Conditionalities undermine the Right to Development: an analysis based on a Women’s and Human Rights perspective
groups. GENDERNET126 proposes that existing country-relevant gender equality indicators and processes be the basis to monitor results and progress towards gender equality. Existing mechanisms include MDG targets and indicators, as well as CEDAW reporting requirements and reporting on the Beijing Platform for Action. Additionally, there are international instruments such as the Universal periodic Review, as well as regional instruments such as the Maputo and the Belem do Pará conventions. Key development goals as gender equality and women’s empowerment should be advanced through a twin-track approach; that is, through the integration of gender equality targets along all sectors as well as by the inclusion of specific programmes and the allocation of specific resources focused on this issue.127 The monitoring and evaluation systems put in place to assess the capacities at the country level pose many challenges, partner countries have expressed: “Aid should be allocated and performance assessment matrices designed based on country-defined sustainable development results and progress towards them, not on policy design, establishment of systems or processes, or short-term inputs or outputs, which implies reorienting conditionality.”128 In addition, the way results are monitored and evaluated is relevant to the implementation of the Managing for Development Results principle. Sex disaggregated data is a key component of the monitoring and evaluation strategies. Without the gender equality perspective on the data collection, decision making processes can not be expected to properly focus results-oriented decisions on improving the lives of women and girls, those who are most affected by poverty.129 Mutual Accountability: the principle of mutual accountability, where donor countries, recipient countries and citizens should be able to hold each other accountable for their development commitments, can only be truly possible where strong, independent, and well resourced civil society and women’s rights organisations exist. The Paris Declaration relies on a range of new aid modalities, including budget support, sector wide approaches, poverty reduction strategy papers, 126. GENDERNET, Draft Issue Paper, “Understanding the Connections between the Paris Declaration and Work on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment”, August 2007. 127. Alemany et al (2008c), p. 128. Accra High-Level Forum Partner Country Preparation Process, Issues Note 7 Managing for Development Results, April 20, 2008. 129. Alemany et al (2008c), p.3. 84