Quick Impact Initiatives for Gender Equality: A Menu of Options

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The paper is organized as follows. The next section summarizes seven strategic priorities for achieving gender equality and women's empowerment recommended by UN Millennium Project Task Force 3. These seven strategic priorities are the framework within which a range of interventions for gender equality and women's empowerment has been identified. Section 3 proposes six criteria for identifying gender-sensitive Quick Impact Initiatives from among the range of interventions that can be implemented for gender equality, focusing specifically on improving economic opportunities. Based roughly on these criteria, Sections 4 and 5 propose a menu of quick impact initiatives that can promote gender equality and empower women, either directly or indirectly, in low and middle-income countries. The paper concludes with recommendations for the World Bank, other donor agencies, and national governments for implementing gender QIIs in national MDG development strategies. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may 3Before proceeding, it is important to note that Quick Impact Initiatives should not be seen as substitutes for long-term development strategies or for the transformation that is required to take place in institutions and policies. Implementing a full set of MDGbased investments and policies will take time and in many cases will involve complex institutional change. But by implementing the quick impact initiatives described in the following pages, large-scale progress can begin immediately and major results can be achieved within three or more years. Because QIIs have been proven to work in a reasonably short time, they can help build confidence in government and donor efforts to achieve MDG3. More importantly, they can be the fulcrum for longer-term efforts and investments to empower women. Box 1. Illustrative Quick Wins• Eliminate school and uniform fees to ensure that all children, especially girls, are not out of school because of their families' poverty. Lost revenues should be replaced with more equitable and efficient sources of finance, including donor assistance.• Provide impoverished farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa with affordable replenishments of soil nitrogen and other soil nutrients.• Provide free school meals for all children using locally produced foods with takehome rations.• Design community nutrition programs that support breastfeeding and provide access to locally produced complementary foods and, where needed, micronutrient (especially zinc and v...

Female Participation in NREGA Programme: a Comparative Study of Two Backward Districts in West Bengal, India

“…Increased say of women in household affairs is the reflection of the overall impact of the programme on women. Local availability of work, work site facilities and equal wages to women are the main features of the scheme, which have a significant impact on women's participation in public works and their empowerment (Grown 2006).…”

Redressing the gender gap

“…While they are related, they are not the same. Gender equality is about women's status relative to men while women's empowerment is about women's ability to exercise control, power, and choice over practical and strategic decisions (Grown, 2006). There is consensus on defining empowerment; however, most measures have only quantified the dimensions of control over resources and outcomes.…”

“…Charmes and Wieringa (2003) have defined a Women's Empowerment Matrix (WEM) that consists of six dimensions (physical, socio-cultural, religious, economic, political, and legal) and six levels (individual, household, community, state, region, and global). Grown (2006) defines three domains of empowerment (adopted by the Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality). The first one is the capabilities domain, which evaluates knowledge and health factors through indicators of education, health, and nutrition.…”