APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES IN GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

In this unit, you will learn about gender needs and the women in development (WID), Women and
Development (WAD) and Gender and Development (GAD) approaches.

Section-one: Gender Needs

Different gender roles generate gender needs. These needs are conceived as practical needs and
strategic interests. They are reinforcing strategies to integrate the concerns of women into
development programs and projects. You will learn about these needs and interests in this section.

1.1 Practical Gender Needs (PGN)

Practical gender needs are the needs women identify in their socially accepted roles in society. PGNs
are a response to immediate perceived necessity, identified within a specific context. They are
practical in nature and often concern inadequacies in living conditions such as water provision,
health care and employment. Hence, Practical needs are immediate and material and arise from
current conditions. Women’s practical needs tend to focus on the domestic arena, income-earning
activities, and housing and basic services, all identified as women’s responsibilities. Child care
services, maternal and child health care, subsistence crops marketing, and traditional employment
opportunities are means to address these needs.

While practical interventions can increase women’s participation in the development process, they
are unlikely to change gender relations and, in fact, may preserve and reinforce inequitable divisions
of labor. PGNs do not challenge, although they arise out of gender divisions of labor, women's
subordinate position in society.
1.2 Strategic Gender Needs (SGN)
Strategic Gender Needs (SGN) is also termed as strategic interests of women. Strategic interests are
the needs women identify because of their subordinate position in society. They vary according to
particular contexts, related to gender divisions of labor, power and control, and may include such
issues as legal rights, domestic violence, equal wages, and women's control over their bodies.
Meeting SGNs assists women to achieve greater equality and change existing roles, thereby
challenging women's subordinate position. Strategic interests are long-term, related to equalizing
gender-based disparities in wages, education, employment, and participation in decision-making
bodies. Addressing strategic interests may challenge the prevailing balance of power between men
and women. Actions to address women’s strategic interests might include abolition of the gender
division of labor, shared domestic labor and child care, elimination of institutionalized forms of
discrimination (for example, the right to own property and access to credit), promotion of political
equality, freedom of choice over childbearing, and adequate measures against male violence.

Practical needs and strategic interests are linked. Responding to practical needs identified by women
at the community level can provide an entry point to identifying and addressing their long-term
strategic interests. Starting a women’s group to meet a practical need for child care or income-
generation may improve women’s economic position and political participation. A community-based
reproductive health project, introduced to meet the practical need for family planning, may enable
women to have greater control over their reproductive lives and have a larger role in decision-
making in the family. A scholarship fund may enable poor girls to attend school, filling a practical
need; while adopting and enforcing laws and policies for equal education addresses a strategic interest.

Section two: WID and GAD Approaches in Development

In the previous section, you have learnt that meeting practical gender needs and strategic interests of
women are the two reinforcing strategies to integrate the concerns women into development
programs and projects. These strategies are conceived out of the broader approaches in gender and
development. These are Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD) and
Gender and Development (GAD). You will learn about these approaches in this section.

2.1 Women in Development (WID) and Women and Development (WAD)

WID grew out of the work of economist Ester Boserup, whose groundbreaking book, Women’s Role
in Economic Development (1970), argued that women’s contributions were being ignored and
development suffered as a result. The goal was more efficient, effective development through the
integration of women into existing development processes. The strategies that were developed
included adding women’s projects or project components, increasing women’s income and
productivity, and improving women’s ability to look after the household.
The WID approach did not address the root causes of discrimination that prevented women’s full
participation in their societies. In the late 1970s, the WAD perspective was developed in reaction to
omissions in WID.

The arguments of the WAD approach

WAD proponents argued that women were already integrated into development processes but on
unequal terms. They pointed out that development projects increase the demands on women without
increasing access to resources or decision-making power and, in effect, work against women’s
interests. WAD argued that class structures were more oppressive than gender and that poor,
marginalized women have more in common with men of their class than with women of another
class. The emergence of GAD in the 1980s marked a revolution in thinking about equitable,
sustainable development.

2.2 Gender and Development (GAD)

The rationale for conducting women’s development programs began to shift from increased
efficiency in meeting development goals to greater equity and empowerment for women. The new
focus on gender was developed by women who argued that the WID approach saw the problems of
women merely from the perceived sexual divisions—their biological differences with men—rather
than in terms of gender—the social roles and relationships of men and women and the forces that
both perpetuate and change these relations. They pointed out that women have been systematically
subordinated and assigned secondary or inferior roles to men and their needs have been considered
in isolation from the larger context. GAD reflects the recognition that women are an integral part of
every development strategy. GAD includes three main concepts:
 Both men and women create and maintain society and shape the division of labor. However,
they benefit and suffer unequally. Therefore, greater focus must be placed on women because
they have been more disadvantaged.
 Women and men are socialized differently and often function in different spheres of the
community, although there is interdependence. As a result, they have different priorities and
perspectives. Because of gender roles, men can constrain or expand women’s options.
 Development affects men and women differently, and women and men will have a different
impact on projects. Both must be involved in identifying problems and solutions if the
interests of the community as a whole are to be furthered.
The GAD approach to development is aimed at ensuring an equal distribution of opportunities,
resources, and benefits to different population groups served by a particular intervention. Applying
this approach can help project planners to identify important differences in female and male roles
and responsibilities and use this information to plan more effective policies, programs, and projects.
This approach is based on the Harvard Analytical Framework, one of the first gender analysis
models. GAD uses this model to explore and analyze the differences between the kinds of work
performed by women and men in particular social, cultural and economic circumstances. In order to
identify differences between female and male roles, responsibilities, opportunities and rewards, the
approach requires that three important questions are asked, explicitly or implicitly, at all stages of
designing, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating an intervention:

• Who does what by gender with what resources?

• Who has access to the resources, benefits, and opportunities?

• Who does control the resources, benefits, and opportunities?

Dear learner, it is important to see the issues that should be included under each question.

Who Does What: This question identifies the different activities performed by the men and women
in the target population. For example, a rural development project aimed at cash-cropping might
result in the female population assuming the major burden of the agricultural work, because in such
a society women do most of the agricultural labor. Asking the question “Who does what?” can alert
project designers to the possibility that such a project could increase the women’s work.

Who Has Access (Ability to Use): This question asks how much each population group can use
existing resources, benefits, and opportunities or those which will be generated by the intervention.
These include land, money, credit, and education.

Who Controls (Determines the Outcome of the Resources): This question asks to what extent
different groups of women and men in the population can decide how to use the available resources.
Some groups may have access to resources but may not be able to use them. If these three questions
are not asked, the kinds of interventions which are developed may be based on incomplete and
incorrect assumptions and perceptions of the way things work in a particular society. For example,
planners may incorrectly assume that in a given setting the men are heads of households and chief
decision-makers, even though women play this role. This assumption may lead them to design
ineffective and inappropriate interventions. Analysis of the information provided by these questions
enables planners to find out how an intervention would impact different groups. If needed, corrective
measures can then be put in place to ensure that the project will meet the needs of all identified
groups equally.

Below is a summary of the WID and GAD approaches to development.

Women in Development Gender and Development

The Approach  An approach which seeks to integrate An approach which seeks to empower
women into the development process women and transform unequal relations
between women and men

The Focus  Women  Relations between men and women

The Problem  The exclusion of women from the Unequal relations of power (rich and
development process poor/women and men) that prevent
equitable development and women’s full
participation

The Goal  More efficient, effective Development  Equitable, sustainable development

 Women and men sharing decision-making

and power
 The Strategies  Women’s projects  Identify and address short-term needs
determined by women and men to
 Women’s components improve their condition

 Integrated projects  At the same time, address women’s and

men’s longer term interests
 Increase women’s productivity and
income

 Increase women’s ability to manage their

households

Source: Two Halves Make a Whole: Balancing Gender Relations in Development

GENDER ISSUES IN ETHIOPIA

This chapter takes you to consider some issues of gender in Ethiopia and also some policy measures
taken by the government of as well. Hence, the chapter is divided in to two main sections. After brief
introduction of the concept to Ethiopian context, the first section provides a discussion on some
gender related issues in Ethiopia which includes gender and poverty, violence against women,
women and participation, women and health, women and education, women empowerment, women
and media, women work status, etc. The last section is on gender policy and implementation
machinery in Ethiopia where you will be overviewed with some international and national
commitments made by Ethiopian government and the means to implement these commitments.

Section I: Gender issues in Ethiopia and legal measures adopted

In this section of the unit you will be provided with the discussion on the concept and issues of
gender in Ethiopia which includes gender and poverty, violence against women, women and
participation, women and health, women and education, etc.

1.1 Conceptual overview

The issue of gender inequality can be considered as a universal feature of developing countries.
Unlike women in developed countries who are, in relative terms, economically empowered and have
a powerful voice that demands an audience and positive action, women in developing countries are
generally silent and their voice has been stifled by economic and cultural factors. Economic and
cultural factors, coupled with institutional factors dictate the gender-based division of labor, rights,
responsibilities, opportunities, and access to and control over resources. Education, literacy, access
to media, employment, decision making, among other things, are some of the areas of gender disparity.

The problems of gender inequalities discussed above are very much prevalent in and relevant to
Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a patriarchal society that keeps women in a subordinate position and remains
one of Africa’s most traditions bound societies. (Haregewoin and Emebet, 2003). There is a belief
that women are docile, submissive, patient, and tolerant of monotonous work and violence, for which
culture is used as a justification (Hirut, 2004).

The socialization process, which determines gender roles, is partly responsible for the subjugation of
women in the country. Ethiopian society is socialized in such a way that girls are held inferior to
boys. In the process of upbringing, boys are expected to learn and become self-reliant, major bread
winners, and responsible in different activities, while girls are brought up to conform, be obedient
and dependent, and specialize in indoor activities like cooking, washing clothes, fetching water,
caring for children, etc. (Haregewoin and Emebet, 2003; Hirut, 2004).
The differences in the ways in which individuals are treated through the socialization process,
mainly due to their sex status, leads to the development of real psychological and personality
differences between males and females (Almaz, 1991). For instance, a female informant in Arsi
stated that a man is a big person who has higher social position and knowledge, who can govern
others and think in wider perspectives; while a woman is a person who can serve a man, who is like
the husband’s object transferred through marriage, and to whom he can do anything he wishes to do
(Hirut, 2004). These socially induced differences between males and females result in discriminatory
rewards, statuses, opportunities and roles as shall be discussed below.

1.2 Critical areas of gender issues in Ethiopia

a) Poverty and gender

Although women's contribution to their households, food production and national economies is
immense, it has not been translated into better access to resources or decision-making powers. As a
result, women remained to be the poorest of the poor constituting 70% of the global poor. Women
in Ethiopia face similar constraints. Due to the different roles and responsibilities men and women
have in the society, the causes and experiences of poverty also differ by gender. Rights such as,
access to land, credit and other productive resources are difficult for women to attain. Women make
up half of the population and the majority of the poor and illiterate in the country. Though women
play a vital role in production activities, in addition to shouldering reproductive responsibility, they
are denied recognition and access to resources. Cultural attitudes and harmful traditional practices
are major factors which relegate women to a subordinate position.
Like other least developing countries (LDCs), Ethiopia in 2002 also started the preparation of the
final draft of poverty reduction strategy paper immediately after the approval of the interim poverty
reduction strategy paper. The final document entitled "sustainable Development and Poverty
Reduction Program (SDPRP) provides a sound basis to continue the implementation of the
sustainable development and poverty reduction program activities in the country. Given poverty
reduction will continue to be the core of the agenda of the country's development, the strategy is
built on four pillars (building blocks). These are Agriculture Development led Industrialization
(ADLI), Justice System and Civil Service Reform, Decentralization and Empowerment, and
Capacity building in public and private sectors.
Taking the significance of addressing the gender dimension of poverty into consideration, a lot of
advocacy and lobbying work has been done by the government and Non Government Organization
(NGOs) and other actors to incorporate gender issues in both the interim and final poverty reduction
programs. Efforts have also been done by the Women's Affairs Office of the
Prime Minister Office (WAO/PMO) in terms of advocacy and lobbying the issue to be embedded in
the overall SDPRP. As a result of these and other effort made by various stakeholders, gender and
development has been incorporated as a cross cutting issue in the SDPRP.

b) Violence against women

Violence against women is a general problem in Ethiopia, where culturally based abuses, including
wife beating and marital rape, are pervasive social problems. A July 2005 World Bank study
concluded that 88 percent of rural women and 69 percent of urban women believed their husbands
had the right to beat them. While women had recourse via the police and courts, societal norms and
limited infrastructure prevented many women from seeking legal redress, particularly in rural areas.
The government prosecutes offenders only on a limited scale. The population sex ratio in Ethiopia
has been stable (around 99%) for the past 50 years, and the occurrence of missing women is not
widespread in the country.

Violence against women such as rape, domestic violence, abduction for marriage, sexual harassment,
female genital mutilation, early marriage are widely speared in the country and are being widely
recognized, as a violation of women's right apart from the physical and psychological consequence it
has on the life of a woman. Women in Ethiopia as anywhere else are also victims of various violence
and harmful traditional practices simply because of their gender. Patriarchal domination, cultural and
traditional practices, economic deprivation etc are among the reasons for violence against women in Ethiopia.

The practices of female genital mutilation (FGM) and early/and forced marriage, impinge on the
rights and health of women. Traditional discriminatory practices such as FGM and widow
inheritance (including all her property) continue to persist. In Ethiopia, 80% of women (and in some
parts of the country up to 100%) are mutilated, as a means of women’s loyalty to culture and faith
(Haregewoin and Emebet, 2003). It is also estimated that, in each of the 28 Woredas in Addis
Ababa, three women are raped each day making it a total of 30,660 rape cases every year
(Haregewoin and Emebet, 2003). Data compiled by the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association
from woreda police stations in Addis Ababa showed a 39% and 54% increment of abduction and
assault and bodily injury to women and young girls between 1999 and 2001 (Federal Civil Service
Commission, 2005). The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS is also posing a serious threat to the
development of the country.

Cognizant to this fact, a lot of awareness has been undertaken by various stakeholders including the
WAO/PMO, Sectoral women's affairs machineries, and civil society organizations. FGM is
forbidden according to national law, and is presumed to be declining. The new penal code
criminalizes FGM by imprisonment of no less than three months, or a fine. Likewise, infibulations is
punishable by imprisonment of five to ten years. However, no criminal prosecutions have ever been
sought regarding FGM. Various strategies, including IEC materials, training's/workshops, media
campaign (both print and air), panel discussions, legal aid for women etc were used in this regard.
Taking the multi-dimensional consequences of violence against women into consideration, the
government of Ethiopia has taken measure in creating conducive environment for the revisions of
legal reforms that are discriminatory to women. Accordingly, the family law has been revised in a gender
sensitive manner and the penal code is at stake.

c) Female -headed households

According to the 2004/05 household survey the average household size for the country is 4.8 (4.9 in
rural areas and 4.3 in urban). Of the estimated 13.4 million households, about 75% are male headed
and 25% female-headed. It is estimated that about 16% of households are urban dwellers and 84%
rural. A much higher proportion of female-headed households reside in urban areas compared to
rural areas. About one in five rural households (22%) and nearly two in five urban households (39%)
are female-headed.

d) Women’s economic participation

The backbone of the economy in Ethiopia is agriculture, which accounts for 54% of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector
suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system,
the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to tenants.

Rural women in Ethiopia engage as equally as their male counterparts in agricultural activities, in
addition to carrying the heavy burden of household duties. Even in areas where women are excluded
by custom from farming and planting, they participate in weeding, transporting harvest and storing
grain, as well as in livestock husbandry activities. In areas where production is based on the use of
the hoe and shift cultivation, women participate in all farm activities including soil preparation. In
pastoral societies, like Afar and Somali, where animal products are the predominant source of
income, women play a critical role in rearing animals and processing animal products for home
consumption and the market.
Women’s access to land is not only smaller, but they are also disadvantaged in terms of using their
land. This is because their land is often in a worse condition than those used by male-headed
households. This is due to the fact that women do not have the necessary resources to cultivate the
land, which in a lot of cases forces them to rent out their land to others.

Women also lack agricultural labor; this is another reason why they are forced to rent out the land.
This is not necessarily because they are incapable of working on their plot, but because the culturally
accepted gender divisions of labor prohibit women from such activity. For example, in the grain
producing areas of the country social norms prohibit women from farming land (Yigeremew, 2001).
Studies have also revealed that in areas where oxen are essential for farming, such as in plough
agriculture, women do not have enough oxen or the necessary implements to farm their land.
Women also have problem accessing credit because they do not have property for use as collateral.
In effect, this means that they are prevented from improving their land.

e) Gender and Education

Studies have shown that women are seriously disadvantaged regarding educational attainment.
Women’s education was found to be significantly far behind from that of men. For school age
population the participation or enrolment rates in schools has shown a remarkable increase for both
boys and girls in recent years. However, the gender gap remained to be there. Dropping out after
enrolling for few years is the main obstacle to girls’ educational attainment. As education of girls
and women is rightly considered to be the key for improving women’s status at all levels, it is indeed
necessary to explore further what specific factors work against girls’ education in the society.
Factors affecting educational attainment of girls include early marriage, living in rural areas and
poverty (being in households grouped in lower and poorest wealth quintile groups), etc.

Further exploration of causes for poor educational status of women, by means of qualitative data that
are collected from selected regions in the country, revealed that early marriage is the single most
important reason mentioned in all Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and interviews with key persons
as to why girls’ education is undermined in almost all regions. Most cultures strongly urge girls to
get married early and take the responsibility of serving their husbands. The cultural pressure in favor
of early marriage is so strong that families who do not get their daughters married at an acceptably
young age will be scorned and ridiculed; the girls may also not get husbands if they pass that age. To
respect this tradition, parents continue defying the Constitution that set minimum age of marriage.
Other reasons given for early marriage and dropping out from school were fear of sexual violence,
such as rape and abduction, that befall young girls before marriage and fear of promiscuity and
unwanted pregnancy before marriage on the girls’ side. Yet another reason mentioned in the FGDs
held in Gambella was the dowry paid to parents of the girl, upon her marriage. Parents do not believe
that girls’ education is useful and girls are employable. Once married, women will have no time and
permission to go to school. Young girls are also expected to share the work load of their mothers at
home, taking care of their younger siblings and helping in household chores which lead to being
absent regularly and later results in drop out from school. It is also indicated that any financial stress
in the household will lead to pulling girls out of school to cut expenses or involve them in household
maintenance. In most societies girls’ main role is believed to be learning household activities,
cooking, cleaning, rearing children and taking care of the family as a whole, rather than going to
school. It is believed that educating girls is not that useful as they are going to get married and
assume their role soon anyway. These reasons are shared by almost all rural communities of the
country to different degrees while some are indicated even in urban settings.
Some region-specific, (in Somali, for example), reasons indicated that girls are not allowed in many
cases to attend classes with boys in the same classroom. In addition, the pastoralist lifestyle, which
involves relocating temporary residence and family maintenance, burdens women and girls and leads
to the disruption of girls’ education (Somali and Afar).
Low educational level is one of the causes and consequences of females’ low socio-economic status.
In spite of the fact that significant progress has been realized in girls’ education during the last
decade, gender gap is still observed. According to various statistical abstracts of the Ministry of
Education, the share of female students has increased from 21% to 25% between the years 1998/99
and 2002/03. Nevertheless, the sex disaggregated Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the ratio of total
enrolment at primary or secondary education to the corresponding school age population, shows
disparity between the two sexes. Though female GER in primary education has increased from 41%
in 1999/2000 to 54% in 2002/03, the respective figures for males are 61% and 75%. In the year
2002, the rate of adult literacy for women was 34%, while it was 49% for men (MOE, 2002). The
gender gap is clearly observed when the Gender Parity Index (GPI), the ratio of female to male
enrolment, is considered. Between the years 1999 and 2003, GPI was found to be 0.7, indicating that
there were only 7 girls enrolled at primary schools for every 10 boys (Federal Civil Service
Commission, 2005). The gender inequality in education widens as one goes up higher in the
educational ladder. In the academic year 2001/2002, among the students who managed to enter
colleges at diploma level, only 24.9% were women. This figure goes further down for females in
undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs of various higher education institutes; only 15.0%
in undergraduate and 7.3% postgraduate degree programs were females. If one sees the percentage
share of females in higher education teaching staff it is on the average of 5.73% (Emebet, et al, 2004).

One of the strategic objectives and actions in the Beijing Declaration and the Platform of action is
education and training of women. The strategic objective clearly states that education is a human
right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace. Following the
declaration, Ethiopia has been trying to close the gender gap in education through formulation of
policies, strategies and action oriented measures. The new education and training policy declared in
1994, has addressed the importance of girls education and among others it clearly stated that the
government will give financial support to raise the participation of women in education. It further
stated that, special attention would be given to the participation, recruitment, training and assignment
of female teachers.

f) Women’s work status

Analysis of the DHS (Disease and Health Survey) data (2005) has shown that employment of
women was significantly less than that of men. The factors identified as positive predictors for
women to be engaged in non- household work were living in urban area, later age at first marriage
(above age 18), having some education and being in a household at a better economic status
(indicated by households in richer and richest wealth quintiles). In rural areas where girls’ education
is discouraged and the role of a woman is believed to be solely marrying, bearing and raising
children and maintaining the family, tradition and culture do not support women to go out and work
for earning. This is believed to be the role of the man only. According to the FGDs and interviews, it
is thought in some societies that letting women to go out and work for earning could be opening door
for them to be unfaithful and disrespectful to their husbands as it involves interactions and some
level of independence. Conforming to the culture and tradition husbands do not allow women to go
out and work; otherwise they will be considered as deviators from the norm. In addition to this
cultural barrier, for the uneducated poor women economic constraint makes it difficult to start even
small scale income generating work. In many instances having many children coupled with the
heavy daily workload at home to maintain the family does not leave much time to venture working
outside. The cultural barriers preventing women from working to earn a living were strongly stated
in Gambella, Somali and SNNP regions.
Women are underrepresented in the formal sector of employment. The survey conducted by the
Central Statistical Authority (CSA, 2004) showed that women account for less than half (43%) of the
total employees in the country. Considering the percentage of female employees from the total
number of employees by employment type, the highest was in domestic activities (78%) and
followed by unpaid activities (59.3%). In other types of formal employment (e.g. government,
NGOs, private organizations), the percentage of female workers is less than 35. On the other hand,
the survey showed overrepresentation of female workers in the informal sector. About 58% of
working women work in the informal sector whereas the percentage of working men in the informal
sector was 37.7 % (ibid).
The breakdown of the federal government employees by occupational groups also indicated gender
disparity. From federal government employees found in the clerical and fiscal type of jobs 71.3 %
were female, while the percentage of females was slightly more than half (51%) in custodial and
manual type of jobs. Women make up 25% and 18% of the administrative and professional and
scientific job categories, respectively, indicating that upper and middle level positions are
overwhelmingly dominated by men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005). This concentration
of women in the informal sector and low level positions has implication on their earnings. In this
regard, the survey showed four out of ten women civil servants earn Birr 300 a month compared to
two out of ten for men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005).

g) Gender and desire for more children

The research results indicated that men have consistently shown greater desire for having more
children than women. Demand for limiting family size is higher for women than men. On the other
hand, men are the principal if not the sole decision makers regarding controlling fertility of women
in most of the societies particularly in rural areas. Studies revealed that the desire for more children
by men has cultural basis. A man with many children has better prestige since having many children
is considered strengthening the clan one belongs to (Somali, Afar). It is also believed that children
will provide support to their parents at old age. In Gambella, having many children, especially
daughters, is desirable, as they may bring dowry money to parents and are, thus, sources of income.
Religion is also another strong reason for both men and women to consider having many children.
Children are believed to be God’s gifts. Having many children is considered observing the religion
rightly (Somali, Afar and other regions). Given all these traditional beliefs, women still desire to
limit their children since raising children and family maintenance are their sole burden.

h) Gender and Health

Women’s health problems, which were formerly conceived as biological and reproductive issues, are
nowadays re-conceptualized to encompass gender issues. This is because reproductive health issues
do not give the full picture of the problem as women’s health is also embedded in the social and
cultural settings. Accordingly, Yegomawork et al. (2005) classified the health problems into two.
The first is maternal health problems which are directly related to child bearing complications such
as prolonged labor, retained placenta, maternal malnutrition, etc. In this regard, Ethiopia is one of the
developing countries with high Maternal Mortality Ratio (871 deaths per 100,000 live births in
2000) (Mukuria et al., 2005). Although the MMR has reportedly decreased since then to 673 deaths
per 100,000 live births for the period 2000 to 2005, according to the recent DHS 2005 result, it is
still on the higher side. Similarly, among women aged 15 – 49 and with children under three years,
25% have Body Mass Index of below 18.5, a cut-off point used to identify chronic energy deficiency
(Mukuria et al., 2005). The authors also stated, according to the categorization of World Health
Organization, this percentage shows a serious nutritional situation in the country.

HIV/AIDS epidemic is a threat to socio-economic advancement of most countries in the world. The
issue goes beyond health problem and it becomes a cause for social disintegration and economic
deterioration of many developing countries including Ethiopia. The problem is aggravated by the
existence of gender discrimination and violence against women. In Ethiopia, like many other
developing countries, the social definitions and expectations of gender put women at higher risk with
respect to HIV apart from their biological vulnerability to the disease.

To this effect, measures are being taken to integrate gender issues in response to HIV/AIDS. Among
these, the formation of a national coalition of Women against HIV/AIDS is a pioneer in terms of
building the leadership capacity of women to prevent the spread of HIV at the grassroots level. A
'core group' comprised of senior leadership from the government, including the first lady, and other
prominent women has been set up to manage and steer the process leading up to the formal launch of
the Coalition in June 2003. The vision of the Coalition is to create and promote leadership of women
at all levels that will inspire and lead a national movement of committed men and women throughout
Ethiopia to make HIV/AIDS, poverty and harmful traditional practices a thing of the past. The work
of the National Coalition for Women Against HIV/AIDS, will complement the existing leadership of
the Ethiopian Government in reversing the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS by focusing in particular
on addressing the gender and poverty related causes which fuel the epidemic.

Other attempts made in fighting the Gender dimension of HIV/AIDS include:

 The formation of a national policy on HIV/AIDS in 1998. The policy has addressed gender
concerns in its objectives, recognizing gender inequality and socio-economic
disempowerment of women as one of the root causes for the spread of HIV/AIDS;
 As per the policy a national coordinating body, HIV/AIDS prevention and control Office
(HAPCO) is established and a task force at Minister Offices ranging from Federal to Regional level.
 Various guidelines such as HIV/AIDS mainstreaming, monitoring and evaluation etc have
also been developed by HAPCO in a gender sensitive manner;
 HIV/AIDS and gender project, which is financed by the Ethiopian multi sectoral AIDS
program, has been established under the Women's Affairs office of the Prime Minister Office
(WAO/PMO) with the objective of reducing the risk of women to the epidemic.
 I) Women and Media

Ethiopian women’s access to mass media is one of the lowest. In their DHS comparative report,
Mukuria et al. (2005) show that, among 25 Sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopia was the last
with respect to percentage of women who have access to newspaper. In the same report it was
indicated that in 2000, among women aged 15-49 in Ethiopia, only 1.7% read newspaper at least
once a week, compared with 15% in Uganda, 36% in Gabon and 37% in Namibia. Regarding
women’s access to television, among the 25 countries, Ethiopia was the second from the last with
only 4.4% of women aged 15-49 watching television at least once a week, surpassing only Malawi
(3.8%). Women’s access to radio was relatively better than access to newspaper and television, with
11% of the women listening to radio at least once a week. It is, however, the lowest compared to
other sub- Saharan African countries; 72% for Gabon, 53% for Uganda, 52% for Malawi and 39%
for Rwanda.

j) Women in Power and Decision Making

Due to the various obstacles that women have such as triple role, violence against women, lack of
education etc, their representation and participation in leadership and decision making position has
also been limited. Despite the Government policies of equal opportunity for both men and women to
participate in the democratization of the country, women have not been adequately represented at all
levels of decision-making positions.

Out of 547 seats reserved for parliamentarians in 1995, it was only 15(2.74%) that was occupied by
women. However, by the next round election, an increasing trend of women's participation has been
observed. During the 2000 House of People's Representative election, about 42 (7.7%) of the
candidates for parliamentary seats were women compared to 2.7% in 1995. Although not
satisfactory, women participation in local authorities has also improved. With the introduction of a
Federal System of Government, in 1991, by devolution of decision making power and
responsibilities to regional states, an increasing trend of women participation in local authorities
have also been seen. During the 1995 general election for regional council, out of 1355 members 77
(5.0%) were women. This number increased both in terms of membership and number of women in
2000 election. Thus, in the election held in 2000 for regional council, while the number of members
increased to 1647, there were 244 (12.9%) women, which have shown an increase by 10%. At the
lowest level of Woreda Council, only 6.6% are women out of the 70,430 council members. At the
lowest administrative unit, the Kebele, women constitute only 13.9% of the 928,288 elected officials.

It is also the case that women have little or no power of making decisions on matters related to their
own households. Their decision making power is limited regarding land use in rural areas
(Haregewoin and Emebet, 2003) and even on sexual interactions (Adanech and Azeb, 1991).
Haregewoin and Emebet noted that less than 25% of women are able to decide by themselves on
contraceptive use. Mostly women in the country have the power to make decisions on issues related
to the daily life of their family, but decisions about large household purchases, degree of participation
of a woman in social activities, and reproductive health issues are dominated by men.

Further, at the level of international representation, among the 28 ambassadors that Ethiopia
appointed at different mission abroad, only 4 (14.3) are women. In the area of employment, while
the number of women in the Ethiopian civil service has been relatively small, the senior positions are
overwhelmingly held by men. Federal Civil Service Commission recent statistics revealed the fact
that the overwhelming majority of women civil servants are concentrated in positions such as
secretary, cleaner, and others.

Section II: Gender policy and machinery

This section focuses on gender policy and implementation machinery in Ethiopia. Since coming to
power in 1991, the current government has introduced several laws and policies to address issues of
democracy, decentralization, poverty reduction, institutional capacity and improvement of the social,
economic and political status of the citizenry. Moreover, the Constitution of the federal government
that was proclaimed in 1994 has domesticated international instruments which Ethiopia has ratified
or adopted. Ethiopia has ratified major international conventions, protocols and treaties.

The issue of gender equality has become an area of concern in development planning during the last
few decades. The marginalization, from development programs, of women for a long period of time
is challenged with changing policy perspectives from Women in Development (WID), which aims to
include women in development projects in order to make the latter more effective, to Gender and
Development (GAD), which aims to address inequalities in women’s and men’s social roles in
relation to development (March et al., 1999).

Despite recently introduced policy instruments and legislative commitments serving women’s
interests, the vast majority of Ethiopian women - particularly in rural areas - are far from being well-
off, independent and direct beneficiaries of development initiatives. Hence, gender mainstreaming,
the integration of gender issues into every aspect of development programs, is aimed at empowering
women to enable them participate in and benefit from the programs equally as men, being supported
by international and national policies.

The international agreements related to gender equality to which Ethiopia is a part

Global effort had been underway to alleviate the low status of women since the 1990s. In the
framework of the general conferences held in Cairo (1994) and in Beijing (1995), direction was set
and recommendations were made targeting mainly the removal of all the obstacles to gender
equalities. The outcomes of these conferences recognized that the integration of gender issues into
the general development plan and program of a country is crucial and unavoidable step for overall
sustainable development and that needs to get proper attention by governments.

At international level, the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPA), and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
are the main strategies and conventions introduced for the achievement of gender equality. CEDAW
incorporates the following measures that governments have to take to guarantee gender equality:
elimination of discrimination against women in employment opportunities and benefits of service;
ensuring gender equality in all areas of socio-economic life such as legal rights to contracts and
property, and access to financial credit; equality of women in national constitutions; and abolishing
existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that discriminate against women.

The government urged regional governments to make CEDAW part of the regional law and
encouraged them to proceed with the full implementation of the provisions of the Convention
throughout the country, through the enhancement of cooperation between federal and regional
governmental bodies and institutions, to achieve uniformity of results in the implementation of the
Convention. The Committee assigned by the government also recommended that the State party
improve its efforts to systematically monitor progress achieved in the implementation of the
Convention at all levels, and in all areas. Particular focus being placed on the improvement of the
capacity of all public officials in the area of women's human rights, and the seeking of resources
through international development assistance programmes, as necessary. It was also recommended
that the State party launch, at the national level, a comprehensive programme of dissemination of the
Convention, targeting women and men, in order to enhance awareness and promote and protect the
rights of women. However, CEDAW has not been implemented in regional law, even though the
Constitution encourages it.

According to CEDAW committee report (2003), women in the civil services, the largest employer in
the country, remain a small minority. In the legislative and judiciary branches, the situation is worse.
Women are seriously underrepresented. In the Federal Parliament, the highest decision making body,
women hold only 7.7% of the total seats. The figure sheds light on how far the country has to go in
the direction of empowering women. Especially in this key area, the government has a long way to
go. For without a vigorous effort to level the political playing from a gender perspective, the gap in
this area, critical in measuring women’s empowerment, will remain wide. The government cannot
fully meet its CEDAW obligations and commitments so long as the political representation gap
remains as high as it is at present.”

The measures that are included in the BPA are ensuring women’s equal rights and access to
economic resources; elimination of occupational segregation and all forms of employment
discrimination and promoting women’s access to employment, appropriate working conditions and
control over resources; facilitating women’s equal access to markets, trade, information, and
technology; promotion of harmonization of work and family responsibilities for women and men;
and conducting gender-based research and dissemination of its results for planning and evaluation.

The key commitments of governments and other development partners set in the MDGs include
gender equality and women’s empowerment. The commitments include ensuring universal primary
education for both boys and girls by 2015; elimination of gender disparity at all levels of education
by 2015; and reducing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. Ethiopia
adopted these agreements to promote gender equality and improve the lives of women. As a means
to implement these global agreements, different policies and legislations have also been enacted.
These are the National Policy on Women, National Population Policy, Education Policy, Cultural
Policy, and other legal documents.
The National Policy on Women, introduced in 1993, was the first policy that is specifically related to
the affairs of women (Jelaludin et al., 2001). The objectives of the policy include facilitating
conditions conducive to the speeding up of equality between men and women so that women can
participate in the political, economic and social life of their country on equal terms with men;
ensuring that their right to own property as well as their other human rights are respected and that
they are not excluded from both the enjoyment of the fruits of their labor or performing public
functions and participating in decision making.
Cognizant of the adverse impact of low status of women on the overall economic development in
general and on reproductive health issues in particular, the National Population Policy of the
country, which was also endorsed in 1993, included in its objectives women’s status and health
issues such as reduction of incidence of maternal mortality, improvement of females’ participation at all
levels of education and enhancement of the contraceptive prevalence rate (TGE, 1993).

The 1994 Education and Training Policy affirmed the importance of girls’ education. It focused on
the reorientation of the attitude and values of the society towards recognizing the roles and
contributions of women in development. The policy included gender equality issues such as
increasing girls’ school enrolment ratio, preparing a gender sensitive curriculum, and reducing girls’
dropout and repetition rates (FDRE, 1994).
In an attempt to address customary practices and backward traditions that undermine the roles of
women in society, the National Cultural Policy was enacted in 1997. The main objectives of this
policy are to ensure equal participation in and benefit from cultural activities, and to abolish
traditional harmful practices that violate the rights of women such as early marriage, female genital
mutilation and abduction (FDRE, 1997).

The rights of women in the constitution of Ethiopia

In addition to the aforementioned national policies gender equality is guaranteed by the Constitution
of the country. Article 25 of the FDRE Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law
and it prohibits any discrimination on grounds of gender. In Article 35, equality in matters related to
employment, equality in acquisition and management of property, equal participation in policy and
decision making, and right of women to plan families are stated to ensure gender equality. Similarly,
Article 42 states the right of female workers to equal pay for comparable work (FDRE, 1995).

The implementation machinery of these policies

On the basis of the Women's policy of the Country, a considerable number of women's machineries
have been set at different government level ranging from Federal to the lowest administrative unit.
From 1991-1995 the Women's Affairs Office (WAO) is constituted in Prime Minister’s Office with
a mandate of coordinating, facilitating and monitoring of women's affairs activities at national level.
In 1995 this was changed to a separate ministry; the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. The following are
some of the duties and responsibilities/mandate of WAO:
 Coordinate, facilitate and monitor of women's affairs activities at national level;
 Create conducive atmosphere for the implementation of women's affairs policy in various
governmental organization and the country in general and monitor its realization,
 Encourage the establishment of women affairs organs in all the regions, central ministries
and public organizations at all levels, as well as the formation of self initiated women's
organizations in order to strengthen and expand the activities of the Ethiopian women.
 Coordinate the financial and material aids to be secured from various sources;
 Process information and reports to be received from women's affairs departments and self
initiated women's organization and provide solutions to their problems in consultation with
higher authorities;
 Organize seminars, workshops and symposiums at the national level

Other Women's Affairs Department (WADs) is also set up in 16 sectoral Ministries, two
Commissions and in all regional governments at department level. According to the policy, these
WADs are accountable to the organization in which they are formed and have equal power with
other departments. The WADs are, therefore, responsible to monitor, follow up and design ways of
implementing the national women's affairs policy effectively in accordance with the powers and
duties of the organization in which they are based. Based on the decentralized development program
of the country, gender focal points have also been established in each Woreda (district) in order to
incorporate gender issue in local development program.
Being placed in the highest governmental office, the 'Women's Affairs Office play a primary role of
facilitating, coordinating and monitoring activities of the Women's affairs departments and bureaus
established in the various line ministries and regions. Although the implementation of the national
policy on women lays mainly with the government machineries, NGOs, Women's Organization and
other stakeholders also play a pivotal role for the successful implementation of the national policy.
Concurrently, it is within this already established institutional mechanism for the advancement of
women that the BPA is being implemented in Ethiopia.
Even if women in Ethiopia formally have the same rights as men, their situation is difficult and does
not show any sign of improvement. According to the UN’s Equal Rights Index (GDI) on health,
education and work, Ethiopia is ranked as 142 out of 146 countries. Despite the existence of policy
instruments and legislative and institutional commitment to women’s causes, the vast majority of
Ethiopian women, especially in rural areas live in poverty. Their status in the socio-political,
economic and cultural contexts is critical.

The main reasons for the situation are the socio-cultural portrait of women and girls and their
assigned role; existing practices of resource distribution; the division of labor, and the distribution of
opportunities. Moreover there is a considerable gap between the needs and concerns of women and
girls, and the actual effort being made in response to them (CEDAW). In most cases this is
associated with implementation, or lack of implementation, of the policy, laws and constitutionally
given rights of women, and to national poverty.

Gender Analysis
This section you will learn about the conceptual definitions of gender analysis, the framework of
analysis and some key elements of gender analysis at different levels.

1.1 Concept and definition of gender analysis

The concept of gender analysis arose from the need to mainstream women’s interests while at the
same time acknowledging that women could not be treated as a homogeneous group. It was realized
that women’s needs were better understood when viewed in relation to men’s needs and roles and to
their social, cultural, political and economic context. Gender analysis thus takes into account
women’s roles in production, reproduction and management of community and other activities.
Changes in one may produce beneficial or detrimental effects in others.

Gender analysis is a systematic way of looking at the different impacts of development, policies,
programs and legislation on women and men that entails, first and foremost, collecting sex-
disaggregated data and gender-sensitive information about the population concerned. Gender
analysis can also include the examination of the multiple ways in which women and men, as social
actors, engage in strategies to transform existing roles, relationships, and processes in their own
interest and in the interests of others.
Gender analysis means a close examination of a problem or situation in order to identify the gender
issues. Gender analysis of a development programme involves identifying the gender issues within
the problem which is being addressed and in the obstacles to progress, so that these issues can be
addressed in all aspects of the programme- in project objectives, in the choice of intervention
strategy and the methods of program implementation.

Gender analysis is the systematic attempt to identify key issues contributing to gender inequalities so
that they can be properly addressed. Gender analysis provides the basis for gender mainstreaming
and is described as “the study of differences in the conditions, needs, participation rates, access
to resources and development, control of assets, decision-making powers, etc., between women
and men in their assigned gender roles”. Gender analysis is also needed to determine whether
specific actions are needed for women or men in addition to mainstreaming activities.
Gender analysis refers to the socio-economic methodologies that identify and interpret the
consequence of gender differences and relations for achieving development objectives.

Purpose of gender analysis

Applied to development interventions, gender analysis helps;

a) Identify gender based differences in access to resources to predict how different members of
households , groups, and societies will participate in and be affected by planned development
interventions;
b) Permit planners to achieve the goals of effectiveness, efficiency, equity and empowerment in
designing policy reforms, and supportive programs and strategies;
c) Develop training package to sensitize development staff on gender issues and training
strategies for beneficiaries;
d) A gender analysis is important because gender inequalities need to be identified before they can be
addressed either though mainstreaming actions or specific actions directed to women or to men.
e) A gender analysis provides information on the different roles of women and men at different
levels, their respective access to and control over the material and non-material benefits of
society, their priorities, needs and responsibilities.
f) On the basis of a thorough gender analysis it will be possible to understand current gender
inequalities in a given situation or sector and to propose a range of measures to be included
in the project/program to address and redress the situation.
g) A gender analysis is important when it is focused on institutions in order to determine how
the nature of their services affects women and men, or how institutions themselves are also
“gendered” in terms of recruitment practices, division of labor and decision-making. Policies
and legislation can be analyzed in terms of gender outcomes or potential differential impacts
on men and women.
An analysis of gender relations can tell us who has access, who has control, who is likely to benefit
from a new initiative, and who is likely to lose. Gender analysis asks questions that can lead us in a
search for information to understand why the situation has developed the way it has. It can also lead
us to explore assumptions about issues such as the distribution of resources and the impact of culture
and traditions. It can provide the potential on the direct or indirect benefit of a development initiative
on women and men, on some appropriate entry points for measures that promote equality within a
particular context, and on how a particular development initiative may challenge or maintain the
existing gender division of labor. With this information measures of equality can be created to
address the disparities and promote equality.

For example, in the case of primary education, gender analysis can tell us that a gender gap exists in
most countries; i.e. a gap between girls’ and boys’ enrolment retention in school. In the majority of
countries where there is a gender gap, the gap works against girls, but in others, it works against
boys. In India, an average six years-old girl is expected to spend in school three years less than a boy
of the same age. Girls in rural areas are at even greater disadvantage; their risk of dropping out of
school is three times that of a boy. In Jamaica, however, it is boys who are at higher risk of missing
out on education. Boys are often pulled out of school and sent to work to boost family income, and
thus, their drop-out rate is higher than that of girls’. In their efforts to balance the needs of both boys
and girls, governments are increasingly using gender analysis to investigate the source of the gap and
what measures can be adopted to reduce the distortions in the educational system.

1.2 Framework or tools for gender analysis

A framework may outline broad sets of beliefs and goals, or it may be more prescriptive and gives a
set of tools and procedures. Because a frame selects a limited number of factors as key for analysis
out of the huge numbers that actually have an influence on any situation, each framework produces
only an approximate model. The selection of factors will reflect a set of values and assumptions that
lie behind the framework and these will also tend to influence which approaches and interventions
are considered and selected.
There are varieties of frameworks that have been developed to assist people in asking these
questions. Each tool is different, with some advantages and disadvantages, some account for other
social characteristics and factors better, while others are more participatory. Following are some examples:

1. The women’s equality and empowerment framework (Longwe): builds on an analytical

framework based on the interconnected principles of welfare, access, conscientization,
participation, control and empowerment.
2. The Harvard Analytical framework (Harvard): is a tool to collect data at the community and
household level. It has three main components: an activity profile (who does what?), an
access and control profile (who has access and who controls what?), and an analysis of
influencing factors (how does gender influence the profile?).
3. Gender Analysis Matrix (GAM) is designed as a tool for participative planning.
 4. Capacities and vulnerabilities framework (CVA): is a way of collecting key information
together in a visual and immediate format.
5. Social Relations Approach (SRA): is useful analytical tool in trying to understand complex realities.
6. People Oriented Planning (POP)

1.3 Key elements of a gender analysis at different levels

Gender analysis should be conducted at all levels, from the grass roots (the micro level) through
intermediate levels (meso level) such as service delivery systems, to the highest political levels
(macro level), and across all sectors and programs of development cooperation.

Micro Level (agency, household and community level):

 What is the division of labor amongst women, men, young and old? Who normally does
what? Have there been changes due to war, migration for labor, HIV/AIDS pandemic or
other reasons?
 Are there gendered inequalities in access to resources, including new resources? Who has
control over different resources, including new ones, resources from institutions,
development projects or other outside interventions (governmental, firms, etc)?
 What are the implications regarding having or not having control over resources?
 Resources do include non-material resources such as time, knowledge and information, or
relationships (social capital)
 What factors influence access to and control over resources (for example: age, sex, position in
an organization, wealth, rural/urban location, educational level, networks and patronage)?
 At the community level, how are decisions made about different resources and activities? Are
women enabled to participate in informed decision making, if yes how? At household level:
who makes the decisions about the use of different resources and the activities of the household
members? Who decides about the mobility of the household members?
 Are there indications for agents of change of gender roles? Are initiatives for change
welcome or oppressed?
 Which rites de passage do women and men have to go through in their life cycle? (cultural
steps to take trough different initiation rites)
 How is marriage organized, do women have the right to chose their husbands freely? Is there
a bride price system, or a dowry system? Is there a practice of early child marriage and if yes,
due to which arguments?
 What happens to women and girls, if they do not (want) fit into the culturally apt (e.g.
arranged) marriage patterns? Does this hamper their access to resources, inheritance, etc?

Meso level (structural + relational level)

 Do service delivery structures (e.g. all civil service structures at this level – health, education,
labor, transport, etc. – the police, the judiciary, etc) reflect gender balance in their
membership and management?
  Do women and men have equal access to employment and services? Is equal treatment in
terms of pay and benefit guaranteed for men and women?
 Do private sector businesses and institutions (including companies, banks, media, etc) reflect
gender balance in their membership and management?
 Do women and men have equal access to employment and services?
 Is there occupational segregation of the labor market by gender, either horizontal or vertical?
 How is the participation of women and men in local governance organized?
 Are there any other culturally important decision-making bodies or structures (kinship, clans,
tribal structures, etc.) which do influence people’s life? How are women´s and men´s voices
represented and how are decisions taken and implemented?

Macro level
 Have gender equality commitments have been made by the government in the context of
international processes such as the Beijing process, the MDG process, or the ratification of
CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women)?
 What are the concluding observations of the special procedures of the UN human rights
system regarding the CEDAW reporting (also the Child Rights Convention is relevant) for
special procedures and concluding observation of state reporting to the covenants
 Do national and sector policies reflect these commitments by their awareness of inequalities
between men and women at different levels and the inclusion of means to address them?
 How do current policies, laws and regulations (e.g. voting rights, rights to inheritance and
credit opportunities, rights to divorce and child custody, reproductive rights, etc.) impact
differently on women and men?
 In national-level institutions (parliament, government ministries, universities, businesses)
how are decisions made? How are women represented in the system? How are decisions taken?
 Is gender budgeting in place in parliament and/or local governments?
 Review the UNDP MDG reports on MDG 3 in a respective country; analyze the data of the
Human Development and Gender Development /Gender Gap data available.