Basic Concepts of Gender

March,2019
 Basic Concepts of Gender

 Gender Mainstreaming

 Why Gender a Development issues

 Legal Provisions for Gender Equality

 Features of women in Ethiopia
 Why Gender in Urban development
What is our Understanding
towards
Sex and Gender?
Sex:-
 Refers to the biological and physiological
attributes that identify between men and
women.
 Sex is determined at birth.

Example
◦ The ability to produce sperm
◦ The ability to produce egg
◦ Capability or incapability of giving breast
feeding
◦ Women give birth men cannot
◦ Men have beards, Women do not
Gender:-

 Refers to the social construction of the

biological differences between men
women

 Is learned, socially determined roles ,

behaviors responsibilities and
expectations by women and men
themselves in a given society or location.
 Because of socially ascribed facts , women
and men , boys and girls are legitimized with
differences in their

 Roles
 Values
 Behaviors
 Expectations
 Access to & control over
 Power relations
Gender roles are reinforced by various
social institutions:
 The family
 The school
 Religious institution
 Workplace
 Sex Gender

Biological Cultural

Physical Socialization

Got by birth Perception

Universal /Fixed
Vary place to place

Not changeable Can be changed/Over time

 GENDER
Is
Therefore!
NOT
Another term for
WOMAN
Gender division of labor:
 The roles, responsibility and activities assigned to women and
Men Based on gender and sex can be classified as:
Productive activities
Related to production or creation of goods and services with
market.
Reproductive activities
Domestic activities are known as reproductive tasks. These
activities are considered to be mainly the responsibilities of
women
 Community activities
Social and cultural event
Gender Division of Labor

November 30, 2021 11

Reproductive & Productive Role of women
Practical Gender Needs Strategic Gender Needs
These are needs relate to living These are need to improve the
conditions. position or status to equalize
Tend to be immediate and gender relations
short-term Tend to be long-term

Easily identified by individuals Are not easily identified by

Will not change subordinate women.

position of women. Relate to women's subordinate

Relate to the conditions of daily life- position in society, lack of

food, housing, income, health care, resources and education
welfare benefits, etc. vulnerability to poverty and
They are unique to particular violence.
Common to almost all
women
women
Gender Blind
 Is the inability to recognize that gender is a

key determinant of one’s life choice and

situations or level of development in given
societies
Gender Bias/Discrimination
 This is any form of discrimination directed

towards a given sex usually based on a

socio-cultural background.
 This is when benefits and attitudes distort

equality between men and women.

 Gender Awareness / Sensitivity
 Refers to the ability to identify problems arising from gender

inequality and discrimination,

Gender Responsive
 This is action focused, that is carrying out activities that

incorporate full representation and participation of both sexes.

Gender stereotype
 Are society's perceptions and value systems that introduce an

image of women men

Group Exercise

Who is Who?
Why Gender is a Development
Issue?

November 30, 2021 17

What does Development mean?
It is a progressive change which improves
the social , economic and political life of
country by enhancing and promoting the
educational, health, employment, social and
political status of its people.

The ultimate objective of development

 To bring about a sustained improvement in

the well being of the individual and benefit

all.
Why Gender a development Issue ???
Ignoring half of the population in development does
not bring effective and efficient development

Gender inequality is both major cause of poverty

and constraint to sustainable development, and
ultimately harming all members of society

Understanding gender relations is essential to

improving rural livelihoods and agriculture production.

 Economic growth is more effective in societies that

have higher level of gender equality

November 30, 2021 19

Why Gender in Development….
Women and men experience life differently
Have different needs and priorities
Are affected differently by policies and
development interventions
Are victims of all types of violence
 Have lower literacy rate than men
Equality between women and men is just, fair,
and right

November 30, 2021 20

 International& National Legal
and Policy Frameworks
and
Institutional Arrangements
Ratification of international declarations
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR, 1948)
The Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(BDPFA) (12 critical areas)
Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
 Constitutional provisions (such as 9,25,35,42)
 Different Proclamation has special provisions
addressing the issue of women
For example,

 The Proclamation Number 691/2010 of Power of

Executive Organ of the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia give mandate to all sector ministries,
government agency and government development
enterprise to integrate gender issues according to
their power and duties.
 Labor Proclamation Number 377/2003
National Women’s Policy
 The national policy on women formulated in
1993, aimed to create appropriate
structures within government offices and
institutions to establish equitable and
gender-sensitive public policies.
 Social Welfare Policy (1996),

 The Education and Training Policy (1994),

 National machineries (Federal to Kebele
levels)
 Women and youth focused policies
 Ethiopian women Development and Change
package
 Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP,I &II)
 The Health Policy (1993),
 The Agricultural Development Led
Industrialization Strategy (2001)),
 Other sectorial policies
 Process of assessing the implications for women
and men of any planned action
 Legislation, policies or programs,
 It is a strategy for making the concerns and
experiences of M as well as of W an integral part
 Women and men benefit equally, and inequality

is not perpetuated.
Gender Mainstreaming….
Gender Mainstreaming is not an end by itself but it is a

strategy, an approach, and a means to achieve the goal of

gender equality.

Gender Mainstreaming cannot takes place in an

organization, which is closed , inflexible & does not value
people.

Becauseit demands, caring, flexible & empowering

environment.
Level of Gender Mainstreaming
GM at policy level
GM at organizational level
GM at program/project level
GM at Activity level
Planning
Implementation
Monitoring & Evaluation
 The “Musts” for Gender Mainstreaming

Organizational
Technical
Culture
Capacity

Accountability

Political
Will

11/30/21 31
 Therefore,
Gender Mainstreaming
is
 an Approach or Strategy

to
Ensure Gender Equality
 More than half of the country population are women
 Ethiopian women are primarily responsible for domestic tasks
 Women are severely time-constrained, having to work longer
hours than men.
 They lacks access to information, educations , infrastructures
health services , ownership of asset/resources due to inherent
social and structural constraints and less social and economic
opportunities. etc..
 Urban poverty, environmental health, informality, crime, HTP and
other ills are major problems, with the effects being particularly
pronounced for disadvantaged groups, especially women.
Women being key contributors to the
economic vibrancy of cities. As cities offer
significant opportunities for economic
growth, service delivery, and social mobility,

 If urban development managed in the right

way, the benefits of sustainable urbanization
can be harnessed to empower women and
increase livability in cities.
 The majority of women lack education and
skills and have to take jobs with low salaries.

 Women play a major role in building,

maintaining and providing a safe, clean
environment in human settlements.

 The poor often live far from sources of

employment and have limited access to
public transport.
 Urban violence against women is closely
linked to issues of housing and shelter.

 Women often remain in abusive relationships

as they have limited rights to land or property
except through their husband.

 Marriage provides shelter and protection

from outside violence for women living in
urban slums, even though they may face
domestic violence.
 Lack of recognizing the differences between
women’s and men’s needs and priorities in
urban development,

 Women’s priorities are rarely taken into account

in urban policy, settlement planning, or the
design of urban programs.
 Prerequisite for Gender Mainstreaming to
Institutionalize Gender within Urban
Development
The need for strong Leadership

 Policies, Strategies, Action Plans

 Regulations & Procedures
 Skilled and Motivated staff
 Functional ST & TC
 Environment for Equal Opportunities
The need for strong Leadership
Senior Management understands the importance of gender
equality to the development process;
 Demonstrates strong commitment to achieving gender
equality in organization’s work;
Expects & takes responsibility for gender equality
achievements & failures;
Ensures that adequate resources are allocated to achieve
gender equality goals;
Integrates gender equality issues into speeches and
statements on a range of subjects;
 Policy documents in developing organizational
action plans for the advancement of women

 Organizational priorities, strategies and plans

are based on an analysis of gender equality
issues and include strategies to reduce
gender disparities;
 Action plans clearly outline exactly how
gender equality issues will be addressed, what
resources are required, who is responsible,
 how and when progress will be monitored, and

results and impact evaluated.

 Procedures, regulations, directives that
inform & direct routine work.

 Regulations that automatically &

systematically takes account of & addresses
men’s & women’s interests, needs and
priorities in all aspects of policy, program and
project design, resource-allocation,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation
 Ensure that all staff are automatically and
systematically made aware of the importance
of gender equality to the urban development
goals,
 Staff take responsibility to address gender

equality in their daily work;

 Tools and knowledge for gender analysis and

planning are built into the ULGs staff

development and learning plan;
 Concrete encouragement and incentives exist

to foster motivation towards gender-

responsive work practices.
 “IF DEVELOPMENT
IS NOT
ENGENDERED,
IT IS IN DANGER”

Kofi Annan, ex- UN General Sect.

Thank You for Your Attention
…..
Hope you will be Gender
Responsive