Untitled Quiz

WID, WAD, and GAD Approaches to Gender Development

• WID (Women in Development) emerged in the 1970s. It focused on women's participation in development, emphasizing education and formal employment as key barriers.
• WID viewed women's productive work in isolation from their reproductive roles and responsibilities. Often overlooked unpaid care and household work.
• WAD (Women and Development) emerged in the 1980s, taking a broader perspective. It recognized the role of power relations in shaping women's lives.
• Emphasized women's empowerment by challenging gender norms and stereotypes.
• Recognized that women's productive work is often constrained by social and cultural norms.
• WAD aimed to integrate women's reproductive concerns into development planning.
• WAD viewed women as a homogenous group, sometimes overlooking diverse experiences.
• GAD (Gender and Development) emerged in the 1990s. It took an intersectional and transformative approach focusing on power dynamics between men and women.
• The approach recognized that gender relations are complex and shaped by various factors (class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age).
• GAD emphasized challenging gender inequalities by promoting gender equality and empowering both men and women.
• It recognized the need to address structural barriers to gender equality and promote women's agency, voice, and participation.

Shift in Policy Approach Towards Women

• WID: Influenced by liberal feminism and neoliberalism, with a focus on integrating women into existing development structures (improving access), emphasizing women as productive members of society.
• WAD: Influenced by radical feminism and Marxism, acknowledging capitalist development processes' impact on gender inequality; integration of reproductive work into development.
• GAD: Influenced by postmodernism and postcolonialism, emphasizing the complexity of gender relations, rooted in social, economic, and political power.

Institutional Mechanisms for Gender Equality

• International Women's Year (1975) and UN Decade for Women (1976-1985) led to various conferences, creating frameworks for integrating gender concerns in policies.
• Key outcomes include:
  • Establishment of UNIFEM, INSTRAW (UN Women 2010)
  • Adoption of CEDAW
  • Calls to collect disaggregated statistics on women
  • Forward-looking strategies for the future, addressing specific issues.

CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women)

• CEDAW was adopted in 1979.
• Referred to as "women's bill of rights."
• Defines discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of sex impeding women's human rights and fundamental freedoms.
• A three-dimensional view of equality is promoted (substantive equality), going beyond formal and legal equality to achieve equality in results.
• Ratified by 187 countries.

Beijing Platform for Action

• The 1995 Beijing Conference established a comprehensive platform for action focused on twelve critical areas for women concerning poverty, health, education, VAW, armed conflict, economy, etc.
• The conference emphasized gender mainstreaming.
• Tools for gender mainstreaming (Gender-disaggregated statistics, gender assessment, and gender-responsive budgeting) were recognized as vital.
• The platform remains relevant, monitored every five years to adapt to ever-changing global agendas.

Analytical Frameworks

• Analytical frameworks provide structure for understanding the complex interactions between various entities contributing to gender inequality.
• Framework 1 highlights the interplay between households, markets, and institutions in determining gender outcomes.
• Framework 2 presents a socio-ecological model depicting the complex layers affecting gender issues, ranging from individual/community to societal policies (interactions between individual, relationships, and societal frameworks).