Gender and Development

Pakistan

Malakand Rural Development Project, 1999

The Malakand Rural Development Project, that started operation in 2000, is a multisectoral, participatory, area based rural development project being implemented in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The project's overall objective is poverty reduction, but it has a strong gender and development (GAD) objective as well. Seventy two percent of the target population lives below the poverty line. Project components include village development services, financial services, road development and implementation support and capacity building for community-based organizations, including community-based health services.

One of the typical problems at the time of project implementation is that while project design documents may specify that women are to be fully involved in all project activities, such a provision may not materialize due to various reasons, such as lack of clear implementation mechanisms and resources, inadequate knowledge of or sensitivity to such provision on the side of project implementers.

Being aware of the potential 'missed opportunity', a gender review was carried out at the time of Project Inception to see any potential gaps between ADB's project documents and the project documents to be used by project implementers. The results revealed that while the ADB's project documents stipulated that women were to be fully involved, the documents to be used by project implementers did not provide any specific assurances concerning the project's objectives to benefit women. They did not mention the need to facilitate and ensure access of women to all project benefits, or related implementation arrangements. Given the low status of women in much of Pakistan, it was therefore likely that their participation in and benefit from the project may be compromised.

Based on this review, the project components, implementation arrangements and annual work plan were re-assessed through the gender lens, and a comprehensive Gender Action Plan for the project was prepared and accepted by the Government.

The project's Gender Action Plan promotes gender mainstreaming by ensuring earmarking of a minimum percentage of resources in all project components and activities. Institutional arrangements include allocation of female staff to all project activities, recruitment of a gender specialist and coordinator, and female representation in all project committees. Given the socio-cultural context of Pakistan and the associated difficulties faced by women living away from home, the gender action plan includes provision for a separate hostel to be constructed for female project staff and for modified project vehicles to provide them with separate seating arrangements.

Suitably qualified women's organizations will be used to deliver project components to women. Where needed, the project will provide capacity building assistance to enhance their capabilities. The project's human resource development strategy will include gender considerations. To ensure that GAD issues are adequately monitored, a GAD roundtable will be established at the district and project level to discuss critical gender issues and provide operational support. The roundtable will be able to draw on conclusions of the gender specific monitoring system with its gender-disaggregated targets, and the gender strategy reflected in the action plan will be reviewed and modified on an annual basis.