The Elusive Agenda: Mainstreaming Women in Development

A report in 1975 by the International Labour Organisation(ILO) caught world attention by pointing out that while ‘women and girls constitute one-half of the world’s population and one third of the official labour force’ and ‘perform nearly two-thirds of work hours’, they ‘receive only one-tenth of the world’s income and less than one-hundredth of the world’s property.’ Nearly twenty years later, a report by the United Nations-UNDP’s Human Development Report 1994–found that, despite advances in labour-force participation, education and health, women still constitute about two-thirds of the world’s illiterates, hold fewer than half of the jobs on the market and are paid half as much as men for work of equal value. Women make up only about 10 percent of the world’s parliamentarians and less than 4 percent of cabinet members. The report concludes that ‘in no society are women secure or treated equally’. The unmistakable achievements in areas like education and health show that progress is possible, but the continued disparities in others such as income and decision-making indicate that there is still a long way to go. However, the statistical evidence about continued disparities should not detract us from recognising the major achievements of the last two decades. There has been a sea-change in knowledge and awareness. Affirmative action policies have been introduced. Special measures have been designed to remove barriers to women’s participation. Women’s voices are stronger than ever. And women are increasingly learning to take control of their own lives and bring their perspective to bear on decisions affecting their communities, nations, and the planet. These changes in awareness, expertise, policies, laws and women’s voice were brought about by the efforts of many different actors-women’s movements as well as national governments and international donor organisations.