Gender Mainstreaming Case Study

This publication is part of the commitment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to document gender equality results in its operations. It presents case studies in ADB priority sectors: urban development, rural infrastructure, and education. The case studies provide an overview of gender issues, design features, and implementation arrangements that contributed to achieving gender-related targets in six ADB projects.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has been a pioneer in promoting women’s rights and gender equality since the 1976–85 UN Decade for Women, and of gender mainstreaming since the UN 4th World Conference on Women, to which our 1995 Plan of Action on Gender and Development was a Commonwealth contribution. This publication brings together case studies prepared in connection with the end-of-term review of the 2005–15 Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality. The case studies are based on submissions and interviews with government representatives, gender specialists and other stakeholders, including civil society organisations, from 20 countries representing all regions of the Commonwealth. The examples were selected to demonstrate a range of strategies that can be employed to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Together they help to show what perpetuates gender inequality and offer approaches that can be adopted to help end unjust discrimination.

The Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project sought to improve the urban environment, economy, and living conditions of the residents of Kochi, Kollam, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, and Thrissur. Improvements in access to safe water and sanitation facilities have reduced the workloads of women and girls. Women's and girls' mobility is also now safer, and family hygiene practices are healthier. The project also offered vocational training in a number of areas supporting women's business initiatives. The project contributed to several important advances that had strong gender equality dimensions, including an improved quality of life, increased opportunities for employment and income generation for men and women, and enhanced participation, leadership, and decision making by women---in the community and within households.

Two projects in Sri Lanka employed participatory approaches, bringing key stakeholders together and facilitating women's involvement---the North East Coastal Community Development Project which was aimed to improve sustainable livelihood and natural resource management in poor coastal communities, and Component B of the Tsunami-Affected Areas Rebuilding Project, which was designed to provide an emergency response to urgent post-tsunami reconstruction challenges. This case study looks at the gender dimensions of two projects that focus on the community development component that advocated community participation, social inclusion, and gender equality in community infrastructure development and livelihood restoration processes in targeted communities.

Presents the contributions of the ADB-India project in providing 24-hour power supply to rural households in Madhya Pradesh and how it has opened opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the energy sector.

Globally, women are facing social, economic, and cultural barriers impeding their autonomy and agency. Accelerated women empowerment programs often fail to attain their targets as envisaged by the policymakers due to a variety of reasons, with the most prominent being the deep-rooted cultural norms ingrained within society. In the era of globalization, empowerment of women demands new approaches and strategies that encourage the mainstreaming of gender equality as a societal norm. The Handbook of Research on New Dimensions of Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment is a critical scholarly publication that examines global gender issues and new strategies for the promotion of women empowerment and gender mainstreaming in various spheres of women’s lives, including education and ICT, economic participation, health and sexuality, mental health, aging, law and judiciary, leadership, and decision making. It provides a comprehensive coverage of all major gender issues with novel ideas on gender mainstreaming being contributed by men and women authors from multidisciplinary backgrounds. Gender perspective and intersectional approach in the discourses make this handbook a unique contribution to the scholarship of social sciences and humanities. The book provides new theoretical inputs and practical directions to academicians, sociologists, social workers, psychologists, managers, lawyers, policy makers, and government officials in their efforts at gender mainstreaming. With a wide range of conceptual richness, this handbook is an excellent reference guide to students and researchers in programs pertaining to gender/women's studies, cultural studies, economics, sociology, social work, medicine, law, and management.

This publication is part of the commitment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to document gender equality results in its operations. It presents case studies in ADB priority sectors: urban development, rural infrastructure, and education. The case studies provide an overview of gender issues, design features, and implementation arrangements that contributed to achieving gender-related targets in six ADB projects.