Women in decision-making: meeting challenges, creating change

	''Women's equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy, but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women's interest to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development, and peace cannot be achieved.'' Beijing Platform for Action, 1995

International Women's Day has been celebrated for more than 90 years. In 1977, the United Nations began sponsoring March 8 as an occasion to promote and protect the equal rights of women. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established in 1946 to prepare recommendations and reports on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. For the last 60 years the UN has helped create a multitude of programmes and strategies to advance the status of women worldwide. 

Today, International Women's Day is an occasion to recognize how far women have come in their struggle for equality - and how much work remains to be done. This year's theme is “Women in decision-making: meeting challenges, creating change.” While progress is being made towards the equality of women and men in decision-making at all levels, the pace remains slow. Women continue to be under-represented at all levels of decision-making and their achievements all too often remain invisible and unacknowledged, their voices unheard. More needs to be done to accelerate the inclusion of women in formal decision-making bodies, and to increase their impact in decision-making.

Women around the world are meeting the challenges of leadership, and contributing to change in their communities, countries and in the international arena in very real ways. But even in developed countries, despite educational advances for women in many parts of the world, women's participation in high-level political and economic decision-making remains low.

Women and rural poverty

Rural poverty is deeply rooted in the imbalance between what women do and what they have. In many poor countries, women do most of the farm work - planting, weeding and harvesting crops, as well as tending livestock. They also spend long hours fetching water, collecting firewood, preparing meals and caring for children and sick relatives, making their typical day much longer than a man's.

Yet, poor rural women have less access than men to the assets they need to improve their lives. Women are often not able to own or inherit land and they are less likely to get an education. They have more limited access to credit, markets and technology and have fewer legal rights than men.

Strengthening women's decision-making

Building women's capabilities and addressing gender inequalities are crucial factors in enabling them to transform their lives and the lives of their families and communities. Poor women need to be able to influence the public and private decisions that affect their lives, if change is to be sustainable. 

Women must be empowered to lead the fight against poverty and hunger. In its projects and programmes IFAD combines gender mainstreaming with specific measures for women's empowerment.  This means taking into account gender roles and relationships and ensuring that men and women participate equally in, and benefit from, development initiatives. Because IFAD specifically targets women, their involvement in project activities is required.

Women's economic empowerment changes cultural perceptions of gender roles and relations. For poor rural women, ownership of land often means gaining status and respect. Increased status and confidence lead to increased participation by women in community decision-making. In societies where women are valued, girls are sent to school; this is directly linked to social recognition of women's contribution to the household economy and household food security, and is made possible by, among other things, improved access to land.  IFAD has learned that when women play a significant role in economic and social activities, their role in household decision-making and participation in financial management decisions increases. Increasing the representation of women in national governments is only possible through increased women's representation at all levels, starting in the village.

Women and drylands

2006 is the International Year of Deserts and Desertification -  an opportunity to highlight the difficulties faced by women and men in areas affected by desertification. In many of the world's drylands, including much of Africa, it is traditionally women who devote most time and effort to the land. They process, manage and market food for their families and societies, and work directly with natural resources. Women's traditional roles related to natural resource management and food security are particularly crucial in areas subject to drought and desertification. But, despite their efforts and knowledge, women living in dry lands tend to rank among the poorest of the poor, with little power to bring about real change. With ownership and decision-making over land and livestock resting predominantly with men, women are often excluded from participation in land conservation and development projects, from agricultural extension work, and from the overall policy-making process.

Women as agents of change

IFAD-supported projects enable women to have a voice by facilitating their rights of association and expression and building awareness of their rights. Women's groups are successfully re-establishing soil and land productivity by blending indigenous and new technologies in IFAD supported projects. For example, women in Ethiopia have been provided with seeds, hand tools and technical support to develop vegetable gardens. In China, indigenous women were trained in organic farming, which helped reduce the need for costly fertilizer and helped restore soil productivity. Women's workloads were reduced and their self esteem and social position improved due to their entrepreneurial success.

In its projects and programmes, IFAD combines gender mainstreaming with specific measures for women's empowerment. This means taking into account gender roles and relationships, and ensuring that men and women participate equally in, and benefit from, development initiatives. IFAD considers three dimensions in its work to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment:

• economic empowerment
• participation in decision-making
• improved well-being

IFAD considers women in general and women-headed households in particular to be the most disadvantaged groups among the rural poor, but it also recognizes that women can be agents of social change. In many countries women's groups also work as partner organizations, helping to combat the advance of desertification, reclaim lost croplands and restore trees and shrubs. IFAD attempts to help poor rural women become the driving force of their own development by strengthening their organizations, increasing their knowledge and enhancing their bargaining power in the marketplace. When the participation of women is assured in the conceptualization and planning measures of a project, it considerably enhances the chances of project's success.