Executive Summary
Introduction
This paper looks at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to assess its adequacy in recognizing and addressing gender issues.
Since NEPAD has a special interest in programmes to create better conditions for development, in terms of improved democratic process, good governance and human rights, the paper takes a special interest in whether gender issues are addressed within these conditions for development.
This entails a special interest in whether NEPAD proposes to end the various forms of structural gender discrimination, especially where these are established in law, traditional practice and governments' administrative practice. It also entails an interest in whether NEPAD proposes measures to enable women's increased empowerment, especially by better representation in decision making within parliaments, government and the corporate sector.
Further than that, there is an interest in whether the entire programme proposed by NEPAD sufficiently follows the policy principles of gender equality set out in the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and whether it proposes to address those gender issue which are intrinsic within its area of interest, using strategies outlined in the 1995 African and Beijing Platforms of Action.
Method of Assessment
The method of analysis and assessment is to look at the coherence of the document in terms its treatment of gender issues, differentiating between:
- Internal coherence, in terms of whether there are logical connections between the mention of gender in different parts of the document, e.g. are there gender oriented goals which properly follow and pursue earlier policy statements concerning the need to address gender issues?
- External coherence, in terms of whether there are gender oriented goals and objectives which take account of the participating government's international commitments on women's rights, and on gender and development
Here gender issues are defined as pervasive gender gaps arising from widespread and institutionalized discriminatory practices. Women's empowerment is interpreted as the process of women's collective action to remove discriminatory practices, and to gain gender equality in the control over the allocation of resources, and access to opportunities.
Main Findings
The assessment findings show that NEPAD is deeply and comprehensively gender blind, in both its internal and external coherence.
The description of the problem area to be tackled by NEPAD does not mention any gender issue. Despite this, the statement on the 'New Political Will' mentions a policy goal to
promote the role of women in social and economic development and assure women's participation in political and economic life (para. 49). But this rather faint policy goal does not translate into any commensurate programme goals. Instead we find overall programme goals
to promote the role of women in all activities and to make progress towards gender equality and women's empowerment by eliminating gender discrimination in primary and secondary school enrolment' (para.68).
There is no justification given for choosing increased schooling as the only means towards achieving
gender equality and women's empowerment. This would seem to be a curiously indirect approach, given
NEPAD's claimed interest in goals to improve democracy, governance and human rights. But the
programme objectives and activities in these areas show no interest whatsoever in addressing
gender issues.
Worse than that, the later description of the NEPAD programme entirely forgets the earlier goal to
close gender gaps in schools. The programme description on Bridging the Education Gap
(para. 120-123) makes no mention of any objective or action concerned with closing gender gaps
in school enrolment.
Therefore, NEPAD's near complete lack of interest in gender is overlaid with lack of internal coherence, where principles do not follow through into goals, and goals do not follow through into objectives. The subject of gender, small to begin with, soon fades away entirely.
In its little mention of gender issues, the document does not acknowledge the prevalence, or even the existence, of the many serious issues of structural and institutionalized gender discrimination. The unsatisfactory attempt to formulate a gender goal in the area of 'gender equality and women's empowerment' merely reveals the authors' implicit belief that women's subordinate position is due to their own inadequacies. So they recommend more education!
Since the proposed programme interventions almost entirely overlook the obligations arising from the above mentioned international agreements and commitments, it is also almost entirely lacking in its external coherence.
Recommendations for Improved Gender Orientation of NEPAD
NEPAD needs complete revision if it is to recognise and address the gender issues which are intrinsic within the all the problems which need to be addressed in African development. This revision should have the following charateristics:
- Introduction of proper planning logic in the treatment of gender issues, which should be properly followed and linked throughout the document, from their initial identification in the situation analysis, through to problem identification, policy statement, programme goals, objectives and activities.
- Within the programme on 'Conditions for Sustainable Development', incorporation of a primary focus on ending all forms of legalized gender discrimination.
- Mainstreaming of gender issues within the sectoral priorities, to recognise and address all the important gender issues that are intrinsic within the areas of endeavour currently suggested.
- Utilisation of the Women's Convention as a guideline on policy principles, and the African and Beijing Platforms for Action as a guideline on goals and strategies, to guide the gender orientation of NEPAD.
- Formation of an Advisory Committee to advise NEPAD on how to undertake gender oriented planning and implementation.
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