Gender perspectives on decentralisation and service users’ participation in rural Tanzania

Abstract

Increasing participation in decision-making processes by service users is one of the objectives of decentralisation reforms in Tanzania. The argument is that decentralisation enhances participation by all sections of the community, and by women in particular, and results in decisions that better reflect local needs. This paper examines the impact of decentralisation reforms on service users' participation for delivery of water and health services in rural Tanzania, using a gender perspective and principal-agent theory. The paper investigates how decentralisation has fostered spaces for participation and how men and women use these spaces, and identifies factors that constrain or encourage women's participation. It shows that decentralisation reforms have created spaces for service users' participation at the local level. Participation in these spaces, however, differs between men and women, and is influenced by the socio-cultural norms within the household and community. Men have gained more leverage than women to exercise their agency as principals. Women's participation is contributing to addressing practical gender needs, but strategic gender needs have been less adequately addressed because gendered power relations have been largely untouched by the reforms.

Inclusive participation, self-governance, and sustainability: Current challenges and opportunities for women in leadership of communal irrigation systems

“…Existing and intersecting differences between water users (i.e. gender, age, socio-economic and cultural background) explain differences in terms of water use, personal interests and resulting wealth within a community (Harris, 2015;Sultana, 2015) and are reflected in the dynamics of participation in WUAs (Masanyiwa et al, 2014;Mustafa et al, 2016), thus, who is willing or allowed to participate, as well as why and to what degree.…”

“…Inclusion and exclusion of women in water governance structures, as well as other community participation organizations, are shaped by four intertwined sets of factors: institutional governance factors; personal factors and attributes; the contextual dynamics of social relations, including gender relations (Agarwal, 2010;Masanyiwa et al, 2014;Raha et al, 2013); and the complex and "uneven" interactions (Collard et al, 2018) between physical characteristics of the resource ("nature") and society (Sultana, 2009). Agarwal (2001) suggests that more women would be empowered if they were included in more equitable numbers and through equitable forms of governance.…”

Travelling models of participation: Global ideas and local translations of water management in Namibia

“…As Masanyiwa et al (2014) have pointed out, most analyses focus on political institutions at the national and regional level and rarely reach into the local domain (Masanyiwa et al 2014, 96). These authors contribute to overcoming this gap by examining participation in water and health services in rural Tanzania.…”

“…In particular, the participation of women became a major political and societal goal. Their participation is thought to enhance the access to vital resources for previously cut-off groups, to transform unequal power relations, and to help overcome poverty more generally (Schreiner et al 2004;Singh 2008;Masanyiwa et al 2014). These understandings cumulate in concepts like community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) for which the World Bank summarizes that the "active participation of stakeholders in natural resource decision making and use increases economic and environmental benefits" (Worldbank 2003).…”

Women’s Participation in Village Developent Planning: Case of Indonesia

“…On the other hand, there is a growing body of literature on the importance of women's participation in local decision-making processes. For instance, Hicks (2011) and Masanyiwa et al (2014) noted that women's participation in participatory decision-making is seen as a mean to strengthen gender-sensitivity to local conditions and priorities, thus enabling greater influence of women over planning and service delivery. The present paper is organized as follows.…”