Sec06_2011_InterAction Foreign Assistance Briefing Book

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Gender


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Policy Brief January 2011

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Recommendations & ActionsCongress and the Administration should make gender equality a strategic priority for its

assistance programs. They should build on recent progress by creating mechanisms andpassing legislation that ensure both women and men bene t from development assistanceand humanitarian programs. This requires actions to close the gaps that exclude women andgirls and recognize the key roles men and boys play in achieving equality.

Permanently authorize the State Departments Of ce of Global Womens Issuesand establish a high level of ce of gender integration within USAID. These steps willensure ongoing attention to gender equality in diplomatic and development initiatives.State and USAID should also develop robust action plans that strengthen gender as across-cutting issue. The Millennium Challenge Account provides an example of how tosignal gender as a strategic priority.

Continue to move from words to action in supporting and integrating gender equal-ity as a strategic objective in foreign assistance initiatives. InterAction applaudsAdministration efforts to integrate gender in key foreign assistance initiatives such as

Feed the Future (which references the key roles of women in agriculture), and the GlobalHealth Initiative with its focus on women and girls. Also welcome is USAIDs updatedAutomated Directives System that includes speci c language about gender analysis andintegration. We urge Congress to continue this trend by ensuring funding is available toaddress the needs of women and girls.

Support and pass legislation that works to reduce violence against women, focus-es on the needs and vulnerabilities of women and children, and supports reachingthe Millennium Development Goals related to gender equality and reducing barri-ers and threats to women and girls. The time is right for the U.S. to show leadership byjoining the almost 200 nations that have already rati ed the Convention on the Elimina-tion of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and by passing legislation that seeksto end violence against women globally.

ResultsMore than 40 years of evidence demonstrate that achieving gender equality(primarily through investing in women and girls) leads to greater reduction inpoverty, faster economic growth and signi cant improvements in family health,nutrition, education, and quality of life. Promoting gender equality signi cantlyimproves the impact of assistance. Elevating gender now can increase our abil-ity to truly address the urgent needs of women, girls, men and boys living inpoverty across the globe.

ProblemExtensive evidence

demonstrates thebene ts of promotinggender equality andempowering womenand girls in developmentand humanitarianprograms. Genderequality strengthensthe impact of other U.S.foreign policy issuessuch as economicgrowth, health anddemocracy. The creation

of the State DepartmentOf ce of GlobalWomens issues, headedby an ambassador-level of cial, re ectsa clear commitmentto the importance ofintegrating genderin all U.S. foreignassistance efforts. Thecurrent challenge isto consistently apply gender integrationprinciples in foreignassistance policies,programs and resourceallocations.

Gender Equality inDevelopment andHumanitarian Relief
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BackgroundThe promotion of gender equality is a powerful tool for

increased development effectiveness, contributing directlyto poverty alleviation, economic growth, reduced gender-based violence, stronger community institutions, bettergovernance and increased health and well-being. Genderequality means that all peoplewomen and men alikehave equal opportunities to achieve their personal poten-tial and maximize their contributions to the development oftheir families, economies and societies.

In 1973, with the adoption of the Percy Amendment, Con-gress mandated that gender equality be addressed in U.S.development assistance. Since then, the U.S. has funded awide range of programs aimed at women and girls, includ-ing basic education, anti-traf cking and micro nance. Inrecent years, the U.S. Government has launched a num-ber of initiatives, such as Feed the Future and the GlobalHealth Initiative, that have the potential to strengthen gen-der equality through foreign assistance mechanisms. Yet,the lack of clear, consistent strategies to integrate genderin all U.S. foreign assistance programs continues to limittheir effectiveness. Promoting gender equality is not only afeasible objective with signi cant bene ts, but one that hasstrong public support.

Gender equality is an issue of development effective-ness, not just a matter of political correctness or kind-ness to women. InterAction member organizations haveacknowledged the signi cant correlation between genderissues and poverty alleviation. But gender equality cannotbe addressed in isolation. It needs to be integrated through-out development efforts: becoming one of the outcomes ofa participatory and open process of development, involvingall stakeholders, including women, men, boys and girls.

But inequalities continue to limit participation of womenand girls in nearly every sphere of life in developing coun-tries. From violence against women to accessing educationand health care or exercising basic freedoms such as vot-ing and inheriting or owning land, women and girls experi-ence barriers that limit their participation in society. Interna-tional NGOs have increasingly recognized these barriers to

social change and are working hard to create mechanismsthat reduce gender inequalities through their work. Today,nearly all international donors have clear requirements forimplementing and monitoring gender-related outcomes.Despite overwhelming evidence supporting gender inte-gration, a recent USAID assessment of its country strate-gic plans found than more than half (57 percent) had onlyminimal gender integration. 1 Other U.S. development pro-

1 Measuring Gender Integration in USAID Planning, Procurement andProjects, 2009 (unpublished)

grams such as the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDSRelief (PEPFAR) and Millennium Challenge Corporation(MCC) approach gender integration directly, with a strong

focus on equality. Making just one changesystematicallyaddressing gender differencescould make U.S. develop-ment assistance vastly more effective.

Gender analysis reveals the different roles, rights, respon-sibilities and constraints of women and men. In many cases,such analyses highlight an increased need for investment inwomen and girls, recognizing historic and ongoing discrimi-nation that has prevented women from reaching their fullpotential. For example, analyses of the barriers women andmen face to move out of poverty reveal that gender-basedviolence and lack of family planning and reproductive healthservices are critical barriers. Gender analyses of agricultureprojects reveal that while women produce 80 percent of thefood, they own only 1 percent of the land and receive lessthan 7 percent of farm extension services. As a result, effec-tive programming needs to reach out directly to womenfarmers rather than solely male landowners.

Gender equality also has economic bene ts. In sub-Saharan Africa, inequality between men and women ineducation and employment suppressed annual per capitagrown between 1960 and 1992 by 0.8 percentage pointsper year. A boost of 0.8 percentage points per year wouldhave doubled economic growth over the period. In termsof infrastructure, investments in building and maintainingsecondary and tertiary roads often have greater bene t inhelping women reach local markets or social services thaninvestments in major highways, which often have a greaterbene t for men. Finally, gender analysis recognizes thateven if the goal is to empower women and girls, men andboys must be part of the solution. For example, reducinggender-based violence requires the active engagement ofmen and boys to change social norms and cultural accep-tance of violence.

Gender integration can only be fully implemented withstrong political commitment, high-level leadership, andan institutional mandate for gender equality, supportedby enhanced capacity to conduct comprehensive gen-der analyses, suf cient nancial resources and greater

accountability. Both USAID and the State Department needclear mandates for gender integration, backed with dedi-cated streams of funding to support these gender equalitygoals. InterAction applauds the leadership in the Admin-istration and Congress that has worked hard to promoteprograms addressing the needs of women and girls and toreduce global violence against women. These are impor-tant efforts to build on.


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Policy Brief January 2011


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ResultsPrioritizing measures to prevent gender-based violence, protect and care forsurvivors and bring perpetrators to justice will help enhance stability, promotedevelopment and maximize the effectiveness of our foreign assistanceprograms.

Recommendations & ActionsThe U.S. Government should develop a comprehensive global strategy to stop violence

against women and girls and make this issue a priority in U.S. development and diplomacy.Efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence should be fully integrated into allrelevant U.S. foreign assistance programs.

Direct the State Department and USAID to develop a comprehensive strategy foraddressing gender-based violence. The strategy should be informed by research andbest practice, leverage existing U.S. investments, coordinate across relevant agenciesand programs, and be adequately resourced.

Ensure gender-based violence prevention and response is integrated into all appropri-ate U.S. humanitarian and development assistance programs: for example in education,health, economic development and the training of judicial of cials, police and militaryforces.

Advocate for UN and international agencies with responsibilities for the protection ofwomen and girls in humanitarian settings to strengthen their efforts to prevent and

respond to gender-based violence and ensure they have adequate resources to meettheir responsibilities.

Strengthen U.S. humanitarian programming by supporting: increased services for sur-vivors of gender-based violence; greater investments in prevention; capacity building oflocal, national and international organizations; and continuity of funding and program-ming from the relief phase to early recovery and development.

Support increased capacity at USAID and the State Department in humanitarian protec-tion and gender-based violence issues. Ensure that protection and gender-based vio-lence experts are deployed on U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Teams.

Developing a Strategy to EndGender-Based Violence

ProblemGender-based violence

is a global problemthat has devastatingconsequences forsurvivors, familiesand societies and aprofound impact onthe development ofcountries. Women andgirls living in areasaffected by war ornatural disaster areoften at heightenedrisk of sexual violence

and exploitation. Insome war-torn areas,men and boys havealso been targeted,but the vast majority of those vulnerable togender-based violenceare women and girls.The failure to addressthis human rights crisisimpedes progress oncore humanitarian anddevelopment goalswhether in health, the

ght against HIV-AIDS,education or economicdevelopment.
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BackgroundThe United Nations estimates that one in every three

women around the world has been beaten, coerced intosex or abused in her lifetime. According to the World HealthOrganization, up to 70 percent of women in some countriesreport they have been victims of domestic violence at somepoint in their lives. This type of violence can rob countries ofthe talent of half their populations.

In war-affected areas, women and girls are at risk of rapeand sexual exploitationoften forced to exchange sex forfood and other essentials for themselves and their families.In some places, rape has become a weapon of choice usedto systematically attack civilians and destabilize societies.In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example,experts estimate that hundreds of thousands of womenhave been raped in the province of South Kivu alone since2002. For those displaced by war, domestic violence isalso a signi cant threat. The rupture of traditional commu-nity structures and the lack of legal employment opportu-nities often increase the vulnerability of displaced womenand girls to violence. Efforts to establish peace and stabilitymust address womens needs and perpetrators must beheld accountable.

Women can face similar protection challenges in natu-ral disasters that result in major displacement. Haiti is acase in point. In the aftermath of the devastating earth-quake, the insecurity, overcrowding, inadequate servicesand poor lighting in many camps and spontaneous settle-ments put thousands of Haitian women and girls at great

risk for sexual violence.Whether in humanitarian emergencies or more traditional

development contexts, addressing the epidemic of gen-

der-based violence is an important moral challenge and isimportant for U.S. interests. When women and girls thrive,societies are more likely to prosper economically. Rates ofchild and maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS are more likelyto decrease. When women can safely and fully participatein the social and economic life of their community andcountry, governments are likely to be more participatoryand democratic.

The U.S. can maximize the effectiveness of its foreignassistance dollars by integrating gender-based violenceprevention and response activities into U.S. humanitarianand development programs and making the issue a priorityin U.S. diplomacy.

The effort will require better coordination across respon-sible federal agencies, a scaling up of promising initia-tives and better data collection, monitoring and evalu-ation. The Administration, with support from Congress,should develop a comprehensive strategy to meet theseobjectives. The strategy should re ect the cross-sectoralaspects of the problem. It should ensure that gender-basedviolence considerations are woven into the fabric of U.S.education, health and economic development programs,as well as U.S. programs to train judicial of cials, police,military and peacekeeping forces. In humanitarian settings,the strategy should also provide for the full integration ofprotection and gender-based violence programming fromthe very start of humanitarian response activities.


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January 2011


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More than 40 years have passed since the United States rst created its foreign assis-tance framework, and the world has changed dramatically. New global threats suchas HIV and AIDS, climate change and rising food and energy costs challenge our

efforts to expand economic opportunities in developing countries and build a more equitableworld. The changed context has led to a call for a signi cant overhaul of foreign assistance.

The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) 1a group of U.S. think-tanks, aca-demics and international nongovernmental organizationsrecently called on Congress andthe next U.S. president to reform U.S. foreign assistance for the 21st century. 2 The MFANconsensus argues that rather than subordinate global development to larger national securitygoals, the prototype for many years, U.S. foreign assistance must be realigned. MFAN callsfor global development and poverty reduction to be elevated to a level equal to diplomacyand defense, with the mandate and resources to be a principal instrument of U.S. engage-ment in the world. The consensus asserts that ghting global poverty is itself a contribution tolong-term security because it addresses many of the root causes of political instability.

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Women Thrive Worldwideendorse this call for a new and expanded U.S. strategy for global development and povertyreduction, and we assert that the reform agenda will be even more effective if it takes womeninto account. What follows are recommendations that add value to the MFAN proposalby enhancing economic growth and reducing poverty through the promotion of womensempowerment and gender equality.

Common principles: women and foreign assistance reformThe Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) policy consensus proposes ve

core principles for a new Foreign Assistance Act. ICRW and Women Thrive support theseprinciples, which underscore the policy changes needed to achieve womens empower-

ment and gender equality: elevate global development as a national interest priority in actions as well as rhetoric; align foreign assistance policies, operations, budgets and statutory authorities; rebuild and rationalize organizational structures; commit suf cient and exible resources with accountability for results; and partner with others to produce results.

As the United States elevates global development to a primary foreign policy aim, it mustelevate the goal of womens empowerment and gender equality. 4 The United States is muchmore likely to achieve its broader aims of poverty reduction and economic development withinvestments in women. The U.S. government has made solid strides in raising the pro le ofwomen in development, especially through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

Policy Paper

Value Added: Women and U.S. ForeignAssistance for the 21st Century

Previously published byInternational Center forResearch on Women andWomen Thrive Worldwide,July 2008.

By Kathleen Selvaggio, Rekha Mehra, Ritu Sharma Fox and Geeta Rao Gupta
http://www.womenthrive.org/http://www.icrw.org/http://www.interaction.org/


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But greater attention is needed to achieve the developmentobjectives of Millennium Development Goal 3: to empowerwomen and promote gender equality.

A new Foreign Assistance Act, which would provide alegal framework for updated policies and reorganizedstructures, presents an exciting opportunity to reduce pov-erty by fully integrating gender into foreign aid investmentsand enhancing opportunities for both women and men.

Why women and gender equality? Lessonsfrom 40 years of development

Any effort to expand global development and reduce

poverty must focus on women and gender equality. From ahuman rights perspective, women are half of the populationand addressing their distinct needs, given unequal powerrelationships, is imperative. From an economic perspec-tive, women are the bulk of the worlds poor and investingin women pays. The international development communityhas more than 40 years of evidence to demonstrate thevalue added of investing in women.

Investments in women lead to direct payoffs for reduc-ing poverty and growing economies. 5 Women in devel-oping country economies are producers and incomeearners, farmers and entrepreneurs, wage workers and

self-employed. In Indias economic transformation of thepast 15 years, the World Bank nds that states with thehighest percentage of women in the labor force grew the

fastest and had the largest reductions in poverty. 6 Investments in women also have broad multiplier effects

like improving childrens health and education, which overthe long run can signi cantly improve the futures of com-munities and countries. 7, 8 An extra year of girls educa-tion can reduce infant mortality by 5-to-10 percent. 9 Thechildren of educated mothers are 40 percent more likelyto live beyond the age of 5, 10 and 50 percent more likelyto be immunized. 11 A mothers social and economic statusalso is one of the best indicators of whether her childrenwill escape poverty and be healthy. Bottomline: A focus onwomen is vital to reduce poverty and break the cycle ofinter-generational poverty.

Despite the evidence, women and girls still fail to beincorporated fully into and bene t from global developmentefforts. In developing countries, women earn on average22 percent less than men. 12 Women in Africa constitute themajority of farmers, yet they receive less than 10 percentof small farm credit and own just 1 percent of the land. 13 Women face more obstacles than men in labor markets,receive lower wages for the same work, dominate in theinformal economy and have less access to credit, land,education and other productive resources.

If these gender inequalities persist, women, their families,their communities and their countries will pay the high costof slower economic growth, weaker governance and over-all lower standards of living: 14

GNP (gross national product) per capita is lower in coun-tries where women are signi cantly less well educatedthan men. 15

In sub-Saharan Africa, inequality between men andwomen in education and employment suppressed annualper capita growth during 1960-1992 by 0.8 percentagepoints per year, according to the World Bank. A boostof 0.8 percent per year would have doubled economicgrowth over that period. 16

Reforming U.S. foreign assistance provides a pivotal

opportunity to integrate the lessons of the past 40 years intonew priorities, strategies, structures and budgets. What fol-lows are proven steps for how to enhance economic growthand improve development ef ciency by promoting wom-ens empowerment and gender equality. These steps builddirectly into the action framework of the MFAN consensus. 17

(1) Develop a new U.S. Strategy for global developmentand poverty reduction that fully recognizes the role ofwomen.

As MFAN asserts, the United States must develop a clearand focused strategy to achieve long-term development and

Value Added: Integrating Women into theRecommendations of the Modernizing Foreign

Assistance Network1. Develop a new U.S. strategy for global development that

fully recognizes womens roles in reducing poverty andexpanding economic growth, commits the United States toadvancing the Millennium Development Goal of womensempowerment and gender equality, and invests in multilat-eral efforts to achieve this goal.

2. Plan, design and enact a new Foreign Assistance Act thatensures that U.S. development assistance bene ts womenequally as men, with tools and indicators to improve execu-tion and results.

3. Implement a more consistent and coordinated policy andapproach to gender integration as part of broader effortsto achieve greater coherence and coordination in U.S. for-eign assistance programs.

4. Increase funding for programs that invest in women andaddress gender inequalities, and track and report on theseexpenditures to ensure that nancial resources allocatedto foreign assistance are effective in reducing poverty andpromoting development.

Note: These recommendations build directly onto the action priorities of the MFAN consensus.3


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poverty reduction, separate from but parallel to short-termnational security interests and political goals. 18 For too long,U.S. foreign assistance has been encumbered by multiple,

competing and sometimes con icting goals and objectives.ICRW and Women Thrive urge that a new U.S. strategy

for global development should build on the eight Millen-nium Development Goals (MDGs) 19 endorsed by the inter-national community in 2000, and speci cally MDG 3 whichpromotes womens empowerment and gender equality.Thus far the United States has kept the MDGs at armslength. Now is the time for the United States to espousethe MDG framework for its own bilateral assistance as wellas to cooperate and more fully engage with other donorsand multilateral agencies (see Box I).

Moreover, for a new U.S. strategy to be effective, it mustidentify and overcome speci c gender inequalities that areobstacles to development. For example, if a major U.S. goalis to increase food security in Africa, aid programs needto recognize African womens primary role in food produc-tion and family nutrition, and identify ways to address theobstacles women face to increasing their agricultural pro-ductivity (e.g., lack of a legal right to own and inherit land,and lack of access to productive resources such as credit,technology, extension services, information and markets).Such efforts to reduce gender inequality would comple-ment other programs and bene t men as well as women.

Recommendation 1:Develop a new U.S. strategy for global developmentthat fully recognizes womens roles in reducing poverty and expanding economic growth, commits the UnitedStates to advancing the Millennium Development Goalof womens empowerment and gender equality, andinvests in multilateral efforts to achieve this goal.

(2) Plan, design and enact a new Foreign AssistanceAct that strengthens the commitment to women as wellas men.

A new Foreign Assistance Act must improve upon thePercy Amendment to strengthen and expand the focus onwomens empowerment and gender equality.

The 1973 Percy Amendment guides current U.S. policytoward womens roles in international development. TheAmendment stipulates that U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) programs should be administeredso as to give particular attention to programs, projectsand activities which tend to integrate women into thenational economies of foreign countries, thus improvingtheir status and assisting the total development effort. Ithelped foster the creation of the USAID Women in Devel-opment Of ce and subsequent initiatives to improve thestatus of women in developing countries, though somewere never fully implemented.

Despite its mandate, the Percy Amendment has hadonly marginal success. A 1993 report by the U.S. GeneralAccounting Of ce (GAO) concluded that USAIDs imple-mentation of the Percy Amendment had been weak. USAIDwas slow in incorporating gender into its programs andactivities, according to the GAO, and had not adequatelymonitored the implementation of its policies and strate-gies or routinely evaluated the impact of its programs andactivities on women. 21

Although USAID subsequently took steps to remedythese problems, its track record remains weak. The agencylacks both the high-level leadership and some of the insti-tutional mechanisms to systematically integrate gender

analysis into program design and implementation so thatprograms bene t women as well as men. For example,USAID lacks an institutional mandate and internal policyto ensure that women bene t from its programs; it lacksadequate nances for such programs; and it fails to placegender experts in key positions in the agency.

Recommendation 2:Plan, design and enact a new Foreign Assistance Actthat ensures that U.S. development assistance bene tswomen equally as men, with tools and indicators toimprove execution and results.

Box I:Multilateral Foreign Assistance Key to U.S. Reforms

The United States is missing crucial opportunities to lever-age its own funding to improve and shape the direction andperformance of multilateral institutions by downplaying multi-lateral aid in favor of bilateral aid.

TheU.N. system, the World Bank and the regional devel-opment banks are important partners in international devel-opment cooperation and in uential actors in developmentassistance worldwide. To date, they lead international effortsto empower women and reduce gender inequality. Manyhave adopted gender mainstreaming and equality policieswith varying success and offer important lessons learned.The World Bank, for example, recently adopted a GenderAction Plan to focus attention on womens economic activi-ties, intensify attention to gender in its economic programsand operations, and demonstrate results.

UNIFEM is the only multilateral organization that focusessolely on womens rights and gender equality. To date, it hasexperienced mixed success for a variety of reasons thatinclude diffused responsibilities and a lack of resources. A recent proposal suggests ways to strengthen UNIFEM andits role in leading efforts within the United Nations to inte-grate gender and achieve the goals of gender equality andwomens empowerment.20


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(3) Implement a more consistent and coordinated pol-icy and approach to gender integration.

The proliferation of foreign assistance agencies, pro-

grams and of ces has led to disparate commitment lev-els and approaches to address womens empowermentand gender inequality. In addition to USAID, for example,

the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) addressstrategies for empowering women and promoting gender

equality to varying degrees.A new Foreign Assistance Act will provide the United

States with a unique opportunity to streamline these three

Box II:Different U.S. Aid Agencies Take DifferentApproaches for Women

The three main U.S. development entities todayU.S. Agencyfor International Development, the Presidents Emergency Planfor AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Millennium Challenge Cor-poration (MCC)vary signi cantly in their approaches towardachieving gender equality and empowering women.

USAID. In 1996, after more than 20 years of little progresstoward ful lling the Percy Amendment and under pressure bythe international womens conference in Beijing, USAID adopteda Gender Plan of Action for all its activities. In 2000, however,an in-depth analysis of the plans implementation showed thatover 90 percent of those interviewed in USAID and the PVO/ NGO community said that [the plan] has not had any measur-able impact on agency operations.22

Since then, USAID has made some progress toward integrat-ing tools and approaches that help prioritize women and theirdifferent needs through its development programs. In 2003, theagency adopted guidance explicitly requiring attention to gen-der considerations in country strategies. The guidance stipu-lated that country strategies had to include a gender analysis,hire staff with some gender expertise, and disaggregate data bysex for monitoring and evaluation. A recent USAID review founda marked increase in the degree and quality of attention to gen-der in country strategies after 2003. This progress fell acrossnearly all development sectors and geographical regions,although the average score remained between minimal andmoderate.23 Evidence is not yet available on how effective thestrategies have been in generating better results for women.

PEPFAR. Although the 2003 PEPFAR authorization legisla-tion placed considerable emphasis on gender inequality and itseffect on womens HIV risk, the program was slow to integrateways to address womens unique barriers and risks pertainingto HIV in its procedures and programs. In late 2005, the Of ceof Global AIDS Coordinator established a gender technicalworking group which identi ed ve priority program strategies:(1) increase gender equality on access to HIV/AIDS services;(2) address risky male norms and behavior; (3) reduce gender-based violence and sexual coercion; (4) increase womensand girls access to income and productive resources; and (5)increase womens legal protection and rights. PEPFAR alsobegan to disaggregate by sex some of the data collected forannual reporting to Congress. It was the rst U.S. aid agencyto do so.

Beyond these steps, however, PEPFAR lacks most othermechanisms for integrating priorities for women into its workplan, structure or policies. The program has issued no insti-tutional mandate on gender integration and no formal opera-tional guidance to eld programs. It has dedicated few nancialresources or full-time staff to promoting the implementationof the ve program strategies issued by the gender technicalworking group, and holds no regular gender training or othercapacity building for staff and partners. Although the workinggroup reviews annual country operational strategies and rec-ommends ways to strengthen attention to gender issues, itconducts no systematic gender analysis of projects and pro-vides limited technical assistance to eld programs. Recently,PEPFAR initiated an effort to de ne new indicators to measureresults. Such indicators might move the program beyond dis-aggregated data collection by sex and allow PEPFAR to betterassess whether and how programs are working for women.

MCC. Established in January 2004, the MCC already hasdemonstrated considerable commitment to advancing wom-ens status in developing countries and promoting genderequality by integrating these priorities into its policies and pro-cedures. Noteworthy efforts include: Consistent and strong political leadership from MCCs chief

executive of cer that women are a priority in its developmentefforts.

Appointment of a high-level gender expert to anchor pro-gram work.

Adoption of a clear gender policy that calls for gender inte-gration in program design, implementation, monitoring andevaluation that articulates the expectations of country gov-ernments and MCC staff.

A requirement that all staff undergo periodic mandatory train-ings on gender analysis and other gender methodologies andapproaches.

A requirement that recipient governments consult with women,including rural women, in country prior to drafting compactsor agreements with the MCC. The compacts must identifyintended bene ciaries disaggregated by sex, age and income.

A requirement that all country compacts undergo genderanalysis as part of larger social and environmental analysisprior to nal MCC board approval.

Though still in the early stages of rolling out its country pro-grams, the MCC is conducting an internal evaluation on itsgender policy implementation to assess whether its goals forwomen are being met and how to improve their work in this area.


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key U.S. bilateral aid entities, as well as other aid initiatives,and improve the coherence and coordination of their pro-grams, including efforts to integrate gender and improve

outcomes for women.No U.S. assistance program has fully embraced gender

integration, though the MCC has made progress (see BoxII). Important lessons from such efforts can inform a new for-eign assistance framework. Signi cant changes in organi-zational structure and processes are needed to ensure thatthe goals of empowering women and promoting genderequality are a priority throughout all U.S. foreign assistanceefforts. These structural changes include establishing: Leadership and political commitment to develop-

ment for women at the highest levels of agencies orprograms, including the appointment of a senior-levelof cial responsible for the gender goals who reportsdirectly to the agency head and has the authority to in u-ence decisions on foreign assistance policies, prioritiesand budget;

Institutional mandate that signals to managers thatempowering women and promoting gender equalitymust be integrated across all strategies, programs andprojects, including the use of gender analysis;

Enhanced capacity for gender analysis and program-ming by placing gender experts with appropriate techni-cal experience and skills within all relevant regional andtechnical bureaus or functions, and by drawing upon localtechnical gender experts in host countries (see Box III);

Suf cient nancial resources to support comprehen-sive gender analysis and appropriate follow through inproject design, implementation and evaluation. This involves hiring technical gender experts in various devel-

opment elds, and nancing the integration of women(or men, if appropriate) in projects as well as stand-aloneactivities that are vital to the success of developmentefforts and achieving gender equality.

Recommendation 3:Implement a more consistent and coordinated policy and approach to gender integration as part of broaderefforts to achieve greater coherence and coordinationin U.S. foreign assistance programs.

(4) Increase funding for programs that invest in womenand address gender inequalities.

To expand economic growth and reduce poverty indeveloping countries, increased funding and greateraccountability are needed. Making investments in womenand establishing gender equality as a cornerstone of U.S.foreign assistance will go a long way toward achievingdevelopment goals, and this requires ensuring adequateresources and accountability.

At present, it is dif cult to know how much money is spent

Box III:Gender Analysis Can StrengthenForeign Assistance

Gender analysis identi es the different roles, rights, responsi-bilities and constraints of women and men in different societ-ies. Addressing these differences is essential to the success-ful design and implementation of development programs.

For example, to keep girls in school in many developing

communities, particular attention must be paid to their safetyas they move between their homes and schools, and whileat school. This simple, but important consideration came tolight as part of an analysis of the different factors affecting theschool enrollment rates of girls as compared to boys.

Gender analysis does not just bene t women and girls.Addressing the distinct roles, beliefs and barriers that menface is equally important to strengthening programs. A gen-der perspective ensures that both women and men can par-ticipate in, support, and bene t from development efforts torelieve poverty and expand economic growth.

Box IV:Global Foreign Aid: Whats Spent

on Gender Equality?Total global spending on womens empowerment and genderequality through development assistance programs is dif cultto measure, and ranges widely from 5 percent in Japan to 50percent in Germany.

The Development Assistance Committee of the OECDreports that during 2005-2006, some 16 bilateral donorsspent a total of approximately $8.5 billion each year on aidfocused on gender equality and womens empowermentalmost 33 percent of the $26 billion in overall aid spent bythose same donors. This gure does not include the addi-tional $27.8 billion in bilateral aid spent by seven other coun-

tries, including the United States, that either do not reporttheir gender-related spending to the OECD or for which thespending is too low.

Most money allocated toward womens or gender pro-grams support investments in education, health, water andsanitation, and social services. Only a small share of the pro-grams support investments in nance, business, agricultureor industryareas vital to poverty reduction and economicgrowth.

Source: Aid in Support of Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment OECD-DAC Secretariat, February 2008


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in U.S. foreign assistance programs to promote womensempowerment and gender equality. Recent reporting ondonor countries expenditures to advance gender equality

by the Development Assistance Committee of the Orga-nization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD-DAC) excludes any gures for the United States24 (see Box IV). A new foreign assistance framework mustallow suf cient resources to ensure that gender integrationoccurs throughout a project cycle.

Effective ways to track this spending also should bedevised to facilitate accountability. The U.S. should trackits expenditures on women and gender equality as otherOECD countries do, and establish mechanisms to measureprogress toward U.S. development goals. Such mecha-nisms include monitoring and evaluation systems thatdisaggregate data by sex as well as age and income, anddeveloping and adopting indicators to measure outcomessuch as improvements in womens or mens health, educa-tion, income or legal rights.

Finally, stronger internal accountability measures mustbe put in place so that managers within foreign assistanceprograms are assessed on their progress toward reachingthese goals. Congress too must play a more active rolein oversight of foreign assistance agencies by monitoringagencies progress toward womens empowerment andgender equality goals and objectives.

Recommendation 4:Increase funding for programs that invest in women andaddress gender inequalities, and track and report onthese expenditures to ensure that nancial resourcesallocated to foreign assistance are effective in reducingpoverty and promoting development.

ConclusionThe global scene has changed tremendously since the

birth of U.S. development assistance with the MarshallPlan and its subsequent alignment with U.S. securityinterests pertaining to the Cold War. Yet U.S. foreign aidmechanisms have not been systematically analyzed or

overhauled to re ect the United States changing priori-ties. Further, while U.S. development assistance has beenadapted to the changing global landscape over the pastseveral decades, those changes have occurred in an adhoc way.

The time is ripe to systematically revamp U.S. develop-ment assistance mechanisms, drawing on key lessonslearned with years of aid experience and taking advantageof increased public awareness of the importance of a U.S.role in addressing global poverty in the aftermath of 9/11.We are at the cusp of potentially major changes in the U.S.administration. We also have the bene t of many years of

development experience, which gives us greater under-standing on how to overcome poverty, including the centralimportance of empowering women and reducing inequal-

ity between women and men. We must ensure that genderequality goals and gender integration in development pro-grams are integral features of the new foreign assistanceframework and strategy .

Endnotes

1 Also referred to as the Wye River Consensus Group.2 See, New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Cen-

tury: A Proposal from the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network,June 2008. This consensus proposal draws upon analysis of theCenter for Global Development, Seizing the Moment for Moderniz-ing US Foreign Assistance: Testimony for the House Committee onForeign Affairs, April 23, 2008. See also other foreign aid reform pro-posals including: Lael Brainard, U.S. Foreign Assistance: AdvancingNational Security, Interests, and Values, Brookings Institution, April23, 2008; Smart Development: Why U.S. Foreign Aid DemandsMajor Reform, Oxfam America, February 2008; and The Ratio-nale for and Major Structural Components of a Proposed Cabinet-levelDepartment for Global and Human Development, InterAction, Wash-ington, D.C. (forthcoming).

3 Priority actions as articulated in the MFAN consensus document,New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Centuryinclude: (1) develop a national strategy for global development; (2)reach a grand bargain between the Executive branch and Congresson management authorities and plan, design and enact a new ForeignAssistance Act; (3) streamline the organizational structure and improveorganizational capacity by creating a Cabinet-level Department forGlobal Development by rebuilding human resource capacity and bystrengthening monitoring and evaluation; and (4) increase funding forand accountability of foreign assistance.

4 Gender is a social construct that de nes and differentiates the roles,rights, responsibilities and obligations of women and men. The U.N.Task Force for MDG 3, of which ICRW was a member, adopted anoperational framework of gender equality with three interrelateddimensions: (1) capabilities, referring to basic human abilities as mea-sured by education, health and nutrition; (2) access to resources and

opportunities, referring to equality in the opportunity to use or applybasic capabilities; and (3) security, meaning reduced vulnerability toviolence and con ict. The concept of empowerment is related to gen-der equality but distinct from it. The core of empowerment lies in theability of a woman to control her own destiny. This implies that to beempowered women must have not only equal capabilities and accessto resources, but also the agency to use those rights and resources tomake strategic decisions. Such agency requires women to live withoutfear of coercion or violence. (UNDP, Taking Action: Achieving GenderEquality and Empowering Women, 2005.)

5 Agriculture remains a key economic activity in many developingregions. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, women who obtained


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the same levels of education, experience and farm inputs as menincreased their agricultural yields by 22 percent (International FoodPolicy Research Institute, Women: The Key to Food Security June,

2000).6 Besley, Timothy; Robin Burgess and BertaEsteve-Volart, Operational-

ising Pro-Poor Growth: India Case Study, Washington, D.C., 2005.7 Between 1970 and 1995, for example, investments in womens sec-

ondary education led to a 43-percent reduction in malnutrition in thedeveloping world (Smith, Lisa C. and Lawrence Haddad. ExplainingChild Malnutrition in Developing Countries: A Cross-Country Analy-sis, Washington, D.C.: IFPRI, 2000.)

8 When credit is provided directly to a woman, it can increase house-hold consumption and childrens schooling. Loan repayment rates arehigher for women than for men. (Schultz, T. Paul. Returns to WomensSchooling, in Elizabeth King and M. Anne Hill, eds, Womens Educa-tion in Developing Countries: Barriers, Bene ts and Policy, Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.)

9 Schultz, T.Paul. Returns to Womens Schooling, in Elizabeth Kingand M. Anne Hill, eds, Womens Education in Developing Countries:Barriers, Bene ts and Policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress, 2003.

10 Summers, Lawrence H. Investing in All the People: Educating Womenin Developing Countries, EDI Seminar Paper No. 45, Washington,D.C.; World Bank, 1994.

11 Gage, Anastasia, Elizabeth Sommerfelt, and Andrea Piani, HouseholdStructure and Childhood Immunization in Niger and Nigeria, Demog-raphy 34 (2): 195-309, 1997.

12 Gender: Working Towards Greater Equality, in Gender Equality asSmart Economics: A World Bank Group Action Plan. Washington,D.C.: World Bank, 2007. www.worldbank.org/gender

13 Ibid.14 World Bank, Engendering Development: Through Gender Equality in

Rights, Resources, and Voice Summary (Washington, D.C.: WorldBank, 2001). www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/engendersummary.pdf . As cited by Susy Cheston and Lisa Kuhn, Empowering WomenThrough Micro nance. UNIFEM: 2002.

15 Gender and Sustainable Development: Maximizing the Economic,Social and Environmental Role of women, Paris: OECD, 2008.

16 Udry, Christopher, John Hoddinott, Harold Alderman and LawrenceHaddad. 1995. Gender differentials in farm productivity: Implicationsfor household ef ciency and agricultural policy, Food Policy, 20:407-

423.17 Priority actions as articulated in the MFAN consensus document,

New Day, New Way: US Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century,include: (1) develop a national strategy for global development; (2)reach a grand bargain between the Executive branch and Congresson management authorities and plan, design and enact a new ForeignAssistance Act; (3) streamline the organizational structure and improveorganizational capacity by creating a Cabinet-level Department forGlobal Development by rebuilding human resource capacity and bystrengthening monitoring and evaluation; and (4) increase funding forand accountability of foreign assistance.

18 Ibid.19 The MDGs set targets for reducing global poverty, hunger, illiteracy,

ill-health and inequality.20 A U.N. High-Level Panel recently called for U.N. organizations to pro-

mote gender equality as part of a larger package of reforms to theU.N. system. The panels proposal, currently before the U.N. GeneralAssembly, recommends that UNIFEM and several other U.N. genderentities consolidate and graduate to a new, stronger U.N. agency thatpromotes womens rights and gender equality. The new agency wouldhave the authority to support operational programs, and develop andpromote U.N. policies toward gender equality. The panel also calls formaking the head of the new agency a U.N. Under-Secretary Generala measure that would give the agency more clout to strengthen genderintegration across the U.N. system.

21 Rax, Roee Gender Inequality Remains Key Issue in Development,Monday Developments, Washington, D.C.: Interaction, Dec. 15,2003.

22 Sharma, Ritu. Women and Development Aid, Foreign Policy inFocus. September 2001.

23 Power Point presentation by the Of ce of Women in Development,USAID, May 2008. Washington, D.C.

24 Aid in Support of Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment,Paris: OECD-DAC Secretariat, February 2008 http://www.oecd.org/ dataoecd/8/13/40346286.pdf
http://www.worldbank.org/genderhttp://www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/engendersummary.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/engendersummary.pdfhttp://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/13/40346286.pdfhttp://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/13/40346286.pdfhttp://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/13/40346286.pdfhttp://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/13/40346286.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/engendersummary.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/engendersummary.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/gender


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InterAction Gendering of Foreign AssistanceReform Task Force (GOFAR)Organization URLAmerican Jewish World Service www.ajws.orgAmerican Red Cross www.redcross.orgBread for the World www.bread.orgCARE www.care.orgCatholic Relief Services www.crs.orgCenter for Health and Gender Equity www.genderhealt h.orgCounterpart International www.counter part.orgFood for the Hungry www.fh.orgHeifer International www.heifer .orgHunger Project, The www.thp.o rgInternational Center for Research on Women www.icrw.or gInternational Medical Corps www.intern a tionalmedicalcorps.orgInternational Relief and Development www.ird-dc. orgJesuit Refugee Service www.jrs.ne tManagement Sciences for Health www.msh. org

Save the Children www.saveth ech ildren.orgWinrock International www.winroc k.orgWomen for Women International www.womenfo rwomen.o rgWomens Environment and Development Organization www.wedo.orgWomen Thrive Worldwide www.womenth rive.org

InterAction Gender-Based Violence Sub-Working GroupOrganization URLAdventist Development and Relief Agency International www.adra.orgAmerican Jewish World Service www.ajws.org

American Refugee Committee www.archq.orgBread for the World www.bread.orgCARE www.care.orgCatholic Relief Services www.crs.orgEpiscopal Relief & Development www.er-d.orgFood for the Hungry www.fh.orgHeifer International www.heifer.orgInformation Management and Mine Action Programs www.immap.orgInternational Catholic Migration Commission www.icmc.netInternational Medical Corps www.intern a tionalmedicalco rps.orgInternational Relief and Development www.ird-dc.orgInternational Rescue Committee www.theIRC.orgOxfam America www.oxfamamerica.org

Contributors to the Gender Policy BriefOrganization URL

Heifer International www.heifer.or gInternational Center for Research on Women www.icrw.orgInternational Medical Corps www.internati onalmedicalcorps.orgWinrock International www.winrock.orgWomen Thrive Worldwide www.womenthrive.org
http://www.ajws.org/http://www.redcross.org/http://www.bread.org/http://www.care.org/http://www.crs.org/http://www.genderhealth.org/http://www.genderhealth.org/http://www.counterpart.org/http://www.counterpart.org/http://www.fh.org/http://www.heifer.org/http://www.heifer.org/http://www.thp.org/http://www.thp.org/http://www.icrw.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.ird-dc.org/http://www.jrs.net/http://www.msh.org/http://www.msh.org/http://www.savethechildren.org/http://www.savethechildren.org/http://www.winrock.org/http://www.winrock.org/http://www.womenforwomen.org/http://www.womenforwomen.org/http://www.womenforwomen.org/http://www.womenforwomen.org/http://www.womenforwomen.org/http://www.wedo.org/http://www.womenthrive.org/http://www.womenthrive.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.heifer.org/http://www.icrw.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.winrock.org/http://www.womenthrive.org/http://www.womenthrive.org/http://www.winrock.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.icrw.org/http://www.heifer.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.womenthrive.org/http://www.wedo.org/http://www.womenforwomen.org/http://www.winrock.org/http://www.savethechildren.org/http://www.msh.org/http://www.jrs.net/http://www.ird-dc.org/http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/http://www.icrw.org/http://www.thp.org/http://www.heifer.org/http://www.fh.org/http://www.counterpart.org/http://www.genderhealth.org/http://www.crs.org/http://www.care.org/http://www.bread.org/http://www.redcross.org/http://www.ajws.org/


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Organization URLPact www.pactworld.orgPlan USA www.planusa.orgRefugees International www.refugeesinternational.orgUnitarian Universalist Service Committee www.uusc.orgUnited Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) www.umcor.orgUS Fund for UNICEF www.unicefusa.orgWinrock International www.winrock.orgWomens Refugee Commission www.womensrefugeecommission.orgWorld Vision www.worldvision.org

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