Transcript Engendering Poverty Reduction Strategies

Engendering Poverty
Reduction Strategies in
Rwanda
Shirley Randell and Caroline Pinder
The Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs by 2015)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality & empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases
Ensure environmental stability
Develop a global partnership for development
MDG 3: Promote gender equality
& empower women
• In the labour market
• In political institutions
Gender equality has to be seen as part of
the development & poverty reduction
agenda. MDG 3 shows least progress.
Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS)
• Provide the basis for assistance from
the World Bank, IMF, and donors
• Also basis for awarding debt relief
Should be:
Country-driven, comprehensive in scope,
partnership orientated, and participatory
MDG’s (goals)
PRS’s (strategies)
Donors’
Funding
Mechanisms
National
Govts’ Dev’t
Plans
Paris Declaration (processes)
The Paris Declaration (2005)
Summarises principles & indicators of
progress agreed by donor countries &
developing country partners:
• Ownership
• Alignment
• Harmonisation
• Results
• Mutual accountability
The PD is about process, not content
Paris Declaration & Gender Equality
UNIFEM: the “aid architecture” should support
• Adequate financing for programmes that
respond to women’s needs
• Accountability systems to track contributions
to gender equality
• Gender sensitive progress assessments,
performance monitoring & indicators
Critical factors for inclusion of
gender equality goals:
• Strengthen national capacity
• Sex-disaggregated data and targeted
dissemination of information
• Gender-sensitive performance indicators
• Support civil society’s accountability
function
Some further reading
United Nations: MDG Progress Report 2007:
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/mdg2007.pdf
UNIFEM: Promoting Gender Equality in New Aid
Modalities and Partnerships:
http://www.unifem.org/resources/item_detail.php?ProductI
D=80
World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategies Source Book:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/
EXTPOVERTY/EXTPRS/0,,contentMDK:20175742~pag
ePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:384201,00.html
Suggested discussion topics:
1 Should the focus be on gender equality or
women’s empowerment?
Advantages/disadvantages of each
approach?
2 What can National FUWs, as gender
advocates, do to promote real commitment
to gender equality in their government’s PRS
papers? And IFUW at international level? (ref
Canadian FUW proposal)