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Assignment 2 102

The document is an assignment cover for a student named Lois Izaka, focusing on gender mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender inequality. It outlines key definitions, strategies for promoting gender equality, and challenges faced in implementing gender mainstreaming. The assignment emphasizes the importance of awareness, policy development, and addressing structural inequalities while acknowledging issues such as lack of commitment and tokenism.

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48 views5 pages

Assignment 2 102

The document is an assignment cover for a student named Lois Izaka, focusing on gender mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender inequality. It outlines key definitions, strategies for promoting gender equality, and challenges faced in implementing gender mainstreaming. The assignment emphasizes the importance of awareness, policy development, and addressing structural inequalities while acknowledging issues such as lack of commitment and tokenism.

Uploaded by

Lingfield Gumbo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ZQMS-ARC-REC-002

ASSIGNMENT COVER

REGION: BULAWAYO

PROGRAMME: BSSD INTAKE: 7

FULL NAME OF STUDENT: LOIS IZAKA PIN: P2449166F

MAILING ADDRESS: [email protected]

CONTACT TELEPHONE/CELL: 0784147614 ID. NO: 08-985684X34

COURSE NAME: INTRODUCTION TO GENDER STUDIES COURSE CODE: BSSD102

ASSIGNMENT NO. e.g. 1 or 2: 2 DUE DATE: 30/04/2024

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: ASSESS GENDDER MAINSTREAMING AS A STRATEGY TO


ADDRESS GENDER INEQUALITY

MARKER’S COMMENTS: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
OVERALL MARK: _____________ MARKER’S NAME: ________________________

MARKER’S SIGNATURE:_______________________________ DATE: ___________


Introduction

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy that aims to promote gender equality by


incorporating a gender perspective into all policies and programs. The goal is to
ensure that both male and female are included and benefit equally from
development initiatives. Therefore the strategies of gender mainstreaming include
raising of awareness, addressing structural inequalities, developing policies.
However gender mainstreaming has challenges that include lack of commitment,
tokenism, resistance and slow progress. This essay awaits to assess gender
mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender inequality.

Definition of key terms.

Gender is the socially and cultural constructed differences between male and
female.

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy that aims to promote equality by


incorporating a gender perspective into all policies and programs.

Gender Inequality is a discrimination on the basis of sex causing one sex or gender
to be routinely privileged or prioritized over another.

Strategies of gender mainstreaming

Rising awareness is a key part of the gender mainstreaming process. Awareness is


done through organizations. For instance the Zimbabwe Gender Commission
(ZGC). It was established in 2013 to promote gender equality and address gender
based violence. The commission works with the government and civil society
organizations to promote gender equality in all sectors. Another organization is
Coalition of Zimbabwe, which is a network of organizations working to promote
women’s rights and gender equality. There is also Zim-Gender, this is youth led
organization that promote gender equality through advocacy, awareness raising
and capacity building. They with young people, especially young women to
empower them to become active leaders in their communities.

There are also campaigns that can raise awareness about the importance of
gender equality and the harmful effects of gender inequality, examples include
marching. They can also help to change gender stereotypes and encourage people
to take part in the promotion of gender equality.

Awareness can also be done through education. Education is a powerful tool for
promoting gender equality. It is not just providing information, but a dialogue and
empowering people to take action. Through education, children can get to know
the importance of gender equality and they grow up with the knowledge about
gender equality.

Another strategy for gender mainstreaming is addressing structural inequalities.


These are inequalities that are built into the systems and institutions of society.
For example, in many countries including Zimbabwe has laws and policies that
discriminate women, there are also social norms and cultural practices that limit
women’s opportunities. Therefore addressing structural inequalities is essential
for creating a truly equal society.

Gender mainstreaming comes with development of policies. Examples of policies


include, the Quota System. This policy was introduced in the early 2000s to
address gender inequality in politics, under the Quota system, political parties are
required to have at least 30% of their candidates in the National Parliament to be
women. The Quota system has led to an increased number of women in politics,
the percentage increased form 9% in 2000 to 30% today. The Quota System has
helped to promote gender balance in politics.

Another policy is the Affirmative action. This refers to the policies designed to give
members of the disadvantaged groups such as women an equal opportunity to
compete for jobs, promotions and other opportunities. This can include things like
quotas, targets, or preferential treatment in hiring and promotion, for instance in
the educational sector. In Zimbabwe there is a policy that requires all universities
to reserve 30% of their places for female students. This helped to increase the
number of women in higher education, and it also helped to address gender
inequality.

There is also another policy which is the National Gender Policy in Zimbabwe. It
was launched in 2013 with the aim of promoting gender inequality and
empowering women. The policy involves several strategies for achieving this goal
and these include, access to education and training for women, women’s
participation in decision making.

Another National Gender Policy is that, number of girls completing secondary


school and entering tertiary education. To attain this goal, the policy includes
measures such as providing scholarships for girls, building more schools and
increasing number of female teachers. The policy also includes a focus on
vocational training and life skills for women to help them find employment.

Challenges of gender mainstreaming

However gender mainstreaming has challenges that include, lack of commitment.


Some Institutions may say they support gender mainstreaming in theory but
practically they do not put much effort and commitment. Sometimes they do not
make necessary changes to their policies and practices.

Another challenge is tokenism. It when organizations include a small number of


women or marginalized groups, but do not give them real power or influence. It is
a way of paying life service to diversity and inclusion without making any real
changes, for example an organization can include a few women in other
marginalized groups, but not giving her any real power.

There is resistance as one of the challenges of gender mainstreaming. There are a


lot of reasons why people may resist gender mainstreaming efforts. Some people
may feel threatened by the idea of change or they might be resistant to the idea
of equality for women or other marginalized groups.
Lastly, there is slow progress as a challenge. Gender mainstreaming is a long
process, and it can take long to see meaningful changes. Sometimes, it can feel
like progress is making at snail pace.

Conclusion

In conclusion gender mainstreaming strategies can address gender inequality


raising awareness, developing policies, and addressing structural inequalities.
However gender mainstreaming has challenges such as tokenism, slow progress,
resistance and lack of commitment.

References

Bina Agward (1992) Gender and development.

Charlotte Bunch (1990) Women’s rights as Human’s rights.

Kathy Davis (2015) Gender Mainstreaming.

Naila Kabeer (1994) Reserved Reality: Gender Hierarchies in Development.

Raewyn Connel (2005) Gender.

Sarah Bradshow (2018) Gender Equality.

Sharha (2018) Gender Justice, Development and Rights.

Yvonne Galligan (2019) The politics of Gender Mainstreaming.

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