Posted Date: May 20, 1997
Advocates Challenge Bank to Put Gender on the Fast Track
July 28, 1997
Advocates Challenge Bank to Put Gender on the Fast Track
Women's issues are still outside the mainstream of World Bank lending in spite of the commitment of its leader, according to a forthcoming report by the US chapter of the Women's Eyes on the World Bank campaign.
Since its founding at the 1995 Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing, Women's Eyes on the World Bank - a monitoring network of gender advocates worldwide - has pushed the development giant to incorporate gender equity goals and strategies into its lending program. Women comprise over two-thirds of the world's poorest population, and are hungrier, sicker, less educated and more overworked than men. The Bank has been criticized for the "gender-blindness" of its economic approach and for detrimental impacts on the most marginalized citizens of borrowing countries, including women.
Gender Equity and the World Bank Group: A Post-Beijing Assessment concludes that in spite of good rhetoric, the Bank has yet to systematically implement its own policies on mainstreaming gender concerns throughout its entire lending portfolio. For example, only half of country assistance strategies prepared in recent years contain any gender analysis or strategies to address gender disparities - and even in many of these, the quality of the analysis remains weak. The report found that Bank staff continue to lack the know-how, resources and incentives to adequately address gender issues. While progress has been slow, the report cites a few encouraging signs, such as the development of regional gender action plans and the elevation of gender work within the Bank's new structure.
The report calls upon the Bank to articulate a clear rationale and conceptual framework for working on gender issues. It also urges, among other steps, the systematic collection of gender-disaggregated data - necessary to reveal gender disparities and track progress toward their elimination - and mandatory requirements for stakeholder participation in Bank operations.
In mid-May, Women's Eyes released the executive summary of the report and briefed the External Gender Consultative Group (a 14-member group which the Bank established after Beijing) on its findings prior to their second annual meeting in Washington. The report influenced the Group's dialogue with the Bank and resulted in verbal agreements from President James Wolfensohn to take concrete steps to systematically make Bank projects and policies more gender sensitive. For example, Wolfensohn agreed to work with the Group to review and "retrofit" as necessary the loan portfolio of one country in each of the Bank's regions with respect to gender.
Also coinciding with the Gender Consultative Group meeting, a delegation of the Women's Eyes Campaign in Latin America made their first lobbying trip to Washington. Nine delegates from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and El Salvador came to tell the Bank that if its efforts to integrate gender considerations into its work were to succeed, the institution must initiate more aggressive outreach to women's groups to give them a voice in designing the region's lending operations.
The women were pleased by Bank management's acceptance of their proposal to create a process whereby women in the region will review a select number of Bank projects from a gender perspective and recommend changes where necessary to ensure that the projects benefit women. The review's findings would be presented to government representatives, Bank country directors and key Bank staff in the spring of 1998. Management also agreed to develop stronger evaluation
measures to assess project performance based on gender equity goals. "We are very excited about the implementation of this measure because it clearly shows that gender has achieved greater recognition as an important factor to consider in evaluating the success of the Bank's operations in the region," said Laura Frade, coordinator of Women's Eyes/Latin America.
The campaign has generated much support among Bank watchers and gender advocates - close to 400 non-governmental organizations, academics and grassroots organizers from 60 countries around the world signed on to a letter to Wolfensohn urging implementation of the report's recommendations. In the coming year, the US Chapter will press for adoption of these recommendations as well as to strengthen partnerships with groups in borrowing countries to monitor the Bank's progress.
Women's Eyes was founded with key leadership from InterAction's Commission on the Advancement of Women. With the involvement of InterAction's World Bank Working Group and World Bank Project staff in the campaign, Women's Eyes continues to be an important vehicle for promoting greater participation of grassroots women in Bank decision-making. The Women's Eyes-US chapter is convened by InterAction member agency Oxfam America, and has the active participation of InterAction members Bread for the World Institute and American Friends Service Committee.
For more information about the campaign or to order the report, contact Lydia Williams, Oxfam America, 1511 K Street NW #640, Washington, DC 20005; 202/783-7305; e-mail: lydiaw@igc.apc.org .
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