In 1995, gender mainstreaming was established as the internationally agreed upon strategy for government and development organizations to promote gender equality. Achieving gender equality is essential to poverty elimination, which can only be achieved by addressing the disproportionate burden of poverty, lack of access to education and health services, and lack of productive opportunities available to women.
The purpose of this assessment is to assist USAID/RCSA in mainstreaming gender1 into their strategic planning process. The objective of the Gender Analysis is to assess gender relations and issues in the RCSA's proposed program as part of the process for developing the new strategic plan for FYs 2004-2010, and to make recommendations on how the RCSA can achieve greater gender integration in order to maximize the positive impacts of its strategic objectives.
Gender refers to the economic, social, political and cultural attributes of being male or female and is a "cross-cutting" theme for USAID. This cross-cutting theme was reviewed relative to strategic focus areas and cross-cutting themes set out in the RCSA Concept Paper, and other documentation, for the 2004-2010 Strategic Plan.
We conducted an online review of gender-specific, recent and relevant publications in an effort to find illustrative literature, such as case studies and reports, which would cover as many as possible of the fourteen SADC member states. This proved not to be possible, and the documents reviewed deal with a minority of SADC member states. A review of the literature and background materials serve as the basis for the analysis and recommendations in this document.
From the initiation of the contract, some topics were added, others were changed and a limited number of results frameworks were available. In trying to accommodate the changing situation, strategic objectives/topics are referred to in more general terms of strategic focus areas and/or cross-cutting themes. The focus is on the literature review to guide, to the extent possible, the RCSA in its strategic planning process.
Contained in each chapter are the relevant findings, conclusions and recommendations. Suggested indicators are presented, which need to be revised based on final results frameworks for each strategic objective.
Footnote:
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For additional information on mainstreaming and treating 'gender' as a cross-cutting theme, see Yeshiareg and Martin (July 2002, p. 4) and USAID (April 3, 2001, p. 119).
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