3. Experience to date

The international framework
Lessons from international experience
Lessons from donor experience

The international framework

3.1 The 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 set out 12 critical areas of concern as the basis for the global Platform for Action (see Fig. 3). This built on the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other human rights instruments and agreements, and asserted that "...the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child [is] an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms"³⁸.

³⁸ The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, 4-15 September 1995. Department of Public Information, United Nations. New York, 1996. p. 34. The Platform for Action was further strengthened at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly in June 2000 which reviewed progress five years after Beijing and proposed actions to accelerate implementation.

Figure 3.

Lessons from international experience

3.3 A large number of lessons were drawn together from international experience, as part of the preparations for a Special Session of the UN General Assembly in June 2000 which reviewed progress after five years of implementing the Global Platform for Action agreed at Beijing³⁹.

³⁹ Progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action based on a review of reports to the Commission on the Status of Women of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Note by the Secretariat. UN Economic and Social Council, New York, E/CN.6/1999/PC/4, February 1999.

⁴⁰ Since 1995, for example, world attention has increasingly turned to issues of globalisation, with the opening up of world markets and a major revolution in global information flows, and the proliferation of ethnic and other forms of conflict and communal violence. The AIDS epidemic is also commanding attention as a major challenge which threatens to undo a good deal of progress, particularly in Africa.

... There is every sign that the goal of gender equality is achievable...

3.6 Gender equality and women's empowerment are inextricably entwined. Women will only win equality when they are able to act on their own behalf, with a strong voice to ensure their views are heard and taken into account. The empowerment of women needs to be supported by properly resourced and influential institutional and organisational frameworks, often referred to in international agreements as "national machineries for women's advancement". While equality of rights and opportunities for both women and men is the goal, a specific focus on women is justified on equity grounds as long as they continue to bear the burden of gender discrimination.

Lessons from donor experience

3.7 The donor community, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in development, has undertaken numerous reviews of experience and practice in supporting activities aimed at promoting gender equality. A great deal has been learned, both from success and failure.

3.8 Four key issues stand out from these analyses:

A major problem is that of so-called 'policy evaporation', where good policy intentions fail to be followed through in practice. This can occur both prior to and during implementation as a result of poor planning, lack of technical expertise, poor follow up, low levels of management support, and inadequate resourcing⁴¹.

⁴¹ This problem was identified by Sara Hlupekile Longwe in her 1997 paper 'The evaporation of gender policies in the patriarchal cooking ðît', in Development in Practice, Vol. 7, No. 2., London 1997.

Another important lesson is the importance of good statistics and other data, disaggregated by sex, to aid policy formulation and monitor progress⁴². Many of the problems experienced in setting baselines and benchmarks, and assessing progress, are due to the lack of good data. In the end this is the responsibility of governments, but it is also due, in part, to failures by the donor community to give sufficient priority to assisting poorer countries to strengthen their capacities in this area. The current focus on the International Development Targets has brought this issue more to the fore. Capturing evidence of impact is not only important in pointing the way forward to further work, but also provides a vital incentive to continue to pursue the policy objective with commitment and vigour.

⁴² The publication in 1995 of the statistical compendium The World's Women by the United Nations underlined the value of good statistics, and also illustrated the widespread deficiencies in the availability of sex-disaggregated data for planning and impact assessment purposes. An updated version is to be published in 2000, with significant funding support from DFID.

A major lesson is that little can be achieved in the long term by focusing only on small-scale activities. While these bring direct benefits to many people, they rarely bring about lasting, strategic change unless they are linked to, and complement, policy development. Their greatest value is as knowledge-generating, learning experiences, and as means of accessing the experience of, and giving voice to, poor women. Lasting change is best brought about through interventions which focus on major policy reforms, changes to laws and regulations, the reallocation of financial and other resources, and the promotion of changes in attitude through public debate.

Above all, donors in particular are beginning to learn the value of working in collaboration with others towards the achievement of common goals. Donor funding can make a real difference to people's lives, but in the end it is a modest contribution. Donors can make a more important contribution within a framework of collaboration with key actors in government, civil society and the private sector, and through the sharing of experience and the development of new ideas.