Women's Studies International Forum 74 (2019) 9–19

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Women's Studies International Forum

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Discursive translations of gender mainstreaming norms: The case of T

agricultural and climate change policies in Uganda
⁎
Mariola Acostaa,b, , Severine van Bommela,e, Margit van Wessela, Edidah L. Ampaireb,c,
Laurence Jassogneb,f, Peter H. Feindta,d
a
Strategic Communication Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
b
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kampala, Uganda
c
International Development Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
d
Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt University at Berlin, Berlin, Germany
e
School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Australia
f
Opus Insights, Den Haag, the Netherlands

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: While the international norm on gender mainstreaming, UN-backed since 1995, has been widely adopted in
Gender mainstreaming national policies, gender inequalities are rarely systematically addressed on the ground. To explain this limited
Norm translation effectiveness, this paper takes a discourse analytical perspective on gender policy and budgeting, with a focus on
Norm domestication the translation of the international norm into domestic norms and policies. An in-depth, inductive analysis of
Transformational potential
107 policy documents in Uganda examines how the gender mainstreaming norm has been translated at three
Uganda
administrative levels: national, district, sub-county. The analysis finds five processes that reduce the norm's
transformational potential: neglecting gender discourse, gender inertia, shrinking gender norms, embracing
discursive hybridity and minimizing budgets. Overall, gender mainstreaming largely stopped at the discursive
level, and often paradoxically depoliticized gender. The findings explain why gender mainstreaming might be
helpful but not sufficient for advancing gender equality and suggest additional focus on promising practices,
women's rights movements and stronger monitoring.

1. Introduction and organizations would follow to address gender issues globally

(United Nations, 1996). Two years later, in 1997, the United Nations
‘The whole world now eagerly awaits the outcome of this Conference. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established guiding principles
While the Conference has provided the international community with an for gender mainstreaming which was defined as ‘the process of assessing
opportunity to reflect on our past achievements and failures with regard the implications for women and men of any planned action, including leg-
to the advancement of women, it should in the same breath endeavour to islation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy
provide solutions. The challenge is to have the Platform for Action for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral
translated into concrete programmes that will achieve tangible results for dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of po-
all women at all levels. We should continue to “maternize” globally but licies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that
act locally’ women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ul-
Statement extract by Specioza Kazibwe, Vice-President of Uganda, timate goal is to achieve gender equality’ (ECOSOC, 1997, p. 3). Since
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) then, this international norm on gender mainstreaming has guided
policymaking and development programs' actions on gender around the
The extract above conveys the expectation that was created around
globe (Moser & Moser, 2005).
the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), as an event that would
In addition to transmitting the expectations raised at the Fourth
constitute a turning point in how governments address gender in-
World Conference on Women, the speech given by the then vice-pre-
equalities at all scales. The event did not disappoint. The declaration of
sident of Uganda, Ms. Kazibwe, directed attention to the challenges
the conference, known as the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, in-
faced by nations in terms of translating this international norm into
stituted ‘gender mainstreaming’ as the new standard that governments

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Acosta).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.02.010
Received 20 September 2018; Received in revised form 9 January 2019; Accepted 19 February 2019
0277-5395/ © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
M. Acosta, et al. Women's Studies International Forum 74 (2019) 9–19

local actions and concrete programs. These processes of translation, she policy discourse that emphasizes gender inequality as a policy problem
emphasized, would ultimately constitute the success or failure of the and presents gender mainstreaming as the policy solution that allows
global ambition. Her remarks underlined how negotiation processes countries and communities to live up to the norms of gender equality
involved in the establishment and signing of international norms, to- (Woodward, 2008). Policy actors on lower levels of the hierarchy have
gether with the translation of the norms into domestic policy, would to adopt a gender discourse in policy documents, partly as a pre-con-
have to create linkages between international, regional, national and dition of access to funds, and have to build this discourse into their
sub-national policymaking. existing discourses and practices. However, gender equality norms
This paper takes a discourse analytical perspective (Feindt & Oels, might conflict with other norms dominant among local communities or
2005; Wagenaar, 2011) and critical policy instrument analysis (Bacchi, policy-makers at sub-national levels. The question is how, depending on
2009; Colebatch, 2014) to analyze processes of gender norm translation the local context, ‘global’ discourses that challenge locally prevalent
in Uganda. We understand norm translation as practices through which norms are translated so that they make sense and fit within the local
norms are negotiated and adapted in different contexts (Draude, 2017). context (Zimmermann, 2014). A related question is whether the
These norm translation processes often imply exercises of meaning adoption of a gender discourse will affect the thinking (cognitive and
molding, i.e. a process in which the meaning of a concept is shaped so normative beliefs) of local actors and their practices, or whether local
that it fits into local discursive and normative contexts (Fejerskov, actors merely pay lip service to imposed requirements but insulate their
2018). Indeed, through the establishment of collective expectations and local discourse and practices from the external discursive intervention,
the processes of norm translation into domestic policy, exercises of or perhaps, a combination of both.
meaning molding arise, first to reach international consensus and then Using Uganda as a case study (Yin, 2002), this article examines what
to adapt these global norms to the respective local contexts (Gherardi & happens to gender issues in agriculture and climate change adaptation
Nicolini, 2000; de Laet & Mol, 2000). Through processes of meaning when they are mainstreamed and domesticated in different governance
molding, policy issues are foregrounded or backgrounded, which also levels (i.e. national, district and sub-county). It investigates the pro-
affects the level of ambition of gender mainstreaming efforts cesses through which global gender mainstreaming norms are trans-
(Lombardo, Meier, & Verloo, 2009). Global norms also guide most in- lated into policy programs by national governments and decentralized
ternational development efforts, which organize their programs in ac- administrations. In trying to answer the research question: “How do
cordance to gender equality principles and goals. In many Sub-Saharan processes of international norm translation into domestic policies in Uganda
countries, this also creates linkages between development organizations affect the transformative ambition of gender mainstreaming?”, we examine
and governments, as compliance with gender equality principles is how discursive translations of gender norms affect the meanings of
often a conditionality to access development funds (Arora-Jonsson, gender equality and its transformational ambition. Understanding this
2014; Collins, 2018; Miers, 2011; Samarasinghe, 2014). process of norm translation can contribute to explain how the apparent
More than twenty years after the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, mismatch between the adoption of global gender norms and the limited
Uganda has not only succeeded in introducing a gender discourse in visible effects at the local level comes into being. The findings from the
policies and development programs, but has actually become a point of case study suggest that a focus on the gender mainstreaming policy
reference for their gender mainstreaming efforts in the East Africa re- discourses and policy instruments being implemented in national and
gion (The Republic of Uganda, 2013a). The large proportion of areas sub-national governance levels is fundamental to understanding their
that are rural in Uganda has made gender issues in agriculture and rural links to the global discourse, and how they can produce policy change.
development a priority in policymaking and development programs
(World Bank, 2014). More recently, with climate change increasingly 2. The domestication of international norms
threatening many of these rural livelihoods, examining gender issues in
agriculture within this context has also gained prominence in the Norms are generally understood as ‘standard of appropriate beha-
country (Nyasimi, Ayanlade, Mungai, Derkyi, & Jegede, 2018). Not- vior for actors with a given identity’ (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998, p.
withstanding these policy efforts, gender inequalities in the agricultural 891). When standards are negotiated and agreed upon by numerous
sector of Uganda remain large (UN Women, UNDP, UNEP, & World states, an international norm is formed. Krook and True (2012, pp.
Bank Group, 2015). 103–104) define an international norm as ‘organizing principles or
Uganda is not an isolated case but is rather an example of a wide- standardized procedures that resonate across many states and global
spread phenomenon. Gender mainstreaming as a strategy has not yet actors, having gained support in multiple forums including official
yielded the desired results, as exhibited by the rampant levels of gender policies, laws, treaties or agreements’.
inequality in agriculture still prevalent across Sub-Saharan Africa and International norms involve establishing collective expectations and
elsewhere (Alston, 2014; Brouwers, 2013; Gumucio & Tafur Rueda, standards, which inherently imply the creation of shared under-
2015; van Eerdewijk, 2016). To understand this gender implementation standings and meanings as to what is considered legitimate, feasible,
gap and to determine the extent and manner to which global gender and appropriate to attain pre-determined goals (Altinay, 2013; Cold-
norms have been translated into domestic policies, numerous review Ravnkilde, Engberg-Pedersen, & Fejerskov, 2018). Within the realm of
studies, monitoring efforts and evaluation programs have emerged women's rights, international norms prescribe what is considered to be
(Allwood, 2013, 2015; Kabeer, 2015; Moser & Moser, 2005; Nhamo, ‘adequate policy’ and ‘adequate development’ to advance the status of
2014). Often these review and monitoring processes stop at assessing women globally. They establish commonly expected patterns of beha-
the integration of global norms in national level policies, not looking vior that nations and international organizations ought to follow in
into the activities and outcomes at the local level. Other studies focus order to meet women's empowerment and gender equality goals. In this
on local situated practices and discuss how gender implementation has way, a sense of individual and common obligations are set between
failed at this local level (see for example Fejerskov, 2018) or explore agents (Pettenger, 2007). International norms are often formalized in
how gender mainstreaming policies are performed in informal domains the international community through the signing of an agreement (e.g.
within the context of development interventions (Nandigama, 2012, a convention or treaty). The signatory nations are then expected and
2018). What remains largely unproblematized is the role of sub-na- encouraged to adopt these international norms in their territories. In
tional level government policies in translating internationally agreed this way, international norms influence and shape national policy
gender norms and the processes through which these norms are trans- making and agenda setting (Krook & True, 2012; Martinsson, 2011).
lated into policy action and thus their potential in tackling gender in- As international norms emerge, nations embark on processes of
equalities. norm translation into domestic policy (Risse, Ropp, & Sikkink, 1999).
The international norm on gender mainstreaming is embedded in a Linguistically, to translate is to make two words equivalent (Law,

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2009). However, as Law (2009, p. 144) points out, considering there is policy could reduce the transformational potential from the onset.
no such thing as two completely equivalent words, ‘translation is both Understanding processes of ‘translation’ thus becomes important in
about making equivalent, and about shifting. It is about moving terms contexts where internationally well-established discourses, such as
around, about linking and changing them’. Kjær and Pedersen (2001, p. gender equality in development, are adopted and molded in ambivalent
219) describe translation as a process ‘whereby concepts and concep- political contexts.
tions from different social contexts come into contact with each other
and trigger a shift in the existing order of interpretation and action in a 3. Methodology
particular context’. Following this definition, the translation of inter-
national norms into domestic policy involves (1) a translation of dis- To study processes of gender norm translation in agriculture and
course (interpretation), whereby international norms are translated into climate change policy in Uganda, we used discourse analysis (Feindt &
domestic norms; and (2) a translation of these domestic norm inter- Oels, 2005; Wagenaar, 2011) and critical policy instrument analysis
pretations into policy instruments, whereby domestic norms are trans- (Bacchi, 2009; Colebatch, 2014) at three different governance levels,
lated into actual policy action. Policy instruments constitute in this way namely national, district, and sub-county. The discourse analysis was
the ‘end point’ of processes of international norm translation. Analyzing conducted at a macro-textual level, i.e. we were concerned with an
these processes will offer an understanding on how the international intertextual understanding (i.e. interrelationship between texts) of
norm has been ultimately disseminated and problematized at the local discursive elements taking into account the institutional, political and
level, establishing in this way specific relationships between the ‘gov- socio/cultural context within which they were produced (Barry,
erning and the governed’ which express specific social theories of Carroll, & Hansen, 2006). For the policy instrument analysis we focused
control (Lascoumes & Gales, 2007, p. 11). on an examination of budgets, as elements that reflect governmental
Acts of norm ‘translation’ entail processes of reconstruction and priorities and financial means to implement policy instruments (Bacchi,
meaning molding, where struggles over meaning often arise (Lombardo 2009; Colebatch, 2014).
et al., 2009). In particular, through these translation processes, gov- We examined how discourses and policy instruments addressing
ernments and organizations interpret international norms in particular gender issues in relation to agricultural development and climate
ways that prioritize and/or downplay specific discursive elements in a change materialized in policy documents and budgets at the three
way that can both resonate with international norms and be adjusted to governance levels. For this purpose, we followed the inductive codes-to-
domestic norms and logics (Barnett & Finnemore, 2004; Petersen, 2018; theory model described in Saldaña (2013), supported by the qualitative
Zimmermann, 2014). In this way, practices of norm translation can be data analysis software Atlas.ti (version 8.1.2). In a first round of coding,
considered as processes of discursive maneuvering at work, through we assessed (1) whether documents mentioned gender mainstreaming,
which non-coherent normative environments are navigated (Law et al., gender, gender equality, women and men; (2) how gender issues were
2014). Silencing specific issues or part of the discourse, for example, is a contextualized, problematized and diagnosed and (3) what gender is-
common discursive mechanisms of control in policymaking processes sues were budgeted and what amounts were allocated to the policy
(Schröter & Taylor, 2018). instruments. Through category building, we then grouped the initial
These dynamics expose the need to understand norms as processes, codes into themes and concepts that related to ideas of policy transla-
whereby norms are constantly subjected to exercises of meaning tion and diffusion, through a process of consolidation of conceptual
molding and meaning negotiation between actors (Krook & True, thinking with the data. Finally, we examined how the themes and
2012). As Finnemore and Sikkink (1998, p. 893) point out international concepts interrelated and allowed us to inductively identify different
norms always ‘work their influence through the filter of domestic processes of norm translation through which gender policies were do-
structures and domestic norms, which can produce important variations mesticated.
in compliance and interpretations of these norms’. Krook and True To contextualize the policy documents, the analysis built on the
(2012) argue that this is possible because of the ambiguity in which main author's contextual observations during a thirty-month research
these international norms are often negotiated, which allows for these stay in Uganda that included frequent interactions with policy, devel-
norms to be ‘domesticated’ in different ways in different contexts, with opment and advocacy actors. The study was embedded within a wider
processes of meaning molding and adjustment evolving over time. project on climate change policymaking that was implemented by the
Domestication is used here to refer to processes through which a International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in four districts of
country adapts international policy norms to be used within their ter- Uganda: Nwoya (Northwest), Luwero (Central), Rakai (Southwest) and
ritory (i.e. to bring into domestic use), and through which non-coherent Mbale (East).
normative environments are made to work within these differences Table 1 provides an overview over the documents included in the
(Law et al., 2014). analysis. At national level, we selected key policies in the realms of
Additionally, government and development organizations normally agriculture, climate change and development. At sub-national level we
navigate through, and operate within, different normative environ- assessed an 8 to 10-year period of local development planning, which
ments, so that they can satisfy different ‘audiences’ (Cook, Turnhout, allowed to compare how gender issues are addressed at two different
and van Bommel, Forthcoming; Goffman, 1959; Petersen, 2018). points in time. We selected districts and sub-counties because they are
However, these processes of translation and navigation within different the lowest levels in Uganda's decentralized governance system that are
normative environments (e.g. international and domestic) imply that required to produce annual action plans and five-year development
international norms are often not implemented in full to local contexts. plans. Thus, the documents allowed us to examine the translation of
Martinsson (2011, p. 1) asserts that few translated domestic norms ‘lead norms in national policy into sub-national governance structures.
to transformational change on the ground because of (the) cultural and Working within the framework of IITA's project provided us with con-
political economy challenges that were not considered in the (inter- textual knowledge of the different territories; gave us access to state
national) norm formation’. agencies at the district and sub-county level; and allowed for frequent
An examination of the translation mechanisms involved in the do- interactions with policy officials which in turn provided us access to
mestication of international norms – namely (1) the translation of dis- policy documents. Within each district, three sub-counties were se-
course and (2) a translation of domestic discourse into policy instru- lected on the bases of the ease of accessibility to the development plans
ments – can help uncover the ways in which these translation and budgets1: Nwoya (Alero, Anaka, Purongo sub-counties), Luwero
mechanisms affect the transformational ambition of international
norms. For example, Lombardo and Meier (2009) warn that reduc-
tionist or simplistic ‘translations’ of international gender norms in 1
Even if Ugandan sub-national policies and budgets are public documents,

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Table 1 areas local governments are composed of district councils, which in

Policy documents analyzed. turn consist of sub-county councils, parish councils and village councils.
Sources Docs Documents The key national documents that guide local government policy are (1)
the Uganda Vision 2040, which provides long-term (30 years) devel-
National 13 Uganda Succession Act Amendment Decree (1972) opment paths and strategies, and (2) the Second National Development
The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995)
Plan (NDP II), which provides planning frameworks and sets specific
National Development Plan (NDP) 2010/11–2014/15
Uganda Vision 2040 (2013)
goals and strategies for a ten year period (2015/16–2019/20). At the
National Land Policy (2013) same time, these national guiding documents affirm to comply with
National Agriculture Policy (2013) international mandates such as the Sustainable Development Goals
Local Government Development Planning Guidelines (2014) (The Republic of Uganda, 2013b, 2015a). In this way, local govern-
Guidelines Integration of Climate Change in Sector Plans and
ments at district and sub-county level are expected to translate national
Budgets (2014)
National Climate Change Policy (2015) priority areas to the realities of their territories, which at least to some
Second National Development Plan (NDP II) 2015/16–2019/ degree should reflect international agreements.
20
Uganda Climate-Smart Agriculture Country Program
4.2. Translation of discourse into policy action
2015–2025
Agriculture Sector Strategy Plan 2015/16–2019/20
Agriculture Sector Budget Framework Paper Financial Year In line with international norms on gender mainstreaming, all na-
2017/18 tional and sub-national policy documents reviewed incorporated cer-
District 23 5-year Development Plan 2009/10–2014/15 (n = 4) tain references to gender issues. In the sub-national development plans
5-year Development Plan 2015/16–2019/20 (n = 4)
reviewed, gender issues were listed as one of the development priorities
Principles and Practices of Customary Tenure in Acholiland
District Annual Actual Budget Financial Years 2010–2015 and were given a prominent place throughout the document. Analyzing
(n = 14) these national and sub-national gender discourses and the translation of
Sub-county 71 5-year Development Plan 2009/10–2014/15 (n = 8) the discourses into policy action, we identified five main processes
5-year Development Plan 2015/16–2019/20 (n = 11) through which the international norm of gender mainstreaming was
3-year Development Plan 2010/11–2012/13 (n = 2)
Sub-county Annual Actual Budget Financial Years
molded in domestic policy: neglecting gender discourse, embracing
2010–2015 (n = 50) discursive hybridity, shrinking gender norms, gender inertia, and
minimizing budgets.

(Makulubita, Kamira, Zirobwe), Rakai (Lwanda, Dwaniro, Kasasa), 4.2.1. Neglecting gender discourse
Mbale (Bufumbo, Busoba, Namanyonyi). The sub-counties selected re- The domestication of gender mainstreaming in the climate change
presented more than half of the population in each respective district. discourse in Uganda involved instances of neglecting gender discourse
in sub-national policy documents. We found a progressive dis-
appearance of the gender discourse in climate change policymaking as
4. Findings
it translated to lower governance levels. A gendered climate change
discourse was prominent in Uganda's national policies, with key na-
4.1. Setting the scene
tional policies including gender connotations: NDP II (2015/16–2019/
20), Agriculture Sector Strategy Plan (2015/16–2019/20), Climate-
As a signatory of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
Smart Agriculture (CSA) Country Plan (The Republic of Uganda,
(1995), Uganda's national regulations establish that gender should be
2015b), Uganda National Climate Change Policy (The Republic of
mainstreamed in all policies and policy instruments (The Republic of
Uganda, 2015c), Intended Nationally Determined Contribution
Uganda, 2010, 2013b, 2014). In 2004, a budget call circular instructed
(Ministry of Water and Environment, 2015) and the Guidelines for the
all ministries, departments, agencies and local governments how they
Integration of Climate Change in Sector Plans and Budgets (The
would address gender and equity issues through their budgets. More
Republic of Uganda and Ministry of Water and Environment, 2014).
recently, the Public Finance Management Act (2015) made it compul-
The attention to gender issues in national climate change policymaking
sory for ministries, local governments and other agencies to address
became also clearly tangible in December of 2017, when members of
gender and equity issues in their activities and plans. The Equal Op-
the Ugandan Parliament rejected the much-expected Climate Change
portunities Commission (EOC) assesses the budget framework paper
Bill partly due to its insufficient consideration of gender issues
(BFP) and other policy statements of these institutions and then advises
(Namuloki, 2017).
the Ministry of Finance to issue a certificate of compliance of Gender
However, in the sub-national policies reviewed, the translation of a
and Equity issues, if they have attained certain minimum standards.
gendered climate change discourse did not materialize to the same
The institutions' BFP that are considered non-compliant are then re-
extent as at national level. In district policies, the climate change dis-
jected by Parliament, their funding is withheld, and the BFP referred
course, while generally present, presented very limited gender con-
back to the corresponding institution. The agricultural sector scored
notations. All former (2009/10–2014/15) and current 5-year develop-
54% in the BFP of Financial Years 2016/17 and 51% in the Financial
ment plans (2015/16–2019/20) incorporated a climate change
Year 2017/18, signaling a decline in the gender responsiveness of the
discourse. In the districts of Luwero and Rakai this did not include any
sector, and barely passing the bar for compliance (> 50%). Local
gender connotations. In Nwoya, while the 2009/10–2014/15 develop-
governments had not yet been assessed for their BFP at the time this
ment climate change discourse did not consider gender, the 2015/
article was written.
16–2019/20 plan advocated for the promotion of ‘gender-sensitive
The governance system of Uganda comprises central and local
climate change local government interventions’, although the discourse
governments, which operate through a decentralized system. Local
was not further elaborated (Nwoya LG, 2015, p. 285). The plans of the
governments are mandated to develop their own development plans
Mbale district acknowledged that women, due to their reproductive
through the guidance of nationally set strategic directions. In rural
roles, could be more adversely affected by climate change than men
(Mbale LG, 2010, 2015) and also highlighted the low involvement of
(footnote continued) women and youth in climate change activities (Nwoya LG, 2015).
we encountered many officials who were unwilling to make them freely The sub-county development plans presented a total absence of any
available. gendered climate change discourse: only 38% of the plans considered

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climate change issues, and in none of these instances was gender were previously granted to them by marriage. This is in contradiction to
mentioned. When climate change was acknowledged as a constraint to Uganda's Constitution (The Republic of Uganda, 1995), the National
sub-county development and a matter that needed urgent adaptation Land Policy (The Republic of Uganda, 2013a) and other national laws
and mitigation strategies, it was disentangled from gender – farmers such as the 1972 Succession Amendment Decree, which acknowledges
were mentioned in general without consideration of gendered effects or women's right to inherit from their husbands, allowing them to remain
the need to consider gender issues when designing climate change in their marital homesteads after the passing of their spouses (The
policies. Gender issues in climate change adaptation and mitigation Republic of Uganda, 1972). These contradictions between formal gov-
processes were in this way neglected from sub-county policymaking ernmental and established exceptionalist laws exemplify the different
processes. normative environments in which policy actors often operate, i.e. one
The absence of gender considerations in the climate change dis- in which gender equality is framed within international norms of
course at sub-county level and the very limited gendered discourse at gender mainstreaming and one in which gender inequalities are nat-
district level exemplify the disconnect between national and sub-na- uralized by cultural norms and written statutes.
tional policymaking. The translation of gender mainstreaming in cli- The co-existence of these two normative environments are at times
mate change discourse was in this way neglected as the norm advanced also enshrined in policy. For example, in a sub-section called ‘Gender in
through the different levels of policy-making. At the local level, where relation to agriculture’ of both Kasasa and Lwanda sub-county devel-
climate-specific interventions are to be implemented, the gendered opment plans (Kasasa LG, 2015; Lwanda LG, 2015), we found the fol-
discourses largely disappeared, leaving gender issues unproblematized lowing extract:
and excluded from policy considerations and this way rendering the
“Because it is mostly women are engaged in this business [agriculture]
gender in climate change discourse unpoliticized.
and they are naturally weak, they cannot do much. They end up pro-
ducing very little and at times they are limited by the scarcity of land.
4.2.2. Embracing discursive hybridity This ultimately means that very little will be earned from this business
The existence of different normative environments with regards to and therefore low income for the households. Men should also wake up
gender issues was evident in the policy documents reviewed. Even and start involving themselves in agriculture in their households if poverty
though gender language had been translated and adopted at national is to be kicked out of the sub-county in particular and Uganda in gen-
and sub-national policy, the policy discourse explicitly acknowledged eral.”
that gender equality policies and programs operate within entrenched
patriarchal cultural norms (Alero LG, 2011, 2016; Luwero LG, 2010, In this case, we see how exercises of gender mainstreaming co-ex-
2015; Purongo LG, 2010, 2015; The Republic of Uganda, 2013a, isted with a discourse that used certain gender stereotypes (i.e. ‘women
2013b). Critical among these were the constraints that Ugandan women are naturally weak’) to account for the low agricultural productivity of
face in relation to access, control and ownership of productive re- households, while the action of men was presented as being required to
sources, such as land. These constraints were framed by national and reverse the situation. In this way, the quote simultaneously constituted
sub-national policy as being the result of engrained cultural beliefs and an exercise of gender mainstreaming and an expression of patriarchy,
traditions, in which women do not normally inherit land and are not through which local gender stereotypes (e.g. women as weak, men as
considered as co-owners of their husband's properties. For example, the saviors) were reproduced. This apparent incoherence was not pro-
Bufumbo development plan (2010) identified ‘culture and tradition’ as blematized and both realities existed side by side. This allowed two
a main factor constraining women's access and control of productive very different logics – gender mainstreaming as means for gender
resources, and provided the following example to substantiate how equality and a reproduction of local unequal gender relations – to co-
patriarchal traditions affected intra-household power relations: “paying exist (embracing discursive hybridity). It allowed for policies to comply
of bride price make (sic) women feel that they are owned by men and the with gender mainstreaming norms while not altering already pre-ex-
men to feel that the women have no say in what happens to them and their isting gender relations in these territories. The potential for transfor-
households, after all ‘he paid a high bride price for her’”. Even though mation of gender mainstreaming strategies was in this way limited.
discriminatory traditions and customs are banned in Uganda's reg- In some other cases, e.g. in Dwaniro, women's views were regarded
ulatory frameworks, several policies acknowledge that the custom has as important to development, while certain gender stereotypes (i.e.
not yet substantially changed (Alero LG, 2011, 2016; Luwero LG, 2010, ‘women inferiority complex’) also appeared in the discourse to explain
2015; Purongo LG, 2010, 2015; The Republic of Uganda, 2013a, the underdevelopment of the sub-county: “Women inferiority complex
2013b). In this regard, the National Land Policy (The Republic of is another very big problem that has retarded development in the sub-
Uganda, 2013a, p. 6) for example emphasizes that “although traditions, county because women's views are rarely brought forward yet some of
customs and practices which discriminate against women in matters of ac- their views can contribute much to the development of the Sub-County
cess, use and ownership of land have been outlawed by the Constitution, the and the District as a whole” (Ddwaniro LG, 2010, p. 86). Similarly, in
practice does not acknowledge these changes”. Culturally embedded Bufumbo sub-county, gender stereotypes (i.e. ‘lack of courage and
practices and norms co-exist in this way with formal regulatory fra- knowledge’) were used to describe the lack of action on gender and
meworks. development in the region: “Lack of courage and knowledge by women
In some cases, these cultural norms were even further in- voters to support candidates with clear political agenda on gender and
stitutionalized through formal clan statutory regulations, exposing development. Their husbands or significant males in their lives influ-
cases of legal pluralism (i.e. cases in which multiple legal systems co- ence most of their voting choices" (Bufumbo LG, 2010).
exist). For example in Nwoya District, inhabited mostly by Acholi What we find in these local gender diagnoses (i.e. statements about
people, land tenure was regulated through the “Principles and Practices the gender issues that require policy intervention) is that, implicitly
of Customary Tenure in Acholiland” (Ker Kwaro Acholi, 2008). These (and sometimes explicitly), gender stereotypes are employed to explain
regulations establish that a married woman's land rights are lost when low agricultural productivity rates, environmental degradation or the
she leaves the clan by divorce or death (Ker Kwaro Acholi, 2008, sec. underdevelopment of the sub-county. Hence, paradoxically, in these
2C).2 This implies that widows lose all rights (e.g. access to land) that cases the process of translating the gender mainstreaming norms

2
Acholiland is governed by a customary system in which land is transferred (footnote continued)
through a male line of inheritance. Women born within a clan are expected to Women from outside the clan, marrying someone in the clan, do not have land
marry outside the clan, and do not retain land rights from their ancestral clan. ownership rights from their spouses either.

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M. Acosta, et al. Women's Studies International Forum 74 (2019) 9–19

involved naturalizing certain cognitive and normative beliefs (e.g. divorce. While the Rakai District addressed issues beyond the unequal
women as weak, with limited agency and subordinated to men) rather ownership of productive assets (e.g. access to credit, decision-making),
than a politization of gender equality issues. the proposed prescriptions remained equally abstract (Table 2).
While sub-county plans also placed a clear emphasis on the unequal
ownership of productive assets, the prescriptions offered did not di-
4.2.3. Shrinking gender norms
rectly address this. For example, in Bufumbo sub-county the low par-
The translation of gender mainstreaming norms into national and
ticipation of women in fish farming was problematized by men's own-
sub-national policies in Uganda has in practice implied that documents
ership of fishponds, but the proposed ‘sensitization’ activities were
largely incorporate a ‘gendered’ language, both in terms of pro-
directed to women in order to improve their ‘morale’ (Table 2). This
blematizations (diagnosis) and proposed prescriptions. However, this
mismatch between problematizations and prescriptions and the em-
process of norm translation implied that certain key gender issues that
phasis on ‘sensitization’ activities were also found in Namanyonyi,
were highlighted by domestic policies (diagnosis) were not necessarily
Bufumbo, Busoba and Lwanda sub-counties (Table 2). Gender in-
directly addressed by the proposed prescriptions, especially when it
equalities were in this way problematized as an issue of ownership and
came to sub-national policy.
access to productive resources while the prescription framed the issue
In national level policies, five main gender problematizations were
as an education problem, with sensitization activities implicitly as-
highlighted for the agricultural sector, namely (1) women's limited
sumed to trigger attitude change within the communities.
ownership and control over land; (2) insufficient access to financial
Less frequently, sub-national policies proposed the implementation
credit; (3) limited access to extension services and formal training; (4)
of agricultural programs targeting women. For example, the Busoba
time-poverty resulting from productive and unpaid care work; and (5)
sub-county development plan (Busoba LG, 2010, 2015) stated that
limited decision making over agricultural incomes and women's con-
‘improved seeds and breeds of poultry and goats may empower women be-
sequent economic dependence. Overall, national prescriptions re-
cause they have ownership and access over these resources’. Similarly, the
mained at a very generic level. For example, women's time poverty was
Kamira development plan advocated for training groups of women in
proposed to be tackled through ‘gender-responsive mechanization’ (The
poultry keeping (Kamira LG, 2010). However, the transformative po-
Republic of Uganda, 2015a) and ‘gendered innovation in agricultural
tential of these interventions remained limited, as they tackled en-
research centers’ (The Republic of Uganda, 2015a, 2016), without of-
terprises on which Ugandan women already had a certain degree of
fering further elaboration on their operationalization and thus re-
agency (i.e. poultry and small animals). While the increased income
maining abstract ‘ideals’. It was therefore unclear through which
might have reduced material inequalities, the program reinforced pre-
pathways the proposed strategies would lead to policy change in this
existing gender roles rather than opening up new fields of activity for
regard. Compared to national policies, sub-national policies presented
women.
similar problematizations concerning gender issues in the agricultural
Overall, the translation of the gender mainstreaming norm in sub-
sector. Districts presented more varied prescriptions than those of sub-
national policy involved the introduction of a gendered language. In the
counties, which placed a stronger focus on the unequal ownership of
agricultural sector, the unequal ownership of assets held a central place
productive resources. Analogous to what we found in national level
in the gender diagnosis for the sector. However, the prescriptions pro-
policies, the proposed strategies for both district and sub-county were
posed – centering largely on sensitization of gender roles – confined the
phrased in very general terms, often given as bullet points, and no
problem of gender inequalities in ownership of resources to the policy
pathways of change were provided. For example, the district of Nwoya
area of education, portraying a particular interpretation of the issue and
proposed the ‘promotion of equal ownership of assets between men and
thus backgrounding other structural areas (e.g. discriminatory patterns
women’ (Table 2). However, the prescription stopped with this state-
of inheritance), and consequently shrinking the meaning of the gender
ment. It remained thus unclear through which mechanisms this would
mainstreaming norm, as means of equality, to one of education.
be operationalized or realized, even more so considering the Acholi
institutionalization of loss of land rights by death of the spouse and

Table 2
Gender problematizations and prescriptions for the agricultural sector in Uganda (Selection Sub-counties, Districts).
Development plan Gender problematization Prescription

Sub-county Namanyonyi - Women have no ownership and control over land, cattle, farm produce - Sensitize the community about gender roles
2010/11–2014/15
Bufumbo - Low participation of women in fish farming. The existing five fishponds in the - Sensitize women about fish farming in order to boost
2010/11–2014/15 sub-county are owned by men their morale
Busoba - Women have less ownership and control over high value factors of production - Sensitize women about their potential to raise
2015/16–2019/20 household incomes
Lwanda - Women's lack of control over resources like land - Sensitization of men and women on their responsibilities
2015/16–2019/20 - Denying women chances of engaging in income generating activities since men - Sensitization of community on the roles of women in
are the bread winners development
Kamira - Men put little or no labour on farm. - More sensitization of communities on gender issues
2015/16–2019/20 - Women are denied access to resources and are refused to participate in decision- - To promote equity in access to opportunities and control
making. Gender inequality has led to low agricultural production and persistent of resources
poverty
Districts Nwoya Women own no assets (land) but work the land owned by men - Promotion of equal ownership of assets between genders
2010/11–2014/15
&
2015/16–2019/20
Rakai - Women do not own land or any other productive assets - Gender senstitization and advocacy
2010/11–2014/15 - Culturally women are not adequately empowered in income generating activities -Recruitment of more female extension workers
& - Accessibility to credit is more skewed to men than women - Establish women credit schemes
2015/16–2019/20 - Women culturally are inhibited from fishing activities - Women group formation
- Limited decision-making over incomes generated from agricultural produce in - Mobilization and sensitization of women councilors on
households skills enhancement and income generating activities
- Unequal distribution of productive and reproductive work - Training women in resource mobilization and savings

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M. Acosta, et al. Women's Studies International Forum 74 (2019) 9–19

4.2.4. Gender inertia translation where gender mainstreaming was largely limited to the
The analysis of two consecutive 5-Year development plans allowed discursive level, with the inclusion of gender considerations in national
to compare how gender issues were examined and addressed at two policy, but was generally absent from the translation of discourse into
different points in time, and to identify certain discursive patterns. graspable policy instruments.
Within each district, the discourse analysis revealed little change in the A similar situation was found when analyzing district and sub-
way gender was incorporated and addressed. For example, the Luwero county budgets. Under the ‘key achievements’ that sub-national budgets
and Rakai DDPs presented a section where the strategies to address highlighted, we found no mention of gender. This contrast with the
gender inequalities in the district were listed. For both districts, the central role given to gender issues in the objectives of the district and
proposed gender actions were exactly the same in the 2010/11–2014/ sub-county development plans indicates again a norm translation ex-
15 and the 2015/16–2019/20 plans. Similarly, in Nwoya the ‘proposed ercise that largely stopped at the discursive level. Similarly, in the
strategies to overcome gender disparities’ were identical in the two agricultural sector (production department), no gender activities were
consecutive DDPs. Furthermore, the two consecutive DDPs in Rakai reflected in the district budgets for the different financial years ana-
highlighted the same gender issues and proposed activities in the pro- lyzed, nor were there any gender-disaggregated data for the sectoral
ductive sector, using exactly the same wording. As we found in the case achievements that were highlighted in the budget.
of the districts, the ‘situation analysis of gender’ and the ‘gender prio- On average, for the five consecutive financial years analyzed (2010/
rities and objectives’ in the sub-county development plans were often 11 to 2014/15), the districts allocated between 0% and 0.06% of the
“copy-pasted”, either from one development plan to the other, or from total budget to gender issues. Gender activities that received funding
the district to the sub-county plans. Evidence of this practice was found were labelled under three different categories: ‘workshops and semi-
in ten out of the twelve sub-counties analyzed for this article. nars’, ‘women's councils’ and ‘gender’. Sub-counties allocated between
Perhaps even more revealing were instances in which the reported 0% to 1.208% of their budgets to gender issues, and the most common
gender achievements, which normally reflect progress in addressing activities budgeted were labelled as: ‘women’, ‘gender’, ‘international
gender inequalities identified in the preceding development plan, were women's day’, ‘gender workshops’, and ‘women's affairs’.
also copy-pasted. In Kamira sub-county, both development plans also The amounts allocated to gender within the sub-national budgets
reproduced word by word their ‘Gender, Equity and Equality remained limited, likely constraining the outreach of the activities. For
Achievements’ from the previous plan as: (1) gender awareness training example, in the Financial Year 2013/2014 the Luwero District allocated
(2) having specific programmes targeting women, training of women in 883,600 Ugandan shillings (Ugx), the equivalent of USD235,3 to
chicken rearing skills among others, and (3) NGOs support gender. ‘workshops and seminars’, which theoretically had to be able to cover
Similarly, in Makulubita sub-county, identical issues were reported as these activities for a population of 458,158 people (according to the
gender achievements as in the implementation of the previous year's August 2014 census). Similarly, several sub-counties reported an an-
development plan: (1) Each parish received goats (women groups), nual gender budget of just 200,000Ugx, the equivalent of USD53 (e.g.
coffee, maize, beans; (2) funded Women's Day celebrations; (3) gender Zirobwe FY 2011/12; Alero FY 2014/14, Busoba and Namanyonyi FY
training workshop for technical staff and councilors. Also in Luwero 2014/15), with other sub-counties not having any budget for gender
District the section ‘Achievements in Gender Mainstreaming’ in 2010/ activities in some of the financial years (e.g. Kamira FY2014/15, Zir-
11–2014/15 and 2015/16–2019/20 plans was reported in an identical obwe FY2012/13, Anaka FY 2013/14, Alero FY2014/2015).
fashion. Finally, in the Lwanda development plan of 2015/16–2019/20, Outside of the established budgets for gender, sub-counties also
the section ‘Gender in relation to agriculture’ reported as their own an managed the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Program (UWEP), a na-
analysis from another sub-county, signaling that the analysis was copy- tional initiative of the Government of Uganda that aimed at improving
pasted from elsewhere, but failed to change the name of the sub-county: women's access to financial services, providing skills for enterprise
‘The main economic activity in Byakabanda sub-county is farming and it is growth, value addition and marketing. Groups of women of 10 to 15
mostly women that are engaged in …’. people were provided a loan to start and finance their operations. The
This stale reproduction of set pieces of text and measures in gender average loan per group was 4,000,000 Ugandan Shillings, the equiva-
planning and reporting at sub-national level points to significant levels lent of around USD1064 (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2017).
of inertia in thinking and practice around gender mainstreaming issues. Though the program was not exclusively designed for the agricultural
Furthermore, the static translation of gender norms into district and sector, the rural nature of most districts in Uganda meant that in the
sub-county plans also hints to a practice of including gender issues financial year 2016/2017, 77% of all UWEP groups were related to
merely as part of a bureaucratic requirement in order to comply with agriculture or wholesale and retail trade (Equal Opportunities
international gender norms and budgeting requirements. Commission, 2017). However, this program encountered several diffi-
culties. While it had a national reach, only 56.6% of the total allocation
4.2.5. Minimizing budgets of funds were realized in the FY 2016/2017 and 44 districts (out of 121)
The analysis of budgets at national and sub-national level revealed a had not been allocated any funds (Equal Opportunities Commission,
limited translation of gender mainstreaming into policy instruments. 2017). This practically meant that the group of beneficiaries had to be
For example, while the national agricultural sector budget for the fi- greatly reduced. Indeed, in the sub-counties considered in the study, the
nancial year 2017/2018 highlighted the importance of promoting number of financed women's group ranged from 1 to 4, implying that a
labor-saving technologies for women, increasing women's access to maximum of 60 women in any given sub-county were able to benefit
agricultural finance, and women's engagement in agro-processing; the from the program. Furthermore, within the funds that were officially
budget did not contain any gender-sensitive performance indicators and released by the central government, serious cases of corruption in dis-
outputs (The Republic of Uganda, 2017). A similar situation was found trict and sub-counties across the country were reported (New Vision,
in the Operation Wealth Creation Program (OWC), the main program 2017a, 2017b).
for farm input delivery and agricultural extension services in the The broad denotation of the items that were listed in sub-national
country. The program guidelines emphasized inclusion, gender equity level budgets (‘women’, ‘gender’, ‘women's affairs’) and the restricted
and non-discrimination in the delivery of inputs and services. However, resources that were allocated to them indicate that – similar to what we
the annual review report of the Equal Opportunities Commission (Equal found at national level – the translation of gender mainstreaming norms
Opportunities Commission, 2016) found that the OWC had no firm
arrangements to ensure gender equity in receiving inputs, with records
of beneficiaries remaining as ‘number of people benefited’ without 3
1USD =3758,75Ugx Exchange rate for 31st August 2018. Source: Bank of
further disaggregation by gender. This hints to an exercise of norm Uganda.

15
M. Acosta, et al. Women's Studies International Forum 74 (2019) 9–19

largely stopped at the level of the policy discourse and did not translate literature (Arora-Jonsson, 2014; Collins, 2018; Miers, 2011;
to the same extent to government policy instruments. Furthermore, the Samarasinghe, 2014). Finally, the abstract nature of budget items
ambition of national gender initiatives such as the UWEP program was coupled with the restricting budget allocations to gender issues re-
not fully realized at local level, with < 1% of the women in the districts vealed that the translation of the gender norm largely stopped at the
being able to benefit due to insufficient funds, delay in releasing the discursive level and did not extend to meaningful policy instruments.
available funds and corruption (New Vision, 2017a, 2017b). It is worth Colebatch (2014) and Bacchi (2009) assert that indeed government
nothing, however, that this study did not assess non-governmental work budgets may reveal specific choices of problem-solving strategies and
on gender, such as NGOs and development partners, which may have the relative importance given to them. From this, the abstract nature of
complemented the sub-national budgets allocated to gender issues. the gender activities budgeted at the sub-national level points to a clear
disjunction between gender discourse and action. Together, these five
5. Discussion processes illuminate how the transformative ambitions of gender
mainstreaming norms are diluted during the process of domestication.
This study has adopted a discourse analytical perspective (Feindt & In this way, our discursive approach to norm translation has spe-
Oels, 2005; Wagenaar, 2011) on gender policy and budgeting, with a cified some of the processes through which gender norms are translated
focus on the notion of norm translation (Barnett & Finnemore, 2004; in a way that simultaneously resonates with international discourses
Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998; Krook & True, 2012; Zimmermann, 2014). and permits adjustment to domestic norms and logics, which was a
Our data show that the national and sub-national governments trans- phenomenon commonly highlighted in the gender in development lit-
lated the international norms of gender mainstreaming into all policy erature (Barnett, 2018; Petersen, 2018; Smyth, 2010). While from our
documents that we analyzed, thereby seemingly complying with the findings we cannot infer causation, Finnemore and Sikkink (1998) have
treaty obligations of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. However, explained this phenomenon by the fact that international gender norms
this study revealed five processes that collectively contributed to have often clashed with strongly held domestic norms, and thus gov-
weakening the potential for transformation of this internationally re- ernments had no apparent interest in the adoption of such norms. The
cognized norm. fact that policies have incorporated a ‘gendered’ language might reflect
First, neglecting gender and climate change discourses at sub-na- a state interest in engaging in international discourses, either to gain
tional level policies, notably in sub-county plans, suggested a certain international credibility and reputation (Krook & True, 2012;
level of disconnect between national and sub-national policy, where Ssewakiryanga, 2002) or to comply with donor's normative requisites
localized systems of governance left climate change and gender issues (Collins, 2018; Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998; Miers, 2011; Samarasinghe,
unproblematized and thus unpoliticized. Neglecting specific aspects of 2014), or both. Finnemore and Sikkink have further referred to this as
the discourse – a common discursive mechanism of control in policy- processes of ‘strategic social construction’ in which ‘actors strategize
making (Schröter & Taylor, 2018) – are important to consider and can rationally to reconfigure preferences, identities or social context’
help us to understand why and what gets excluded in gender policy (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998, p. 888). This strategic social construction
exchanges (Smyth, 2010). Second, cases of discursive hybridity allowed resonates with other literatures, including Scott (1985) on everyday
us to examine how policies that seemingly embraced a gender main- forms of resistance, the work of Li (2016) on the dynamics established
streaming discourse, simultaneously perpetuated gender stereotypes, between actors in development projects, and the work of Tsing (2005)
not challenging pre-existing unequal gender relations and, conse- on friction.
quently, dampening the gender equality ambition of gender main- Our findings differ from the idea proposed by Finnemore and
streaming strategies. These cases of adoption of a hybrid discourse are Sikkink (1998, p. 893) which asserted that domestic influences over
enabled by the generic terms in which the gender mainstreaming norm international norms are strongest at early stages, but that they ‘lessen
was crafted, which has allowed governments and development orga- significantly once a norm has become institutionalized in the domestic
nizations to engage with gender mainstreaming discourse while at the system’. In the case of Uganda, while the influence of international
same time maintaining the incumbent local social order (Krook & True, gender mainstreaming discourse was clear, processes of norm transla-
2012; Lombardo et al., 2009). For example, Nandigama (2012) shows tion showed that local norms and patriarchal settings were still very
how a gender-equal participatory mechanism in India promoted powerful. This finding is consistent with research showing that informal
through a development program, was perceived, contextualized, and local gender norms can affect the performance of success of gender
adapted, and used in different terms by men and women in the com- mainstreaming strategies and development programs (see for example
munity. Unequal distributions of power and agency between men and Fejerskov, 2018 and Nandigama, 2012, 2018). In the case presented
women, and between castes, restricted a gender-equal participation here, the observation that documents incorporated a ‘gendered’ lan-
which was ultimately perceived to alter the local social order guage, but the discourse remained at a prescriptive and abstract level,
(Nandigama, 2012). could be attributed to the influence of local norms. Through the five
Third, cases of shrinking norms revealed that while gender inequality identified mechanisms, the translation processes - either unin-
was discussed as a legitimate object of governance, at no level of ad- tentionally or intentionally - enacted, naturalized or favored certain
ministration was this language ever sufficiently elaborated. This was realities over others. This created the overall performative effect (Arts &
especially notable in policy prescriptions, often given as bullet points, Babili, 2012; Nandigama, 2012, 2018) of limiting the transformational
presented without any envisioned pathway for change. This ‘shopping potential of the proposed gender actions, and ultimately depoliticizing
list’ approach to gender is not unique to Uganda but has also been gender (Jalušič, 2009; Manicom, 2001; Smyth, 2010).
observed in a study examining gender equality policies of the
Netherlands and Spain (Lombardo & Meier, 2009). The simplification of 6. Concluding remarks
discourse in processes of norm translation between different contexts,
as Fischer (2003, p. 155) reminds us, often imply a ‘reduction of Although gender mainstreaming has been globally accepted as an
complexity and loss of information’. Fourth, pervasive cases of gender international norm to achieve gender equality, the strategy to establish
inertia – stale reproduction of text in the gender analysis from devel- an international norm that is then translated into local contexts has not
opment plans at sub-national level – hints towards acts of purely yet succeeded in reducing the gender inequalities as envisioned (Alston,
symbolic politics in the mainstreaming of gender in sub-national policy 2014; Brouwers, 2013; van Eerdewijk, 2016; Walby, 2005). Previous
as a compliance to bureaucratic requirement. The institutional en- research has suggested that existing gender inequalities are partly re-
gagement with gender mainstreaming as part of everyday bureaucracy, produced in translation processes of international norms into national
or as symbolic politics, is also widely reported in the development and sub-national policies, where implementation mostly takes place

16
M. Acosta, et al. Women's Studies International Forum 74 (2019) 9–19

(Allwood, 2013; Krook & True, 2012). Through an in-depth inductive assess what kind of locally-crafted strategies could help gender main-
analysis of policy documents in Uganda, this study found that, while the streaming strategies thrive (i.e. success factors) and support the re-
international norm of gender mainstreaming had been formally newed politicization of gender issues. Finally, considering that non-
adopted, its transformational potential was reduced through five dis- government organizations often receive funds from donor organizations
tinct processes during norm translation. and thus need to guide their gender work in accordance with interna-
In particular, during the process of drafting national and sub-na- tional standards and expectations (Ssewakiryanga, 2002; Tortajada,
tional documents, certain gender discourses were either overlooked or 2016), they are consequently active actors in international norm
completely ignored (neglecting gender and climate change discourse), translation and domestication processes at the local level and might
gender discourses at sub-national level remained static (gender inertia), also contribute to processes of either re-politicization or de-politiciza-
prescriptions remained at a very generic level (shrinking gender norms), tion of gender issues (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998; True & Mintrom,
and gender mainstreaming exercises co-existed with certain contra- 2001; Zwingel, 2005). Further research would therefore benefit from
dictory normative cultural understandings (embracing discursive hy- examining the interactions of these organizations with national and
bridity). Finally, the lack of relevant budgets indicated that gender sub-national governments to obtain a more complete picture of pro-
mainstreaming largely stopped at the discursive level and did not ex- cesses of gender norm translation on the ground. This, in turn could
tend to meaningful policy instruments (minimizing budgets). Taken to- help identifying possible entry points and strategies to move towards
gether, these five processes greatly reduced the potential for transfor- more effective strategies to address gender issues.
mation of the international norm on gender mainstreaming. The
transformational potential of international norms on gender main- Acknowledgments
streaming should however not be taken as given, nor should be stipu-
lated as the only or most obvious source of transformational change in This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program
gender relations. In this sense, due importance should be also placed to on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is
examining the influence of local norms and situated practices of actors carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bi-
in the performance of success of gender mainstreaming strategies lateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.
(Nandigama, 2012, 2018). org/donors. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to
Examining acts of norm translation from a discursive perspective reflect the official opinions of these organizations.
opened up the possibility of understanding norms as processes (Krook &
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