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p. 4 of 20 BACK | NEXT Executive summary Introduction Gender and development issues in the Asian and Pacific region Overview of Bank policy and operations on WID (1985-1996) Gender considerations in the Bank’s macroeconomic work Gender considerations in project work Gender considerations in recruitment and staffing The need for a revised policy on gender and development The Bank’s revised policy on gender and development

Policy on Gender and Development

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Overview of ADB policy and operations on WID (1985–1996)

21. ADB’s Policy on the Role of Women in Development was adopted in 1985. It provided the following directives:

1. promote the role of women by providing financing for those projects that will directly benefit women or facilitate their participation in development

2. support projects in social infrastructure that provide direct benefits for women, and in sectors that create income-generating and employment opportunities for women

3. take account of the role of women and the effects projects may have on them at every stage of the project cycle, particularly project identification, preparation, appraisal, implementation, and postevaluation

4. undertake efforts to promote increased WID awareness among staff, and develop suitable approaches and staff instruction to assist them and

5. seek to build a socioeconomic database on WID and consider sponsoring or cosponsoring workshops, seminars, and training courses on promoting the role of WID¹⁰.

22. Initially, ADB’s WID approach, like that of other aid agencies, was to implement a range of activities within its regular operational program that emphasized women as a special target group. Emphasis was placed on the provision of financing for projects in areas such as social infrastructure that directly benefit women, as well as in agriculture, rural development, and small-scale industries that create income-earning and employment opportunities for women.

23. In 1992, ADB’s policy on WID was reinforced and given added momentum by being included in ADB’s Medium-Term Strategic Framework as one of ADB’s five strategic development objectives (SDOs), alongside overall economic growth, poverty reduction, human development including population planning, and sound management of natural resources and the environment. This elevated women to the mainstream of ADB’s strategic development agenda. The introduction of the strategic framework was followed in 1993 by ADB’s adoption of a commitment to achieving a portfolio mix of approximately 50:50 between the number of traditional growth projects and those addressing social and environmental concerns.

24. Since 1992, increased efforts have been directed to operationalizing the new emphasis on women in ADB’s mainstream development agenda. To implement the SDO of improving the status of women, there was some refocusing of direction and a shift in emphasis from addressing women only in projects in the social sectors to considering gender implications in all aspects of ADB operations. In other words, a mainstreaming approach was developed and largely adopted. This meant systematically addressing gender considerations in ADB’s macroeconomic work, such as country operational strategy studies (COSSs), country assistance plans (CAPs), and related analytical work in economic and sector studies; promotion of gender analysis in all projects; facilitating gender considerations to be addressed at all stages of the project cycle; and careful screening of ADB activities to ensure that sufficient attention is given to gender issues.

25. The revised Operations Manual (OM) issued in January 1997 includes a revised section on WID¹¹ that provides more detailed operational procedures to guide ADB staff in addressing gender issues in ADB’s operations. It reflects the mainstreaming approach that is currently promoted and increasingly being adopted. A related section was added to the Guidelines on Operational Procedures.

26. ADB-wide training on WID has been conducted regularly on an annual basis since 1989 to introduce, familiarize, and sensitize ADB staff to WID issues, and to impart knowledge and practical skills such as the conduct of gender analysis. More recently, WID training was also introduced into the Bank’s Operations Induction Program for New Staff (since 1995), project implementation seminars for executing agencies (since 1994), and the secondment scheme (since 1994). Specifically tailored, client-oriented, and sector-specific training on GAD is currently being developed and scheduled for trial in two sectors toward the latter part of 1998.

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