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INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1 INTRODUCTION There are many reasons why we might expect constructive conversations on aid effectiveness between practitioners engaging with gender issues and those engaging with the politics of development. Firstly, efforts to introduce both gender analysis and thinking and working politically (TWP) into programming have, at times, been relegated to the use of narrow analytical tools, rather than fully integrating innovative thinking that leads to broader changes in program strategies and approaches. There has been progress in encouraging more regular use of Political Economy Analysis (PEA) to inform program design, and a gender analysis during program planning is now considered a critical part of good practice. However, both communities are still working to move beyond analytical frameworks and to mainstream their ideas in ways that genuinely change how we do development work. Secondly, conceptually, some of the ways in which gender and TWP experts analyse the dynamics shaping development outcomes show great complementarity. Good gender analysis includes a focus on analysing and understanding the impact of power dynamics on developmental outcomes for people of different genders, which TWP practitioners should understand. Similarly, TWP actors aim to understand interests, norms, and the way relationships shape developmental decisions to help guide program strategy – all considerations that have gendered elements. Despite this, there has not yet been a clear and sustained engagement between these agendas. This study, part of the Gender and Politics in Practice research project, aims to deepen our understanding of how these two sets of ideas can interact during program implementation, and to explore both the potential tensions and opportunities for greater collaboration. It focuses on an initiative to promote social inclusion for man-to-woman transgender (waria) communities in Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan, Indonesia). The project is implemented by The Asia Foundation (TAF) as part of the wider Program Peduli,2 under coordination of the Government of Indonesia and with funding from the Australian Government. This project used both gender analysis and TWP ideas to achieve a positive outcome for a gender minority. The paper is based on field research and analysis carried out by five TAF staff, one of whom was directly affiliated with Program Peduli. Field research involved nine focus group discussions, 11 key informant interviews in Jakarta and Banjarmasin, and several phone interviews. In total 46 people were interviewed: 12 waria, 12 men, and 22 women. Interviewees included government officials and civil society representatives in Banjarmasin, implementing staff, and beneficiaries and stakeholders. This paper has four sections: Section 1 describes the programming context; Section 2 introduces the project’s activities and outcomes; Section 3 analyses how the program integrated and benefitted from ideas on thinking and working politically and from gender analysis; and Section 4 reflects on what this case might tell us about how TWP strategies and gender programming can come together. While this is only a single case and cannot confirm conclusions, it can contribute to wider discussion on this subject.
2 See annex for an overview of Program Peduli at national level.
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