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Gender mainstreaming mandated by the 1995 Beijing Platform for action integrates gender in all aspects of individuals lives in regards to policy development on gender equality.<ref>World Bank. An Evaluation of World Bank Support, 2002-08: Gender and Development. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2010. IEG Study Ser. Web.</ref> The World Bank's Gender Action Plan of 2007-10 is built upon the Bank's gender mainstreaming strategy for gender equality. The Gender Action Plan's objective was advance women's economic empowerment through their participation in land, labor, financial and product markets.<ref>World Bank. "Gender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank Group Gender Action Plan (Fiscal Years 2007-10)." IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc (2006): IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc, 2006. Web.</ref> In 2012, the [[World Development Report]] was the first report of the series examining Gender Equality and Development.<ref name="WB Gender"/> [[Florika Fink-Hooijer]], head of the [[European Commission]]'s [[Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations]] introduced cash-based aid as well as gender and age sensitive aid.<ref>Fink-Hooijer, Florika (2014-01-01). "7 The EU's Competence in the Field of Civil Protection (Article 196, Paragraph 1, a–c TFEU)". ''EU Management of Global Emergencies'': 137–145. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1163/9789004268333_009.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Boin|first=Arjen|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/854975218|title=The European Union as crisis manager : patterns and prospects|date=2013|others=Magnus Ekengren, Mark Rhinard|isbn=978-1-4619-3669-5|___location=Cambridge|oclc=854975218}}</ref>
An argument made on the functions behind institutional financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are that they support capitalist ideals through their means of economic growth of countries globally and their participation in the global economy and capitalist systems. The roles of banks as institutions and the creation of new workers’ economy reflect neoliberal developing ideals is also present in the criticisms on neoliberal developing institutions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pradella |first1=Lucia |last2=Marois |first2=Thomas |title=Polarizing Development: Alternatives to Neoliberalism and the Crisis |date=2014 |publisher=Pluto Press |isbn=978-0-7453-3470-7 }}{{
=== Gender and Outsourcing ===
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Another example is the Women's Development Business (WDB) in South Africa, a [[Grameen Bank]] microfinance replicator. According to WDB, the goal is to ensure “[…] that rural women are given the tools to free themselves from the chains of poverty […]” through allocation of financial resources directly to women including enterprise development programs.<ref name="WDB">{{cite web |url= http://wdb.co.za/about/#.UpUPR-KmZRc |title=WDB about page |year= 2013 |website=Women’s Development Business |publisher=WDB |access-date=28 November 2013}}</ref> The idea is to use microfinance as a market-oriented tool to ensure access to financial services for disadvantaged and low-income people and therefore fostering economic development through [[financial inclusion]].
Diving into another example regarding Microfinance and women from ''Women Entrepreneurship Promotion in Developing Countries: What explains the gender gap in entrepreneurship and how to close it?''is Vossenberg (2013) describes how although there has been an increase in entrepreneurship for women, the gender gap still persists. The author states “The gender gap is commonly defined as the difference between men and women in terms of numbers engaged in entrepreneurial activity, motives to start or run a business, industry choice and business performance and growth” (Vossenberg, 2). The article dives into how in Eastern Europe there is a low rate of women entrepreneurs. Although the author discusses how in Africa nearly fifty percent of women make up entrepreneurs.<ref>http://web2.msm.nl/RePEc/msm/wpaper/MSM-WP2013-08.pdf {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>
As a reaction, a current topic in the feminist literature on economic development is the ‘gendering’ of [[microfinance]], as women have increasingly become the target borrowers for rural [[microcredit]] lending. This, in turn, creates the assumption of a “rational economic woman” which can exacerbate existing social hierarchies<ref name="Rankin2001">{{cite journal |last=Rankin |first=Katharine N. |year=2001 |title= Governing Development: Neoliberalism, Microcredit, and Rational Economic Woman |url= http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan011685.pdf |journal= Economy and Society |volume=30 |pages=18–37 |access-date=2 November 2013 |doi=10.1080/03085140122912}}</ref>).
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From the mid-2000s, the approach of smart economics and its chief proponent –World Bank– met a wide range of criticisms and denouncements. These discontents can be broadly categorized into three major claims; Subordination of Intrinsic Value; Ignorance for the need of systemic transformation; Feminisation of responsibility; Overemphasized efficiency; and Opportunistic pragmatism. This is not exhaustive list of criticisms, but the list aims to highlight different emphasis among existing criticisms.
The World Bank's gender policy aims to eliminate poverty and enhance economic growth by addressing gender disparities and inequalities that hinders development. A critique{{by
Smart economics’ subordination of women under the justification of development invited fierce criticisms. Chant expresses her grave concern that “Smart economics is concerned with building women’s capacities in the interests of development rather than promoting women’s rights for their own sake.”<ref name="Chant and Sweetman (2012)"/> She disagrees that investment in women should be promoted by its instrumental utility: “it is imperative to ask whether the goal of female investment is primarily to promote gender equality and women’s ‘[[empowerment]]’, or to facilitate development ‘on the cheap’, and/or to promote further economic liberalization.”<ref name="Chant and Sweetman (2012)"/><ref name="Roberts 2012 949–968">{{cite journal|last=Roberts|first=Adrienne|author2=Soederberg, Susanne|title=Gender Equality as Smart Economics? A critique of the 2012 World Development Report|journal=Third World Quarterly|date=June 2012|volume=33|issue=5|pages=949–968|doi=10.1080/01436597.2012.677310|s2cid=153821844|url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/gender-equality-as-smart-economics-a-critique-of-the-2012-world-development-report(a61627a0-c30c-4b5c-a288-275cace3c695).html}}</ref> Although smart economics outlines that gender equality has intrinsic value (realizing gender equality is an end itself) and instrumental value (realizing gender equality is a means to a more efficient development),<ref name="World Bank"/> many points out that the Bank pays almost exclusive attentions to the latter in defining its framework and strategy. Zuckerman also echoed this point by stating “business case [which] ignores the moral imperative of empowering women to achieve women’s human rights and full equal rights with men.”<ref name="Roberts 2012 949–968"/> In short, Chant casts a doubt that if it is not “possible to promote rights through [[utilitarianism]].” <ref name="Chant and Sweetman (2012)"/>
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