Women and men for a common cause... Typically male? Typically female?

Whether we are born male or female has a far greater impact on our lives than any of the other personal details set out in our passports. All societies have their own preconceptions of what is “typically male” or “typically female”. These stereotypes are a function of the time and culture in which we live. What makes us who we are, how we interact with other people and what expectations and responsibilities we have to fulfill, depend not only on our biological sex. They are also determined by socially based expectations of the roles men and women are required to play and by their opportunities for development. “Gender” is the term used to denote these socially and culturally determined roles. Unlike the biological differences between women and men, gender attributes can change.

Men and women: the unequal equation

Throughout the world women and men lead their lives in vastly differing circumstances. No country on earth can boast total gender equality.

Work and education

• Most of the world’s 1.2 billion poor are women. • Women perform more than half of all working hours worldwide. • However, only 30 % of their work is paid, as compared with 75 % in the case of men. • Women earn considerably less than men and there are fewer of them in senior positions. • Women, especially young women, are more often unemployed than men and remain so for longer periods. • One third of all women find themselves juggling the twin tasks of supporting and bringing up their children alone, without the benefit of a second family income. • There is a higher illiteracy rate among women. • There are still fewer girls than boys attending school. • Some industrialised countries now have more women than men in higher education. For instance, female students accounted for 50.4 % of all new enrolments in Germany in 2002. By contrast, only 22 % of tertiary students in Tanzania are women.

Access to resources

• African women produce around 80 % of the staple foods and over 30 % of cash crops. • Nevertheless, their access to land is impeded and they are disadvantaged under inheritance laws.

Political participation

• Only 26 nations have so far not signed the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). • Women are distinctly underrepresented in governments, political parties and at the United Nations.

Peace-building and civil conflict transformation

• During the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 some 500,000 women were raped. • 80 % of all war refugees are women and children.

Health and bodily integrity

• In some African countries more than half of all girls are subjected to the cruel ritual of female genital mutilation (FGM). • About half of all women who are killed worldwide die at the hands of their partner. • Up to a quarter of all women across the globe become victims of sexual violence during their lives.

Gender: a universal issue

In the 1970s it was observed that while development aid often improved the quality of life enjoyed by the male population in developing countries, it frequently did so at the expense of women. This triggered the formation of a great number of women-in-development initiatives, which set out to eliminate discrimination against women. However, experience gained in development cooperation over recent decades has revealed that activities aimed solely at the advancement of women are on their own insufficient to obliterate inequality and underdevelopment. Since the World Conference on Women held in Nairobi in 1985, the relationship between women and men – which in its worst manifestation is one of suppression – has become an established theme in development cooperation. The needs, rights and duties of men and women are highly interdependent. This is why both sexes must be brought on board in order to overcome gender-specific discrimination, achieve equal opportunities and harness development potentials.

Gender in project work

The gender perspective has been mainstreamed in all facets of MISEREOR’s work. Gender analyses conducted during project planning and implementation help to identify economic, political and social inequalities and to distribute resources and power more equitably.

• How is labour divided between women and men? • How is access to resources and power structured? • How can women and men influence decision-making processes?

The goals of gender-responsive development cooperation are equal opportunities, fair division of labour and equal access to production inputs, education and political office. The general objective is to empower the people to improve their situation self-reliantly, regardless of their sex. In development cooperation this is referred to as self-empowerment. The challenges facing MISEREOR’s project work are twofold: firstly, it has to cope with a shift in emphasis away from traditional women’s projects to those focusing on gender-responsive development. And secondly, it must develop new approaches to solidarity work in dialogue with the partner organisations because in the final analysis, only those affected can find more effective strategies for action.