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Gender and social inclusion
Gender inequality is one of the key factors hampering wealth creation, poverty reduction and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in many developing countries. While international policy has made some progress towards addressing gender inequality, it needs to be converted into concrete changes on the ground, especially at the local level.
The resources available on this page all address the capacities required at the local level to address gender inequalities effectively. Sub topics include:
Decentralization: Decentralization increases the power of local governments and, by extension, their capacity to boost gender equality. What can local actors do to ensure that local governments actually mobile their powers to promote gender equality?
Leadership and power: Addressing gender inequalities starts with leadership and political will. One way to mobilize political will for gender equality is to get as many women as possible in leadership positions. Another way is to enhance gender sensitivity among male leaders.
Generating and analysing evidence on gender inequality: Evidence of gender inequality is a powerful resource for generating gender sensitivity and essential for developing effective gender policies. Monitoring mechanisms and gender analytical tools are therefore core capacities that local governments need to acquire.
Featured Article
World Development Report 2012: Gender equality and development
Policymakers and practitioners still face gaps in knowledge both in how gender equality
matters for development and how best to incorporate these links in policy design. The World
Development Report 2012 aims to bridge these gaps by building upon the growing body of
multidisciplinary theory, evidence, and data on these links while highlighting the knowledge gaps
that remain across the world in the context of the development process. The Report argues that
closing gender gaps is not only a core development objective in its own right, it is also smart
economics.
Recent Articles
Strengthening pastoralist voices in Tanzania
14 February 2012
This booklet, and its accompanying DVD, reports on the ‘Strengthening Voices’ project,
underway in two districts in northern Tanzania. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of
pastoralist communities and local governments to shape strategies for adaptive environmental
management and poverty reduction in Tanzania’s drylands. At the core of the project is a training
course that explains the economic and ecological processes at the heart of pastoral systems -
clarifying the rationale that underpins pastoral livelihood strategies.The course is based on a
similar initiative that has been field-tested and run in the Sahel region of West Africa since
2000.
Supporting improved livelihoods for pastoralists
27 January 2012
Pastoralism is often depicted as an anachronistic system that cannot cope with the demands of
modern development. However, practical experience reveals that pastoralism is not only capable of
changing with the times, it is often the only viable livelihood option, particularly for
communities living in remote, dryland environments. This collection of case studies from SNV
Netherlands Development Organisation demonstrates that external support can help to strengthen
pastoralists' voice in policymaking, enhance their engagement with markets and improve service
provision and natural resource management in some of the most challenging environments in Africa
today.
Empowerment: A journey not a destination
19 January 2012
The DFID-funded
Pathways of Women’s Empowerment
Programme launched a synthesis report based on the findings and recommendations from five years
of research in London on 13th January. The report, entitled 'Empowerment: A Journey not a
Destination' draws on the collective works of 60 academic-activists in 12 countries on four
continents. With six companion policy papers and case studies, the publication shares the latest
learning and analysis on what works to enhance women’s empowerment in different parts of the
world.
World Development Report 2012: Gender equality and development
03 October 2011
Policymakers and practitioners still face gaps in knowledge both in how gender equality
matters for development and how best to incorporate these links in policy design. The World
Development Report 2012 aims to bridge these gaps by building upon the growing body of
multidisciplinary theory, evidence, and data on these links while highlighting the knowledge gaps
that remain across the world in the context of the development process. The Report argues that
closing gender gaps is not only a core development objective in its own right, it is also smart
economics.
Interview: Riding the green wave
13 September 2011
Elizabeth
Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy, Republic of South Africa
South Africa’s path to universal energy access
South Africa is on track to achieve near-universal access to energy by 2015, a remarkable achievement given that 15 years ago, only 30% of the population had access to electricity. Minister Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, explains how they did it.
MoreCase study: Mainstreaming gender in local governance processes in Afghanistan
09 September 2011
To minimize gap between the Community
Development Councils and Provincial Government Organizations, Afghanistan’s National Area-Based
Development Programme (NABDA) started to establish District Development Assemblies (DDAs) in
2006. This case study describes the process used to mainstream gender in these local governance
processes and some of the concrete results achieved so far.
Other Topics
Essential Readings
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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
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Gender equality for smarter cities: Challenges and progress (UN-HABITAT 2010)
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Assessing gender responsive local capacity development in Indonesia
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Helen O'Connell (2010) Preserve status quo or promote gender equality? Capacity.org Issue 40 (August 2010)
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Gender mainstreaming in local governments: Best practices (UN Habitat 2008)
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