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)

Wikigender is hosting an online discussion ”Engendering the city: women and urban governance” from Monday, 3 to Friday, 7 October, with partners UN-Habitat, Women in Cities International and the OECD Development Centre’s Gender Team.

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

Wikigender is hosting an online discussion ”Paving the way to gender equality: gender perspectives for inclusive urban mobility” from Monday, 15  to Friday, 19 August, with partners UN-Habitat, Women in Cities International and the OECD Development Centre’s Gender Team.

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)