per cent) andAymara (25 per cent) (UNICEF 1994;Freedomhouse 2004).3 For a fuller explanation of the LPP, seeBooth et al. 1996; Booth et al. 1997; Kohl2003.4 Taken from interviews with the GenderAffairs Secretariat between 1994 and1997, and with Ivonne Farah, formerVice-Minister for Gender Affairs andSonia Montafio, formerly Sub-Secretariatof Gender Affairs, Ministry of HumanDevelopment, La Paz, 1996.5 Taken from inte rvie ws with theSecretaria Nacional de ParticipationPopular and the Sub-Secretaria deAsuntos de Genero, La Paz, 1995-7.6 Law No. 1551, Law of Po pu larParticipation, Article 14, 20 April, 1994.7 Taken from an interview with SoniaMontafio, La Paz, formerly Sub-Secretariat of Gender Affairs, Ministry ofHuman Development, La Paz, 1996.8 The Gu aran i are the third lar gestindigenous group in Bolivia, with apopulation of approximately 5,000


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Freedom for women:mainstreaming gender in the SouthAfrican liberation struggle and beyondShamim MeerThe liberation struggle in South Africa highlighted racial and class oppression as key causes of poverty,inequality, and a lack of rights for most South Africans. Drawing on the language of the struggle,women political an d trade union activists brought attention to their oppression an d exploitation aswomen, and were able to place non-sexism alongside non-racism and democracy as key liberationprinciples. However, while men in these organisations ostensibly accepted the idea of non-sexism, theywere not ready to change their behaviour or give up their power, and women activists met with ongoingresistance. During the negotiations for democracy, w omen drew on their experience of the years ofstruggle and were able to ensure a high proportion of women in parliament, influence the country'sconstitution, and advocate the establishmen t of State ma chinery to mainstream gender eq uality.However, in the post-apartheid era of reconstruction and development, both the demobilisation ofprotest movements and the emphasis on the technical aspects of development stand in the way of gendermainstreaming via the State.

IntroductionIt is important for us to unite women committedto a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic SouthAfrica. Otherwise we will find ourselves in thesame situation as women from other countries inthe post-liberation era. After having struggledtogether with their men for liberation, womencomrades found their position had not changed.We need to assert our position as w omen m orestrongly now than ever before and we can onlydo that effectively as one, unified, loud voice.(Feroza Adam in Meer 1998,124)1

A cornerstone of the national liberationstruggle in South Africa during the years ofapartheid was mass mobilisation and massaction. Entire communities took part in workstay-aways, workers engaged in strikeaction, students boycotted classes andclosed down academic institutions. Womenengaged in all of these struggles as workers,students, and community members, and, asthey did so, they pursued an additionals truggle the s truggle for wo me n ' sliberation from oppressive gender relations.

Through their active involvement in theliberation movements and their carefulstrategising, women activists were able toshape the mainstream of political ideas. Bythe mid-1980s, despite dominant Marxistand nationalist views that women's rightswould divert and weaken the struggle(Wieringa 1995; De Mel 2001; Hutchful1999), non-sexism was made an aim of themainstream struggle at least at the levelof language. However, although they wonthe support of some men in their efforts tomainstream women's rights within theliberation movements, women found thatthe gains they made were constantly underthreat. Their strategies were shaped notonly by their experience of apartheidcapitalism, bu t also by the resistance of menin the liberation organisations.

Building on their activism during theyears of struggle, w omen political activistsplayed a key role in the negotiation processthat marked the transition from apartheidto a democratic South Africa. Women cam-paigned for their inclusion in the negotiations.


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Freedom for women in South Africa 41needed to be considered. The ANCWLcanvassed male leaders to support theproposal they planned to bring to table atthe 1991 ANC Conference. The proposalwas that at least 30 per cent of the positionson the NEC of the ANC be filled bywomen. Although senior ANC maleleaders agreed to support the proposal,they did not actually do so. At the 1991conference, ANC women found themselvesisolated, and their proposal rejected. In theheated debate that followed the intro-duct ion of their proposal on quotas ,delegates argued that women were notready to lead, that there were few womenof leadership quality, and that women mustprove themselves. Angry, disappointed, andlet down, ANC women told the conferencethat similar arguments had been used bythe apartheid regime to keep power inwhite hands.As a result of their defeat at the 1991Conference, the ANCWL recognised theneed to organise at grassroots level on anongoing basis, so as to make sure that therewas greater supp ort for w omen's equality.They also saw the need to build a broadercoalition of women to influence thenegotiations already under way for a demo-cratic South Africa. Their defeat broughthome the reality that unequal social relationswithin society enter even liberationmovements such as the ANC. RaymondSuttner, head of ANC political education,noted in 1993 that there was a lot of abuse ofwomen in the democratic movement.Women were beaten and raped, and whilelip-service was paid to gender equality,people in the ANC were still at the 'beginningstages' of understanding the full significanceof this. In particular, there was not anadequate understanding of what this wouldmean in their personal lives (Meer, 1998).

Negotiations and aconstitution for a newSouth AfricaThe shift from apartheid to a democraticpolitical order took place through anegotiated settlement which began withtalks between the apartheid government,the ANC, and other key l iberationmovements. These talks started soon afterthe ANC was unbanned. Between 1991 and1994, the talks moved into more structurednegotiations, and culminated in an electiondate being set for April 1994.

As the key organisations moved to thenegotiating table, new political formationswere established in the country. The ban onthe ANC having been lifted, returned exilesand released political prisoners joined UDFactivists in establishing the ANC within thecountry. UDF organisations, including theUDF women's organisations, were encouragedto disband, so that their members couldbuild ANC and ANCWL branches.

In the course of the creation of thisnew political landscape, community-basedwom en's organisations that had been key inthe preceding years were demobilised.COSATU unions entered an alliance withthe ANC, and contributed to the negoti-ations as an alliance partner, resulting in theloss of an independen t voice on the part oftrade union women.

At its launch in 1991, the ANCWLprioritised action to contribute to thecountry's con stitution. How ever, realisingthat they stood only a slim chance ofinfluencing the negotiations and the draftingof the country's constitution on their own,ANCWL leaders initiated the formation ofthe Women's National Coalition (WNC).This brought together some 60 organisations(including women's wings of politicalparties, church women, and organisationssuch as the Young Women's ChristianAssociation). The WNC played a significantrole in influencing the constitution,and shaping the machinery intended to


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mainstream a commitment to genderequality in the new State.By drawing on gains made by women inpreceding years in placing non-sexism onthe liberation agenda, the WNC was able toensure that women's equality tookprecedence over customary law in thecountry's constitution. It campaigned for,and won, national machinery to advancegender equality, including an Office on theStatus of Women, a Commission on GenderEquality (CGE), and gender focal points inall government departments. It also played akey role in sensitising political parties on theimportance of women's votes, and theadvisability of increasing the numbers ofwomen on their electoral lists. The ANCagreed on a one-third female quota on theirlist of parliamentary candidates. In the firstdemocratic election, in 1994, an ANC victoryresulted in 101 of the 400 seats in the nationalassembly going to women making SouthAfrica count among the countries with thehighest proportion of women in parliament.In 1994, the WNC launched the Women'sCharter. By this time, most of the key leadersof the WNC had become members ofparliament, or had joined the ranks of othertiers of government; their energies weredispersed in national politics and away fromfeminist in terests. Without effective leader-ship, and a unifying issue to sustain thecoalition, hopes that the charter would bethe focal point for sustaining a strong andeffective women's movement were notrealised (Meintjes 1996).While the gains made by the WNC areclearly significant, it is important to note itslimitations in taking up the calls made bywomen in the UDF and COSATU over the1980s and 1990s. The WNC was a neworganisational formation representing abroad coalition, within which neither theformer UDF women's organisations (whichhad by now collapsed into the ANCWL), norCOSATU women, participated. The influentialvoices represented in the coalition tendedto be those of a middle-class, more

conservative constituency, which had neverengaged in the liberation struggles. Calls byCOSATU, UDF, and ANC women onreproductive rights and shared houseworkwere not key issues for the WNC, and it wasnot able to arrive at consensus on abortion.Added to this, the WNC was engaging ina new terrain that required technical andlegal expertise around negotiations andconstitution making, within the broadernegotiations framework, which emphasiseda middle ground rather than battles betweenopposing forces. Former activists within theWNC made shifts to learn new skills, orwere marginalised as technical expertisetook over.Post-apartheid South AfricaAs a result of women's active involvementin the struggle for l iberation and thestrategic intervention of organised womenduring the negotiations, the post-apartheidgovernment pol icy espouses a s trongcommitment to gender equality. There is ahigh proportion of women in public office.However, in the context of reconstructionand development it has been difficult tosustain the organisation of women, andthis has weakened women's ability toensure the goal of gender equality, despitetheir gains.

The first democratic parliament in 1994had one of the largest proportions of womenparliamentarians; the constitution of thecountry guarantees equal rights betweenwomen and men; and there exists animpressive array of mechanisms to promotewom en's advancement. These include: the parliam entary comm ittee on theImprovement on the Quality of Life andthe Status of W omen, established in 1996to oversee the implementation of theConvention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discriminat ion AgainstWomen and the Beijing Platform forAction;


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Freedom for women in South Africa 43 the Commission on Gender Equality(CGE), established in 1997 to monitorand review legislation and the genderpolicies of publicly funded bodies toensure that women's equality is promoted; the Office on the Status of Women(OSW), established in 1998 to co-ordinateand provide guidance to gender unitswithin national government depart-ments and provinces, and to initiatepolicy-oriented research; gender focal points in most line functiondepartments; almost all line function departmentshave made some attempt to includewomen's concerns in their whitepapers;5 some have produced genderpolicies, and many have conducted someform of gender training for staff.It has taken time to set up theseinstitutions, and an overarching constraintis that they lack resources. The CGE andOSW are poorly resourced. Gender unitsand focal points lack senior managementsupport, and lack clarity on gender goals.Gender equality is often read as a numbersgame, with a focus on making sure that thecomposition of State institutions reflects therace and gender demographics of thecountry (Meer 2003).

Further, these structures are often notstaffed by feminist or political activists whowould be more willing to address the goal ofgender equality as a political projectrequiring the transformation of existingrelations between women and men.Seidman (2003) notes how, within the CGE,women wanting to construct a feministproject within the State came up againstthose concerned with a project of nationaldevelopm ent. This resulted in an approachwhich avoided direct challenges to genderinequality, and instead emphasised serviceto women within the framework of existinggender relations.Given their great hopes that equality forwomen would be created through the State,

women leaders from the trade unions,community-based organisations, the UDF,ANCWL, and WNC entered national orprovincial parliaments. Women entering theState were, however, overwhelmed by thedemands of these institutions and spentmore time learning the rules of the gamethan challenging them. The language ofState institutions encourages the technical,and does not easily admit the political.Concerns about sharing housework andchildcare with men, and challenging men inorder to transform gender relations, are not apart of the technical approach dominant inState-influenced structures. As Baden andGoetz (1997) note for other contexts, thepreoccupation is with procedures ratherthan the power relations that result inwomen's subordination. Gender becameprofessionalised, and gender experts becamede-linked from grassroots constituenciesand not accountable to them.

Women's organisations of the years ofstruggle are no longer vocal or visible, andthus do not serve as either pressure orresource to State-created institutions.Outside government and parliament,South African women have been mostnotably active in campaigns to combatviolence against women and promotereproductive rights. They have contributedto the development of legislation and policyto address violence against women andtermination of pregnancy. However, in areassuch as economic policy and land reform,where advancing women's rights threatensmale privilege far more directly, womenhave not constituted an organised force, norhave they made gains.In the new era of reconstruction anddevelopment, power relations have been de-emphasised and development is increas-ingly defined in technical and legal terms.The struggle was seen as over, once SouthAfricans had won political rights. In myview, growth and market efficiency, and notpolitical struggle, are now advanced by theANC government as solutions to poverty


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Gender mainstreaming ingovernment offices inThailand, Cambodia, andL a o s : perspectives from belowKyoko KusakabeIn this article, I aim to examine the ways in which gender concerns have been 'mainstreamed' intogovernment activities. I focus on three countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region: Thailand, Laos,and Ca mbodia. While gender mainstreaming policies are in place at the national level in these countries,the 'evaporation' (Longwe 1995) of such policies at the lower levels has been a problem. The articleconcentrates on challenges of implementation which exist at provincial/comm une and departmentlevels. Drawing on the experience of middle- and low -level government officers, I argue here that policyevaporation occurs partly because of lack of political commitment to gender mainstreaming at differentlevels. Another problem is tliat the concept of gender mainstreaming itself remains vag ue, and is thusdifficult to translate into action.

I n 1997, the Economic and Social Councilof the UN defined gender main-s treaming as, first, the process ofassessing the implications of any plannedaction for both women and men. Second, itis a strategy for making women's concernsand experiences an integral dimension, ofthe design, implementation, monitoring,and evaluation of policies and programmesin all political, economic, and socialspheres, ensuring that women benefitequally with men.1In the last few decades, various approachesto gender mainstreaming have beendeveloped and implemented in differentcountries and organisational settings. Thesehave included appointing gender focalpoints among staff; conducting training ingender sensitivity and gender analyticalskills; developing gender policies andmethods of gender-responsive planning;and carrying out gender-sensitive monitoringand evaluation, through identifying genderindicators, collecting gender-disaggregateddata, and, recently, gender budget analysis.

Many problems regarding gender main-streaming have already been identified bypractitioners and scholars alike (for example,Rai 2003; Goetz 2001; Miller an d Razavi,1998). Problems include the weakinfluencing power commanded by genderfocal points, lack of resources, the evaporationof gender policies when it comes toimplementation, and the difficulty of gendermainstreaming in the face of gender-biasedorganisational culture and discourse. Somescholars have even questioned whethergender mainstreaming is co-opting thefeminist agenda, instrumentalising anddiluting it, and thus doing more harm thangood for gender equality (Standing 2004;Miller and Razavi, 1998).

In this article, I briefly survey the effortsmade to address gender issues in govern-ment offices, in Laos, Cambodia, andThailand. These cases may not berepresentative of the overall effort that istaking place in these countries. However, it ishoped that they will serve as food forthought. In particular, they highlight the


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48Frustration due to the lack of clarity inroles is felt within the commune, as well asby provincial level officers. One gender focalpoint in the commune council replied to ourquestion on what she does as a gender focal

point6 as follows: 'I don't do anything, becausethere is no budget. lam not instructed from abovewhat I should do. They (PDWA) sometimes giveme posters for domestic violence and trafficking. Iwent to the villages to distribute these. Now it isfinished. I have been to PDWA meeting severaltimes. But it has now been a long time since I havelast met them... No, no one in the villages comesto me to discuss about their problems...'

Lack of concrete work beyond gendertraining, and lack of clarity on the mandateof gender focal points, means that staffacting as gender focal points are often notassessed positively on their performance bycolleagues. One male officer at communelevel said: 'Yes, we have a gender focal point. Bu tI do not know what she is doing. She does notcome to office regularly. She is busy'. Suchstatements that they do not know what thegender officer is doing, and their perceptionthat gender officers are busy or sick, impliesthat male officers view gender officers as notproductive, and not contributing to theactivities of the council.Participation of the PDWA in theplanning process of government depart-ments was achieved at two levels. Withingovernment ministries, staff participateddirectly in meetings or supported genderfocal points to give input. At local level,planning is carried out by communecouncils, and includes a series of discussionswith v illagers.7 Final decisions on develop-ment activities that are to be implementedare made at the district integrationworkshop. Here commune councils discusstheir plan with provincial/district depart-ments, as well as other organisationsworking in the area. The PDWA fed into thislocal planning in various ways, includingsupporting the gender focal points in thecommune council to raise gender issues, and(with the Ministry for Women's Affairs)

developing a gender mainstreaming check-list to be used during the planning process.The checklist reminds planners to considerwhether women will be able to participate in,and benefit from, proposed activities.8There are significant challenges involvedin undertak ing these activities. In order forthe PDWA to provide necessary inputs toother departm ents' plans, it needs extensiveknowledge of other sectors' work, inaddition to knowledge and experience ofplanning. If the gender focal points are tocarry out the work, they need knowledge ofthe gender issues relating to their particularsphere of work. Often, their level of know-ledge makes it impossible to do anythingbeyond noting and reporting on the numberof women participants in communeactivities. However, it would not be fair toconclude that the difficulties that PDWA andcommune gender focal points have in raisinggender issues in planning processes arisemerely from their lack of knowledge. It isunrealistic to expect the provincial andcommune-level gender focal points to havea profound ability in policy analysis andplanning, especially with the absence of anytechnical and political support. Lack offinancial resources for gender focal pointsdiscourages attempts to take more inno-vative or proactive actions, and alsocontributes to their low status in theprovince and commune. But without oppor-tunities to discuss their ideas and withoutsupport for translating their ideas intoaction, it is difficult to come up withactivities beyond training, even if there is abudget.The final activity of PDWA is todisseminate information on gender issues,and run awareness-raising activities incommunities, on issues such as domesticviolence. Despite the policy of no directimplementation of projects in communities,

field-level activities are carried out byPDWA on women-specific problems such asdomestic violence, trafficking of women andchildren, and vocational training and skill


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Gender mainstreaming in government offices 5 1Fisheries (RNPGF) (Sriputinibondh el al.2004). Until quite recently, the CGEO did nothave any link with the RNPGF.In the Inland Fisheries Research andDevelopment Bureau of DoF, there are twopeople who are directly involved in theRNPGF. Within DoF, these national networkco-ordinators have not been given thehuman and financial resources to work ongender m ainstreaming. They have attendedregional trainings and workshops, conductedseveral research activities, presented researchon gender issues in national fisheriesconferences, and held workshops with DoFstaff who are interested in gender issues. Yetcurrently, the designated research areas inthe Department focus on areas such asaquaculture and fisheries m anagement, butdo not cover areas of research on socialissues. This means that even if DoFresearchers examine social issues related tofisheries and aquaculture, this is notrecognised as an achievement relevant toassessing individual staff members forperformance or promotion. As a result, thereis no great incentive to carry out research ongender-related topics in DoF.

There is clearly a mismatch betweenknowledge, skills, connections, motivation,and position inside DoF for gender main-streaming. Additionally, there is a generalunderstanding that even though takinggender concerns into consideration is apolicy of the Department, it is not a mainpriority . All this makes it difficult for thosewho are motivated to mainstream gender tobring about further achievements andchanges. Better co-ordination to overcomethe mismatch, empowerment of lower-levelofficers to voice their needs and ideas forchange, and recognition and rewarding ofinitiatives, could all improve the motivationof staff. Lobbying for the opportun ity to dosocial science related research needs to bedone internally through the co-ordinationand co-operation of people with differentskills, knowledge, and positions.15 If socialissues relating to fisheries and aquacu lture

were on the agenda, this would allowofficers to integrate gender concerns intotheir daily work.

ConclusionBelow, I summarise some of the manylearning points which emerge from thethree case studies.The importance of national policies tolocal-level implementationIn the three countries studied, at thenational level there are gender main-streaming structures in place, includinggender focal points, national machinery forthe advancement of women, gender units,and gender policy. This article, however,focused on gender mainstreaming processesat the department and provincia l /com mune level which has attractedrelatively less attention in the gendermainstreaming debate to trace what hashappened at this level. The importance ofestablishing national-level policies ongender equality is well recognised inbureaucracies. The logic is that if policy,practices, procedures, and incentivestructures change at national level, it willbe relatively easy to effect similar changesat the lower levels of government. Yet thecases show that the existence of national-level policies and strategies for main-streaming do not necessarily ensureimplementation at the departmental andprovincial/commune level. I have arguedthat one of the barriers to mainstreaming aconcern for gender equality in thegovernment bureaucracies studied is thatthe realities of middle- and lower-levelgovernment officers are often neglected.The lower-level officers are the ones whoare directly in contact with village womenand men, but what they should be doing isoften not stipulated. Less effort is focusedtowards them and their daily work thantowards national-level work on developinggender policy, reforming organisational


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52structure, and running gender trainingsessions.New institutional structures for gendermainstreaming: the pros and the consIn Lao PDR, the Lao Women's Union isseen as the organisation responsible forgender mainstreaming. Even though Laodoes not have a large NGO population, theWomen's Union is able to reach out andmobilise a large number of women, since itis a mass organisation with a long history(established in 1955). However, this longhistory in itself presents challenges forthe Union's transformation into anorganisation with a mandate to promotegender equality in all spheres of life. Thistransition is difficult. Given the sector-based planning practices of government inLao PDR, and its new mandate, theWomen's Union needs to work with otherdepartments to ensure that gender issuesare mainstreamed into their work. Butbecause the Women's Union is a well-established institution, with independentwork that it has been doing for decades,and because other sectors also do not seethe need to change the way they work, it isdifficult to adjust to performing this newrole. It is even more difficult for the lower-level Union officers. They still feel they lackclarity regarding their gender main-streaming roles, and the relationships thatthey should be forging with colleagues inother government departments.

In contrast, Cambodia created a newinstitution for gender mainstreaming. Butthe process of transition from socialismspelled the end of the women's associationset up under the socialist system. This led tothe loss of the nationwide network ofwomen which had been a feature of theassociation.The case study emphasised thatthe new institution has to depend on othergovernment departments to influence itsagenda and facilitate contact with itsconstituency of grassroots women. Thesedepartm ents have extension officers in the

field, for reaching out at the village level,while PDWA does not. Most gender main-streaming discourse remains at thephilosophical level, and is not beingtranslated into concrete action at the fieldlevel. Not being able to work and showconcrete achievements gives a negativeimpression to their colleagues in thecommune. This, together with the budgetaryconstraints discussed earlier, leaves field-level gender officers with low self-esteemand status.Challenges concerning the donor-drivennature of gender mainstreamingIn Cambodia and Lao PDR, gendermainstreaming is often donor-driven. Thesustainability of the initiative as theconsequence of donor dependence is oneproblem. Another problem is that theopportunities provided by these donor-driven initiatives are not translated intoroutine procedures in government offices.Especially among the lower-level govern-ment officers, there are problems inidentifying what should be done inpractical terms. Often, people are left tryingto work this out on their own.Gender training as the sole or ma inactivity in gender mainstreamingThe case studies provided evidence of avery heavy em phasis on gender training inmainstreaming. In Cambodia and LaoPDR, with the support of donor agencies,gender training at the lower levels has beenconducted, and gender is no longer a novelconcept. Gender awareness has thereforebeen achieved to some extent. Althoughgender training may be necessary, it is notsufficient to ensure that gender concernsare mainstreamed into government bodiesand their activities. Administering gendertraining can, indeed, even be seen as astrategy which enables those staff chargedwith gender mainstreaming to avoidaddressing the reality of resistance to theidea that government should work topromote gender equality. Initially at least,


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Gender mainstreaming in government offices 5516 It is recognised also that gendertraining provides an incentive forofficers to work positively on genderequality. In countries where govern-ment salaries are low, the per diem andtravel allowance paid to them forparticipation in training is consideredsignificant.17 For example, men 's wages are 23 percent more than women's on average inCam bodia (Godfrey et al. 2001, 11).According to the 1998 salary survey bythe National Statistics Office inThailand, in enterprises of 1,000persons and over, women were earning

59 per cent of men's income level,while for enterprise of 100-299 persons,the figure was 65.5 per cent.18 In Lao villages, some make it a rule thatany household that does not attendvillage meetings will be fined.ReferencesBhongsvej, M. and S. Patananusorn (2003)

'Strategies for gender mainstreaming:the case of Thailand' in Putting GenderMainstreaming into Practice, Bangkok:Economic and Social Commission forAsia and the PacificGodfrey, M., S. So, S. Tep, D. Pon, C. Katz,S. Acharya, C. D. Sisowath, andT. Hing (2001) A Study of the CambodianLabour Market: Reference to PovertyReduction, Growth and Adjustment to

Crisis, Working paper 18, Phnom Penh:Cambodia Development ResourceInstituteGoetz, A. M. (2001) Women Development

Workers: Implementing Credit Programmesin Bangladesh, New Delhi: SagePublicationsKusakabe, K. and C. Chim (1999)'Evaluation Report on CARERE/SEILAGender Sector Training, Cambodia',CARERE/UNDP, JuneLongwe, S. H. (1995) 'The evaporation ofpolicies for women's advancement' inN. Heyzer (ed.) A Comm itment to the

World's Women: Perspectives onDevelopment for Beijing and Beyond, NewYork: United Nations DevelopmentFund for WomenMiller, C. and S. Razavi (1998)'Introduction' in C. Miller and S.Razavi (eds.) Missionaries andMandarins: Feminist Engagement withDevelopment Institutions, London:Intermediate Technology Publicationsin association with the United NationsResearch Institute for SocialDevelopmentRai, S. (2003) 'Institutional mechanisms forthe advancement of women: main-

streaming gender, democratizing thestate?' in S. M. Rai (ed.) MainstreamingGender, Democratizing the State?:Institutional Mechanisms for theAdvancement of Women, Manchester:Manchester University PressSaphakdy, T. (2005) 'MainstreamingGender into Governance and PublicAdministration Organizations: A CaseStudy of Governance and Public

Administration Reform Luang PrabangProvincial Pilot Project, Lao PDR',Master 's thesis, Asian Institute ofTechnology, ThailandSriputinibondh, N., K. Kaing, Nguyen ThiBich, K. Deeburee, N. Liepvisay, W.D.Hartmann (2004) 'Gender Main-streaming in the MRC FisheriesProgramm e', paper presented at the 7thAsian Fisheries Forum, 30 November-

3 December 2004, Penang, MalaysiaStanding, H. (2004) 'Gender, myth andfable: the perils of mainstreaming insector bureaucracies', in 'RepositioningFeminisms in Development ' , ID SBulletin 35(4): 82-8, Brighton: Instituteof Development StudiesSubrahmanian, R. (2004) 'Making sense ofgender in shifting institutio nalcontexts: Some reflections on gendermainstreaming ' , in 'Reposi t ioningFeminisms in Development ' , ID SBulletin 35(4): 89-94 Brighton: Instituteof Development Studies


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56Tamthai, P. (2005) 'The Role of NationalMechanisms in Promoting GenderEquality and the Empowerment ofWomen: Thailand Experience' ,proceedings of United NationsDivision for the Advancement ofWomen (DAW), The Role of NationalMechanisms in Promoting GenderEquality and the Empowerment ofWomen: Achievements, Gaps andChallenges', 29 November-2 December2004, Rome, ItalyWoodford-Berger, P. (2004) 'Gendermainstreaming: What is it (about) andshould we continue doing it? ' , in'Repositioning Feminisms inDevelopment', IDS Bulletin 35(4): 65-72,Brighton: Institute of DevelopmentStudies


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60norms regarding who is responsible forhouseho ld chores, who goes to the market,who decides on the education of children, orwho is expected to speak at a village councilmeeting. It also means changing organi-sations which, in their programmes,policies, structures, and ways of working,discriminate against women or othermarginalised groups.

Different organisations have focused onone or other of the four areas listed below .Some organisations, for example, work onlegal and policy change, while others focuson changing m aterial conditions. In order tobring about gender equality, change mustoccur both at the personal level and at thesocial level. It must occur in formal and

informal relations. This gives us thefollowing four clusters which impact oneach other: wom en's and men's individual

consciousness (knowledge, skills,political consciousness, commitment); women's objective condition (rights andresources, access to health services andsafety, opportunities for a voice); informal norms, such as inequitableideologies, and cultural and religiouspractices; formal institutions, such as laws and

policies.

Figure 1 : What are we trying to change?

Individua

Informal

Women'sand men'sconsciousnessJ

< Informal culturalnorms andexclusionarypractices

Systemi

change

Women'sg access toresources ,

Formalinstitutions:laws, policies,etc.

z change


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Is there life after gender mainstreaming? 61Often we assume that change at one levelwill lead to change at the others. For example,women who have started and maintainedmicro businesses often report being moreself-confident. How ever, we also know, for

example, that it is possible to have materialresources but no influence; and that it ispossible to be 'economically empowered'but not free from violence. Sustainablechange requires institutional change, whichinvolves the clusters of informal norms andformal institutions at the bottom of thediagram. But how does institutional changehappen? And most importantly, what is therole of development organisations in thatchange process? The organisations thatsupport those interventions also exist in thesame force field of power. This means thatthey will require capacities not only to wantto intervene in a significant way, but also tobe able to intervene. Typically, it will requirean ongoing change process to build andmaintain these capacities.Figure 1 may be helpful in the followingways. First, in an abbreviated way, it showsthe whole universe of changes that m ight becontemplated to enhance gender equality.This can serve as an outline to documenthow these clusters appear in a particularcontext. Second, it allows change agents tomake strategic choices as to where and howto intervene. Finally, it points to the fact thatchanges in resources, capacity, and know-ledge are necessary, but not sufficient, forsustainable change. Ultimately, changes offormal and particularly informal institutionsare required.3

What are some of the keychallenges of institutionalchange?As we reflect on lessons from experience,and contemplate where we go from here, wesee four key challenges.

Challenges of institutional change on thegroundProgramme and project evaluations point tothe difficulty of moving from individualchange and learning to social change. Theydescribe the problem of socio-culturalacceptance of ideas of gender equality, thelack of capacity of implementing partners,and the difficulties of attitudinal andbehavioural changes at the individual andinstitutional levels.Challenges of clarityA number of analysts have recently pointedout how a lack of clarity endangers imple-mentation of gender mainstreamingstrategies (Hannan 2003; Subrahmanian2004). However, the most pernicious mis-understanding is the separation of gendermainstreaming from women's empower-ment work. In the name of m ainstreamingresources are being w ithdrawn from projectsfocused on women's empowerment.Although much work needs to be done withboth men and women, we cannot reducecommitment to programming that focuseson women, because that is where crucialprogress towards gender equality is beingmade.Challenges of organisational changeThe lack of senior-management support;lack of accountability; lack of knowledgeand skills among senior staff on genderissues; marginalised, under-qualified, andunder-resourced theme groups and specialistsare all problems present in organisationsmandated to mainstream gender concerns indevelopment.Challenges of measurementAt one level, there are ongoing difficultiesin obtaining sex-disaggregated data. Atanother level, there is a lack of trackingmechanisms for the relative contributionsthat a particular project might make todifferent goals. For example, in a sanitationproject, how much of the project budget canbe said to be responding to the needs of


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Is there life after gender mainstreaming? 63and Gaventa 2002, 26). For individuals andgroups, demanding accountability requiresa sense that they have a right to do so(claiming that political space), andmechanisms through which their dem andscan be made and responded to. On the otherside, accountability (according to the UNDPHuman Development Report 2000) is judgedby whether appropriate policies have beenimplemented and progress achieved.Transformation: the role ofdevelopment agenciesWe think that transformative goals existuneasily within large development organi-sations, as they are likely to be overcome bytechnical considerations more amenable toadministrative practice. The key questionsare: given the uneasy relationship betweentransformation and large organisations,

how can we strengthen the capacity of Stateand developm ent bureaucracies to deliveron their operational mandates? And howcan we shift organisational practice to focusbetter on equity and exclusion?In order to strengthen the project oftransformation, we need to disaggregate therange of strategies and activities that aredumped in the gender mainstreaming bag(such as policy reform, advocacy, capacitybuilding, analytical frameworks, programmedevelopment, monitoring systems) andanalyse their gains and their failures(Subrahmanian 2004). This should also helpus to think strategically about what these

institutions are well placed to do. At thesame time, measurement systems need to bedeveloped that can capture the full range ofgender equality outcomes, both tangible andintangible.

Figure 2: Dynamics between top-down and bottom-up forces of change

Informalpressures- Ideologyand culture- Unequal powerrelations

Social and public a ccountability- Economic and political opportunities- Equity and inclusion- Decentralisation of resources- Transparency and governance

Social changeInteraction between institution s,voice, processes, structures

Mobilisation and voice- Rights and choice- Capabilities, asse ts, resourcesEmpowerment

Formalpressures- Leadershipand vision- Gender equalityon the agenda- Inclusivestructures- Effectiveness- Accountability


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64Our change strategies should envisioninstitutional change. This does not meanreducing programmes such as those focusedon education or women's entrepreneurship.It means seeing these not as ends inthemselves, but as means to equality.Institutional change requires politicalactivity to translate education or improvedhealth care into equality. One important ideais that of working on both demand andsupply sides of the institutional changeequation. By the supply side, we meanshifting opportunity structures towardsequality for women; changing incentivesand capacity in global, State, and communityagencies to respond to women. This includesdelivering on services and on rights. On thedemand side, we mean strengtheningwomen's awareness of their own agency,voice, and mobilisation; their influence overinstitutions; and their ability to hold them toaccount.

Organisational deepstructureOrganisational change needs to go farbeyond policy adoption and large-scaleprocessing of staff through gender trainingworkshops. It is clear that, like any othercomplex skill, the evolution of knowledgeand values (particularly for men) is a longprocess, requiring practice. Gender themegroups and specialists need to be betterresourced, but more importantly, they needto be part of decision making. Even whensenior managers agree that gender isimportant, gender equality still has todisplace other important values in decisionmaking. Only by ensuring a strong voice forgender equality advocates in decisionmaking will gender concerns be representedin the day-to-day discussion of competingneeds and values that are at the heart ofdevelopment work. Numerous analystshave emphasised the importance of strongleadership and accountability structures,including performance appraisal and better

monitoring. While we would agree thatthese are needed , 30 years of research andpractice in the private sector shows thatthese 'command and control' strategies arenot enough for significant organisationalchange.In our work, we have described the 'deepstructu re' of organisations. Like the uncon-scious mind of individuals, this is largelyunexamined, but constrains some behaviourand makes other behaviour more likely(Rao et al. 1999). The deep struc ture is thecollection of taken-for-granted values, andways of thinking and working, that underliedecision making and action. (See Figure 3.)Power hides the fact that organisationsare gendered at very deep levels. Morespecifically, women are prevented fromchallenging institutions by four inter-relatedfactors: political access: there are neither systemsnor actors who can put wom en'sperspectives and interests on the agenda; accountability systems: organisational

resources are steered towardsquantitative targets that are often onlydistantly related to institutional changefor gender equality; cultural systems: the work/familydivide perpetuated by mostorganisations prevents women frombeing full participants in thoseorganisations, as women continue tobear the responsibility for the care ofchildren and old people; cognitive structures: work itself is seenmostly within existing, gender-biasednorms and understandings.It should not come as a surprise to learn thatthe deep structure of most organisations isprofoundly gender biased, and acts as abrake on work for gender equality. Forexample, one aspect of the deep structure isthe separation between work and family.As Joan Acker pointed out, a key assumptionin large organisations is that work iscompletely separate from the rest of life, and


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Is there life after gender m ainstreaming? 65Figure 3: The iceberg of organisational struc ture

Organisational deep structure

/ Formal rules \

A CiiffiHra! ^ 'r,. ^ v systems / ^ ^ .'> - \ * ' ' '

j

the organisation has first claim on theworker. From this follows the idea of the'ideal worker', dedicated to the organi-sation, unhampered by familial demands,and... male (Acker 1990). Another aspect ofthe deep structure is the image of heroicindividualism. As organisations wereoriginally peopled by men, they are, notsurprisingly, designed and maintained inways that express men's identity. Heroicindividualism can lead to a focus on winning,and noticeable achievement. This contrastswith the largely process-oriented, and some-times long-term, business of understandinggender relations in a particular context, andacting for equality. In addition, givenstereotypical gender roles, heroes tend to bemen, further contributing to the idea of menas the ideal workers and women as 'other'.

Generating power tochange organisationsWe believe that there is a web of five spheresin which power can be generated to move anorganisation towards transformation.4 Thesefive spheres are: politics; organisational politics; institutional culture; organisational process; programmatic interventions.


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66The political sphereThis is based on the assumption that becausethey live within gendered societies, feworganisations will devote the time, energy,and resources to effective gender equalitywork unless pressured to do so. But is there awomen's constituency that is exertingsufficient pressure for gender equality to benoticed by the organisation as an issuerequiring attention? In some cases donors orboards of directors have been the source ofsome pressure, but local, political pressurehas more potential for holding organisationsaccountable. The key skills required areorganisation and advocacy. The pressuregenerated by this sphere may have manyresults, but they are depen dent on work inthe other spheres.Organisational politicsThis refers to the day-to-day bargaining thatgoes on between bureaucratic leaders asthey struggle to make their particular viewsa reality. This sphere is about access ofgender advocates to power, their bargainingability, and skill in the use of power. Poweris built from position, coalitions, clarity ofanalysis and purpose, and assets such asaccess to senior levels, and the ability toprovide valued goods (information, tech-nical expertise, material resources). Thestrong voice of an outs

mainstreaming gender in development: a critical review

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