Gender and
Development
Safaa El-Kogali
8-9 December, 2005Rabat Morocco
What do we mean by “gender equality”?
Gender refers to …
• socially constructed roles and socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with females and males.
• Women and men are different biologically, but all cultures interpret and elaborate their innate biological differences into a set of social expectations about what behaviors and activities are appropriate, and what rights, resources, and power they possess.
Gender Equality is defined here in terms of:
• equality under the law
• equality of opportunity (including in access to human capital and other productive resources that enable opportunity and equality of rewards for work)
• and equality of “voice” (the ability to influence and contribute to the
development process).
What is the state of gender equality at the beginning of
the 21st Century?
Despite progress, gender inequalities are pervasive worldwide and exist across many dimensions of life.
Gender equality has tended to increase over time – except in political participation
Middle Income Countries
1970 1980 1990 1995
High Income Countries
1970 1980 1990 1995
Low Income Countries
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1970 1980 1990 1995
Fem
ale
/mal
e
ratio
Life expectancy
Primary enrollment
Secondary enrollment
Parliamentary representation
In no region are women and men equal in legal, social and economic rights
1
2
3
4
East Asia Eastern
Europe and
Central Asia
Latin
America
and the
Carribean
Middle
East/North
Africa
South Asia Sub-
Saharan
Africa
OECD
Ind
ex
of
ge
nd
er
eq
ua
lity
(1-4
)High Equality
Low Equality
Women still earn less than men – even when they have similar education and work experience
Female/male Gender Percent of gap
earnings ratio gap unexplained
Developed 0.77 0.23 80.4%
countries
Developing 0.73 0.27 82.2%
countries
Women are vastly underrepresented in parliaments
0
5
10
15
20
25
Wo
me
n's
sh
are
of
pa
rlia
me
nta
ry s
ea
ts,
19
95
(p
erc
en
t)
East Asia/ Pacific
Europe/ Central Asia
Latin America/ Caribbean
Middle East/ North Africa
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
OECD
among low-income than high-income countries
among low-income than high-income households
Gender disparities tend to be greater
Educational attainment in the Caribbean, Latin America
Rising male mortality in the Former Soviet Union
See also, “The Trouble with Men” The Economist (September, 1996)
In some contexts there are increasing concerns about male gender issues
How does gender inequality affect development?
Societies that discriminate on the basis of gender pay a significant price –
higher poverty, lower quality of life
slower economic growth
weaker governance
The future generation benefits from greater gender equality
In Sub-Saharan Africa, if men and women had equal schooling, child mortality would have been 25% lower in 1990.
In India, children of literate mothers spend two more hours/day studying than children of illiterate mothers.
In Brazil, income in the hands of mothers has four times the impact on children’s height-for-age as income in the hands of fathers.
HIV infection rates are higher in countries where gender gaps in literacy are wider
Urb
an a
dult
HIV
pre
vale
nce
Male-female literacy gap
0 10 20 30
.01
1
5
20
35
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
00
0
0 0
00 0
00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
000
0
00
00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
b
0
0
0
Gender equality increases productivity and economic growth
In Sub-Saharan Africa greater gender equality in farm inputs could increase output by up to 20 percent
In Bangladesh, micro-credit to women has a larger impact on household income than the same micro-credit to men
Greater gender equality in schooling would have increased growth in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa from 1960-90
If women and men had more equal schooling, incomes would grow faster
0
1
2
3
4
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia Middle East/North Africa
Ave
rage
ann
ual g
row
th in
per
cap
ita G
NP
, 19
60-1
992
(per
cent
)
Actual
Predicted
Where women and men have more equal rights, governments are less corrupt
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7
Women's economic and social rights
Inde
x of
cor
rupt
ion
Policy approaches to promoting gender equality
and development
A three-part strategy to promote gender equality:
Reform institutions to provide equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men
Foster economic development to strengthen incentives for more equal resources
Take active measures to redress persistent disparities in command of resources and political voice
Secondary Education, 1995
High Equalityin Rights
Low Equalityin Rights
LowIncome
HighIncome
1.05
0.990.96
0.86
0.00
1.00
Fe
ma
le-t
o-M
ale
Enr
ollm
ent
Ra
tio
High Equalityin Rights
Low Equalityin Rights
LowIncome
HighIncome
0.19
0.070.110.06
0.00
1.00
Fe
ma
le-t
o-m
ale
ra
tioRepresentation in Parliament, 1995
A three-part strategy to promote gender equality:
Reform institutions to provide equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men
Foster economic development to strengthen incentives for more equal resources
Take active measures to redress persistent disparities in command of resources and political voice
There is a critical role for active measures that
Increase access to resources and services
Reduce the costs to women of their household roles
Establish gender-appropriate social protection
Strengthen political voice and participation
Investments in water and fuel infrastructure significantly reduce time on collection activities
Note: *Kasama and Dedougou are already within the 400m target.
Potential Average Annual Time Savings
0
200
400
600
Lusaka Rural (Zambia)
Kaya(Burkina Faso)
Mbale(Uganda)
Kasama*(Zambia)
Dedougou*(Burkina Faso)
An
nu
al
tim
e s
av
ing
s (
ho
urs
pe
r h
ou
se
ho
ld)
Potable water within 400m
Woodlots within 30 mins walk
Pension income for average workers with incomplete primary education (female/male ratio in parenthesis)
(0.89)
(0.43)
(0.35)
(0.29)
(0.60)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Female own pension (retire age 60)
Female own pension adjusted by MPG
Female own pension (retire age 65)
Female own or survivor's pension
Female own+survivor's pension
Male own pension
Pesos (thousands)
Female pension benefits as a proportion of male benefits
Design matters for gender equality in pension benefits
Taking gender considerations into account in policy and program design can promote gender equality …
… and enhance policy effectiveness.