HIGHLIGHTS AND FINDINGS OF AN INTERACTION RESEARCH STUDY

Revealing the Power of Gender Mainstreaming

Enhancing Development Effectiveness Of Non-governmental Organizations in Africa

How the Organizations Mainstreamed Gender

his study used InterActions Commission on the Advancement of Womens Gender Integration Framework to analyze how organizations mainstreamed gender. The framework has four components: Political Will, Technical Capacity, Accountability, Organizational Culture. Four of the five organizations used the CAWs Gender Audit to begin the process of gender mainstreaming. All of the organizations included the following four actions in their gender mainstreaming strategies: The organizations linked gender equality directly to poverty alleviation. Top leadership demonstrated strong political will to institutionalize gender throughout organizational policies and procedures, including revamping personnel policies, hiring gender

specialists, establishing gender task forces, making budgetary commitments, and conducting gender analysis training for all staff, including senior management. The organizations reviewed their projects for gender equality and changed their approaches to (1) the targeting of beneficiaries, (2) participation of women and men, and (3) avoiding project structures or partner agreements that perpetuated inequity or gender stereotypes for both sexes. At the project level, the organizations directly addressed potential opposition from men by listening to their concerns, involving them as partners with women in the projects, and producing results that demonstrated in concrete ways how gender inequality also oppresses men and keeps them in poverty.

And How Gender Mainstreaming Benefited Communities

ll sixteen communities in the study experienced strikingly positive outcomes after the five organizations implemented gender mainstreaming approaches. These approaches promoted womens empowerment and gender equality. When women gained, so did their families and communities. Tangible benefits includ-

ing increased agricultural yield and improved nutrition resulted. Less tangible but just as significant benefits also emerged. In particular, power relations between women and men changed at home, at work, and in decision-making processes. Here are specific examples from all the communities in the four study countries (Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Zambia):

In Givioni and Kihingo/Njoro, Kenya, community members experienced increased agricultural yield and improved family diet, after a gender analysis that revamped technical training for women and men. Women increased their participation in community activities and decision-making in three Ghanaian communities: Twifo Darmang, SomNyamekodur, and Bongo Soe. Women and men in SomNyamekodur were involved in designing more private and secure toilets for a primary school that improved school enrollment for girls. Mashanga and Mavuria, Kenya, reported that they had stopped the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). In Muteshi, Zambia, the marriage age of girls jumped from 10-15 to 20-25 in only a few years, and the community of Gangara, Niger, reported an end to early and forced marriage for girls. In that community, women elders and religious leaders gave important support to these cultural changes. Traditional roles were expanded for both sexes in household and agricultural work. In Givioni and Mashanga, Kenya, men began sharing household tasks , including cooking, ironing, washing, and caring for children. Men in Muteshi, Zambia, reported that cooking together was faster and more efficient, and women in that community began herding cattle. Women in Gbunmgbum, Ghana, were trained to repair bore holes for water and participated in decisions about their more convenient placement, which reduced workload for women and girls, improved water access in the community, and decreased waterborne diseases. In Akali, Niger, and Kihingo/Njoro, Kenya, community attitudinal changes meant that opposition to girls education virtually disappeared. In many communities, because of the shared parental labor in the household and in fetching water and firewood, girls were no longer required to stay home to help out with chores. Womens increased economic status enabled them to devote funds to school fees, a top priority in such communities as Muteshi, Zambia.

New Insights into Gender Equality and Poverty Alleviation

ender equality and womens empowerment are among the most powerful tools for effective development that the international community has at its disposal today. This study sheds new light on how gender mainstreaming can be a vehicle for promoting womens empowerment and gender equality and can enhance the effectiveness of social and economic development programs. The study confirms how gender mainstreaming, as implemented by the five organizations, can confront poverty directly by addressing the perspectives of both women and men. Linking gender equality to poverty alleviation proved to be a catalyst for acceptance in communities. Initial skeptics were won over by the tangible benefits that accrued not only to women, but to men, families, and entire communities, and then even spilled over to neighboring communities. Womens empowerment was promoted in ways that did not alienate, but rather included men, which led to broad-based support for gender equality. The key outcomes of the study are summarized in the seven sections that follow. While the study cannot conclude that these benefits would emerge from all gender mainstreaming efforts, they were clearly and consistently evident in the 16 communities studied in Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Zambia. We have learned about men and women working together, changing traditional roles. We believe that now poverty is going to end. Woman in Muteshi, Zambia

Multiple Social and Economic Benefits in Communities

A multitude of benefits for households and communities emerged, including greater agricultural yield, improved sanitation, improved health and nutrition, and expanded primary school enrollment, especially for girls. Men moved from initial resistance to active support; women and men divided work more equitably; an attitude of harmony and cooperation spread through households and communities; traditional practices such as early marriage for girls and FGM declined in some communities; and women gained inheritance and property ownership rights. Development to us is the change of agricultural yield, because now we have more yield than before when we never used to have the groups. We know that there is no job of men and women. All jobs are equal. We can see development. Man in Mashanga, Kenya

Mens Changing Attitudes and Support for Gender Equality

A surprising finding of the study was the support of men after the dramatic realization that they themselves are oppressed by cultural traditions, and that their own poverty is linked intrinsically to gender inequality. Thirteen of the 16 communities specifically reported greater respect among men for women, and positive male attitudes towards gender equality. When gender mainstreaming provided almost immediate and tangible benefits, these results converted those who initially experienced extreme discomfort with the concept. Men and women increased their self-confidence, as they both recognized that widespread poverty places men in positions of physical, emotional and financial insecurity positions that leave them unable to take care of their families, feeling vulnerable and unsure of themselves. The resulting low self-esteem is frequently manifested in domestic violence against women and children. As a result of gender mainstreaming, both sexes looked at each other with greater respect. Previously women were never respected. They were treated as dogs. There was no respect that would go to them, and they were not allowed to make any decisions because of what we thought about women. But now weve been trained, we work together as a family husband and wife and we make important decisions together. Man in Muteshi, Zambia

The Division of Labor and New Roles for Women and Men
Gender mainstreaming brought stunning changes in cultural attitudes towards the division of labor in the household and in the fields. Both men and women began to explore new roles, as men began to assist in cooking, washing clothes, ironing, marketing, gathering firewood, and fetching water, and women took on agricultural roles that had previously been considered taboo. Eleven of the 16 communities reported startling changes in gender roles, with men taking on many household chores and women assuming jobs that had previously been forbidden. Women in Givioni, Kenya, are now preparing seedlings of plants, mixing soil, and collecting tree seeds, previously the responsibility of only the men. In Ghana, women are accompanying their husbands on fishing expeditions. Men in Koramagora and Gangara, Niger, are fetching water and firewood, and men in Muteshi, Zambia, are cooking and washing clothes. Gender training has brought change in our attitudes towards our work relations between women and men. With some work like, for instance, washing, even the hat that Im wearing, I would consider it as a womans job to do the washing. But after training, now I know that I can actually wash my hat, and I did. Man in Muteshi, Zambia

Challenging Harmful Traditional Culture

In cultures that are thought to be clinging to rigid stereotypes and too steeped in tradition to change, these projects found innovative ways to challenge deeply-held, harmful cultural practices, including FGM, early marriage, and wife inheritance. Through engaging female and male religious and traditional leaders, this study showed that even extremely conservative societies can become more equitable, and that institutionalized religious interpretations can be challenged. On another cultural front, organizations used gender mainstreaming to revise local contracts to change property inheritance, animal ownership, and work roles embedded in cultural traditions. As soon as the girls started growing, we would just marry them to any person we wished to give them to with no consent of the girls. Now we wait until the girls are mature, and we would listen to the girls and wed them to the person they love. This has changed greatly...this kind of decisionmaking about the future of our children. Woman in Gangara, Niger

Increased Family Cooperation and Harmony

Another unexpected result of the gender mainstreaming was increased cooperation and harmony in the family, which both women and men frequently cited. In all of the four countries in all 16 communities, women reported that mens collaboration has led to more harmonious relationships in the home and less domestic violence. We have been trained how to live harmoniously in our families. Man in Mashanga, Kenya

Girls Education Begins Empowerment of Next Generation

Women placed high importance on the education of their children, especially their daughters. With increased womens income, the education of girls was the first step in empowerment of the next generations of females. In all the communities, girls education became a priority. Thirteen of the 16 communities specifically reported strong support and action for the education of girls. This result came about because of changed attitudes, increased income of their mothers, and decreased time needed for household chores because of shared responsibility between husbands and wives. Women boasted that educating their girls obviated the need to force them into early, cross-generation marriages that they did not want. We didnt know anything about girl children also going to school, but the organization has come and has made us to know that it is important to send our girl children to school, and all our girl children are in school. Woman in Gbunmgbum, Ghana

Youth and the Sustainability of Impact

Youth became involved in projects alongside their parents, and as their involvement increased, relationships between children and their parents and between children and village elders improved. Men talked of better relationships with their sons. Both women and men spoke of the greater obedience of their children, and the increased harmony between parents provided positive role models for the younger generation. There is a great change for the men and even for the boys. Man in Gbunmgbum, Ghana

The Research Study Profile

PURPOSE This study was under taken as an in-depth investigation of effective applications of gender mainstreaming and of the difference such efforts have made in the lives of women, men, and children in poor communities in Africa. By looking in depth at where gender mainstreaming reportedly is working, the study sought to uncover a deeper understanding of the processes involved and their potential contributions and limitations for womens empowerment, gender equality, and enhanced development effectiveness.

ORGANIZATIONS Five InterAction members and their local NGO partners in four African countries participated in the study: Ghana-World Vision, Kenya-Catholic Relief Services and Lutheran & FIELD SITES World Relief, Niger-CARE, and Zambia-Heifer International. The five organizations were selected based on: at least two years experience in implementing gender mainstreaming processes, the existence of programs where gender mainstreaming was perceived as having impact at the community level, and willingness of the field office and/or partners to serve as a study site. The five organizations each identified at least two rural communities for the research; a total of 16 communities were included. RESEARCH DESIGN Dr. Meryl James-Sebro, an anthropologist, and local research assistants in Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Zambia, carried out the study. The heart of the research was focus groups in the 16 rural communities that involved nearly 900 women, men, and youth. The research design also included: 1) structured interviews with 36 senior and program staff from the five organizations, 2) an organizational gender mainstreaming self-assessment check list, 3) review of organizational and program documents, and 4) interviews with other key informants, such as Ministers of Womens Affairs and leaders of womens organizations. The field research was carried out in 2004.

Its a continual process. Its not a nine-day wonder. With gender mainstreaming, both men and women are made conscious of their capacity to improve their quality of life through the development of their potential.
Male Senior Staff Member of a Study Organization

Gender Mainstreaming: A Definition

In 1997, the UN Economic and Social Council defined gender mainstreaming this way: Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making womens as well as mens concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs 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 (Report of the UN Economic and Social Council for 1997, Chapter IV, September 1997).

HWE MU DUA the measuring stick A symbol of examination and quality control. It stresses the need to strive for the best quality, whether in production of goods or in human endeavors. Origin: Andinkra symbol, Ghana, West Africa

This Highlights publication presents excerpts from InterActions comprehensive research study, Revealing the Power of Gender Mainstreaming: Enhancing Development Effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations in Africa.
For a copy of the full report, visit InterActions website to order at www.interaction.org. The full report presents more detailed data and analysis on the profound links between gender equality and poverty alleviation at the community level. It thoroughly examines the how-tos and the impact of innovative gender mainstreaming strategies of the five NGOs in four African countries included in the study: Ghana-World Vision, Kenya-Catholic Relief Services and Lutheran World Relief, Niger-CARE, and Zambia-Heifer International. Nearly 900 women, men, and youth from 16 rural communities took part in the study, and the report captures their perspectives on the positive changes that gender mainstreaming brought to their lives, families, and communities.

InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international

development and humanitarian non-governmental organizations.With more than 160 members operating in every developing country, InterAction works to overcome poverty, exclusion and suffering by advancing social justice and basic dignity for all.

The Commission on the Advancement of Women (CAW), created by InterActions board in 1992, includes a core staff and active representation from InterAction member agencies. As mandated, the CAW promotes gender equality in the policy and practice of InterAction members, national, and international development and humanitarian assistance organizations.

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