| The Quaterly e-Newsletter of the Gender Network | September 2009 | Vol. 3 No. 3 |
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IN FOCUS
Gender Panel on the Implications of the Global Recession on Asia
ADB facilitated the organization of a gender panel as part of the High-Level Regional Conference on the Impact of the Global Economic Slowdown on Poverty and Sustainable Development (28-30 September, Hanoi, Viet Nam). H.E. Ing Kantha Phavi, Minister of Women's Affairs in Cambodia chaired the session.
The session focused on examining gender impacts of the recession in crisis-affected export sectors across the region, the Cambodia garment sector, and women in the informal economy. It also highlighted a gender-responsive approach as one of the most effective strategies for mitigating negative social impacts and promoting more inclusive recovery and growth, with the recession providing a rare opportunity for public policy to tackle prevailing gender inequalities through promotion of decent work and gender-responsive social protection.
The following were the presentations made by ADB, ILO Bangkok* and WIEGO* during the panel:
View the Conference program , papers and presentations.
10th Meeting of the External Forum on Gender
 ADB's External Forum on Gender and Development (EFG) held its 10th session at ADB headquarters from 14-18 July 2009. The 10th meeting was aimed at providing (i) feedback on ADB's implementation of its Gender and Development (GAD) Plan of Action 2008-2010 and rapid gender assessments; (ii) recommendations to better engender ADB's response to the global economic crisis; and (iii) recommendations to better mainstream gender equity in ADB's support for heavy infrastructure projects. The EFG also conducted seminars on gender mainstreaming in infrastructure projects in the energy and transport sectors ; and on the gender dimensions of the economic/financial crisis. View the seminar presentations of EFG members Caren Grownn and Yasuko Muramatsu , and from Marina Durano of Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era. In addition, gender specialist consultants from ADB's resident missions in Mongolia and Sri Lanka briefed the EFG on current challenges and achievements in gender mainstreaming in these countries.
The observations and recommendations of the EFG's 10th session are summarized in an Outcome Document. For more information on the EFG, visit the website [www.adb.org/Gender/forum.asp].
See outcome document .
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Gender Mainstreaming in ADB
This issue also provides a snapshot on ADB's efforts to mainstream gender in its operations.
- Findings of the 2008 Development Effectiveness Review
The 2008 Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR) was presented and discussed in July. The 2008 DEfR concluded that ADB is off track in delivering its gender mainstreaming target outlined in ADB's Results Framework –that is that 40% of annual approval of all ADB sovereign projects will have gender mainstreaming by 2012. In response to the findings of the 2008 Development Effectiveness Review, an Interdepartmental Technical Working Group was established in July to review ADB's approaches to gender mainstreaming in operations and come up with recommendations on measures to improve gender mainstreaming in ADB operations later this year.
The DEfR is an annual report by ADB's management that assesses ADB's progress in implementing its long-term strategic framework--Strategy 2020.
- Briefings on Gender Mainstreaming
Simultaneously, briefing for operational staff on gender mainstreaming were conducted from July to September covering 16 divisions in ADB's operational departments for Central and West Asia, East Asia, Pacific, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
More briefings of this type, staff trainings with modules on gender and development are planned. Staff guidelines and pilot projects in the area of climate change and private sector development are also being looked at.
An Informal Board Seminar is also scheduled on 5 October to brief ADB's Board of Directors on mainstreaming gender in ADB's operations.
- GAD Plan of Action (2008-2010) 2008 Annual Progress Report
For more information on ADB's gender activities in 2008, view the Report available on ADB's website.
Gender Equality Results
Rapid gender assessments of 12 projects in four countries—Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam—illustrated successful gender equality outcomes when good quality project gender action plans and other implementation measures are included in projects. For example, Viet Nam Central Region Urban Environmental Improvement Project (approved in 2003) achieved 90% of women's participation target in the community management committee on urban environment and sanitation. Gender sensitization training was conducted for staff in urban environment companies, community leaders and provincial and community bodies. For the solid waste component, the urban environment companies changed the designs of household garbage cans and garbage carts used by collectors to make them lighter, so that women can easily handle them, a direct result of gender sensitization provided by the project.
The synthesis report and the four country reports will be published within the year. Findings were presented in a seminar in ADB on 16 July during the 10th Meeting of the External Forum on Gender and Development.
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ADB EVENTS
Briefing on Second Rapid Gender Assessments of Selected Loan and Grant Projects
ADB Consultant Juliet Hunt presented the findings of the rapid gender assessments on selected projects in Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam.
View the presentation .
Pacific Knowledge Seminar Series: Gender Mainstreaming
Eugenia McGill, lecturer and workshop director at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs joined ADB's Sonomi Tanaka and Sakiko Tanaka in discussing gender mainstreaming in Pacific operations.
View the presentation .
CoP Seminars
The Gender and Development Community of Practice organized the following seminars:
- Gender Mainstreaming in the Tonle Sap Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project in Cambodia. The Ministry of Rural Development shared their experiences and lessons from the first project on 14 August.
View the presentation .
- Seminar on Gender, Migration, and Remittances. Ms. Sandra Panopio of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women made a presentation on 3 September on the institute's research methodology and project on Gender and Remittances: Creating Gender Responsive Local Development.
View the presentation .
Seminar on the Impact of the Global Recession on Women in the Informal Economy
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EXTERNAL EVENTS
UN Country Gender Coordination Meeting
ADB Afghanistan Resident Mission hosted the monthly UN country gender coordination meeting with over 30 gender advisors from donor agencies in attendance. Gender issues were discussed which includes issue on violence against women, education bill for women, preparation of database of qualified Afghan women for government positions, among others.
Workshop on Gender Reform Action Plans
ADB Country Director Rune Stroem addressed a stakeholders' workshop in Pakistan organized by the Ministry of Women's Development and Decentralization Support Program, Finance Division, in collaboration with ADB
View the article*.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Seminar on the Impact of the Global Recession on Women in the Informal Economy, 2 October, ADB Headquarters
National Women's Summit on Women's Self-Reliant Leadership and Collective Empowerment in Times of Crises*, 20-21 October 2009, Quezon City, Philippines
Regional Seminar on Gender, Environment, and Natural Resources Management, 2-24 October, New Delhi, India
Gender Specialists' Annual Consultation Workshop, 26-28 October, New Delhi, India
Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion Working Group on Human Resource Development Social Development Subgroup, 24-25 November 2009, Vientiane, Lao PDR
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Gender Specialists' Corner
ADB Welcomes New Gender Specialists
 Ms. Theonakhet Saphakdy joined ADB as a consultant in July 2009. Prior ADB, she worked as Gender Advisor for IFAD project in Lao PDR. She also worked as the gender focal point in the UNDP Central office in Vientiane, working closely with the Lao Women's Union and both national and international organizations working in Lao PDR. Ms. Saphakdy obtained a Master Degree in Gender Development Studies from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, in May 2005. Ms. Saphakdy's prime responsibility in LRM is to provide assistance in administering the GAD aspect of ADB-assisted loans and technical assistances (TAs), and in country partnership strategy and gender capacity development, project processing and project implementation, and gender focal point activities.
 ADB also welcomes Ms. Samantha Hung who joined ADB in August as Social Development Specialist (GAD) in the Poverty Reduction, Gender, and Social Development Division of the Regional and Sustainable Development Department. Ms. Hung has over 10 years of professional experience working on gender issues. Before joining ADB, she was the Gender Advisor in the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID), and was responsible for the implementation of the NZAID Policy for Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
She also worked on the development, implementation and monitoring of the NZAID Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan, establishment, leadership and coordination of the NZAID Gender Community of Practice, and for providing technical advisory support to NZAID bilateral, regional and multilateral programs.
Gender Mainstreaming Awareness Workshop
A two-day workshop was held for ADB staff in the Afghanistan Resident Mission (AFRM). The workshop focused on gender integration, ways to mainstream gender into development interventions, and how to use gender analysis checklist in ADB projects. AFRM gender specialist Asila Wardak Jamal conducted the workshop.
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NEWS
ADB News
ADB and Partners Address HIV Risks in Infrastructure Projects, ADB
Business as Usual Approach to Health Failing Women and Children in Asia, ADB
Other News
The Women's Crusade*, The New York Times
Working women in frontline of slowdown*, The Financial Express
Fund for Gender Equality Call for Proposals*, UNIFEM
Philippines Officially Enacts Legislation for Gender Equality*, UNIFEM
Going Beyond Gender as Usual: Why and How Global HIV/AIDS Donors Can do More for Women and Girls*, Center for Global Development
Regional agencies combine forces to boost support for gender equality*, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Pacific must address gender equality to combat HIV*, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
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ADB PUBLICATIONS
 Broken Lives: Trafficking in Human Beings in Lao People's Democratic Republic
This study takes a hard look at human trafficking in the northern region of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) in the context of rapid economic and social change. It provides analysis and recommendations aimed at mitigating the increased vulnerability of ethnic groups to trafficking on account of loss of traditional livelihoods and cultural norms
 The Significance of Referral Systems as a Response to Human Trafficking and Unsafe Migration
This publication explains the significance of "referral systems" in the context of trafficking and migration. This publication argues that the working concept of referral systems should not be underestimated as an information-gathering tool to aid anti-trafficking policy.
 Intersections – Gender, HIV, and Infrastructure Operations: Lessons from Selected ADB-Financed Transport Projects
This publication assesses the nexus between gender inequalities, HIV spread, and infrastructure development. A desk review and field visits in selected ADB transport project sites in Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, India, Papua New Guinea, and Tajikistan. The study identified promising practices for a more sustainable and gender-inclusive response to the epidemic.
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OTHER RESOURCES
HIV Transmission in Intimate Partner Relationship in Asia*, UNIFEM
The report was released in Bali on 11 August at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.
Gender and GIS: Mapping the Links between Spatial Exclusion, Transport Access, and the Millennium Development Goals in Lesotho, Ethiopia, and Ghana*, Resources for the Future
ADB's Wendy Walker just co-published a discussion paper with her colleague on the Geographic Information System (GIS)-based research on gender dimensions of transport in Africa. The paper explores how GIS technology can support integrated evaluations of the gender dimensions of transport using an innovative combination of community participatory mapping, new gender-disaggregated household-level data.
Time for Action: CEDAW Implementation in Southeast Asia*, UNIFEM
The publication shows how the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has been used in advocacy for stronger legal frameworks that prohibit discrimination against women and advance women's human rights, in sensitizing the justice system to protect the rights of women, in guiding local development and budget allocation processes. The examples are drawn from UNIFEM supported initiatives and those supported by other organizations.
Gender Equality Laws: Global Good Practice and a Review of Five Southeast Asian Countries*, UNIFEM
This publication comprehensively examines and analyses gender quality laws from around the world, providing a range of good practice examples. It also provides a detailed analysis of five draft and enacted gender equality law in Southeast Asia.
Going Beyond Gender as Usual: Why and How Global HIV/AIDS Donors Can Do More for Women and Girls*, Center for Global Development (CDG)
The CDG Brief reviews how three donors to global HIV/AIDS programs can go beyond their stated commitments to address gender inequality and more effectively combat HIV and AIDS.
Gender Responsive Budgeting Website*
The Gender Responsive Budgeting website is a collaborative effort between the United Nations* Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Commonwealth Secretariat*, and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC)*. The website provides a variety of resources on gender responsive budgeting.
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About This Newsletter The Gender Network e-Newsletter is an electronic bulletin for professionals, researchers, civil society, academics, and their counterparts in the donor community who are interested in gender issues. It is published 4 times per year and offers information about events, conferences, training opportunities and activities at ADB Headquarters and resident missions. Special issues will also be published on gender specific topics.
Disclaimer The Asian Development Bank provides the information contained in this newsletter and links to its web site solely as a resource. While ADB tries to provide high-quality content on its web site, it does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of this information; and therefore, will not be liable in any capacity for damages or losses to the user that may result from the use of this information. ADB and its affiliate offices, likewise, will not be responsible for any errors, omissions, or inadvertent alterations that may occur in the disclosure of content in this newsletter or on its web site. |
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