To access the synthesis report of this online discussion click here.

Context

Women everywhere are held back by discriminatory social norms. Changing social norms starts with new laws, but also with changing attitudes and behaviours.

As our Social Institutions and Gender Index shows, just over 1 in 4 women around the world still believe that spousal violence is sometimes justified. Almost half of all people think that men make better political leaders than women. In the household, women globally still undertake 75% of unpaid care and domestic work.

The current COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating gender inequality and some of these harmful social norms. Confined at home with schools closed, women are under pressure to conduct unpaid care work and schooling, and many are suffering from increased domestic violence. Moreover, women represent the majority of the healthcare workforce and are therefore on the frontlines of battling the pandemic.

Communication is a powerful tool that can help shift attitudes and behaviours, and digital communications have opened up new possibilities for dialogue and interaction.

This is why the OECD DevCom Network has proposed 7 Principles in Communicating for Gender Equality. The principles draw on a number of exchanges and a Workshop that DevCom organised with leading campaigners, researchers and policy makers in late 2018.

The discussion is organised in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement, the Overseas Development Institute, the Align Platform and the Generation Equality Forum.

Aim of this online discussion

As we experience the COVID-19 pandemic and look ahead to the Generation Equality Forum, this online discussion aims to:

• Provide a space for dialogue on communicating for gender equality;
• Generate advice for anyone communicating for gender equality and behavioural change.

You can help us achieve these goals! Join our discussion by responding to the questions below from 14-21 April 2020. The discussion is open for contributions in English, French or Spanish.

The outcomes of this discussion will be synthesised in a short note, published on Wikigender and on DevCom’s SDG Communicator platform. We will also share results at future events, inviting policy makers and key development actors to commit to better communications on gender equality.

Guiding questions

1. IDENTIFYING GENERAL PRINCIPLES

• Which of DevCom’s 7 principles do you consider to be most important, and why? Are there further principles that you would add to the list?
• What do you regard as communications priorities during the current COVID-19 pandemic?

2. SHARING LESSONS AND EXPERIENCES

• Can you provide an example of how you are applying one or more of the principles? Please tell us what you have learned!
• Do you know any campaigns that successfully raised awareness on gender equality and had an impact on attitudes and behaviours? Why do you think they were successful?
• During the current COVID-19 pandemic, online interaction is sky-rocketing. Have you come across any empowering campaigns?

3. LOOKING AHEAD

• Looking forward to the Generation Equality Forum, what will you or your organisation do to improve your communications and campaigning for gender equality?
• How can we spread the word and encourage organisations to consider the 7 principles?

Contribute!

We look forward to your participation! We strongly encourage you to disseminate news about the online discussion via your networks and on Twitter using #CommunicatingGender and the following link to this page: https://bit.ly/34lMFJ4 Secondary hashtags include: #Communications #GenderEquality #socialnorms #Covid19Comms #GenerationEquality #OECDDevCom #SIGI

• To participate, simply type your comment below or register directly via Disqus, Twitter, Facebook or Google before typing your comment. Open for comments from 9am on 14/04 until 6pm on 21/04
• To insert a URL hyperlink, make sure you shorten the URL first before posting it, otherwise it may not work. (e.g. using bitly, google url shorterner, tiny url…)

Anyone with an Internet connection is invited to participate in the discussion and we encourage you to express your views on this pressing issue.

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Problems to comment?

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If you encounter any problem posting your comment, please email us at contact@wikigender.org and we will assist you.

Read the synthesis report of the online discussion here.

Context

Rural women play a key role in the development of rural and agricultural areas. They account for 43% of the world’s agricultural workforce, a percentage that reaches 70% in some countries. In North Africa and the Middle East, according to available data, the number of women in the agricultural workforce rose from 34% in 1995 to almost 45% in 2011.

Women are responsible for the majority of agricultural work, controlling most of the non-monetary economy (subsistence agriculture, childcare and child education, household responsibilities, water and energy supply). They are a major contributor to food and nutritional security, to generating income and to improving the livelihoods and general welfare of households, particularly those with low incomes.

Rural women are increasingly leading their own businesses, although their entrepreneurial potential remains largely unknown and underutilized. In terms of their role in the management of natural resources and their responsibilities in the provision of energy in their homes, they are leading actors in the fight against climate change.

Because of their role in the agricultural economy, women are at the heart of the resilience of rural societies and are a response to the Mediterranean challenges related to food security, the preservation of rural ecosystems, the sustainable management of Natural resources, adaptation to climate change and conservation of agro-biodiversity, and the issues of nutritional transition.

This strategic importance is included in the SDGs (1, 2, 5, 13), the regional plans and was underlined at the 62^nd session of the UN Commission on the status of Women (2018), whose priority theme this year was “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”.

While, at the global level, the participation in economic, social and political life remains unequal between women and men, these inequalities are manifested more intensely in the rural areas of the Mediterranean area. Women living in rural areas accumulate difficulties, inequalities and discrimination:

• They suffer from the effects of marginalization of the territories with limited access to basic infrastructure. They have less access to land and productive resources, have less or no qualified jobs and are less paid than men. They have less access to education, training and skills development, transportation, financial services, fertilizer use, mechanical equipment or new technologies. It is also common for women working on farms or family businesses to receive no salary.
• Particularly affected by natural disasters (irregular rainfall, floods, water scarcities…) and the effects of climate change on agriculture, women are the first to “absorb the shocks” of food crises.
• Rural women are subject to discrimination within the social and legal norms that govern their communities. Indeed, the impact of social norms and customary law is closely linked to the remoteness of rural areas where statutory law is more difficult to know, recognized and applied than in the urban area.
• Under-representation of women in organizations and institutions is more important in rural areas. Women remain uninformed about their rights, what reduces their participation in public policy decision-making processes.

The lack of recognizing and valuating of the role of women in rural areas and in agriculture is harmful not only for women but also for the whole society. This lead to the implementation of policies and programmes that are poorly oriented or even inadequate to the needs of women. Despite the many obstacles they face, rural women are a key to the development of the Mediterranean, as soon as their potential is recognized and valuated and addressing gender inequalities is in the center of public and private policies.

About the discussion

As part of the publication “Strengthening the role of women in rural and agricultural areas: obstacles and opportunities” (September 2018) and the conference “Women4Mediterranean Conference 2018 – Women build inclusive societies” (Lisbon, Portugal, 10- 11 October 2018), during which the “Empowering Women in Rural and Agriculture Areas” (UM-CIHEAM) workshop will take place, Wikigender, CIHEAM and the UfM organize an online discussion on the topic “Strengthening the role of women in rural and agricultural areas: obstacles and opportunities “.

This online discussion aims to:

1. Provide a space for dialogue and knowledge exchange, in French and English
2. Promote and exchange examples of good practice
3. Propose recommendations for the engagement of development and international cooperation actors.

Participants are invited to contribute to the discussion from 17 to 21 September on the Wikigender platform. In order to bring together diverse audiences, the discussion will take place in English and French, and will also continue on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #Ruralwomen.

A summary report summarizing the main recommendations raised during the discussion will be published on Wikigender website and presented during the conference “Women4Mediterranean Conference 2018”.

The report, available in English and French, will be also shared with the respective communities of Wikigender, CIHEAM and UfM, and presented during the next international events (October 15 for World Rural Women’s Day, October 16 for World Food Day, March 8^th for International Women’s Day).

Guiding Questions

This online discussion will aim to investigate the different situations in the Mediterranean by analyzing challenges and opportunities related to strengthening the role of rural women in the economic, social, legal and political spheres.

The interventions will help to better understand the challenges but also the opportunities of the gender approach in rural, coastal and agricultural sustainable development initiatives and policies.

A. Understanding the situation of rural women:

• What is the role of rural women in sustainable development goals?
• What are the social, economic and environmental challenges facing rural women and girls? (compared to men and women in urban areas)
• How to overcome barriers to empowering rural women?

B. Identify what works

• What are some examples of policies, programs or initiatives addressing gender barriers faced by women and girls in rural areas?
• What are the existing best practices to better integrate the gender dimension into agriculture and rural development?

C. Recommendations: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals:

• How can the 2030 Agenda be used to address the current challenges facing rural women?

Key Resources

• CIHEAM Watch Letter
• CIHEAM Contribution to Women Empowerment
• UpM
• Wikigender
• Do discriminatory social institutions matter for food security? (OECD, 2012) 

To receive a certificate of participation, please contact dev.gender@oecd.org

Contribute!

We look forward to your participation! We strongly encourage you to disseminate news about the online discussion via your networks and on Twitter using #RuralWomen and the following link to this page: http://bit.ly/2wGSxMR

• To participate, simply type your comment below or register directly via Disqus, Twitter, Facebook or Google before typing your comment. Open for comments from 9am on 17/09 until 6pm on 21/09
• To insert a URL hyperlink, make sure you shorten the URL first before posting it, otherwise it may not work. (e.g. using bitly, google url shorterner, tiny url…)

Anyone with an Internet connection is invited to participate in the discussion and we encourage you to express your views on this pressing issue.

Please note however that comments will be moderated to ensure that there is no spam disrupting the discussion.

Problems to comment?

Please make sure your browser supports Javascript. Disqus is rendered correctly in all major web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera.

If you encounter any problem posting your comment, please email us at contact@wikigender.org and we will assist you.

Read the synthesis report of the online discussion here.

Watch the concluding webinar with experts Kate Redman (GEM Report team, UNESCO); Liri Kopaçi-Di Michele (Council of Europe); and Nora Fyles (UNGEI) and Hendrina Doroba (FAWE)

Background

Good quality education and lifelong learning play a central role for realising substantive gender equality and sustainable development. This is reflected in SDG 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” and in the Global Education 2030 Agenda, which has “inclusion, equity and gender equality” as a core focus area.

Education is a fundamental human right for all, yet girls still have fewer opportunities than boys to gain access to, complete and benefit from a quality education, particularly at upper primary and secondary levels. Girls often face multiple layers of disadvantage, including strong social and cultural norms that privilege boys’ education, inadequate sanitation facilities in schools, and negative classroom environments where they may face violence.

Learning environments, in particular, play a significant role in shaping girls’ and boys’ education and influencing their future. This includes the institutional culture, norms and practices; teacher behaviour, expectations and interactions with male and female students; peer group norms; the curriculum; as well as pedagogy and instructional materials, including textbooks. While this environment is a powerful opportunity to challenge gender stereotypes, it can also perpetuate them by portraying women in passive or supporting roles in textbooks or by overlooking issues such as gender-based violence, sexual rights or early marriage in curricula.

In this context, Wikigender partnered with UNESCO, the Global Partnership for Education, the United Nations Girls’ Education Initivative (UNGEI), Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), the Council of Europe, and the Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study (HBSC) for an online discussion on the theme “Addressing gender stereotypes in the classroom: how to achieve a conducive environment for adolescent girls’ learning?”. It was centred on new evidence and key findings from UNESCO’s 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report, Gender Review, and Policy Paper on “Textbooks pave the way to sustainable development”.

The discussion ran on the Wikigender platform from 16-20 January 2017 and concluded with a webinar. It brought together diverse networks of international development actors, researchers, civil society, students and NGOs. It benefited from country-level perspectives from UNESCO’s Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education “Better Life, Better Future”.

 Guiding questions

• How is the learning environment influencing adolescent girls’ education outcomes? What are some of the recent trends in the development of teaching materials (including textbook content)?
• What are some of the policies, campaigns and initiatives that successfully helped to counter gender stereotypes in school settings? Which strategies are more efficient and why? How can we scale them up?
• How can we advocate for a stronger measurement framework and solidify indicators on gender inequality in education, so that we know where progress is being made and where challenges remain?

Key links

• 2016 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report and 2016 GEM Report Gender Review (UNESCO)
• “Textbooks pave the way to sustainable development” (UNESCO)
• Gender bias is rife in textbooks (GEM Report World Education Blog, 8 March 2016)
• A Guide for Gender Equality in Teacher Education Policy and Practices (UNESCO, 2015)
• Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education “Better Life, Better Future” (UNESCO)
• Combating Gender Stereotypes and Sexism in and through Education (Council of Europe)
• A compilation of good practices from the Council of Europe
• The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation on Gender Mainstreaming in Education
• The Global Partnership for Education
• FAWE
• United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative 
• The Council of Europe
• Gender Responsive Pedagogy (FAWE)
• Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children

As part of a joint campaign with Womanity organised for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Wikigender hosted an online discussion on ”Combatting online violence against women and girls” from Monday, 5 December to Friday, 9 December. The online discussion concluded on a webinar, Friday 9 December at 3pm (CET).

See the highlights from the Wikigender/Womanity campaign for the the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence here.

Context

Although a relatively new phenomenon, online violence has emerged as a global issue, particularly affecting women. Evidence shows that female internet users are frequently subject to harassment and hate speech: a 2015 report by the United Nations Broadband Commission revealed that close to three quarters of women online have been exposed to some form of cyber violence. In the European Union, 1 in 10 women report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15 (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2014). Young women are the most concerned by this type of aggression: women in the age range of 18 to 24 are the most likely to experience stalking and sexual harassment, in addition to physical threats (United Nations 2015). Yet despite its gravity, online violence is still insufficiently recognised by national legislations: 1 in 5 internet users live in countries where harassment and abuse of women online is extremely unlikely to be punished (ibid.).

In recent years, the need to ensure women’s and girls’ safety online has gained international attention. This has been spurred by increased media attention spotlighting the devastating psychological impact cyber bullying can have on victims as well as research revealing the pervasiveness of the problem. However lack of comprehensive legislation in this area leaves internet users, and in particular women and girls who are more likely to be targeted, without legal protection or recourse to justice and psychosocial support (United Nations 2015). In the absence of legal reform, many organisations have already started to take action to protect women and girls online through innovative tools. Organisations such as Luchadoras, Take Back the Tech!, Digital Rights Foundation, Tactical Tech, Internews, and Chayn, among others,  are working with women to reclaim online spaces. Through digital tools and advocacy campaigns, these organisations are leading the fight against many forms of gender-based violence using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Other approaches have included pushing for challenging social norms that underpin online harassment and bullying in order to guarantee women’s and girls’ online safety.

Join the Discussion

Within the framework of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, Wikigender and Womanity organised an online discussion on the theme “Reclaim online spaces: combatting online violence against women and girls”. Participants to the discussion will include experts such as Keshet Bachan, Girl Expert, Sara Baker from Take Back the Tech, Lulú Barrera from Luchadoras TV and Dalia Othman from Tactical Technology Collective.

Suggested questions

Building the evidence base

• What is the current evidence regarding prevalence of online violence against women and girls ?
• What are current measurement tools to capture the extent of online violence against women and what more is needed in this area?
• What is the state of international and national legislation and policy on this issue?

Identifying ways to reclaim online spaces

• How can we empower women online and provide them with the appropriate tools for practicing online self-defense ?
• What are possible entry points to tackle negative social norms that justify online gender-based violence?
• How do we move from response to prevention and what are some examples of successful initiatives in this area?
• What is needed to scale up successful local projects to work at the national and international levels?

Strengthening advocacy

• What are the advocacy tools available to encourage countries to introduce legislation and policy that address the issue of cyber violence and what more is needed?
• How can we raise awareness around online violence and encourage women to seek support when they face abuse?
• How can men and women harness ICTs for activism against gender-based violence ?

 Resources

• Cyber-violence against women and girls: a worldwide wake-up call (UN Broadband Commission 2015)
• Women’s Rights Online: Translating Access into Empowerment (World Wide Web Foundation 2015)
• Online Violence: Just Because It’s Virtual Doesn’t Make It Any Less Real( Huffington Post 2015)
• From impunity to justice: Exploring corporate and legal remedies for technology-related violence against women (2012-2015) (Gender IT)
• Technology-Based Violence Against Women: The Next Frontier? (Women and The Web Alliance 2016)
• Digital safety roadmap on blackmail (Take Back the Tech)
• Digital safety roadmap on cyberstalking (Take Back the Tech)
• Digital safety roadmap on hate speech (Take Back the Tech)
• Safety toolkit (Take Back the Tech)
• How to talk to survivorsof tech-related violence (Take Back the Tech)
• How different sectors can protect with privacy and anonymity (Take Back the Tech)
• Protecting the right to freedom of expression: Strategies of survivors of tech-related violence against women (Gender IT 2014)
• Feminist Tech Tools (Gender IT 2016)
• What is blackmail ? (Take Back the Tech)

As part of a Joint campaign with Womanity organised for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Wikigender hosted an online discussion on ”Engaging men and boys to end gender-based violence” from Monday, 28 November to Friday, 2 December.

See the highlights from the Wikigender/Womanity campaign for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence here.

Context

Violence against women has been recognised as a global epidemic:  around the world, one in three women have reported having an experience of gender-based violence in their lifetime. This number reaches as high as 80% in some countries (SIGI 2014). Addressing this issue has been recognised as a global priority in the Sustainable Development Goals which calls on countries to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (Target 5.2). Research has found that violence against women is closely linked to power imbalances between women and men and harmful expressions of masculinities (UN Women, 2016). Thus, achieving this target will only be possible when men and boys become part of the solution.

In the past decade, programmes working with men on perceptions of masculinities have produced positive results and gained a lot of interest. Promundo’s Program H focuses on shifting traditional ideas of masculinities in order to decrease gender-based violence and encourage more gender-equitable attitudes. It has been implemented in 22 countries. Similarly, CARE International’s “Young Men Initiative”, which seeks to engage boys and men as allies in violence prevention, has had very positive results in several Balkans countries. Other initiatives have focused on advocacy around this issue of masculinities: for instance, since its launch the UN Women HeForShe campaign has given new impetus to the discussion on the role of men in combatting gender-based violence.

As these projects have demonstrated, engaging men in the debate around gender-based violence is crucial to tackle the drivers of this phenomenon and generate lasting change. However, although evidence shows that this conversation is worth having, experience has shown that it is not an easy one. Transforming masculinities to end violence against women touches upon deeply ingrained social norms and thus requires an informed and holistic approach.

Participate in the discussion

Within the framework of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, Wikigender and Womanity organised an online discussion on the theme “We need your support: Engaging men and boys to end gender-based violence”.  Participants to the discussion will include experts such as Jane Kato-Wallace from Promundo, Julio Langa from HOPEM, Anthony Keedi from Abaad Mena, John Crownover from Care International and Servane Mouazan from the Womanity Foundation.

Suggested questions

Building the evidence base

• What is the current evidence on masculinities, social norms and linkages with gender-based violence?
• What are some examples of successful initiatives to address harmful masculinities with a social norms focus?
• How can governments and the development community learn from successful local initiatives to scale and replicate them at the national level?

Working with a coalition of actors

• Who are the various actors that can contribute to a shift in social norms and what are possible entry points to have the most impact?
• How can practitioners work on perceptions of masculinities with different actors, in order to encourage men to change their behaviours as romantic partners, fathers but also as service providers to victims?
• How can practitioners work with women to shift traditional norms around masculinities and promote non-violent partnerships?

Strengthening advocacy

• What are ways to strengthen advocacy around this issue at the international and intranational level?
• How can positive representation of masculinities in the media contribute to advocacy efforts?

Resources

• Engaging Men & Boys to End Violence Against Women: An Annotated Bibliography of Online Resources (Learning Network 2013)
• Multi-country study on men and violence in Asia and the Pacific (United Nations 2013)
• Where Men Stand: Men’s roles in ending violence against women (White Ribbon 2010)
• International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) (ICRW and Instituto Promundo
• 2010)
• 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Call to Action:“Orange the world: raise money to end violence against women” (UNiTE 2016)
• Men, Masculinities and Changing power: A discussion paper on engaging men in gender equality from Beijing 1995 to 2015 (MenEngage and UN Women 2015)

Watch the webinar with Kathryn Travers, WICI and Hilary Murphy, UN-Habitat.

The discussion is now closed ! Read our synthesis report and watch the webinar below.

Background

There is increasing recognition of the importance of urban governance that is inclusive of women and girls. This entails responding to the needs of women and girls and ensuring the voices of women and men are heard equally in decision-making processes. The inclusion of women and girls in urban planning is an essential element of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable), which testifies to the growing consideration given to gender mainstreaming by the international community. Despite international consensus, women’s and girls’ lived realities are often left out of urban decision-making processes, and they continue to be underrepresented in urban governments.

To contribute to current debates on women and urban governance and to identify practical solutions, Wikigender (www.wikigender.org), in partnership with UN-Habitat and Women in Cities International, is organising an online discussion on the theme of women and urban governance.

UN-Habitat has identified two main areas of inclusive urban governance to help tackle gender inequality in cities. The first relates to gender mainstreaming in urban policy which has slowly gained ground among policymakers. However, gender mainstreaming has tended to be incorporated in small-scale projects, such as improving street lighting to address safety concerns or gender-responsive training of local officials and staff (UN Habitat 2012). Other projects aim to harness new technology to integrate women’s experiences into urban planning decisions: for example, the New Delhi Municipal Commission works with the app Safetipin, which conducts safety audits in urban spaces based on women’s self-reporting of insecurity. In spite of this progress, issues of accountability persist and urban governance often remains gender-blind.

A second area of inclusive urban governance is realising women’s and men’s equal political representation in urban governments. Progress has been made in this area: for instance, a number of municipalities have introduced political quotas or created “women city councils” in an effort to increase women’s representation. Recently, women mayors were elected for the first time in major cities such as Paris, Rome, Tokyo or Madrid. Nevertheless, women are still underrepresented in municipal governments: in the European Union, they accounted for only 14% of mayors or other leaders of municipal councils in 2013. The same issues that limit women’s representation at the national level also contribute to their underrepresentation at the municipal level (such as negative stereotypes, lack of legal literacy, fewer resources and time-poverty). However, unlike at the national level, data on women’s participation in urban governments remain scarce.

In the lead up to the UN Summit on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October, participants are invited to debate on the theme “Engendering the city: women and urban governance”. The discussion will run from 3 to 7 October, bringing together Hilary Murphy, Rocio Armillas-Tiseyra, Ana Falu and Lara Kinneir from UN-Habitat; Kathryn Travers from Women in Cities International (WICI); Sri Sofjan and Suranjana Gupta from the Huairou Commission; Caroline Andrew from the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa as well as experts from the OECD Development Centre.

Having trouble commenting ? Read our guide here: How to post in the discussion.

Suggested questions

– How can we ensure that women’s specific needs are correctly assessed and taken into account by leaders and stakeholders at the city level?

– How can we ensure women’s and men’s equal political representation in urban governance, from urban planning and decision-making to implementation?

– How can we improve data collection to measure women’s involvement in urban governance and the gender gaps in accessibility?

-To what extent are initiatives and policies focusing on women in urban governance evaluated ? What progress needs to be done in this area ?

–  How can we raise awareness on gender equality and work on shifting social norms at the city level?

– Do you have examples of successful gender-transformative urban governance initiatives?

-How can we build a bridge between data collection and urban governance that allows for effective implementation toward transformative change?

-How will the paradigm shift from gender mainstreaming to transformation play out in urban governance? What mechanisms will have to be created? What partnerships will have to be made?

Resources

• IWPR ( 2015)  White paper: Gender, Urbanization and Democratic Governance 
• UN Habitat (2000) Policy paper: Women and Urban Governance
• UN Habitat (2012) Gender issue guide: Gender responsive urban planning and design 
• UCLG (2015) The role of local governments in promoting gender equality for sustainability
• UCLG (2013) The equality agenda of United Cities and Local Governments
• UNSD (2015) The World’s Women 2015: Chap.5, Power and decision making
• Zebracki, Martin (2014). Sex in the city: gender mainstreaming urban governance in Europe 
• ESCAP, LOGOTRI (2001) Women in Local Government in Asia and the Pacific

This online discussion is now closed ! You can get a recap of our Twitter chat here and read the synthesis report.

Background

Urbanisation is often cited as a driver of increased mobility and subsequently communities’ access to goods and services. However, research has shown that women and men do not benefit equally from the expanded opportunities of cities. Instead, gender-blind urban planning and restrictive social norms curtail women’s and girls’ freedom of movement and hold back their access to empowerment pathways promised in urban environments. In an effort to further this debate and identify solutions, Wikigender (www.wikigender.org) is organising an online discussion on the theme of women’s and girls’ urban mobility.

New literature by researchers and development actors is uncovering the ways in which gender shapes lived realities in urban settings. Women and girls experience multiple mobility constraints including inferior access to both public and private means of transportation. In many cities, gender-blind public transportation fails to respond to the needs of women and girls who are more likely to travel off-peak times, link multiple trips and travel with children. Women and girls also face concerns around their safety and are more vulnerable to the perceived and real threat of violence than men when taking public transportation, walking or waiting for transit. Issues around accessibility and safety can deter women and girls from accessing public spaces, seeking education end economic opportunities and receiving healthcare. Ensuring women’s voices are heard in conversations on urban planning is all the more difficult as they are often underrepresented in local government and the transportation sector, and thus less likely to be included in decision-making processes.

Due to the gendered nature of urban transportation and mobility, policies that aim to promote sustainable and inclusive urban growth must stem from a gender-responsive standpoint. The 2030 Agenda provides a new framework to support this through SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable). In addition a “New Urban Agenda” will be defined in October at the UN Summit on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, Habitat III, setting the course for urban practitioners, stakeholders and leaders alike. The 2030 Agenda and Habitat III are exciting opportunities for the gender and development communities to scale up gender-sensitive programming and promote inclusive urban planning.

Building on this momentum, the Wikigender online discussion will be an opportunity for a solutions-oriented debate on gender and urban mobility. Participants are invited to exchange on the constraints to women’s and girls’ urban mobility and promising initiatives of “what works” in urban planning and transportation. From the 15 to 19 August, the discussion will bring together UN-Habitat, Women in Cities International (WICI) and the OECD Development Centre as well as Céline Monnier from the International Centre of the Prevention of Crime, and Kalpana Viswanath from Safetipin. Members of Wikigender’s online community will be able to participate in the discussion and exchange with experts, on the website and on Twitter.

Guiding questions

1.Setting the context

• How does gender shape women’s and girls’ experiences of mobility, and what are the consequences on their health, education and access to economic resources?
• What are the possible data gaps that may restrict the assessment of women’s and girls’ mobility?

2. What works

• How can we ensure that women of all ages, ethnicities and levels of resources have access to adequate public and private means of transportation?
• How can we tailor urban policies to fit women’s and girls’ needs and guarantee their safety in transport and in the streets?
• What are the pro and cons of programmes pushing for more women-only spaces (women-only car parks, subways, buses, etc.), in comparison to more inclusive approaches ?
• How can women be better included in decision-making processes, and how can we ensure that they are hired and proportionally represented in the transport sector?
• What tools can be used to collect information on criminality and women and girls’ sense of insecurity in public transportation ?
• What are some examples of programmes working to prevent crime and increase women’s and girls’ sense of security in public transportation?

3. Achieving goal 5 and 11

• How can gender be mainstreamed in urban mobility policies?
• What tools do we need to assess progress towards SDGs 5 and 11 and what bridges can we build between the two ?

Key resources

• Women and the City ( ActionAid, 2011)
• Planning and design for sustainable urban mobility (UN-Habitat, 2013)
• Poverty and Sustainable Transport (UN Habitat , 2014)
• Sustainable Mobility in African Cities (UN Habitat, 2011)
• Violence against women and girls resource guide: transport brief (World Bank Group, The Global Women’s Institute, Inter-American Development Bank and International Center for Research on Women, 2015)
• Gender and Transport (International Transport Forum, 2011)
• The Safer cities programme (UN-Habitat)
• Adolescent Girls’ Views of Safety in the City (Plan International, WICI and UN Habitat)
• Tackling Gender Exclusion (WICI)
• Smart choices for cities Gender equality and mobility: mind the gap! Policy note (Civitas, 2014)
• The Safe and Sound report: international research on women’s personal safety on public transport (Fia Foundation, 2016)
• Fact Sheet: Women’s mobility and personal security (Fia Foundation, 2016)
• Gender Tool Kit: Transport. Maximizing the Benefits of Improved mobility for all (Asian Development Bank, 2013)
• Promoting Safe and Secure Movement and Mobility of Women in Dhaka, Bangladesh: ADB’s Bus Rapid Transit Project (Asian Development Bank, 2014)
• Gender and Sustainable Urban Mobility: Thematic study prepared for Global Report on Human Settlements 2013 (Deike Peters, 2013)
• Gender and Transport Resource Guide (World Bank, 2006)
• The Challenges in Addressing Gender Dimensions of Transport in Developing Countries: Lessons from World Bank Projects (Riverson, J., M. Kunieda P. Roberts, N. Lewi and W. Walker 2006)
• Gender and Urban Transport. Sustainable Transport: A Sourcebook for Policy Makers in Developing Cities (Kunieda, M A. Gauthier 2007)
• More dangerous transport systems for women (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2014)
• Safe Mobility for Women – Case of Guwahati (Mahadevia, Darshini, 2016)
• Report on safety in ground public transport (International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, 2015)

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Wikigender hosted an online discussion ”Exploring the gender dynamics of Africa’s structural transformation” from Monday, 30 May until Monday 5 June, with partners UN-Habitat, Women in Cities International and the OECD Development Centre’s Africa Desk and Gender Team.

Read the synthesis report here!

Voyez le discussion en français en cliquant ici.
[toc]

Background

The African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2016 produced by the OECD Development Centre, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) focuses on Africa’s urbanisation and structural transformation. To celebrate the launch of the African Economic Outlook 2016, Wikigender (www.wikigender.org) is organising an online discussion exploring the gender dynamics of Africa’s structural transformation.

The AEO 2016 puts the spotlight on the unprecedented urbanisation that is transforming African societies. While urbanisation is often associated with economic growth, this has not been the case in Africa. As the AEO 2016 shows, structural transformation in Africa has not kept pace with urbanisation holding back development and hindering inclusive growth.

OECD research has shown that gender equality is also an important pillar of strong and inclusive growth; yet little attention has been paid to the linkages between gender and urban development. This has serious consequences for women and girls and their communities. The negative effects of poor urban infrastructure are amplified for women, often due to discriminatory social norms that shape women’s and men’s roles in society. Policymakers have overlooked women’s larger share of employment in the informal service sector instead of incorporating it into urban growth strategies and action plans. Gender-blind transportation systems may fail to take into account the different needs of women and girls in transport use, such as differences in trip types and frequencies and time of travel. Gender-based violence and women’s and girls’ perceptions of risk in urban settings are also a major concern. This has been found to limit their ability to move autonomously, access vital urban services and opportunities including education and employment, and participate in urban governance and planning.

Addressing the gender dynamics as central to inclusive structural transformation will be critical to ensure that Africa’s transformation benefits both women and men as countries begin implementing the ambitious 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The inclusion of women in Sustainable Development Goal 11 on making cities “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” is a global call to action for all development actors involved in urban planning to better respond to the needs of women and girls. In addition, the upcoming United Nations Summit on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, ‘Habitat III’, will take place in 17 – 20 October, with the objective to define the ‘New Urban Agenda’ and thereby set the course for urban practitioners, stakeholders and leaders alike. It is essential that these global normative processes are both ambitious and synergistic to be truly transformative at the ground level.

The current 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 and the pre-Habitat III environment has provided an opportunity to work to ensure gender considerations are positioned at the core of Africa’s cities of the future. This online discussion will provide a strong substantive contribution to the current gender and urban narrative, bringing together key partners including UN-Habitat and Women in Cities International (WICI) to share knowledge and experience in supporting women’s and girls’ rights and well-being in Africa’s urban settings.

Guiding questions

1.Setting the context of women and girls in African cities:

• What is the relationship between gender, urbanisation and cities?
• What data are available on the situation of women and girls in African cities? Where do knowledge and data gaps remain?

2. What works:

• What are examples of policies, programmes or initiatives to tackle gender barriers that women and girls face in Africa’s urban environment?
• What are some proven best practices to promote women’s and girl’s voices in urban governance and planning

3. Achieving Goal 11:

• What actions and policies will African countries need to take if they are to achieve Goal 11?
• What existing tools are there to help countries track their progress in implementing Goal 11 in relation to gender and what more is needed?

Key resources

• The African Economic Outlook 2016
• Women and the City ( ActionAid, 2011)
• Planning and design for sustainable urban mobility (UN-Habitat, 2013)
• The Safer Cities Programme (UN-Habitat)
• Adolescent Girls’ Views of Safety in the City (Plan International, WICI and UN Habitat)
• Tackling Gender Exclusion (WICI)

Wikigender is co-hosting this online discussion, which is organised by the Land Portal Foundation. The discussion on “The Gender Evaluation Criteria (GEC): Achieving Women’s Land Rights by Any Means Necessary” will be open from 25 January to 5 February.

About

Since 2007, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) partners have been working on the development, piloting, training of trainers and dissemination of the Gender Evaluation Criteria among a wide range of stakeholders at global and country level. The GLTN Secretariat worked in particular with the Huairou Commission (HC), the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), and the University of East London (UEL) to develop the GEC as one of the flagship land tools to check whether land tools are gender responsive, and to show how they can be adapted to integrate various dimensions of gender issues. They are a flexible framework comprised of 6 criteria and 22 evaluation questions with possible indicators that can be adapted to a wide range of different situations.

Several grassroots women’s organizations, members of the Huairou Commission, tested the GEC during in its initial phase in Brazil (Espaço Feminista), Ghana (Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation) and Nepal (Lumanti). These tests focused on large-scale land tools: municipal master plans, land reform commissions and land administration systems. In the case of Brazil, the application of the tool ensures inclusivity in the design, implementation and evaluation of programs. A number of community leaders working on land and property rights, researchers, land professionals and representatives of the government’s land institutions have been trained in designing and evaluating land tools with a gender analysis to realize and to recognize inequity and/ or inclusion issues in land policies and land regulations, and to develop mitigation and affirmative action approaches where necessary. Furthermore, the Uganda Land Alliance implemented the second phase of pilots aggregating the capacity development of 10 districts, rural and urban, across Uganda. The ILC has primarily facilitated capacity-strengthening on the use of the Gender Evaluation Criteria (GEC) since 2012 through a series of Training of Trainers. The International Land Coalition (ILC) has also supported its members in Africa, Asia and Latin America to use the use the GEC tool for a variety of purposes, with  members in Togo, Zimbabwe,  and Indonesia carrying out GEC evaluations as part of their country-level work.

Clearly, the usefulness of the GEC has been demonstrated as a method of data collection, managing knowledge, producing tangible and rigorous evaluations and engaging with multiple stakeholders to discuss and validate evidence-based information. The GEC has become a mature tool that has been embraced by grassroots groups to step up and progress in their decision making processes. While it is designed for use by many land stakeholders, there is still a need to engage better with more governments and professional groups to champion the use of the GEC in various contexts. In the range of country experiences, the GEC has shown breadth and versatility in both rural and urban sectors. However, the GEC needs improvement in terms of further simplifying the tool for wider adoption by grassroots organizations.

Objectives of the discussion

In this regard, the specific objectives of the discussion are:

• Gathering lessons and best practices on the usage of the GEC.
• Identifying the positive and negative aspects, the challenges faces and positive outcomes of tools like GEC.
• Identifying entry points for the adaptation and revision of the tool for up-scaling
• Comparing this tool to similar gender tools used by other communities.
• Addressing the main characteristics of a tool aimed at promoting women’s land rights.
• Bringing together stakeholders in the land governance community and creating possibilities for synergy.

Questions for discussion

We invite the Wikigender community to answer one or more of the following questions:

• Why did you decide to use GEC to promote women’s land rights in your community? Was it successful and why? What challenges did you face in using this tool? What were the positive and negative outcomes? Please share a personal story of your experiences

And:

• What other tools have you used to promote women’s land rights? What were the positive and negative outcomes of these tools? Have you combined different tools in the same project or activity? If so please share a story about this experience.

• If you have used GEC and other tools to promote women’s land rights could you make a comparison between these different tools in terms of replicability, effectiveness, and issues that you can tackle using the different tools and different results and challenges?

• How can we bring women’s land rights to the next level? What is the role of evaluation tools in doing this?

• If you have not used the GEC before, based on the experiences shared through this online discussion, do you think your activities would benefit of its use? If so how? Would you be interested in learning more about GEC and other tools to promote WLRs?

• If you are aware of other effective tools to promote women’s land rights that have not been mentioned in this discussion (and you used them) please share your experience.

How can I participate?

You can type your comment below and answer one or more of the suggested questions in English, French, or Spanish. If you have any questions feel free to contact the Land Portal Foundation at hello@landportal.info

The discussion is being held simultaneously on the Land Portal and in partnership with the FSN-Forum.

The discussion will be facilitated by the International Land Coalition’s gender team.

Results of the discussion will be analyzed and transformed into a report that will be distributed widely among land governance stakeholders.

Image: © bonga1965/Shutterstock.com Wikigender online discussion Mobilising financing for gender equality and women’s rights to deliver on the SDGs in practice Read the summary report! Background | Guiding Questions | Read the comments! | Key Resources Wikigender would like to invite you to participate in this online discussion on “Mobilising financing for gender equality and women’s rights to deliver on the SDGs in practice” from 22-26 June 2015. It will run in collaboration with the following lead discussants: Samina Anwar (@saminahunzukutz) and Zohra Khan (@zohraunwomen), UN Women; Chiara Capraro, Christian Aid (@Chiara Capraro); Nerea Craviotto (@NereaCraviotto) and Angelika Arutyunova (@angelikaarutyun)(AWID); and Emily Esplen (@EmilyEsplen) and Keiko Nowacka (@KeikoNowacka), OECD.   Participate from 9am (CEST) on 22/06 until 5pm on 26/06!   Background The final countdown to the adoption of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda in September 2015 has started. Throughout the negotiations, governments from all regions of the world have expressed strong support for putting gender equality and women’s rights at the centre of the post-2015 agenda. This strong level of ambition has been explicitly recognised in the report of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which contains a proposal for a standalone goal on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls (SDG5) and integrates gender-sensitive targets throughout the other goals. However, the experience of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that political commitments must be backed by ambitious resources in order to translate into transformative change for women and girls in practice. Mobilising more and smarter investments for gender equality and closing financing gaps in priority areas for the post-2015 framework – including women’s economic empowerment and family planning – will be critical to deliver on political promises. The Third International Conference on Financing for Development (July 2015) represents a historic opportunity to endorse a comprehensive global financing framework for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Strong and effective partnerships will also be a critical modality to mobilise the political support, resources and expertise required to deliver on the SDGs. Investing in key partners including national gender machineries, national statistical offices, women’s rights organisations and civil society at the local level will also be key to achieve gender equality and women’s rights in the context of an ambitious post-2015 agenda. In this context, Wikigender is organising an online discussion on Mobilising financing for gender equality and women’s rights to deliver on the SDGs in practice. This conversation will aim to bring together multiple stakeholders to share evidence, lessons learned, and discuss practical proposals on how to mobilise new and ambitious investments to operationalise the SDGs commitments on gender equality and women’s rights.   Guiding Questions How can existing resources be used more effectively in support of the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights? What strategies are effective in increasing domestic resources for gender equality and ensuring that fiscal policies are based on a sound gender analysis? How can we better mobilise “non-traditional” donors such as the private sector to step up investments in gender equality? How can agreed standards be used to strengthen accountability for gender equality results in these partnerships? What other new initiatives, funds or partnerships are needed to implement the gender equality agenda of the SDGs?   See past Wikigender online discussions.   Key Resources OECD (March 2015). From commitment to action: Financing gender equality and women’s rights in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Harper, C., Nowacka, K., Alder, H. and Ferrant, G. (2014). Measuring women’s empowerment and social transformation in the post-2015 agenda. Joint ODI/OECD paper, March 2014. AWID (2014). New actors, new money, new conversations. A mapping of recent initiatives for women and girls. Christian Aid (2014). Taxing men and women: why gender is crucial for a fair tax system. (English) Christian Aid (2015). Impuestos a hombres y mujeres: Por qué el enfoque de género es crucial para un régimen fiscal justo. (Español) UN Women. Financing for Gender Equality (Official website) Gender and Development Network (June 2015). Making Financing for Development Work for Gender Equality: What is needed at Addis and beyond AWID (2013). Watering the Leaves, Starving the Roots AWID (2013). Women Moving Mountains     Wikigender articles Gender Equality and Financing for Development   Contribute! We look forward to your participation! We strongly encourage you to disseminate news about the online discussion via your networks and on Twitter using #genderequality, #FFD3 and #Action2015 and the following link to this page: http://bit.ly/1FWRsfD To participate, simply type your comment below or register directly via Disqus, Twitter or Facebook before typing your comment. Open for comments from 9am (CEST) on 22/06 until 5pm on 26/06. To insert a URL hyperlink, make sure you shorten the URL first before posting it, otherwise it may not work. (e.g. using bitly, google url shorterner, tiny url…) Anyone with an Internet connection is invited to participate in the discussion and we encourage you to express your views on this pressing issue. Please note however that comments will be moderated to ensure that there is no spam disrupting the discussion.   Problems to comment? Please make sure your browser supports Javascript. Disqus is rendered correctly in all major web browsers, including Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera. On mobile devices, Disqus currently only supports browsers using the WebKit layout engine. If you encounter any problem posting your comment, please email us at contact@wikigender.org and we will assist you.   Online Discussion

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