Over the past 20 years, discussions on African women have been influenced by the prevailing currents within development thinking. From the early 1970s, Ms. Ester Boserup's pioneering Women's Role in Economic Development, the work of female development professionals and UN agencies noted the important roles that women play in agricultural economies, compared with the low or negative impact of development policies on their status and access to resources. This led to efforts to better integrate women into development processes, within a framework that saw societies in the South gradually "modernizing" along lines similar to those of the industrialized North. The emphasis of this "women in development" (WID) perspective was on women's productive roles, fueled by a belief that by simply improving women's access to technology, credit and extension services, women's productivity would increase and this would positively influence the development process. Critics of the WID perspective argued that it failed to take into account women's reproductive roles and ignored the larger social processes that shape women's lives.
A closely related approach was known as "women and development" (WAD). Derived from a political economy perspective, it focused on the relationship between women and development processes, rather than on strategies for integrating women into development, noting that women have always been important economic actors in their societies. Like WID, however, the WAD viewpoint concentrated on the productive sector, at the expense of the reproductive side of women's work and lives.
The "gender and development" (GAD) approach emerged in the 1980s, as an alternative to WID. It links relations of production to those of reproduction, thus taking into account all spheres of women's lives. Like WID, this perspective aims at economic efficiency. However, unlike WID, it is not preoccupied with women per se, but with the social realities that shape views of sex and assign specific roles, responsibilities and expectations to women and men. Through gender analysis, it focuses attention on the differences and constraints under which men and women work, using those insights to tailor policies and programmes that will improve overall productivity. Using the language of economics and efficiency to help deliver resources to women, gender analysis is seen as a non-confrontational approach to planning.
However, the GAD perspective also has some critics. Some argue that by focusing on what separates women and men, it neglects the social relations that also connect them, as well as how changes may be brought about in men's and women's respective roles. In addition, by not emphasizing social relations sufficiently, it has been argued, the GAD perspective cannot explain how powerful gender relations can subvert the impact of resources directed at women or adequately identify women's interests and what trade-offs they are willing to make to fulfill their ideals of motherhood or marriage.
Based on: Shahrashoub Razavi and Carol Miller, From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourses, Geneva: UN Research Institute on Social Development, Occasional Paper 1, 1995.
Over the years, national offices for women have been set up in a number of African countries, but many face problems that have hampered their effectiveness. Their location in low-priority ministries and departments, such as sports and social development, have often diluted their purpose. Few have received sufficient budgetary allocations or the requisite numbers of well-trained personnel to carry out their work. Yet issues affecting women span a broad range - from agricultural and credit policies to political action on women's behalf - requiring considerable expertise and clear institutional links to be able to influence policy, implementation and monitoring, and to obtain feedback.
But few women's offices possess staff with the necessary technical expertise, inter-disciplinary training and political clout. Together with the lack of official commitment to dealing with issues affecting women, this has resulted in these offices' marginalization and ineffectiveness. When they have managed to attract funding for projects for women, these have tended to be short-term and discrete, often targeted at improving women's incomes or introducing small-scale technologies to them. With structural adjustment programmes and the reduction of government spending in some areas, women's offices have faced cuts. Many have virtually disappeared. In a few countries, political NGOs such as the Better Life for Rural Women in Nigeria and the 31st December Women's Movement in Ghana, run by First Ladies, have taken over the functions of the national offices and attracted government and multilateral funding.
National offices have important advocacy and monitoring roles to perform and need to be strengthened and equipped. In conjunction with the emerging associations of media women, educators, lawyers and women working for peace, they can work to influence national politics and development processes in favour of women.
In preparation for its major conference on "African Women and Economic Development: Investing in Our Future" on 28 April to 1 May 1998, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) proposed 10 strategic actions for reducing gender disparities and promoting the empowerment of women in Africa. The following are summaries:
1. Including a gender perspective in national accounts and other data: The non-market economy, which includes domestic and personal services produced by women, must be quantified and taken into account in the formulation and implementation of social and economic policies. Quantifying and reflecting women's social and economic contribution in statistics and economic indicators will contribute to policy-making and planning and ultimately to women's improved social status.
2. Making national budgets gender-sensitive: The budget is the most important economic policy instrument of government and has the potential of transforming countries to meet the needs of the poorest. National budgetary allocations therefore should be made in accordance with the priorities of the National Action plans prepared in conformity with the recommendations of the Beijing Global Platform of Action.
3. Expanding women's opportunities for entrepreneurship through the promotion of an enabling environment: Given the current state of inequality in women's access to, and participation in economic processes and structures, the Beijing Platform for Action recommends that women's economic rights be secured through promotion of women's self-reliance, including access to employment and control over economic resources.
4. Promoting women's access to and ownership of land: Access to and ownership of land is a matter of justice and survival in Africa. For women, the constraints to access and ownership are more severe due to legal discrimination and cultural practices. Mechanisms are needed to ensure that the rights of women to land are respected, assured and protected.
5. Ensuring access for women to information technology: Access to communication technologies is needed to enable women to participate more effectively in the economic development of their countries. Community-based women's information centres can help provide such technologies. This can enable women to link up with potential clients, partners, and markets and receive information on education (including distance learning), health and agricultural technologies, as well as other information of relevance for the community.
6. Promoting affirmative action to ensure women's access to decision-making positions in the political arena: Since changes in society normally come through the political process, women's lack of political opportunities is a serious concern. A critical 30 per cent threshold should be regarded as a minimum share of decision-making positions held by women at the national level.
7. Ensuring gender-sensitivity and awareness: The foundation of gender discrimination and stereotyping that lead to decreased opportunities and lower status for women is often laid during childhood and adolescence. Therefore, in order to foster harmonious and accelerated development and social progress for future generations, it is important to inculcate values and attitudes that enhance gender awareness and sensitivity among girls as well as boys during this phase of life.
8. Instituting women-centered, community-based social insurance schemes: A majority of African women, especially in rural areas, have little access to accumulated wealth or community-based assets to guarantee continuous access to education and health care services. Since women generally are responsible for assuring health care and the provision of education for their children and other family members, such security of access will have a positive impact on the community as a whole.
9. Drawing up strategies and taking action for the implementation of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): The Convention, which became effective in 1981, aims to remove all forms of discrimination against women to enable them to be equal partners in the processes of development. There is need for concerted action among all actors for the Convention to be implemented in African countries.
10. Creating mechanisms for the systematic participation of women in all peace processes at the national, regional and sub-regional level: Despite efforts by women to contribute to a resolution of conflicts in Africa, women are still absent from peace and security decisions, policy-making and action, constraining the achievement of comprehensive and sustainable peace. Measures need to be taken to increase women's participation, in both numbers and influence.Governments should commit themselves to ensuring that, by the year 2000, 50 per cent of national, regional and international delegations participating in activities concerned with peace and security are women. The UN also should commit itself to the same percentage for personnel in all preventive diplomacy, peace-making and post-conflict peace-building (including fact-finding and observer) missions, and in all stages of peace negotiations.
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