2014 CPSA Women’s Forum
Strategising for the future. Empowering women activists. Building union power and influence.
July 19 and 21, 2014 Sint Maarten
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
2014 CPSA Women’s Forum
“Strategising for the future. Empowering women activists. Building union power and influence” July 19 and 21, 2014 Sint Maarten
About the forum The Women’s Forum precedes the Annual Conference of the CPSA. The forum is designed to build the knowledge, skills and attitudes of women who are members of public service sector unions in the Caribbean. The intention is to provide opportunities for these women activists to critically examine the issues facing them as public service sector workers so that they may add their perspectives as women into the decisions and actions of their respective unions. The forum also provides an excellent opportunity for women working together to share information, develop contacts and plan their own actions, activities and campaigns. Specifically, the forum is designed to: • create ‘a space’ for women public service sector workers; • provide an opportunity for women public sector workers from across the Caribbean to meet and exchange views and experiences on the key issues facing their countries and their unions and how these issues affect them; • provide an opportunity for women public service sector workers to discuss, debate and make recommendations to the CPSA Secretariat. As we deal with the various struggles in our own countries, we recognise more than ever that what we think are workplace or national struggles are in fact Caribbean-wide and global struggles. Some workers are fighting for basic rights, some are even being jailed or are killed in the process. Others are losing rights which their fore-parents had fought for years ago. No longer can we be blind to the battles of others. Winning our own battles, while others lose theirs is just not on. Solidarity now takes on a greater meaning. The Women’s Forum examines women’s issues as well as women’s perspectives on all issues. Through small group discussions, panels and plenary discussions, women trade unionists will:
celebrate their achievements share lessons learnt meet new colleagues and build networks identify problems and challenges make recommendations and develop plans
The 2014 Women’s Forum 2015 marks the end of the period for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the start of a programme of work on a Post-2015 Development Agenda, titled the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Also in 2015, the world marks Beijing +20 and will review the achievements under the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Caribbean states have made progress in the MDGs and in the quest for gender equality. So too have all our unions. But there is still much more to be done.
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Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Trade union organisations through their Global Union Federations (GUFs) have added their voices to these discussions on behalf of working people worldwide. The GUFs have been active in discussions, consultations and planning for the SDGs and are also preparing for the Beijing+20 conference at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York in March 2015.
Critical areas of concern under the Beijing Platform: • • • • • • • • • • • •
Women and the environment Women in power and decision-making The girl child Women and the economy Women and poverty Violence against women Human rights of women Education and training of women Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women Women and health Women and the media Women and armed conflict
In preparation for the Beijing +20 review, states were requested to “undertake comprehensive national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges encountered in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. ….National reviews should cover trends, achievements and remaining gaps and challenges, as well as future plans to accelerate implementation at the national level.” The deadline was May 1, 2014. The national reviews will contribute to the global review and appraisal that UN Women will prepare and submit to the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59). See http://www.eclac.cl/cgibin/getprod.asp?xml=/mujer/noticias/paginas/3/51823/P51823.xml&xsl=/mujer/tpl/p18f.xsl& base=/mujer/tpl/top-bottom.xsl for the list of Caribbean states that have already submitted reports.
Has your country completed and submitted its report? Was the trade union movement involved in compiling the report? Was your women’s committee involved in compiling the report? Your discussions during this 2-day forum will add to a Caribbean trade union perspective on the Beijing +20 review.
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CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Strategising for the future. Empowering women activists. Building union power and influence. Drawing from the CPSA Conference theme, the theme for the women’s forum focusses on current issues facing unions (internally and externally), linking these to regional and global issues and the everyday lives of our members and their families. Participants will particularly examine these issues using a gender lens.
Successfully dealing with the challenges facing us requires a careful and thorough analysis of who we are, what we do, who we’re targeting, and what they want or need. We also need to be more analytical, more focussed and very clear in our vision for our organisations , the members and the communities we serve and in which we live and work. And we constantly need to acquire new knowledge, and develop new skills in order to have credibility and to influence decision-making at all levels. Having carried out a number of activities over the years, there is no better time to review, to assess, to evaluate. This is key if we are to effectively plan for the future. How do we prioritise? How do we strategise? Whatever we decide to do, it is important that women feel empowered to make whatever changes are necessary. Simply put, empowering women involves providing the necessary tools, information and general conditions that provide equal opportunities for women to contribute to political, social and economic life. And when translated to the trade union movement that means the provision of trade union education and training, opportunities to enhance skills and build knowledge and develop attitudes, equal access to resources in the union, opportunities to be involved and effectively participate in all activities – targeted especially to women.
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CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Introduction
Notes
We remind participants to use the online registration form to tell us about yourself. In addition to ensuring that there is an accurate record of who attends the forum, it will assist the women’s committee in planning future forums and other activities.
Celebrating the achievements … Strategising for the future These short interventions are spread throughout the two days of the forum. They provide opportunities for each affiliate to inform and advise the forum on the activities undertaken in the various unions. Of special interest are those activities organised with the leadership of the union’s women’s committee. Each affiliate can use the information from their report form to highlight the activities. The success stories are enriching and motivating. Equally important are the challenges and lessons learnt. They provide valuable insight that will help as you develop future plans and activities. These lessons are extremely useful as you think about and put in motion your various plans.
Gender mainstreaming – still very much on the agenda The concept of bringing gender issues into the mainstream of society was clearly established as a global strategy for promoting gender equality in the Platform for Action adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing (China) in 1995. It highlighted the necessity to ensure that gender equality is a primary goal in all area(s) of social and economic development. In July 1997, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) defined the concept of gender mainstreaming as follows: "Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels.
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Notes It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality." Mainstreaming includes gender-specific activities and affirmative action, whenever women or men are in a particularly disadvantageous position. Gender-specific interventions can target women exclusively, men and women together, or only men, to enable them to participate in and benefit equally from development efforts. These are necessary temporary measures designed to combat the direct and indirect consequences of past discrimination.
Transformation by Mainstreaming Mainstreaming means bringing the experience, knowledge, and interests of women and men to bear on the development agenda. Basic Principles of Mainstreaming Principles include: • Adequate accountability mechanisms for monitoring progress need to be established. • The initial identification of issues and problems across all area(s) of activity should be such that gender differences and disparities can be diagnosed. • Assumptions that issues or problems are neutral from a gender-equality perspective should never be made. • Gender analysis should always be carried out. • Clear political will and allocation of adequate resources for mainstreaming, including additional financial and human resources if necessary, are important for translation of the concept into practice. • Gender mainstreaming requires that efforts be made to broaden women's equitable participation at all levels of decision-making.
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• Mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, women-specific policies and programmes, and positive legislation; nor does it do away with the need for gender units or focal points.
Notes
For more information, see UN Women. Women's groups and committees are a good way for the women in unions to identify the unique problems of women workers. Through such groups and committees, women can carve out some space to share their experiences, support each other in their activism, and plan for mobilising on equality issues and other union priorities. Women's groups and committees in trade unions provide a way for women members to: •
• • • • • •
Build women's power and make sure women's voices are heard in unions and at the bargaining table. Work with each other in ways that are inclusive and sharing. Develop stronger ties to each other. Learn about the union and union activism in a comfortable environment. Raise awareness and build support for the fight for equality. Find ways to integrate women's issues into the union’s daily priorities and bargaining agenda. Develop women leaders and activists to work with our brothers and support the union in all its struggles.
To help you understand more, we encourage you to participate in the activity distributed during the session.
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Building power and influence – Combatting child labour and human trafficking in Guyana
Notes
Child labour and human trafficking and real issues in Guyana. The ILO and other rights groups have raised the alarm and are taking steps to deal with the issues. Obviously the trade union movement must be involved. And it has been. This session will highlight the practical work undertaken in Guyana, under the umbrella of the ILO and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC). The Women’s Advisory Council (WAC) played an active role and stands as an example of how women’s committees, can be involved in broad national issues by bringing the trade union perspective through action, advocacy and by influencing decision-making. Specifically, the session will seek to identify possible roles for the GPSU and the GLGWU (formerly GLGOU) and answer the question ‘Should the women’s committees take the lead”? In addition, there will be some recommendations for unions. More information on the ILO’s work in the Caribbean • Combatting child labour in the Caribbean • ILO team hails Guyana’s TACKLE project The report on Trafficking in Persons again raises the situation in Guyana. A previous women’s forum looked at the TIP report with particular reference to Belize, raising awareness about the issues. However, in the Caribbean there has been no targeted trade union involvement in the issue. The session will explore how unions in Guyana can be involved in this work, especially public sector unions. A key question to consider: What should unions be
doing about this issue?
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CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Round-table discussion - “The future of our unions, what women want from their unions and the role of trade union women’s groups and women trade union activists.”
Notes
This session, moderated by Sis Joyann Inniss seeks to highlight the experiences, hopes, concerns and future plans of women activists in the trade union movement. The discussion starters will present to forum participants their points of view about the role of trade union women’s groups and committees. Over the years, the strategy has been to build the skills, knowledge and attitudes of women activists and members to empower them to make even greater contributions in their unions. An important part of the strategy has been to build their confidence to led discussions, initiate projects and activities and present the view of women trade unionists in wide-ranging issues. The time is ripe to review the work undertaken, to highlight successes and to plan forward. In many unions, a new generation of women are transitioning from the young workers’ groups and committees and it is important that they naturally move on to and become more involved in their union’s women’s groups and committees. A key question: What do women members expect
from their union’s women’s group and committee?
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Making the linkages - essential in building union power and influence
Notes
In this session, the Women’s Executive Council (WEC) of the NUGFW TT will highlight how it developed its Arts in Action project. This project is another very good example of how unions can make important linkages between national issues and trade union action.
The experiences form the project highlight the positive spin-offs for the union as an organisation and for the women and men who participate in the project. The experiences also highlight the impact of innovative and exciting projects on the visibility and credibility of unions. Far from resting on the successes of the Arts in Action project, the WEC is now looking at What Next. A key question for participants: What issue can you
use to develop a project that has national focus and impact?
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Empowering women, taking action ‌
Notes
Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. This session involves some small group activities to galvanise the various discussions throughout the forum into proposals for action.
The activity sheets for this session will be distributed. We invite the small groups to select a chair and reporter to help organise the task. The group’s reporter will present the decisions/recommendations from each group. As far as is possible, each group should comprise women activists and members from the same affiliate. Where there are more than 10 people from an affiliate, that affiliate may wish to divide itself into two small groups. It is possible too that there may be an affiliate with only one or two participants at the forum. In such cases, these individuals may decide to work together in one group. However, they should still report back on what each affiliate proposes to do.
What are you going to do to make things better?
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Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Thoughts about the 2015 Women’s Forum We invite forum participants to discuss its views on arrangements for the next women’s forum – in 2015.
Notes
As challenges grow and issues develop, so too will (and must) the abilities and skills of women activists. It is important that the work undertaken in each successive year builds on the work done previously. This requires action during the period between forums. In addition, it is important that women activists report back to their unions, briefing and informing heir groups and committees as well as their union executive committees, formalising for the records any agreements made. Important in all this is feedback to the officers of the CPSA women’s committee In addition to the individual personal e-mail addresses of officers of the committee, the committee has a dedicated email address cpsawomen@yahoo.com
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Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Draft programme Saturday July 19
References
Day’s session co-chaired by Sisters Susan Hodge (ACSA) and Violet Brown (MCSA)
9:30 am Welcome Sis Derie Leonard (WICSU-PSU) Introductions Sis Violet Brown (MCSA) 10:05 am Celebrating the achievements … Strategising for the future Short (10 minute) presentations from women activists, highlighting the successes and challenges in their unions and identifying the skills and knowledge that their unions need
Forum Information Booklet Affiliates’ reports to the Forum
Anguilla CSA, Dominica PSU, GLGWU (Guyana) and Guyana PSU 10:35 am B R E A K 10:55 am Celebrating the achievements … Strategising for the future (cont’d)
Affiliates’ reports to the Forum
11:45 am Gender mainstreaming – still very much on the agenda
Forum Information Booklet
Sis Susan Hodge (ACSA) 1:00 pm LUNCH 2:20 pm Building union power and influence - Combatting child labour and human trafficking in Guyana Sis Karen Vansluytman-Corbin (Chair of the Women’s Advisory Council of the Guyana Trades Union Congress; GPSU) 3:25 pm Celebrating the achievements … Strategising for the future Short (10 minute) presentations from women activists, highlighting the successes and challenges in their unions and identifying the skills and knowledge that their unions need
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Forum Information Booklet Affiliates’ reports to the Forum
PSU of Belize, Bermuda PSU, PWU Grenada, SLCSA Wrap-up and conclusions 4:00 pm
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END OF DAY ONE
CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Monday July 21 Day’s session co-chaired by Sisters C Joyann Inniss (NUPW Barbados) and Zeneth Rolle (Bahamas PSU) 9:30 am Round-table discussion - The future of our unions, what women want from their unions and the role of trade union women’s groups and women trade union activists
References
Forum Information Booklet
Moderator: C Joyann Inniss (NUPW Barbados) Discussion starters: Sis Nadine Browne-Evans (Bermuda PSU); Sis Ronda Floris (Guyana PSU); Sis Onydeen Lawrence (JCSA); WICSU-PSU (name tbc) 10:35 am B R E A K 10:55 am Celebrating the achievements … Strategising for the future Short (10 minute) presentations from women activists, highlighting the successes and challenges in their unions and identifying the skills and knowledge that their unions need
Affiliates’ reports to the Forum
Bahamas PSU, JCSA, SLCSA 12:05 pm Trade union women and the regional trade union movement: Promoting women’s empowerment
Forum Information Booklet
Sis Zeneth Rolle (Bahamas PSU) 12:35 pm Making the linkages - essential in building union power and influence Sis Jillian Joy Bartlett (NUGFW TT) 1:00 pm LUNCH 2:20 pm Empowering women, taking action … Small group activities to plan the next steps
Forum Information Booklet
Sis Jillian Joy Bartlett (NUGFW TT) Forum Information Booklet and Reports fro small groups
3:25 pm Report backs from small group activities 5 minute reports from each affiliate 4:00 pm Thoughts about the 2015 Women’s Forum 4:15 pm
END OF FORUM
The Report of the 2014 Women’s Forum to the CPSA Conference will be co-ordinated by Sisters Zeneth Rolle (Bahamas PSU), Violet Brown (MCSA), Susan Hodge (ACSA) and Hillary Holder (NUGFW TT).
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CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
CPSA Women’s Committee Role of the Committee/Terms of Reference Recognising the continued existence of gender inequality and gender inequity, the broad aim of the CPSA Women’s Committee is to help women better participate in union structures so that the policies of the CPSA reflect women’s concerns. The specific aims or terms of reference are: 1. To provide a ‘space’ for women to discuss issues and how they impact on them 2. To advise on ways to promote the full development of women’s potential in trade unions and at work. 3. To advise on education and training programmes and activities for women 4. To be the voice of women public sector workers on a wide range of issues (regional and international) 5. To advise on and assist with the research and dissemination of information concerning women’s involvement in the public sector and their unions 6. To act as a support system for women members 7. To promote the integration of gender into the work and activities of the CPSA and its affiliates 8. To organise and celebrate regional and international events relating to women 9. To promote the involvement of women in CPSA education and training programmes and activities 10. To recognise and reward the contribution of women to the development of trade unionism Membership The CPSA Women’s Committee comprises one representative from each of CPSA’s affiliates. Observers may attend Committee meetings. Each affiliate has one (1) vote. Officers of the CPSA Women’s Committee Chair
- the practice in the CPSA is that this is on a rotational basis – in alphabetical order of country. See CPSA Constitution
Vice-Chair
- the practice in the CPSA is that this is on a rotational basis – in alphabetical order of country. See CPSA Constitution - has specific responsibility for Education, Training and Research - acts in the Chair’s absence - responsible for all record keeping and official correspondence - works in consultation with the Communications Officer - works in consultation with the Chair and the CPSA General Secretary
Secretary
- assists Secretary Assistant Secretary/Treasurer - is responsible for any monies collected and hands them over to the CPSA Secretary/Treasurer - is responsible, in consultation with the Secretary, for communication to Communications affiliates -is responsible for the Committee’s web page/web site Officer - is responsible, in consultation with the Secretary and the CPSA General Secretary, for preparing press releases
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At Officers’ Meetings, members each have one vote. All Officers, except the Char and Vice Chair, serve for 3 years – in accordance with the Triennium structure of the CPSA. The Chair and Vice-Chair each serve for one year. Note The officers of the committee are responsible, in consultation with the CPSA Secretariat, for the planning of the women’s forum preceding the annual CPSA conference. Where there is no active or functioning Chair, the Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Communications Officer take on the role, in consultation with the host affiliate and the CPSA Secretariat.
Voting at the CPSA Women’s Forum In te event that the forum needs to vote on an issue, there is one vote per affiliate (in good standing). This is usually exercised by the delegate to the women’s forum.
Current Officers
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Chair (2013/14)
Vacant
Vice Chair (2013/14)
Vacant
Secretary (2012 – 2015)
Sis Michelle Graham (JCSA)
Assistant Secretary (2012 – 2015)
Sis Zeneth Rolle (Bahamas PSU)
Communications Officer (2012 – 2015)
Sis Violet Brown (MCSA)
CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Some roles and aims for trade union women’s groups and committees Women and Unions If unions are to attract and retain women members, then unions must campaign and negotiate on the things that women care about and which reflect their priorities. We must find ways to help women to participate fully and meaningfully in union structures so that union policies reflect women’s concerns. The long-term success of a recruitment campaign will depend on how successful a union is in involving women in the union and its responsiveness to their needs. If unions are to reverse the declines in union membership, unions must attract women to join and ensure that they feel part of the union. To do this, we must take a critical look at what women want from unions and how unions recruit and organise. We must find way to help women participate in union structures so that union policies reflect women’s concerns. Some Aims and Objectives for Trade Union Women’s Groups The overall aim/objective is to help women participate in union structures so that union policies reflect women’s concerns. Other aims/objective are: • • • • • • • • • •
To provide a ‘space’ for women members To educate and empower women member o the union To increase women members’ knowledge of trade unionism and trade union issues To ensure that women’s voices and concerns are heard on issues which specifically or directly affect them To act as a support system or group for other women members To organise and celebrate national, regional and international events To promote the involvement of women in trade union education and training programmes To organise education and training programmes for women members To identify, encourage and prepare women members for leadership positions in the Union To recognise and reward the contribution of women members to the development of trade unionism
Specifically, the Women’s Committee will/can focus on: -
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identifying strategies to get women members more involved in union activities and programmes being a direct link between the Executive Committee (or decision making bodies) and women members planning activities to recruit more women into the union sensitising women members on key issues (national, regional and international) advising the Executive Committee on issues for Collective Bargaining/Negotiations
CPSA Women's Committee, July 2014
Information Booklet for 2014 CPSA Women's Forum
Baseline definitions of key concepts and terms Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in our families, our societies and our cultures. 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. They can change over time and they vary within and between cultures. Systems of social differentiation such as political status, class, ethnicity, physical and mental disability, age and more, modify gender roles. The concept of gender is vital because, applied to social analysis, it reveals how women’s subordination (or men’s domination) is socially constructed. As such, the subordination can be changed or ended. It is not biologically predetermined nor is it fixed forever. Sex describes the biological differences between men and women, which are universal and determined at birth. Gender Analysis is the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated information. Men and women both perform different roles. This leads to women and men having different experience, knowledge, talents and needs. Gender analysis explores these differences so policies, programmes and projects can identify and meet the different needs of men and women. Gender analysis also facilitates the strategic use of distinct knowledge and skills possessed by women and men. Sex-Disaggregated Data is data that is collected and presented separately on men and women. Gender Equality means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and for contributing to, and benefiting from, economic, social, cultural and political development. Gender equality is therefore the equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles they play. It is based on women and men being full partners in their home, their community and their society. Gender Equity is the process of being fair to men and women. To ensure fairness, measures must often be put in place to compensate for the historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from operating on a level playing field. Equity is a means. Equality is the result. Empowerment is about people -both women and men- taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, gaining skills, building self-confidence, solving problems and developing self-reliance. No one can empower another: only the individual can empower herself or himself to make choices or to speak out. However, institutions including international cooperation agencies can support processes that can nurture self-empowerment of individuals or groups. Gender Division of Labour is the result of how each society divides work among men and among women according to what is considered suitable or appropriate to each gender. Women in Development (WID) The WID approach aims to integrate women into the existing development process by targeting them, often in women-specific activities. Women are
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usually passive recipients in WID projects, which often emphasize making women more efficient producers and increasing their income. Although many WID projects have improved health, income or resources in the short term, because they did not transform unequal relationships, a significant number were not sustainable. A common shortcoming of WID projects is that they do not consider women’s multiple roles or that they miscalculate the elasticity of women’s time and labour. An other, is that such projects tend to by blind to men’s roles and responsibilities in women’s (dis)empowerment. The biggest difference between WID and GAD is that WID projects traditionally were not grounded in a comprehensive gender analysis. The GAD approach is gender-analysis driven. There is definitely a need for women-specific and men-specific interventions at times. These complement gender initiatives. Research shows that the success of both sex-specific and gender activities is directly linked with the depth of the gender analysis that informs them. Gender and Development (GAD) The GAD approach focuses on intervening to address unequal gender relations which prevent inequitable development and which often lock women out of full participation. GAD seeks to have both women and men participate, make decisions and share benefits. This approach often aims at meeting practical needs as well as promoting strategic interests. A successful GAD approach requires sustained long-term commitment. Practical Needs refer to what women (or men) perceive as immediate necessities such as water, shelter and food. Strategic (Gender) Interests. Interventions addressing strategic gender interests focus on fundamental issues related to women’s (or, less often, men’s) subordination and gender inequities. Strategic gender interests are long-term, usually not material, and are often related to structural changes in society regarding women’s status and equity. They include legislation for equal rights, reproductive choice, and increased participation in decision-making. The notion of “strategic gender needs”, first coined in 1985 by Maxine Molyneux, helped develop gender planning and policy development tools, such as the Moser Framework, which are currently being used by development institutions around the world. NB: The purpose of introducing such distinctions between needs is to alert the programme specialist to the importance of addressing the structural challenges to women’s empowerment. It is not to lock women’s realities and experiences into rigid and pre-set notions of what is a strategic need versus what responds to a practical need. For, in many instances, changes in women’s practical conditions of life have an effect on power relations between men and women within the community. Gender-mainstreaming is a process rather than a goal. Efforts to integrate gender into existing institutions of the mainstream have little value for their own sake. We mainstream gender concerns to achieve gender equality and improve the relevance of development agendas. Such an approach shows that the costs of women’s marginalization and gender inequalities are born by all. UN ECOSOC describes gender mainstreaming as “the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and
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experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality”. (ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions 1997/2) Gender-responsive objectives are programme and project objectives that are nondiscriminatory, equally benefit women and men and aim at correcting gender imbalances. Literacy Gender Parity Index (GPI) is the ratio of the female to male adult literacy rates which measures progress towards gender equity in literacy and the level of learning opportunities available for women in relation to those available to men. It serves also as a significant indicator of the empowerment of women in society.
References: - March, C., Smyth I., Mukhopadhyay M., A Guide to Gender-Analysis Frameworks; Oxfam, 1999 - Status of Women Canada, Gender-Based Analysis: A guide for policy-making, 1996 - UNIFEM; Focusing on Women –UNIFEM’s expereince in mainstreaming, 1993 - Molyneux, Maxine ‘Mobilisation without Emancipation? Women’s Interests, States and Revolution in Nicargua’; Feminist Studies II, 2, 1985. - OECD, DAC Source Book on Concepts and Approaches Linked to Gender Equality
Source: UNESCO’s Gender Mainstreaming Implementation Framework
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