From Women in Development to Gender and Development, More than a Change in

Terminology?
Author(s): Gine Zwart
Source: Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, No. 14 (1992), pp. 16-21
Published by: Agenda Feminist Media
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 tendency to lower standards. For
From women in
example, what is judged to be a
to reasonable income for women is
development
notably lower than what is considered
gender and for men. Women's income is
more considered supplementary to men's.
development,
Projects are usually planned to be
than a change in
small scale and on a minimum budget,
indicators of success are not
terminology?
developed, etc.
Cine Zwart What is forgotten is that women
are already an integral part of
development and play a very important
Terminology, a historical
role. They do not need to be
overview
integrated. Rather their contribution
? Women In Development (WID) needs to be acknowledged, and certain
long as development work inequalities need to be questioned.
exists, so do women also
exist as beneficiaries of this ? Women and Development (WAD)
As so-called development The Women and Development
work. For a long time it has been taken (WAD) approach originated in the
for granted that any benefit to a society second half of the 1970s. This
would automatically trickle down to all perspective emphasises the economic
members of the society. No attention role played by women both inside and
was given to the sexual division of outside the home and considers these
labour and the distribution of income activities essential for the survival of
within the society or, within the the family unit. It tends to analyse
It fails to household. In the late 1970s women as a homogeneous group,
undertake a researchers and field workers began to taking little notice of important
full-scale document examples of the effects of differences of class, race or ethnicity.
analysis of the development projects on women. One Rathgeber (1990) says that even
of the first writings on this subject though the WAD perspective offers a
relationship
which had a great impact was Ester more critical view of women's position
between
Boserup's Women's Role in Economic than does the WID perspective, it also
patriarchy, Development written in 1970. falls short. This is because 'it fails to
differing modes In an attempt to change the undertake a full-scale analysis of the
of production, situation and to try to make relationship between patriarchy,
and women's development projects more successful differing modes of production, and
subordination in terms of reaching women, the women's subordination and
and oppression Women in Development (WID) oppression (Rathgeber, 1990:493).
approach emerged. Appropriate Most people do not recognise the
technology is made available for difference between the WID and the
women, income generating projects WAD approach, and we will also not
are developed especially for women, explore the differences here, as these
and researchers and policy makers try differences are most academic. The
to find ways and means to integrate WAD approach is merely a refined and
women into development. more critical version of the WID
As these are special women's concept.
projects there was, and still is, a The WID and WAD concepts are

16 Agenda Gender and development

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often also referred to as the integration
view (a terminology which is more
used in debates around women's
issues not specifically focused on
development). The disadvantaged
position of women is interpreted in
terms of their low degree of
participation in statistically measurable
economic processes. Women have
been 'forgotten' and it is assumed that
when women are added and/or
integrated to a programme or policy,
their situation will automatically
improve.
Both the WID and WAD
perspectives do not address the
underlying problems of class and
gender inequality (and on a larger
scale the inequality between the north
and the south) and that is why
strategies derived from these
perspectives are not always successful
(to put it mildly). Many do not
understand that the reasons WID and
WAD have not obtained the results
hoped for are often the same reasons
that many of the north's aid strategies
in the Third World have generally
failed. This is because they refuse to
address the underlying causes of
poverty, discrimination and
subordination of certain social sectors
within society.
A major weakness of the WID and
WAD approaches is the preoccupation
with the productive sector at the
Gender and development
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C
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expense of the reproductive side of
women's work and lives. The above
mentioned income generating projects,
which emerged on a large scale as a
result of the WID discussions, are a
good example of strategies which do
not take into account the time burden
that such schemes place on women.
? Gender and Development (GAD)
Of course many people, and
especially the socialist feminists, have
Both the WID
advocated that the only way to address
women's subordinate position is to and WAD
question and tackle the causes of this perspectives do
inequality. But it is only in the 1980s not address the
that in development thinking the underlying
alternative approach, the gender and
problems of
development (GAD) strategy, class and gender
emerged. This school of thought
inequality
argues that the basis of the social
assignment of gender roles that
contribute to the exploitation of women
(and men) must first be questioned. As
Rathgeber (1990:494) describes:
"GAD is not concerned with
women perse but with the
social construction of gender
and the assignment of specific
roles, responsibilities, and
expectations of women and
men. In contrast to the
emphasis on exclusively female
solidarity that is highly prized
by radical feminists, the GAD
approach welcomes the
Agenda 17
 potential contribution of men
who share a concern for issues
of equity and social justice".
Gender is used to describe
culturally and socially determined
characteristics, sex to referto those
For a long time
characteristics which are biologically
determined. By realising that gender is
efforts to
culturally determined we should know
enhance the
that what we have created, we can
position of also change, perhaps slowly and with
women have struggle and pain. Organisations,
only focused on programmes and projects which follow
the GAD approach not only question
giving women
and examine the sexual division of
equal
labour but also the sexual division of
opportunities
responsibility.
The GAD approach is committed
to issues of equity. The following
clearly shows what is meant by equity:
"Afox and a stork may be
given equal opportunity to eat
from a dish. Who gets most
depends on whether the dish is
wide and shallow to suit the
fox, or deep and narrow to suit
the stork. For equitable impact,
each would have to eat a share
of the food from its own dish"
(CCIC, 1991:110).
For a long time efforts to enhance
the position of women have only
focused on giving women equal
opportunities (in the case of the fox
and the stork, the effort would be to
give them food, without thinking about
their social needs) and equity issues
have not been addressed.
The GAD approach has often
been synonymous with the autonomy
view (as opposed to the above
mentioned integration view), which
looks beyond the functions of women
and men in society, to examine the
relations between them, the impact of
these relations on development, and
the forces that both perpetuate and
18 Agenda
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change these relations.
The GAD approach can be put
more simply as an approach which
questions traditional views of gender
roles and responsibilities and then tries
to develop strategies which in the end
lead to empowerment. In the GAD
approach women are seen as 'agents
for change, rather than passive
recipients of development assistance*
(Rathgeber, 1990:494).
The Case of Zimbabwe
? Government policy
Before independence in 1980, the
"women's question' was mainly
approached from a racial point of view.
A few white women, mostly church or
liberal women, led welfare projects in
the belief that it is only African women
who are oppressed. They, as part of a
privileged group tried to do good for,
and on behalf of, their poor oppressed
black sisters, not realising that within
their community they were also
oppressed as women.
Within the national liberation
movement, as in many liberation
movements, the women's struggle was
overshadowed by the immediate task
of liberating the country from
colonialism. Besides, within the
debates about class, it was argued that
if all workers (or oppressed people)
were to be liberated, then poor women
would be liberated as well. During the
struggle for independence and just
after, whoever tried to address
women's issues was accused of trying
to divert and separate people from the
main issue: the class struggle.
As in most African countries, the
party which led the country into and
after independence, established a
women's department within the
Ministry of Community Development -
the Ministry of Community
Development and Women's Affairs
Gender and development
(MCDWA). In Zimbabwe a lot had to
be done, especially in the area of legal
issues in which the department took a
leading role to see through certain
laws.
After most of these long pending
laws, which mostly benefited urban
women, had been passed, the interest
in women's issues rapidly subsided
and all community development
projects were seen as women's
projects. Also greatly influenced by the
United Nations (UN) women's
conferences of the 1980s, the Ministry,
uncritically (and maybe unknowingly)
followed the WID/WAD line of income
generating projects (IGPs) for women.
Even though the majority of women in
Zimbabwe were farmers, the Ministry
started and encouraged countless
IGPs related to women's domestic
activities like sewing, soap making etc.
The politically motivated move in
1988 to relocate the Department of
Women's Affairs to the Ministry of
Political Affairs has been seen by
many as pernicious for women's
issues. This Department inevitably
tows the party line and is more
concerned about women as a potential
electorate than about women's issues,
emancipation and equity.
Within the government machinery,
however, the then MCDWA and the
now Department of Women's affairs, is
discriminated against because it
represents women. Besides, because
of its existence, women have lost the
right to represent themselves within
government outside this official
channel.
With the realisation that
government was no longer to be
expected to do much good in terms of
women's issues, some non
governmental organisations (NGOs)
have come forward strongly or have
even been newly formed.
Gender and development
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C,)
NGOs: Types and
characteristics
? The'old'NGOs
A myriad of women's
organisations operate in Zimbabwe,
ranging from baking clubs to women
A myriad
lawyers associations. Among the more of
development oriented NGOs one can women's
distinguish two predominant types. organisations
One is the welfare type; among others,
operate in
the Young Women's Christian Zimbabwe
Association (YWCA), the Association
of Women's Clubs (AWC) and the
Zimbabwe Women's Bureau (ZWB).
These organisations were in existence
long before independence and were
usually dominated by white liberal
women. They perform welfare work
and are also involved in income
generating activities for women. They
supported and continue to support only
those activities which could support (or
at least not challenge) colonial power
and its economic structures. The
'traditional' NGOs are generally
characterised by weak management
and organisational structures. Within
these NGOs there generally is a deep
understanding of women's problems
and day to day struggles. However,
they have problems challenging their
own traditional welfare approach and
to translate this understanding into a
coherent strategy.
Agenda 19
 A broad discussion about WID,
WAD and GAD has never taken place
in Zimbabwe. Many agencies follow a
certain approach without knowing what
these approaches encompass.
Numerous donours coming into the
country after independence were
greatly influenced by the WID thinking,
and although the NGOs had been
implementing income generating
projects even before donors came in,
the donors have played a major role in
Most of the
pushing the implementation of income
Jold fashioned'
generating projects for women on a
income
large scale, without addressing or
generating challenging women's position in
projects have society. These traditional NGOs
not benefited usually have reinforced women's
women at all marginal position by focusing on
women's traditional roles as mothers
and home-makers only. The
accountability of many NGOs is no
longer to the constituency they
represent but rather to the donor
agencies who fund them. Recently
some of these NGOs claim that they
have evolved from welfare
organisations to development
organisations. But with the same
structures and staff still in place, this is
questionable.
Individuals, like Makamure (1984),
have been challenging the welfare
approach. She says that
"without real economic
independence, ie control of the
country's resources by the
masses, the vast majority of
the women can never realise
emancipation... The challenge
that women face in this
situation is that of marrying the
short term objective, getting rid
of male domination now, and
the long term objective, building
socialism. Both these struggles
have to be fought
simultaneously".
20 Agenda
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The awareness that one can do
charity work, but that this has to at
least go hand in hand with
empowerment programmes, is growing
very slowly among some of these 'old'
NGOs.
A step in this direction was the
debate on income generating projects
organised by the Zimbabwe Women's
Resource Centre and Network
(ZWRCN). This workshop was the first
in its kind and although many of the
more welfare oriented organisations
did not agree with the more radical
orientated participants, they did realise
that most of the Old fashioned' income
generating projects had not benefited
women at all and that it is time to
re-address their approaches.
? The'new'NGOs
The other type of development
oriented women's organisation is fairly
new (the first, the Women's Action
Group, was formed two years after
independence in 1982). This new type
is mainly urban based and tends to
take a more activist stand. Examples in
Zimbabwe are the Women's Action
Group (WAG), Women and Law in
Southern Africa (WLSA) and the
Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre
and Network (ZWRCN). These
organisations usually emerged from a
group of women who came together on
a professional basis and who had
realised that neither government nor
the 'old' NGOs could be expected to
work effectively towards women's
emancipation. They have an
advantage over the more traditional
organisations as they start off on a
more professional basis, often being in
a position to learn from the mistakes of
the traditional NGOs. The
organisational and management
structure is generally more
professional. These NGOs all more or
less follow the GAD approach as they
Gender and development
try to challenge existing gender
structures within society.
The ZWRCN for example, is
committed to the struggle to ensure
that women in Zimbabwe are able to
determine and direct their own lives
and future. The organisation therefore
seeks to take initiatives which will
transform unequal social/gender
relations and empower women. There
are numerous ways to create these
conditions, the ZWRCN has chosen to
do this mainly through the collection
and dissemination of information.
A starting point towards equity for
the ZWRCN is the acknowledgement
of women's subordinate position in
society. For people, and policy makers
in particular to recognise this, the
ZWRCN makes relevant information
available to them.
? Mixed NGOs
The development NGOs which do
not specifically focus on women have
all given lip service to the WID
approach and have either appointed a
WID officer, or hold specific 'women's'
come! It is indeed seen as much 'safer'
to talk about gender issues than to talk
about women's issues, but if people do
not understand the issues which are
being discussed, a different term will ZWRCN is
not help much either.
committed to the
The struggle for women's
struggle to
emancipation is much more than using
the right terminology, or adding a ensure that
woman to a project or programme. But women in
if the more progressive women's Zimbabwe are
NGOs continue to critically analyse able to determine
their own and other development and direct their
NGOs activities then it seems that in own lives and
Zimbabwe the move from WID to GAD
is more than just a change in future
terminology. ?
References
Canadian Councilfor International
Cooperation,MATCHInternational
Centre, and Association qu?b?coise
des organismes de cooperation
internationale1991. Two halves make
a whole: balancing gender relations in
developmenf, Ottawa,CCIC,MATCH,
AQOCI.
Makamure,N. 1984. The Women's
Movement in Zimbabwe'in Journalof
AfricanMarxists,no 6, pp 74-86.

workshops once in a while. Rathgeber, E.M. 1990. 'WID,WAD, GAD:

Trends in research and practice'in The
While the rethoric of 'integrating Journalof Developing Areas, no 24, pp
women into development' and more 489-502.
recently 'taking consideration of gender
issues' has been accepted by many
institutions, the actual process of Gine Zwar! has lived and worked
ensuring equity for women even within in Africa for half her life, of which
those institutions advocating work on the past five years in Zimbabwe.
gender issues, is far from complete. In Zimbabwe ehe worked In a rural
development project, with e
Conclusion special focus on female farmers in
Many people have said that the a province. She has done various
GAD approach has been 'invented' to consultancies all related to
talk about women's issues under a women's Issues, She Is a
new terminology. In a workshop member of the
founding
recently, participants almost walked Zimbabwe Women's Resource
out when they discovered that Centre and Network.
women's issues were being discussed. Special thanks to Hope Chigudu
They said that if they had known that and Ann Pouisen for their
women's issues would be on the comments.
agenda that they would have never

Gender and development Agenda 21

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