Targeting women or transforming institutions?

Overview

While inequalities between men and women have long been recognised in formal development policies, poverty-alleviation schemes generally display a discrepancy between their declared commitment to equity for women and their actual achievements in incorporating the insights of gender analysis. This article explores the experience of NGOs which have successfully incorporated gender-awareness into the formulation of anti-poverty interventions. It shows that increasing poor women’s organisational experience is critical to ensuring that their needs and views inform the planning process. The article concludes that, unless women are empowered to move beyond the ‘project trap’, and to take part in formulating policy and allocating resources, they will continue to be a marginalised category in development. This is an expanded version of a paper prepared for the Conference on Social Development and Poverty, Oaxaca, Mexico, September 1993.

This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis.