...Women in development (WID)[edit] Theoretical approach The term “women and development” was originally coined by a Washington-based network of female development professionals in the early 1970s[3] who sought to put in question the trickle down theories of development by contesting that modernization had identical impact on men and women.[4] The Women in Development movement (WID) gained momentum in the 1970s, driven by the resurgence of women's movement in northern countries, whereby liberal feminists were striving for equal rights and labour opportunities in the United States.[5] Liberal feminism, postulating that women's disadvantages in society may be eliminated by breaking down stereotyped customary expectations of women by offering better education to women and introducing equal opportunity programmes,[6] had a notable influence on the formulation of the WID approaches, whereby little attention was given to men and to power relations between genders.[5] The translation of the 1970s feminist movements and their repeated calls for employment opportunities in the development agenda meant that particular attention was given to the productive labour of women, leaving aside reproductive concerns and social welfare.[5] Yet this focus was part of the approach pushed forward by advocates of the WID movement, reacting to the general policy environment maintained by early colonial authorities and post-war development authorities, wherein inadequate reference to the work undertook by...
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...the view that Gender and Development (GAD) initiatives are more desirable than Women in Development (WID) endeavours. The Gender and Development (GAD) approach was developed as a response to the failure of WID projects to effect qualitative and long-lasting changes in women’s social status. GAD focuses on social, economic, political and cultural forces that determine how men and women participate in, benefit from, and control project resources and activities differently. This approach shifts the focus from women as a group to the socially determined relations between women and men. The GAD approach promotes a development process that transforms gender relations in order to enable women to participate on an equal basis with men in determining their common future. The emphasis has shifted to the more strategic needs of women, leading to a sharpening of the gender focus of preparatory analysis. Although the approach emphasizes the importance of women’s collective organization for self empowerment, the target groups are still primarily women. Unlike the GAD initiatives, WID policies and interventions have, in the main, concentrated on women’s productive work. The failure to make an explicit link to women’s reproductive work has often added to women’s workload. Gradually, it was recognized that an approach that focused on women in isolation was inadequate and not sustainable because it did not take into account the overall project objectives or integrate women fully into their implementation...
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...Theories of Development-Empowerment a)WID,b)WAD,c)GAD Ever since the formation of the United Nations Commission on the Status for Women in 1946, it had been proposing a U. N. Women’s Conference with little success. Gradually with pressure from the American Women‟s Movement, the U.N. General Assembly declared 1975 as the International Women’s Year and 1975-1985 as the International Decade for Women. This declaration led to a growing awareness of women‟s issues and an acceptance of their demands as legitimate issues for policy making, both at the national and international level. The major themes of the International Women’s Year and Conference were-- Equality, Development and Peace. Equality, however, had been a dominant issue for the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women and it came primarily from the feminist movement of the Western industrialized nations. Peace was increasingly considered to be a women issue by the countries of the Eastern block. Development, on the other hand, was a recent issue put forward mainly by the newly independent “Third World” nations as a key to improving women’s lives. During the Decade, the important but previously invisible role of women in the social and economic development of the poorer countries was highlighted. The declaration of the International Decade for Women (1975-85) signified the new visibility of Women in Development (WID) in international forums. During the past few years, the term "women in development" has become...
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...ATHROPOLOGY OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT [HANTH 107] INTRODUCTION Defining Key Concepts Gender is not about women as most people think. Gender is about both men and women. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing between male and female, and is a result socio – cultural construction, it describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. Thus the term gender has social, cultural and attitudinal connotations. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing between male and female, and is a result socio – cultural construction, it describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. Thus the term gender has social, cultural and attitudinal connotations. Sex on the other hand refers to the biological differences in chromosomes, hormonal profiles as well as internal and external sexual organs or genitalia.The term sex since classical times has been used to designate matters related to biological and anatomical makeup of a person. Thus while ones’ sex as male or female is a biological and universal fact that is however not the same with gender since sex is tends to be similar across all cultures while gender varies one society to another. Sex relates to the biological characteristics that categorise someone as either female or male; whereas gender refers to the socially determined ideas and practices of what it is to be female or male. Patriarchy - Systemic societal structures that institutionalise...
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...Assignment: Role of Women in Fostering Development Research topic: Role of women in fostering development Introduction Women play a central role in the moral, physical and emotional development of any institution or individual. They play a key role in the eradication of socio-economic challenges such as hunger and poverty that hinder development in the society. Their contribution towards issues that concerning the family and the community at large have positively influenced the growth of development in the society. Women in the rural areas, for example, perform tasks that are not economically active but have great significance to the household at large. They play an important role in the translation of the agricultural produce from the farms into food and nutritional security for their families and the society. The World Bank forum of 2008 researched and concluded that if a woman had a stable income, she would use it on food and nutritional requirement for her family (World Bank, 2008). Women face many challenges that hinder their efforts of becoming champions of development, For example, they lack access to decent work that could assist them in improving their socio-economic circumstances and welfare. Most women are self-employed which means that they earn low wages. The society, therefore, suffers huge economic and social costs due to the inefficiency of the women caused by lack of income that in turn causes slow rural development (Lois and Annette...
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...Before 1950, the role of the Chinese mother was based on the satisfaction of their husbands and bearing children. However, since this date, many factors such as the political environment, economic development and migration have been considerably responsible for changing the role of the mother in China. In fact, the rise of technology and the economic development of China resulted consequently in an increase of women's status, rights and opportunities. However, women's status is still slowed by the Chinese society who does not endorse completely its role in some essential areas such as childbearing. This essay will discuss how role of the Chinese mother has changed over almost sixty years and is still in changing. In feudal China, the status of women and in particular the mother's role in the family was very different from nowadays. Indeed Confucian philosophy was mainly based on women's inferiority to men. Women had to obey their fathers first, their husbands after marriage and their sons if they were widowed. Moreover, weddings were arranged and the responsibility of the woman was to remain married because divorce was not allowed (Heng, 1994). The main role of women was to be assimilated as the private property of men and was to satisfy their husbands and to bear children. What is more, the symbol of women's subservience was the practice of binding women's feet, "this practice lasted nearly 1,000 years and during the Ming and Qing dynasties to be eligible for a husband"...
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...GENDER DEVELOPMENT March 19, 2013 · by cn2collins · Bookmark the permalink. · Over the years development programs have been criticized for ignoring gender roles and the impact it has on women in the global south. However we see a shift to integrate women into development programs in hopes of eradicating poverty and low social economical status. The six main theoretical approaches are: “(1) the welfare approach; (2) women in development (WID); (3) women and development (WAD); (4) gender and development (GAD); (5) the effectiveness approach (EA); and (6) mainstream gender equality (MGE). Martinez tries to understand the various outcomes and effectiveness of all 6 development theories. Despite the effort to reinforce gender mainstreaming into society we still see a vast number of gender inequality especially in the developing world. Women make up the 70% of individuals living in poverty and in sub-Saharan Africa 57% of HIV infected individuals are women. This also includes the disproportionate ratio of women to men in the job market and at leadership position, low level of education among women, and low socio-economic status among women. The term “Women, Gender and Development” could be seen a discipline much like ever other area of knowledge. However, what sets it apart from various disciplines is that, its major contributors are individuals that raise issues and concerns, concerning women, gender and development. These are academics, feminist activists and development practitioner...
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...2324-8041 Published by Redfame Publishing URL: http://ijsss.redfame.com Social Norms and Impediments of Women Development in Bangladesh Abul Kalam Lecturer in Sociology, Department of Economics, Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT)Mirpur-2, Dhaka, Bangladesh Correspondence: Md. KALAM, 32-44 Steinway Astoria, NY11103, United States. Received: January 11, 2014 doi:10.11114/ijsss.v2i2.365 Accepted: February 17, 2014 Available online: March 3, 2014 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v2i2.365 Abstract This study focuses upon the contemporary process of Social Norms and Impediments of Women Development in Bangladesh. The development of women in organizations, Decision making, Political participation and gender mainstreaming is currently seen as the dominant conceptual model for promoting social justice and women equality. This study intends to see the position of women, discourses and various political, economic and social factors that surrounded these events. The impediments of women in Bangladesh were being pulled in different directions as a result, the context of social norms and gender inequality that existed at global, national, community and domestic levels. Child marriage is one of the main impediments of women empowerment and implementation of the government‟s vision-2021. In Bangladesh, the patriarchal capitalism puts women in such a position within their communities that they always remain subordinate under male domination and...
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...Gender and development- historical background ‹ Definitions up Mainstreaming gender throughout the Project Cycle Management (PCM) › Gender and development- historical background The United Nations Charter of 1945 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 established the first official worldwide recognition of women’s equality and non-discrimination on the basis on sex. However up until the late 1960’s the focus was on women’s reproductive roles, as women were seen as wives and mothers and their main issues were supposed to be obtaining access to food, contraceptives, nutrition and health care. The 70’s and 80’s marked a new phase in which the debate moved beyond women’s equality and the domestic sphere of women’s role as wives and mothers onto the global stage where the role of women was promoted as an aid for economic development. The important events such as the First World Conference for Women held in Mexico 1974, the UN decade for women “76-85” and the promotion of the Women In Development (WID) approach emphasised women’s right to development, recognition of women’s economic role in national economies and, most significantly, gave a voice to women in developing countries. Some of the shortcoming of the approaches such as the WID applied in the 70’s were that they fell short of improving unequal relationships, and a significant number of projects were unsustainable as development projects failed to consider the multiple roles carried out by women, leading...
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...Gender is defined by FAO as ‘the relations between men and women, both perceptual and material. Gender is not determined biologically, as a result of sexual characteristics of either women or men, but is constructed socially. It is a central organizing principle of societies, and often governs the processes of production and reproduction, consumption and distribution’ (FAO, 1997). Development is a process of structural societal change. Thomas (2000, 2004) refers to this meaning of development as a process of historical change. The essay shall look at Women in Development, Women And Development and Gender And Development and give their contributions to development as well as their strengths and limitations. The term "women in development" came into use in the early 1970s, after the publication of Ester Boserup's Women's Role in Economic Development (1970). Boserup was the first to systematically delineate on a global level the sexual division of labour that existed in agrarian economies. The Women in Development concept is based on a recognition of the importance of the roles and status of women in development process. It is meant to give special attention to the women's role, while extending development assistance. For the effective and efficient implementation of assistance, it is essential to ensure that the women should have the opportunities to participate positively as important players in development process. Such enlargement of opportunities will also pave the way for...
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...Women in Development (WID) Theoretical Approach The term “women and development” was originally coined by a Washington-based network of female development professionals in the early 1970s[3] who sought to put in question the trickle down theories of development by contesting that modernization had identical impact on men and women.[4] The Women in Development movement (WID) gained momentum in the 1970s, driven by the resurgence of women's movement in northern countries, whereby liberal feminists were striving for equal rights and labour opportunities in the United States.[5] Liberal feminism, postulating that women's disadvantages in society may be eliminated by breaking down stereotyped customary expectations of women by offering better education to women and introducing equal opportunity programmes,[6] had a notable influence on the formulation of the WID approaches, whereby little attention was given to men and to power relations between genders.[5] The translation of the 1970s feminist movements and their repeated calls for employment opportunities in the development agenda meant that particular attention was given to the productive labour of women, leaving aside reproductive concerns and social welfare.[5]Yet this focus was part of the approach pushed forward by advocates of the WID movement, reacting to the general policy environment maintained by early colonial authorities and post-war development authorities, wherein inadequate reference to the work undertook by women...
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...FROM WID TO GAD: CONCEPTUAL SHIFTS IN THE WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE Abstract The Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in September 1995, provides an opportunity for the world community to focus attention on areas of critical concern for women worldwide concerns that stem from social problems embracing both men and women, and that require solutions affecting both genders. One of the main objectives of the Conference is to adopt a platform for action, concentrating on some of the key areas identified as obstacles to the advancement of women. UNRISDs work in preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women focuses on two of the themes highlighted by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women: 2 inequality in women’s access to and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies and the productive process itself; and 2 insufficient institutional mechanisms to promote the advancement of women. The Institutes Occasional Paper series for Beijing reflects work carried out under the UNRISD/UNDP project, Technical Co-operation and Women’s Lives: Integrating Gender into Development Policy. The activities of the project include an assessment of efforts by a selected number of donor agencies and governments to integrate gender issues into their activities; the action-oriented part of the project involves pilot studies in Bangladesh, Jamaica, Morocco, Uganda and Viet Nam, the goal of which is to initiate a policy dialogue between...
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...Women in development (WID) is an approach to development projects that emerged in the 1970s, calling for treatment of women's issues in development projects. Later, the Gender and development (GAD) approach proposed more emphasis on gender relations rather than seeing women's issues in isolation.[1] Ever since the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975, approaches to «women's issues» have changed considerably. Development agencies, including FAO, first advocated the Women in Development (WID) approach, which was useful in making the importance of women's productive work more clearly visible, as well as in recognizing women's essential role in development. This approach focused on using development resources to improve women's conditions, for example through projects for women. However, the WID approach tended to focus solely on women as a separate, homogeneous entity and to ignore the basic structure of the unequal relations between women and men. Because it failed to take into account the wider social and economic context, WID often ignored the issues of how men might be affected and how important gender interactions are. | Over time, WID evolved into Gender and Development (GAD), which focuses on analysing the roles and responsibilities that are socially assigned to women and men, the social relations and interactions between women and men, and the opportunities offered to one and the other. The GAD approach defines gender and the unequal power relations between...
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...as gender discrimination is meant only for women, because females are the only victims of gender discrimination. Females are nearly 50 percent of the total population but their representation in public life is very low. Recognizing women’s right and believing their ability are essential for women’s empowerment and development. This study deals with gender discrimination in India, its various forms and its causes. Importance of women in development, legislation for women and solution for gender discrimination are also discussed in this paper. Key Words: gender discrimination, women’s development, legislation for women, education, employment, economic independence, empowerment, decision making and self confidence. GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA Introduction Gender is a common term where as gender discrimination is meant only for women, because females are the only victims of gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is not biologically determined but it is determined by socially and the discrimination can be changed by the proper and perpetuate efforts. Denial of equality, rights and opportunity and suppresment in any form on the basis of gender is gender discrimination. Half of the world’s population is females. They are doing two-third of work of the total work in the world but received only one-tenth of the world’s total income. Nearly two-third of the women is illiterates and they have possessed only...
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...debate among scholars and substantiates how elusive these concepts are in development discourses. In the 1970s the word gender became a buzzword both in development discourse and policy making. The feminist movement challenged the existing theories of development which neglected women and excluded women in the mainstream development. It is in this backdrop that women like Boserup (1970) championed or spearheaded the women in development approach (WID) as a means of inco-operating gender analysis in development. However, the main thrust of this abstract is not on theoretical approaches but rather a definition of concepts such as gender and development. A limited understanding of gender using some dictionary denotations would mean being male or female. If such, then gender studies would not be of any sociological interest. According to Cornwall (1997) gender relates to the various relations between men and women, boys and girls, mothers and their sons, fathers and their daughters, men and men, women and women and so on. Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in our families, our societies and our cultures (Schech and Haggis 2000, Razavi and Miller 1995; Kabeer 1995). According to Oxfam (1999) the concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviours of both women and men (femininity and masculinity). Gender roles and expectations are learned. This understanding shows that gender is...
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