Ines Smyth

Talking of gender: words and meanings in development organisations

This article reflects on the vocabulary commonly used within development organisations to communicate about ‘gender and development’. It argues that the relevant terminology, though frequently used, remains problematic. Some terms are almost entirely absent, while others are used loosely and inappropriately – with the subtleties of carefully developed and much-debated concepts often lost. Terms such as ‘empowerment’, ‘gender’, and ‘gender mainstreaming’ which originated in feminist thinking and activism have lost their moorings and become depoliticised. Despite these problems, there are indications that debates and language may be taking a more radical turn with the acknowledgement of the shortcomings of the practices of gender mainstreaming, the deepening of interest in the notion of empowerment, and the explicit adoption of a human-rights language.

Gender works: Oxfam experience in policy and practice.

In the name of gender management of gender issues organizational procedures evolution and solutions the history of gender issues working at different levels challenges of implementation learning and good practice.

Reducing poverty and upholding human rights: a pragmatic approach

Trafficking in women is increasing in many countries around the world. This global problem is now well recognised by policy makers and aid agencies committed to poverty reduction in all its forms. This paper considers how Oxfam GB perceives the problem of trafficking of women in the context of its approach to poverty. It illustrates this position through a case study of a young woman whose human rights were violated through the process of trafficking, and provides examples of projects and programs implemented in various regions of the world to address to the underlying causes. Oxfams broad trafficking programme objectives are: to promote the fundamental rights of women; to protect potential victims and survivors of trafficking; to influence national policies, and regional and international conventions on womens rights and trafficking.

The reproductive health of refugees: lessons beyond ICPD

The vulnerability of populations affected by conflict or environmental disasters was stressed at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. In particular, the high mortality and morbidity rates among refugees were emphasised. The ICPD and its Programme of Action have enabled a degree of consensus1 to be reached on the importance of reproductive health and rights, including those of refugees and internally displaced people. Post-Cairo, some of the language and concerns of the ICPD Programme of Action are being brought into the initiatives of international agencies, including UN agencies and international NGOs. Reproductive health policies and programmes have started to be implemented in refugee communities, and servicedelivery has begun to be systematised.2 However, if the mistakes and abuses of past family-planning programmes are to be avoided, we need to integrate some critical insights from feminists working in the fields of health and anthropology. However, there are structural constraints within relief organisations and operations which need to be overcome if they are to benefit from such insights.

Gender in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Manila, October 2008

The Congress on Gender in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (held in Manila 19–22 October 2008) was the Third Global Congress of Women in Politics and Governance. Its purpose was to provide a forum for decision makers to formulate gender-responsive programmes related to climate change and disaster-risk reduction. More than 200 people participated, including parliamentarians, representatives of environmental and womens organisations, and donor agencies. Proceedings focused on the fact that climate change magnifies existing inequalities, and in particular gender inequality. The Congress issued the Manila Declaration for Global Action on Gender, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Reduction.

Introduction: Gender and Resilience

This article does not have a description. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis. For the full table of contents for this and previous issues of this journal, please visit the Gender and Development website.

Introduction: post-disaster humanitarian work

This article does not have a description. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis. For the full table of contents for this and previous issues of this journal, please visit the Gender and Development website.

Safe motherhood, family planning and maternal mortality: an Indonesian case study.

This case study in Indonesia examined some assumptions about the outcome of family planning services. Safe Motherhood programs were flawed, because of the misplaced emphasis on family planning as a strategy to reduce maternal mortality. Family planning programs reduce the exposure to the risks of child-bearing, but they do not reduce the actual risks. Reproductive health should not be linked so tightly to demographic concerns and family planning. That cost saving occurs from family planning is insufficient to justify inattention to the needs of high quality obstetric care. Family planning should be viewed as just one component of a larger, comprehensive set of measures designed to assure the health of women at all stages in the life cycle: as citizens and workers, as mothers, and as adolescents. Interventions must begin before childbearing and include growth in economic, educational, and health opportunities. The aim of reducing maternal mortality by 50% by the year 2000 was included in Indonesias five-year development plan: Repelita V. The example of Indonesia was important, because of its achievements in reducing poverty and increasing the standard of living of the population, and because of its large population size. Estimated maternal mortality in Indonesia was 450/100,000 live births in 1989, up from 390/100,000 in 1982. There was evidence from other studies that maternal mortality has increased. Criticism has been directed to the misplaced emphasis on family planning and the top-down delivery of professional services for ignoring local health-enhancing practices and the role of families, fathers, and communities as health providers. The realized cost effectiveness of family planning is an abstraction. Fertility has declined with an increase in family planning from 5.6 children to 3.0 children in 1990, but, for example, Bali has both high levels of contraception use and high maternal mortality. Integrated programs and the high risk approach have not been particularly successful.

Gender, change and insecurity theoretical issues and practical concerns

In recent times, structural changes worldwide have led to spiralling insecurity for the most vulnerable people in society, the poor, women, and children. Change is intrinsic in human life. It opens the way to progress, but also contains the germ of uncertainty, hence insecurity. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis. For the full table of contents for this and previous issues of this journal, please visit the Gender and Development website.

Anticipatory Social protection: Claiming Dignity and Rights

Concerns and subjects among development practitioners and academics come and go, but social protection is a topic that has remained consistently present. Equally persistent has been the vagueness of its meaning, despite its concrete – policy relevant – nature. This book helps in remedying this lack of clarity, and provides a clear conceptual understanding of ‘social protection’. More importantly, it offers an understanding that is comprehensive (through the inclusion of the issues of rights and care, and an emphasis on the life cycle), and that is illustrated by examples from country and regional level. There are things that would enhance the book further. One would be the inclusion of a justification for the book’s overall structure, which remains unclear, and a summary of its contents at its beginning, not only at its end. The book would also have benefited from a clearer background to, and explanation of, the Social Protection Floor Initiative, the critique of which is central to this work. The framework that emerges from this critique is built gradually, firstly by highlighting how human rights ‘with women at the centre’ allow for the inclusion of ‘dignity, social justice and unpaid care more firmly in the policy making domain’ (p. 8); secondly, by spelling out the three sets of rights (economic, political and social) that make the framework transformative; and finally by explaining the ‘anticipatory ‘ element. The latter is linked primarily to the recognition that, from a gender perspective, such policy must anticipate the specific needs that emerge from the various forms of discrimination girls and women experience. Helpful illustrations of this are given later in the book, as, for example, when explaining that ensuring good nutrition for mothers is a more efficient approach than supporting other needs of mother and infants, and the already healthy. Another instance is that of contraception Book reviews