The Gender and Development (GAD) approach is a way of determining how best to structure development projects and programs based on analysis of gender relationships. It was developed in the 1980s as an alternative to the Women in Development (WID) approach that was in common use until then.[1]
Theory
Unlike WID, the GAD approach is not concerned specifically with women, but with the way in which a society assigns roles, responsibilities and expectations to both women and men. GAD applies gender analysis to uncover the ways in which men and women work together, presenting results in neutral terms of economics and efficiency.[1]
Caroline Moser developed the Moser Framework for gender analysis in the 1980s while working at the Development Planning Unit of the University of London. Working with Caren Levy, she expanded it into a methodology for gender policy and planning.[2] The Moser framework follows the Gender and Development approach in emphasizing the importance of gender relations. As with the WID-based Harvard Analytical Framework, it includes collection of quantitative empirical facts. Going further, it investigates the reasons and processes that lead to conventions of access and control. The Moser Framework includes gender roles identification, gender needs assessment, disaggregating control of resources and decision making withn the household, planning for balancing the triple role, distinguishing between different aims in interventions and involving women and gender-aware organizations in planning.[3]
Usage
The World Bank was one of the first international organizations to recognise the need for Women in Development, appointing a WID Adviser in 1977. In 1984 the bank mandated that its programs consider women's issues. In 1994 the bank issued a policy paper on Gender and Development, reflecting current thinking on the subject. This policy aims to address policy and institutional contraints that maintain disparities between the genders and thus limit the effectiveness of development programs.[4]
Criticism
GAD has been criticized for emphasizing the social differences between men and women while neglecting the bonds between them and also the potential for changes in roles. Another criticism is that GAD does not dig deep enough into social relations and so may not explain how these relations can undermine programs directed at women. It also does not uncover the types of trade-off that women are prepared to make for the sake of achieving their ideals of marriage or motherhood.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Shifting views...
- ^ March, Smyth & Mukhopadhyay 1999, pp. 55.
- ^ Van Marle 2006, pp. 126.
- ^ World Bank 2010.
Sources
- March, Candida; Smyth, Inés A.; Mukhopadhyay, Maitrayee (1999). A guide to gender-analysis frameworks. Oxfam. ISBN 0855984031.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - "Shifting views of women and development". Africa Recovery. 11. United Nations. April 1998. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- Van Marle, Karin (2006). Sex, gender, becoming: post-apartheid reflections. PULP. ISBN 0958509751.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - World Bank. Independent Evaluation Group (2010). Gender and development: an evaluation of World Bank support, 2002-08. World Bank Publications. ISBN 0821383256.
Further reading
- Janet Henshall Momsen (2009). Gender and Development. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0415775620.
- Lise Østergaard (1992). Gender and development: a practical guide. Routledge. ISBN 0415071321.
- Raana Haider (1996). Gender and development. American University in Cairo Press.