Posted Date: May 20, 1998
InterAction Workshop Introduces Gender Analysis Tools To Members
InterAction Workshop Introduces Gender Analysis Tools To Members
Rohim, a Village Officer working with a BRAC credit program in rural Bangladesh, had just collected loan payments from BRAC members. He was worried about one of the members, Sakina, who had told him that her repayment money had come from the village lender, because her husband had taken the money from paddy husking and used it. When she protested, he said that he was responsible for making decisions in the family and had beaten her to make her behave. Rohim knew that this happened to some of the women in his other groups and that some cases were even worse. He himself was so busy just collecting the money that he didn't feel capable of even thinking about what to do. Was this situation his responsibility? It was hard to think of what he or BRAC could do to help Sakina and those like her. (adapted from BRAC Gender and Organizational Change Manual)
When faced with gender issues in organizations, what action can planners of development or relief efforts take? What tools are available for analyzing the role of gender in field operations and for effectively integrating gender concerns into programs and projects?
Five experts in the field of gender and development reflected on these questions and shared their experiences with more than twenty-five representatives from InterAction member agencies in an October workshop, entitled Gender Analysis Tools - 101, which was convened by the Commission on the Advancement of Women (CAW). What followed were a lively discussion on the use of various tools for gender analysis, and a sharing of lessons learned from introducing gender concerns to mainstream organizations.
Rani Parker, Director of Save the Children's Woman/Child Impact Program, started the workshop by presenting the analytical framework used by Save the Children for examining gender issues. To address the potentially different impact of interventions on women and men, planners need to look at five areas: gender differences in access to resources, gender roles, gender needs, the gender division of labor, and power relations. All these areas are interrelated, she stressed: for example, who does subsistence work as opposed to paid work in the formal economy and how those tasks are valued, has particular consequences for power relations between men and women. As an example of a gender need, Parker discussed assistance with food gathering and processing, which, along with collecting water, are largely women's responsibilities in rural Sub-Saharan Africa.
Save the Children's experience has clearly shown that gender analysis is an ongoing process, which takes place at all levels of the program cycle, from identifying gender needs to translating those needs into practical activities to evaluating these activities. Parker made clear, however, that, for gender analysis to be effective, it must take place not only on the methodological level, but also on the personal and institutional levels, challenging assumptions and behavior as well as organizational culture.
This interrelationship of gender tools was echoed by Phyllis Craun-Selka, a trainer with the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA). Craun-Selka briefly introduced CEDPA's recently published manual for Gender and Development training which presents tools to address gender at the personal level, the interpersonal level, as well as the organizational and community level.
In a framework similar to that used by Save the Children, Craun-Selka suggested the linkages between the use of gender analytical tools in programming, and institutional policies and practices. "Gender tools must be seen in a holistic way," she stated, drawing a circle with four quadrants denoting: awareness and sensitivity; analytical models; institutional practices and policies; and training. "It is often said by organizations that they want to do gender, but there is reluctance to be gender," she said, referring to the use of tools in programming in contrast to institutionalization of gender concerns and the personal aspects of being gender sensitive. While analytical models and tools can make programming more effective and equitable, awareness of and sensitivity are essential for building lasting support for gender integration. Finally, gender training is the modus operandi for all three components of integrating gender.
Economist Sarah Gammage from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) presented specific tools to integrate and legitimize a gender framework in quantitative research. Gammage stressed the need to combine quantitative and qualitative tools in examining the gender dimensions of variables. She highlighted some important considerations related to measurement and definitions, and demonstrated the use of matrices and charts for collecting gender-disaggregated data on variables such as income, expenditures, and assets. Documenting in a gender sensitive manner who generates income, who controls how that income is subsequently spent, and who benefits from certain expenditures and investments, enables researchers to devise appropriate and culturally-sensitive interventions to raise the welfare and status of women as well as their families.
Gender analysis for organizations working with refugee populations was discussed next by Courtney O'Connor, a UNHCR consultant active with the Women's Commission on Refugee Women and Children. O'Connor shared some of the lessons learned from the development of UNHCR's gender analysis tool, the People Oriented Planning (POP) framework, and from training UNHCR staff and refugees in its application. In coming years, at least fifty per cent of all UNHCR staff will receive training in POP.
Intended as a tool for planners of refugee programs, POP offers a three-step framework consisting of a refugee population profile and context analysis "in order to ensure that assumptions for future planning are basically correct"; an activities analysis to take into account changes in roles and responsibilities; and an analysis of use and control of resources to understand gains and losses in resources, how different groups in the community are affected by these changes, and resulting needs and priorities.
Failure to challenge assumptions of gender roles and access to resources can have far-reaching implications for women. O'Connor illustrated this with an example from a UNHCR resettlement project in which land was assigned to men, on the assumption that they had held ownership in the community of origin, even though women had traditionally held control over land. "If you want to empower women, you need to look at the effects on the entire community," O'Connor nevertheless warned. Refugee men will be supportive of activities aimed at women's empowerment, if it is shown to be practical and benefiting the entire community, not just women.
The recent inclusion of gender sensitivity as a "core competency" in the UNHCR personnel system has been an important step toward institutionalization of gender in the organization. Support from top-level management has been essential for making these advances within UNHCR, but O'Connor emphasized the need for mechanisms to hold staff accountable for integrating a gender perspective in their activities.
Aruna Rao, a former gender consultant with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), considered the world's largest indigenous private development organization, described BRAC's experiences of gender and organizational change. Rao, who led the organization's Gender Team from its inception in 1994 until 1996, described the approach taken by BRAC in order to address gender issues. The support of BRAC's senior management staff and the linkage of gender equity with the organization's strategic objectives are credited by Rao for facilitating the Gender Team's efforts.
In order to reconceptualize women's empowerment and gender equity in the context of BRAC, a needs assessment was first conducted through workshops involving over 300 staff members at all levels of the organization. What are the problematic attitudes and behaviors on the part of male BRAC staff? What aspects of BRAC's organizational culture hinder advances toward empowerment of women members? What gender-sensitive planning and programming skills are relevant to BRAC staff? The tools used to answer these questions as well as tools used for training of gender trainers and in subsequent interventions are presented in BRAC's technical manual on gender and organizational change. Integration of gender on the field level has taken place through training of large numbers of BRAC field staff for an organization-wide action learning plan.
All presenters agreed on the need for a holistic approach to gender equity which, in Rao's words, should combine program and personnel-related issues, and should focus on perceptions and attitudes, not only on knowledge and action. During the ensuing discussion, workshop participants and presenters identified successful practical strategies for introducing gender and fostering a gender perspective in organizations. CAW Director Suzanne Kindervatter concluded the workshop by stating that gender tools do not exist in a vacuum but must go hand in hand with strategic change. What is needed is awareness of the issues and the political will to address them.
For more information on gender analysis resources or gender trainers, please contact Suzanne Kindervatter at the Commission on the Advancement of Women, 202/667-8227, ext. 135.
|
 |
|
|
|
