Gender and Development

Bangladesh

Third Rural Infrastructure Development Project, 1997

Infrastructure projects are sometimes thought to have few or no gender implications. This project shows how wrong we can be. The overall objectives of the Project are to accelerate economic and social development in the project area by improving, and subsequently maintaining basic rural infrastructure. Project components include development of the rural road network and associated bridges and culverts; improvement of growth center markets and boat landing facilities or ghats; construction of flash flood refuges and development of improved growth center markets and council (union parishad) complexes. Related income generation activities (e.g. road maintenance) are included.

In the project area, poverty is widespread, and about 35 per cent of households are female headed. Women have been relatively inactive in income generating activities, and project design aims to promote their participation in project activities by providing them with selling areas in growth center markets.

During a project review mission it was noted that important gender-related concerns had not been addressed during project design. For example, it was expected and assumed that men would undertake construction work. Yet, in reality many poor women were working on construction sites. Therefore it was important to encourage equal pay for equal work. In a society where segregation of the sexes is the norm, provision of separate toilets and waiting rooms in public buildings is essential. Design modifications of facilities were required to accommodate this cultural need in all aspects of infrastructure development, including market and council complexes, ghats and flood refuges.

In the case of flood refugee, the potential needs of women were not considered. For example, the design of the building was one large room. In many instances, families remain in the flood refuge centers for weeks. During this period, the potential exists for pregnant women to give birth during their stay at the refuge. Accordingly, it was important to modify the building design to make provision for a small room for privacy and medical equipment.

In the case of the new market centers, it was not sufficient to simply provide female selling areas. Women also needed training in shop and business management as sellers and buyers, and to be linked with Market Management Committees through representation on Vendor Associations.

When undertaking income generating activities, whether it be in construction, maintenance, or market-related; women are often unfamiliar with banking services. They consequently needed assistance to open individual bank accounts, to have wage payments made through banks, and to establish compulsory savings. Group support was seen as an important factor here.

To address these issues, a detailed Gender and Development-GAD-Action Plan was developed as mid-course corrections to address these concerns. The GAD Action Plan includes indicators to facilitate progress monitoring. These are included in the overall project implementation monitoring system. To set the plan in context, ADB through its Resident Mission conducted gender sensitization training for project officials, contractors, concerned NGOs, and various beneficiary/user groups. The Action Plan also included the recruitment of a GAD specialist to coordinate implementation of the Action Plan and the integration of gender in project-related budget allocation.

Under RETA 5889, which supports small-scale GAD initiatives, funds were provided to promote institutionalization of GAD in the executing agency, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). The project included orientation of senior officials, training of trainers for middle level officers and research/development of guidelines to ensure gender mainstreaming in future LGED projects.

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For more updates, read the ADB Review article Making Infrastructure Work for Women

Read the article Paving the Road to a Better Future