Catalog

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p. 14 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) The need for a revised policy on gender and development The Bank’s revised policy on gender and development Rationale Bank policy Operational approaches Institutional mechanisms Policy review and evaluation Responsibility for GAD Bankwide resource implications of the revised policy

Policy on Gender and Development : The Bank’s revised policy on gender and development

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Rationale

73. ADB and other development agencies have made considerable progress in implementing policies that aim to improve the economic and social condition of women in the region. Improvements in the education and health indicators for women evident throughout the region are the result of the combined efforts of governments, NGOs, funding agencies such as ADB, and women themselves. While achievements are notable, more needs to be done to accelerate the achievement of the goals and targets set for women into the 21st century. The challenge ahead, for development actors such as ADB, lies in continued attention to chronic problems of limited access to education, health care, decision making, financial services, and other resources, as well as meeting the new challenges and addressing the emerging problems for women in the region.

74. Since formulating its WID policy in 1985, ADB’s approach to dealing with WID issues has evolved from its cumulative experience, along very similar lines to that of other development agencies. ADB has progressed from a WID to a GAD approach that allows gender to be seen as a crosscutting issue influencing all social and economic processes. A GAD approach combined with mainstreaming is being promoted in ADB and, to a large extent, is already adopted in practice. Current ADB practices attempt to integrate gender issues in ADB’s macroeconomic, sector, and project work. The mainstreaming of gender concerns in all projects rather than segregated stand-alone WID projects is now the preferred option, although in special circumstances projects focusing exclusively on women continue to be promoted and processed. The revised OM section on WID issued in January 1997 provides the operational steps to ensure that gender considerations are addressed in all ADB operations.

75. In this respect, ADB’s policy on WID is now out of date, as the mainstreaming approach is not made explicit. Actual ADB practices have moved beyond the policy. The revised policy on GAD, aside from the change in name, will codify and give formal recognition to existing ADB requirements and practices. It will also introduce new institutional mechanisms for increasing and improving ADB’s performance and activities directed at improving the status of women. The GAD strategy is based on consideration of social justice and gender equity, as well as on substantial evidence³⁰ that investments in women are vital to achieving economic efficiency and growth.

76. ADB’s policy on WID was formulated and adopted in 1985, the year of the UN’s 3rd World Conference on Women held in Nairobi. A revision of this policy is timely and follows the UN’s 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. During the intervening decade since the policy was initially formulated, there have been significant changes in the region, in the field of women in development, in the issues and concerns of women, and in ADB itself. Since the adoption of the policy on WID, ADB has elevated gender concerns into the mainstream of its strategic development agenda by including the improvement of the status of women as one of its five strategic development objectives.

77. A new policy³¹ is needed to (i) reflect the changing environment, (ii) codify ADB’s transition from WID to GAD, (iii) incorporate current thinking on gender and development issues, (iv) increase the number of projects directly benefiting women, and (v) introduce the institutional mechanisms to fully operationalize ADB’s strategic development objective of improving the status of women. ADB’s GAD policy will

1. provide the appropriate policy framework for the new approaches and practices

2. place direct emphasis on gender mainstreaming

3. formulate procedures for operationalizing gender in ADB projects to make it more explicit

4. assist in building more effective operational approaches

5. provide the scope for addressing some of the new and emerging issues for women in the region and

6. introduce new institutional mechanisms for improving and increasing ADB’s performance and activities targeted at improving the status of women.

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