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Gender and Development
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Mainstreaming
Gender & Development |
NRSP's Vision of Gender
Mainstreaming |
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Mainstreaming Gender &
Development
The low social and economic status of rural women and their significant
contribution to the household and village economies in most areas of
Pakistan are well known facts though not as well documented. It is
generally agreed that their concerns and problems should be integrated
into all rural development plans and programmes since their equal
partnership with men alone can ensure a balanced development of society.
Field visits have shown that the oft-cited constraints on women's
involvement in the development process can be overcome. There has been
significant progress in terms of changes in the attitudes of men to gender
segregation, as is evident from the gro wing
demand for education for girls. Education can and will make a big
difference in the lives of women as well as in their
relationships with men as equal partners. Similarly, with the rapid
expansion of male education in the villages, there are clear signs of
change in attitudes to the protection of female health and family size. It
is fair to say that in many
rural communities the constraints on female education and health care are
on the supply and not demand side. Mahmood Hassan
Khan 2003
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NRSP's Vision of Gender
Mainstreaming
At NRSP gender is a crosscutting theme. This requires
gender integration into policy planning, programming, implementation and
evaluation. We believe that our efforts to reduce poverty cannot achieve
their full potential unless we address the constraints that limit the
capabilities of men and women to improve their standard of living and
quality of life. The key aspects of this are:
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 | Recognizing and harnessing the full potential of
rural men and women. |
| Increasing men's and women's productive capacities. |
| Reducing the barriers which limit men's and women's
participation in the economy and in society. |
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The following
principles guide NRSP's policy on gender mainstreaming:
Gender Integration: NRSP realizes that
addressing gender inequality as a crosscutting theme requires that women's
views, perceptions, needs and aspirations shape the development agenda as
much as those of men.
Diversity and Intersection: Gender equality
requires recognition that every policy, program and project affects women
and men differently.
Partnership between Men and Women:
Partnership between men and women is necessary if a wider variety of
choices are to be provided. Partnership involves working with men and
women to bring about changes in attitudes, behavior, roles and
responsibilities at home, in the workplaces, communities and in society at
large.
Empowerment and Agency: Empowerment enables
women and men to identify unequal power relations and unequal access to
and control over resources and the implications of unequal power relations
for a prosperous society. Empowerment begins with consciousness-raising
and leads to self-realization.
Gender Equality and Equity: an effort to
promote sustainable humane development. Achieving gender equality does not
mean that women become the same as men. Rather, it is a conscious effort
to ensure that one's rights or opportunities do not depend on being male
or female. NRSP is aware that its efforts and contributions to poverty
reduction must be coupled with actions to eliminate gender inequalities in
order to promote sustainable humane development. |
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