Part IV: gender analysis and strategy at the design stage As has emerged clearly from the above considerations, one of the main reasons for the limited ability of projects to reach women adequately in all project activities is the lack of a clear gender strategy based on an appropriate gender analysis. Indeed, in all the projects reviewed, there is scarcely any evidence in the OE reports of any thorough gender analysis during project appraisal and design9. One noteworthy exception is the SRDP Ghana project, in which, following the mid-term review, a needs assessment was carried out that formed the basis for a gender and development strategy during the project’s remaining lifespan. The LACOSREP Ghana evaluation report states that the project’s “design is consistent with the role of women in the Upper-East Region farming system” and then gives a long list of activities envisaged by the project in favour of women, after having analysed the constraints. Apart from these two limited attempts, gender analysis is lacking, even in the most recently designed projects such as the Mauritania Oasis project or in Burkina Faso. This omission is particularly serious given that eight project designs among the 13 reviewed claimed that their priority target was women or that women would be given “special attention”. A closer examination reveals, however, that very few activities were actually designed to reach this objective adequately. Almost all projects, for example, omitted a plan for a monitoring system employing gender-disaggregated performance and impact indicators. This made it very difficult, if not impossible, effectively to gauge the extent to which women were being given special attention. As we have seen above, most projects were particularly keen to focus on increasing women’s economic status. However, they lacked a comprehensive gender strategy. As the Mauritania Country Portfolio Evaluation points out with reference to IFAD projects in Mauritania, “there have been few efforts, if any, to make women part of the development process by formulating appropriate strategies. The only efforts made to specifically target women were those aimed at identifying and strengthening activities in typical female sectors, such as basket work and textile manufacturing”10 . A closer look at the gender strategies that emerge from the OE documents shows that most projects have specifically emphasized improvements in the economic status of poorer women, mainly through the provision of credit to carry out IGAs; in fact, about half of the projects set specific targets in terms of loan proportions for women. As for ensuring gender equitable participation in planned activities, this was limited to the introduction of measures to decrease women’s workloads and measures to take women staff on board or train staff on gender issues. No projects outlined a strategy aimed at increasing women’s positions in decision-making bodies. The projects implemented in the Western and Central Africa region over the past ten years, as described in the evaluations carried out by OE, have made a number of advances in terms of gender equity. Their most important contribution has been the improvement in women’s economic status and, consequently, in the level of women’s income and well-being. This has led to a growing sense of self-esteem and empowerment vis-à-vis the women’s families and communities. A number of innovative approaches in the effort to increase women’s access to knowledge must be highlighted, as well as efforts to diversify women’s activities in non-traditional spheres and thereby foster a change in the traditional roles of women. In spite of these advances, the general impression that emerges is that an overall gender vision is missing behind the projects. Few, if any, efforts have been undertaken to implement comprehensive gender mainstreaming in the projects. As the 2002 External Review makes clear, gender mainstreaming is still often seen by IFAD as “the active involvement of women in various IGAs”11. While there is no denying that the enhancement of women’s economic status is an important launching pad to the greater empowerment of women and to greater gender equity, it is also patent that this attention to gender aspects must be expanded to other project features, in particular, perhaps, those linked to decision-making, where women are still almost totally and certainly unjustly absent. One final remark on the issue of targeting. Given IFAD’s mandate, it is imperative to avoid considering “women” as a monolithic category and to understand through a thorough needs assessment which women would benefit from project activities and which are the constraints and needs of the poorest women. 9/ It is important to note that an analysis of Appraisal Reports and other design documents was beyond the scope of this study. All reference to design is therefore based on the evaluation reports reviewed, which may account for some inaccuracies. 10/ Mauritania Country Portfolio Evaluation, 1998, page 93. 11/ External Review of the Results and Impact of IFAD Operations, June 2002, page 8. |
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