Why Gender is key to achieving the millenium development goals (& sustainable development)

1. Why Gender is key to achieving the millenium development goals(& sustainable development) Why is Gender key to achieving the millenium development goals(& sustainable development)? CASID, 2009

2. Three Reasons Why Gender is a Key consideration NEEDED FOR: • 1. Eradication of extreme poverty & other Millenium Development Goals • 2. Good governance • 3. Microenterprise as its focused on women

3. Mainstreaming gender • The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. • Considers the cultural aspects of gender roles for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in any area and at all levels. • Integrates men and women’s concerns into design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs so that inequality is not perpetrated.

4. Elements of the women’s agenda Source: Jahan, 2002, p. 5.

5. Millenium Development Goals • Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Achieve universal primary education • Promote gender equality and empower women • Reduce child mortality • Improve maternal health • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases • Ensure environmental sustainability • Develop a global partnership for development

6. MDG#2 + 4+ 5: Education & Child Mortality. • The impact of unearned income on child survival was 20 times greater if the income was brought in by the mother than if by the father (World Banks, 2001, Abu-Ghaida and Klasen, 2004).

9. MDG #2 & 1 & : Female education: Tackles the Population and Poverty bomb • A 1% increase of female education increases the average level of GDP by 0.2 to 0.37% (significant positive while male education has an insignificant impact). • One year increase in the adult female years of schooling is estimated to reduce fertility by 8% -13% or 0.5 children per women.

10. Case study: Bangladesh Education • Compulsory primary education was introduced in 1993. • New initiatives undertaken by the public, private, and NGO sectors: • Free & compulsory primary education for primary level children including books. • Free education for girls up to grade eight. • Scholarship for girls: 2.6 million benefited from Female stipend program in 1998 which is nearly 75% of girls enrolled at secondary level. • A food-for-education programme (FFE) reached 20% children in rural areas .

12. Education Yoyo • women’s enrollment more than men in every year but recent . & literacy/achievement rates low. Source: World Development Indicators and Human Development Report

15. Gender Gaps in Education

16. How the MDGs connect with prevention of violence against women (WHO perspective) MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Provides an opportunity to ally violence against women with poverty reduction efforts aimed at protecting the poorest and most vulnerable women. MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education Can be used to highlight how the drive towards universal primary education can be hindered by gender-based factors – including violence and lack of security – that prevent girls and young women from entering and completing school. Conversely, better education for girls and boys may contribute to the reduction of violence against women.

19. World wide 1 in 3 have been beaten, • coerced into sex or abused. • 47 % women have endured physical abuse. • 14% of the maternal deaths are due to violence. • One women suffer from violence every hour in BGD. • 50% of all murders are of wives being killed by husbands. (Heise 1993, Khan 2005) • 61.5% men consider violence against wives as justifiable. • Source: Research by RNE, UNFPA and BRAC • http://www.lcgbangladesh.org/WAGE/reports/VAW%20-%20Presentation-at%20LCG-WAGE.ppt. Violence against Women in Bangladesh

20. Governance: Greater Influence of Women in Public Life, Better government and cleaner business

21. Women in Micocredit Groups Access to financial services (small loans) for women often including training and support networks to ensure return on investment (for profit enterprise with some donor funding). Research by Donor Information Resource Center.www.microfinancegateway.org, Karim 2004, Littlefield 2004

22. Grameen Bank • 97 per cent Women • No Collateral, No Legal Instrument, No Group-Guarantee or Joint Liability • Recovery Rate 98 per cent • Scholarships and Education Loans • Scholarships are given, every year, to the high performing children of Grameen borrowers, with priority on girl children, to encourage them to stay ahead to their classes.

23. Key Features of BRAC • Primary target group is women. • BRAC recognized women as the primary caregivers who would ensure the education of their children and the subsequent inter-generational sustainability of their families and households. • Microfinance under BRAC's Economic Development programme with Health, Education and other Social Development programmes, linking all the programmes strategically to counter poverty.

25. Is microenterprise making a difference? Source: MicroBanking Bulletin, no. 9 (July 2003).

26. Reaching the Poor Sustainably

27. Cons/Weaknesses of NGO activities • The relationship between management and borrowers are not congenial all the time • Pressure for repayments • Loans sometimes misused by men in the family • Women’s engagement in the management is unequal • Women are used as cheap labor to produce output for multinationals (handicrafts) and use inputs supplied by multinationals (Cell phones, hybrid seeds and fertilizer) • Sometimes members were forced to take part in activities that are not related to actual programs • Rally, extra curricular activities Source: Karim 2004

28. Gender composition of staff in Projects often mostly men. ANR projects with aquaculture components outreached to women

29. Proxy loans: Women’s name only on investment • Being a conduit establishes the importance of that woman in securing resources for investment. • Sufia (Kaliganj, Gaipur) said: “I gave Taka 20,000 to my husband for his firewood business; now my voice is louder than his [in this household].” • Violence is reduced in SCG but change is somewhat uneven.

30. Women in Micocredit Groups Access to financial services for women. • Increase & diversify incomes • from purdah there is a shift • to respect for capability & assets • Build assets • Increase decision-making power in family and • public life with more women elected. Research by Donor Information Resource Center.www.microfinancegateway.org, Karim 2004, Littlefield 2004

31. Studies on Women’s saving groups: • BRAC members of 4 years increased household expenses by 28% and assets by 112%. • Grameen members enjoy 28% higher income than that of the members of non-participants. • 5% of total borrowers of BRAC graduate and find permanent exit from poverty each year. Source: Littlefield et al. 2003

32. MCF Women increasing personal asset security Kelkar, Nathan & Jahan(2004) of 261 women interviewed 117 reported purchase or lease

33. Access to property Source:http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/AEDSB_CGApresentation.pdf.

34. Women in Micocredit Groups Access to financial services for women including training. Increase & diversify incomes – purdah to respect for capability & assets Build assets, Increase decision-making power in family and public life with more women elected. Mitigate risk/less hazard, Plan for the future Lesser population growth, More mobility Research by Donor Information Resource Center.www.microfinancegateway.org, Karim 2004, Littlefield 2004

35. Enhancing children’s education • Children of microfinance clients are more likely to go to school due to awareness and access provided by the NGOs. • A longitudinal study shows that BRAC is able to increase the basic competency in reading, writing, and arithmetic among children from 12% in 1992 to 24% in 1995 (within 3 years). • Improving health outcomes for women and children • Households of microfinance clients appear to have better nutrition, health practices, and health outcomes compare to any control group without microfinance. • A study shows that fewer members suffered from malnutrition after joining the program. • Higher rate of contraceptive use. • A 10% increase in credit is associated with 6.3% increase in mid-arm circumference of daughters. Source: Littlefield et al. 2003

36. Women in Micocredit Groups Access to financial services for women including training. Increase & diversify incomes – purdah to respect for capability & assets Build assets, Increase decision-making power in family and public life with more women elected. Mitigate risk/less hazard, Plan for the future Lesser population growth, More mobility Increase food consumption, Invest in education & health, housing, water, sanitation, Greater control of women over resources Research by Donor Information Resource Center.www.microfinancegateway.org, Karim 2004, Littlefield 2004

37. BRAC’s health clinic

38. Improving Health • In Bangladesh, fewer BRAC clients suffered from severe malnutrition than non-clients. • In Bolivia, children of CRECER clients had higher rates of DPT3 immunization than children of non-clients. • In Uganda, 32% of Foccas clients had tried an AIDS prevention practice, twice the percentage for non-clients.

39. Housing, Water, and Sanitation • Many microfinance programs provide loans tailored for tube-wells and toilets, reducing incidence of fever, influenza and typhoid. • In India, SEWA provides loans to pay for tap water, toilets, drainage, and paved roads. • Grameen Bank provides 80,000 housing loans/year and reports improved security during natural disasters due to sturdy housing.

40. Women empowerment through microenterprise • Active participation in electoral process. In 1992, 115 women in microcredit groups ran and 15 were elected Chairperson at sub-district level (Karim, 2004). In the 1997 union council elections, 44,138 NGO-sponsored women contested for 12,894 seats and 12,822 were elected. Source: Littlefield et al. 2003

41. Summary • Engendering sustainable development is key to reaching the millenium goals, for good governance and needs to be considered when applying microenterpise.