Gender and social inclusion : Essential Readings

  • Rajesh Tandon (2010) "Voice, Values and Exclusion in CapacityDevelopment Processes: Experiences from India" in: Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 93-100

    The diverse actors engaged in a capacity-development process often have very different values and views. The fact that it is the dominant values and voices that determine the direction and outcomes of the process is a particularly pertinent issue in addressing exclusion and inequity. Drawing on two local settings in India, this text by Rajesh Tandon demonstrates how some of these issues are played out in capacity-development processes. He highlights the need for a practitioner to be fully aware of how imbalances in interests and voice may reinforce or even worsen existing situations of disempowerment. 

  • Gender equality for smarter cities: Challenges and progress (UN-HABITAT 2010)

    Today, just over half the world’s people live in urban areas, and this figure is expected to rise to 70 per cent by 2050. An important dimension of urban life is the condition of women in towns and cities; it is a condition marked by historical exclusion and multiple deprivations.This report analyses how local governments can make a difference in the lives of women including access to land, housing, water and sanitation, security. There is a special chapter on “capacity for good governance”. For users with low-bandwidth, please note that the download (PDF) version of this file is quite large .

  • Assessing gender responsive local capacity development in Indonesia

    Indonesia is making good progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. However, many local authorities lack the capacities required to deliver a wide range of basic services to local communities. This UNDP/SNV study presents important research on the country's experience of gender-responsive capacity development at the local level, providing insights on what has worked, what hasn’t and why.  The report makes clear why it is important to adopt a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and rectifying these capacity gaps.

  • Helen O'Connell (2010) Preserve status quo or promote gender equality? Capacity.org Issue 40 (August 2010)

    Which capacities do local governments have or need to effectively promote gender equality, and does decentralization enhance this capacity? While women’s rights activists and gender and development practitioners have high hopes that the local arena is an important locus for women's empowerment, this article argues that gender equality can only be achieved through radical structural change. 

  • Gender mainstreaming in local governments: Best practices (UN Habitat 2008)

    Gender mainstreaming is defined as ”the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality” This publication by UN Habitat explains how to apply gender mainstreaming in local governments.