scholarly journals ‘The Girl Effect’: Exploring Narratives of Gendered Impacts and Opportunities in Neoliberal Development

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farzana Shain
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Uneven Development ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Good Investment ◽  
Neoliberal Development ◽  
Structural Relations ◽  
Cultural Causes ◽  
Causes Of Poverty

This paper explores representations of girls in current discourses of neoliberal development through an analysis of a range of texts that promote the global Girl Effect movement. These representations are situated in the context of theoretical debates about gender mainstreaming and policy developments that construct girls and women's ‘empowerment’ as ‘smart economics’. The paper draws on postcolonial and transnational feminist analyses that critique market-led approaches to development and their complicities in the dynamics of neo-colonialism and uneven development, to contextualise the Girl Effect movement. It is argued that the Girl Effect movement draws on colonial stereotypes of girls as sexually and culturally constrained, but reworks these through the discourses of neoliberal development to construct girls as good investment potential. In doing so, it reproduces a dominant narrative that highlights the cultural causes of poverty but obscures structural relations of exploitation and privilege.

scholarly journals State Ibuism and Women’s Empowerment in Indonesia: Governmentality and Political Subjectification of Chinese Benteng Women

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3559
Author(s):  
Vinny Flaviana Hyunanda ◽  
José Palacios Ramírez ◽  
Gabriel López-Martínez ◽  
Víctor Meseguer-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Active Member ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
Neoliberal Development ◽  
Ethnographic Methodology ◽  
High Level

This paper examines how the patriarchal understanding of “women’s empowerment” in Indonesia instrumentalizes the notion of Ibu, a social construction of womanhood based on a societally determined idea of domestication and productivity. Through the establishment of a saving and lending cooperative, a group of Chinese Benteng women was subjected to a neoliberal development project that operated on the basis of a market-driven society and promoted a “gender mainstreaming” discourse to enhance this participatory project. They were introduced by a women’s NGO as their broker. The notion of “women’s empowerment” inspired a governmental operation aimed at these women, promoting the particular qualities of the dutiful housewife, devoted mother, and socially active member of Indonesian society. These characters were distinguished by their high level of devotion to community volunteering and to the state’s apolitical project, thus depoliticizing and deradicalizing the feminist view of women’s empowerment; this was simultaneously balanced with the promotion of the traditional gender roles of wife and mother. Such a discourse also molds women’s desires to voluntarily subscribe to such a social construction of womanhood and, at the same time, circumvents objections to any form of women’s subordination reproduced by the same rhetoric of “women’s empowerment”. By employing an ethnographic methodology, this article argues that the patriarchal view of “women’s empowerment” emerged as a deceitful doctrine to prompt Chinese Benteng women into internalizing certain qualities according to the gendered conception of womanhood in Indonesia. This article concludes that the patronizing and dominating aspects of State Ibuism have normalized Indonesian society’s expectations and desires with regard to women’s empowerment.

scholarly journals Promoting Gender Equality in EU Development Aid: From Transformative Policy to Transformative Practice?

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Debusscher
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Transformative Practice

Promoting gender equality in EU development aidThe European Commission combines specific funds for women's empowerment with gender mainstreaming in its twin-track approach to gender equality in development aid policies. The strategy is successful in terms of budgets and formal appearance but it is implemented in a limited, interest-guided and expertbureaucratic manner. Furthermore by privileging EU interests the strategy fails to address the needs of the poorest developing countries and it ignores civil society concerns. In practice, the twin-track strategy severely limits the transformative potential of gender equality policies.

Dimensions and drivers of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwakemi Adeola Obayelu ◽  
Amaka Christiana Chime
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Nigeria

PurposeThe majority of poor women in Africa live in rural areas, and investigating their empowerment status and factors influencing their empowerment is therefore a tool for overcoming poverty. This paper investigated the dimensions and determinants of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThis study used data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Information on women's agencies, resource, income, leadership and time/workload was used to construct women empowerment index (WEI). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit regression model.FindingsMost of the decisions were made by the women's spouses, while decisions on how to spend her earnings were jointly made with her spouse. A majority of the women did not justify beating nor owned businesses. A larger percentage of rural women were disempowered than men; agency had the highest relative contribution to women's disempowerment; and women in the northern zones of Nigeria were less empowered than their southern counterparts. Husband's education and her age were inversely related to women's empowerments while her education, household size and being the household head were directly related to it.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of empirical studies on multidimensional women's empowerment in rural Nigeria. This study therefore provides a clear understanding of drivers of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria, and its findings are to serve as guiding documents for policymakers in designing gender-responsive interventions programs and implementation of a genuine gender mainstreaming in rural development policy in Nigeria. Further, the findings would contribute to the growing body of knowledge, especially empirical studies, on women's empowerment in Nigeria and the developing world.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2019-0455

scholarly journals Evaluating the Success of Gender Mainstreaming in New Zealand Official Development Assistance Since 2000

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Philippa Bennett
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Official Development Assistance ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Gender Policy ◽  
And Gender

<p>Gender mainstreaming is one of the most widespread methods employed by donor countries and their partners to address gender equality and women’s empowerment in development. New Zealand has had a varied history of engagement on gender issues within its aid programme. As reportedly one of the first countries within the OECD to have a specific gender policy, New Zealand’s commitment to women has waxed and waned. Case and point, in 2011, when asked where women came into New Zealand’s growing Pacific focus for aid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated that he was not interested in prescribing a gender within the aid programme. This research evaluated how gender mainstreaming has been implemented into the policies of New Zealand’s Official Development Assistance (NZODA) since 2000.   Research methods used included reviewing past and present NZODA policies, carried out alongside interviews with development specialists who had worked in the New Zealand aid and gender environment. Using a feminist lens, the research revealed that New Zealand’s ODA has had limited investment in gender equality and women’s empowerment, despite gender being mainstreamed or mandated as a cross-cutting issue since 2002. The previous structure which administered NZODA, NZAID, released an in-depth gender policy late in its existence and struggled to retain staff in the gender advisor role. The refocus of NZODA, with the subsequent reintegration of aid into foreign affairs in 2009 meant the expiration of this policy. Two years later, the new body established to administer NZODA, the NZ Aid Programme, released its only policy, where gender equality and women’s empowerment featured little and appeared tokenistic. As well as this lack of investment in women, this research revealed that gender mainstreaming appears to be misunderstood, which can only contribute to its widely perceived ineffectiveness. Recommendations argue for a committed focus on gender best practice within NZODA, alongside greater investment in programmes and activities that specifically focus on women and gender issues.</p>

scholarly journals Gender Empowerment in South Korean Development: Lessons for Foreign Aid

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Mee Kim ◽  
Jae Eun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Women's Employment ◽  
Women’S Employment ◽  
Gender Empowerment ◽  
And Gender

Souch Korea's rapid economic development in the 20th century had in its core women's employment in labor-intensive, export industries. This paper examines South Korea's economic development through the lens of women's employment and gender empowerment. Although women's empowerment was not part of a goal of South Korea's development, large mobilization of women in the exporting light manufacturing sector eventually led to women's empowerment. Using OECD/DAC's guidelines on gender mainstreaming and gender equality, the paper examines how the Souch Korean experience can provide an alternative to women's empowerment in developing countries. We conclude that there has to be greater sensitivity to address gender-related issues including gender-mainstreaming and gender-sensitive budgets in order to help women attain economic as well as political empowerment in development cooperation.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Success of Gender Mainstreaming in New Zealand Official Development Assistance Since 2000

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Philippa Bennett
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Official Development Assistance ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Gender Policy ◽  
And Gender

<p>Gender mainstreaming is one of the most widespread methods employed by donor countries and their partners to address gender equality and women’s empowerment in development. New Zealand has had a varied history of engagement on gender issues within its aid programme. As reportedly one of the first countries within the OECD to have a specific gender policy, New Zealand’s commitment to women has waxed and waned. Case and point, in 2011, when asked where women came into New Zealand’s growing Pacific focus for aid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated that he was not interested in prescribing a gender within the aid programme. This research evaluated how gender mainstreaming has been implemented into the policies of New Zealand’s Official Development Assistance (NZODA) since 2000.   Research methods used included reviewing past and present NZODA policies, carried out alongside interviews with development specialists who had worked in the New Zealand aid and gender environment. Using a feminist lens, the research revealed that New Zealand’s ODA has had limited investment in gender equality and women’s empowerment, despite gender being mainstreamed or mandated as a cross-cutting issue since 2002. The previous structure which administered NZODA, NZAID, released an in-depth gender policy late in its existence and struggled to retain staff in the gender advisor role. The refocus of NZODA, with the subsequent reintegration of aid into foreign affairs in 2009 meant the expiration of this policy. Two years later, the new body established to administer NZODA, the NZ Aid Programme, released its only policy, where gender equality and women’s empowerment featured little and appeared tokenistic. As well as this lack of investment in women, this research revealed that gender mainstreaming appears to be misunderstood, which can only contribute to its widely perceived ineffectiveness. Recommendations argue for a committed focus on gender best practice within NZODA, alongside greater investment in programmes and activities that specifically focus on women and gender issues.</p>

scholarly journals Evaluasi Pelaksanaan Pengarusutamaan Gender (PUG) kota Pekanbaru

SOROT ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Siti Soleha ◽  
Afriyanni Afriyanni
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
City Government ◽  
Gender Development ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Development Index ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Analysis Technique

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk untuk mendeskripsikan dan mengevaluasi pelaksanaan Pengarusutamaan Gender (PUG) di Kota Pekanbaru. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif untuk mengevaluasi penyelenggaraan PUG Kota Pekanbaru berdasarkan Peraturan Menteri Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak Nomor 7 Tahun 2018  . Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan studi dokumentasi dan wawancara mendalam. Untuk menguji keabsahan dan validitas data digunakan teknik triangulasi sumberdata dan triangulasi teknik. Teknik analisis data dilakukan dengan cara reduksi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan Capaian indikator pembangunan gender di Kota Pekanbaru baik dari Indeks Pembangunan Manusia (IPM) dan Indeks Pembangunan Gender (IPG) sudah berada di atas level nasional dan provinsi namun dari Indeks Disparitas Gender (IDG) masih perlu menjadi perhatian pemerintah. Selanjutnya berdasarkan Peraturan Menteri Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak Nomor 7 Tahun 2018, Pemerintah Kota Pekanbaru telah memenuhi syarat kelembagaan PUG namun hasilnya belum optimal. Hambatan yang dihadapi dalam pelaksanaan PUG yaitu belum kuatnya regulasi yang mengatur pelaksanaan Gender serta masih lemahnya komitmen pimpinan OPD untuk melaksanakan PUG. Penelitian ini merekomendasikan perlunya menetapkan Peraturan Daerah tentang PUG, mendorong munculnya Inovasi – inovasi mendukung PUG dan penguatan sumberdaya baik SDM dan anggaran.This study aims to describe and evaluate the implementation of Gender Mainstreaming (PUG) in Pekanbaru City. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach to evaluate the implementation of PUG in Pekanbaru City based on the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Regulation Number 7 of 2018. Data collection techniques were carried out with documentation studies and in-depth interviews. To test the validity and validity of the data used data source triangulation techniques and triangulation techniques. The data analysis technique was carried out through data reduction, data presentation, and concluding. The results showed that the achievement of gender development indicators in Pekanbaru City, both from the Human Development Index (IPM) and the Gender Development Index (GIP) were already above the national and provincial levels, but the Gender Disparity Index (IDG) still needed the government's attention. Furthermore, based on the Regulation of the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Number 7 of 2018, the Pekanbaru City Government has fulfilled the PUG institutional requirements but the results have not been optimal. The obstacles faced in the implementation of PUG are the lack of strong regulations governing the implementation of Gender and the weak commitment of OPD leaders to implement PUG. This study recommends the need to stipulate a Regional Regulation on PUG, encourage the emergence of innovations to support PUG, and strengthen resources, both human resources and budget.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Through Microfinance - A Case of Rural Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Saida Parvin
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Women’s empowerment has been at the centre of research focus for many decades. Extant literature examined the process, outcome and various challenges. Some claimed substantial success, while others contradicted with evidence of failure. But the success remains a matter of debate due to lack of empirical evidence of actual empowerment of women around the world. The current study aimed to address this gap by taking a case study method. The study critically evaluates 20 cases carefully sampled to include representatives from the entire country of Bangladesh. The study demonstrates popular beliefs about microfinance often misguide even the borrowers and they start living in a fabricated feeling of empowerment, facing real challenges to achieve true empowerment in their lives. The impact of this finding is twofold; firstly there is a theoretical contribution, where the definition of women’s empowerment is proposed to be revisited considering findings from these cases. And lastly, the policy makers at governmental and non-governmental organisations, and multinational donor agencies need to revise their assessment tools for funding.

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