Gender mainstreaming

Gender mainstreaming
WHAT IS GENDER MAINSTREAMING?
The United Nations defines

mainstreaming as applying
• ‘a gender perspective in all policies and
programmes so that, before decisions are
taken, an analysis is made of the effects
on women and men, respectively’
• The implication of this definition is that

gender equality cannot be achieved
without considering the gendered
consequences of all policies, global and
local.
Gender Mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming conceptualizes

change in processes as a critical step towards
changes in outcomes.
For instance, changes in the activities of an

organization – its projects, programmes and
policies – should ultimately lead to improvements
in the situation of the subjects of policy
intervention, that is, in women’s material lives.
Emergence of the concept
Mainstreaming emerged as a concept first in the politics of

global development in the 1980s.
Feminist advocates challenged the women in international

development (WID) paradigm developed and institutionalized
in the 1970s during the UN Decade for Women and subsequent
UN world conferences on women
Critics argued that the WID approach focused on what

development could get from women rather than on women’s
needs or how development policies should be altered to advance
gender equality
The concept of ‘gender mainstreaming’ represented a further

development – and more institutionally palatable version – of
gender and development (GAD) paradigm that emerged in the late
1980s
The Beijing Platform for Action ratified by all state parties present
at the 1995 Fourth UN World Conference on Women advocated a
new policy-making approach that involves working to ‘promote a
gender perspective in all legislation and policies
The Beijing Platform for Action consolidated the shift to gender

mainstreaming as a global gender equality strategy
Consequently during the 1990s the remit of many existing

international and national agencies was expanded to include
gender mainstreaming, replacing or supplementing their
earlier focus on women’s issues and gender equality policy
Gender mainstreaming in international institutions such as

the United Nations and its agencies, the World Bank, the
International Labour Organization, the International
Criminal Court, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) and the European Union signalled the spread of
gender analysis
Approaches to Gender Mainstreaming
• Some feminist scholars

approach mainstreaming from
an institutional perspective
There are
different ways to
study gender • Other feminist scholars
mainstreaming in approach mainstreaming from
international a discursive perspective
institutions.
• These approaches institutional
and discursive are
complementary
Approaches to Gender Mainstreaming
Beveridge and
Scott (2002) also
disaggregate gender technocratic participatory.
mainstreaming into
two types of
approaches
Women’s and feminist movements and Gender
Mainstreaming
Women’s movements and transnational networks of feminist advocates

have actively and visibly sought to mainstream gender issues in international
institutions.
Both discursive and institutionalist feminist approaches are

concerned with the voice and participation of women, women’s and
feminist movements in gender mainstreaming.
In the cases of the UNSC and APEC high level gender mainstreaming
mandates were adopted as a result of pressure from women’s movements:
UNSC Resolution 1325 giving women the right to participate in peace and
conflict decision-making and the APEC Framework for the Integration of
Women respectively
Mainstreaming
From an institutionalist perspective, feminist engagement is a

crucial factor in the success of the gender mainstreaming
strategy.
Both the UNSC and APEC have benefited from transnational

advocacy networks established to monitor the implementation
of 1325 and the APEC Framework that stresses the rights of
women to participate in trade policymaking as well the need for
gender analysis of trade policy at global and national levels.
Mainstreaming
In some international institutions, such as the European Union and

the World Bank, gender mainstreaming has conformed to a
technocratic model where bureaucrats are the main actors
relatively disconnected from women’s activism in civil society
Gender mainstreaming at the international level has also

involved significant feminist engagement as in the cases of
UNSC 1325 and APEC.
Women and men’s participation and advocacy is critical to

the success of gender mainstreaming at the global level.

Gender mainstreaming

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Gender mainstreaming

WHAT IS GENDER MAINSTREAMING?

The United Nations defines

• The implication of this definition is that

Gender mainstreaming conceptualizes

For instance, changes in the activities of an

Mainstreaming emerged as a concept first in the politics of

Feminist advocates challenged the women in international

Critics argued that the WID approach focused on what

The concept of ‘gender mainstreaming’ represented a further

The Beijing Platform for Action consolidated the shift to gender

Consequently during the 1990s the remit of many existing

Gender mainstreaming in international institutions such as

• Some feminist scholars

Women’s movements and transnational networks of feminist advocates

Both discursive and institutionalist feminist approaches are

From an institutionalist perspective, feminist engagement is a

Both the UNSC and APEC have benefited from transnational

In some international institutions, such as the European Union and

Gender mainstreaming at the international level has also

Women and men’s participation and advocacy is critical to

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