I. Introduction
1. The purpose of this paper is to set out the strategy and FY04-05 work program adopted by the Africa Region for integrating gender into its operational work. The centrality of gender for the Africa Region’s work is increasingly recognized and is articulated in many documents and fora. The policy research report on Engendering Development (2001) strongly reinforces the “business case” for gender, as does the study "Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?," which confirms that gender-based inequality limits economic growth in Africa, and that it is essential for Africa to unleash the enormous productive potential of its women.1 It is also increasingly recognized that poverty in Africa has strong gender dimensions which need to be addressed explicitly by African countries as they formulate their national poverty reduction strategies and the associated Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs).2
2. Though the business case for attention to gender in the Region’s work has been made forcefully, and some progress has been registered, the challenge now is to translate these insights into more systematic integration of gender in Regional operational work, alongside efforts to strengthen institutional recognition of operational responsibilities and greater accountability for gender work by Regional management and staff. II. Africa Regional Gender Strategy (ARGS)
3. The Africa Region’s Gender Strategy (ARGS) builds on the “strategic mainstreaming” approach articulated in the Bankwide gender mainstreaming strategy paper (GMSP).3 The strategy recognizes that this process needs to be country-specific and country-led, with the Bank playing a supportive but pro-active role. The foundation of the strategy is a periodic assessment of gender issues in each country in which the Bank has an active lending program (Strategic Country Gender Assessment -- SCGA).
4. The Region’s gender strategy focuses on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), by addressing their cross-cutting and multi-sectoral gender dimensions explicitly. The core of the strategy is to respond to the institutional strengthening and capacity building needs of Governments, civil society, and communities involved in the process of gender mainstreaming by leveraging technical and financial resources to address gender issues in AFR countries, as they seek to implement the MDGs. This means: supporting in-country agents and CTs (with particular focus on Country Offices and Country Gender Coordinators) to carry out Strategic Country Gender Assessments (SCGAs), which identify priority gender-responsive actions to be integrated into the operational work program in support of the MDGs;
supporting the effective implementation of the identified priority gender responsive actions that have been retained in the work program, including their articulation in CASs and business plans, as an integral part of the overall support to achievement of the MDGs; and
building strong and effective partnerships both inside and outside Africa, and within the Bank, through pro-active networking and engagement with individual and institutional gender experts, more strategic institutional collaboration (UNECA, AfDB), and support to institutional strengthening and capacity-building of African institutions for gender analysis, monitoring and evaluation.
5. In FY04-05, the ARGS will focus on four core entry points in country work, which will in turn inform the conduct of SCGAs and the prioritization of the Region’s gender work program. These interconnected entry points respond to needs identified by country counterparts, and reflect the Region’s multi-sectoral and cross-cutting operational focus.They offer the maximum potential for informing policy dialogue and operations both at macro level and within and across key sectors.4 Cross-support from the PREM Gender Anchor, WBI, and others will be sought around each of these entry points. The four entry points are as follows: 1. Gender and HIV/AIDS: This includes work: (i) to address the “gender dynamics” of HIV/AIDS systematically in selected MAP operations, across the dimensions of prevention, care, support, and treatment; and (ii) to develop and disseminate, with key partners, tools, methods, and good practices which address these dynamics of HIV/AIDS in Africa. An important component of this work will be to address, in conjunction with the Gender and Law program (item #4 below), the gender and legal
dimensions of HIV/AIDS.
Key Bank instruments: In line with PRSP diagnostic and priorities: CAS, MDGs, HIV/AIDS (MAP) Operations, AIDS components of AAA and lending operations.
2. Gender and Poverty: This includes work: (i) to analyze the gender dimensions of poverty in country-level core diagnostic poverty work/analysis (including participatory analysis); and (ii) to integrate this analysis into policy dialogue, poverty reduction strategies, and priority sectoral investments. This will be carried out in close collaboration with the AFTPM poverty team, and in some cases joint poverty assessment/SCGA work will be undertaken. Key Bank instruments: In line with PRSP diagnostic and priorities: CAS, MDGs, Core diagnostic poverty analysis (Poverty Assessments), CEM, CDD.
3. Engendering Economic Policy: This includes work: (i) to support, with other key partners, the effective implementation of gender-responsive budget (GRB) initiatives in SSA, including implementation of the BNPP-funded GRB-Outreach and Learning Program; (ii) to document more systematically men’s and women’s economic (and non-market) roles in AFR economies, while addressing the implications for economic growth and poverty reduction strategies; and (iii) to work to address the relationship between gender inequality and growth in SSA.
Key Bank instruments: In line with PRSP diagnostic and priorities: CAS, MDGs, PER, Economic Management Ops. (ERC/IRC, PRSC), PREM HubWorkshop.
4. Gender and Law: This includes work in the area of institutional strengthening and capacity-building support for both Government and civil society to: (i) promote gender-responsive legal reform, through participatory process for gender-responsive drafting/revision of laws; (ii) support gender- inclusive legal literacy/education for the poor; and (ii) improve the access of the poor (with focus on women) to legal and judicial services.
Key Bank instruments: In line with PRSP diagnostic and priorities: CAS, Institutional Strengthening and Capacity-Building Funds (JSDF, IDF), Economic Management Operations (ERC/IRC, PRSC), HIV/AIDS (MAP) Operations, CDD.
6. The focus on institutional strengthening and capacity-building in the ARGS means supporting Government and civil society counterparts in developing sufficient capacity realistically to define and implement their core mandate in relation to the four operational entry points identified above. This will involve maximizing the opportunities provided by the PRSP (especially the consultative process), and by decentralization, while promoting both leadership in, and contributions to, policy dialogue and operations in these areas.
7. Gender mainstreaming, and implementing the ARGS, are the task of the entire Region. The ARGS recognizes the importance of country focus and ownership in determining gender priorities at the country level and how to address them. To ensure that gender issues are effectively integrated into operational work, the Region is moving from “self motivation” (largely the practice to-date) to greater institutional recognition of operational responsibilities, and greater accountability for gender work by Regional Management and staff. This is crucial to moving toward more systematic institutionalization of gender in operational work. The Bank’s gender mainstreaming strategy (see Footnote 3 below) makes clear that Country Directors are responsible for carrying out SCGAs, and for implementing the identified priority gender-responsive interventions.
8. To support the implementation of the ARGS, the gender team in AFTPM has three principal responsibilities: (i) providing technical support and backstopping for the tasks identified in the ARGS, and, in some instances, assuming task management responsibility for them; (ii) ensuring quality review and enhancement for gender-focused work in the Region; and (iii) meeting Regional and corporate responsibilities for gender mainstreaming, notably with respect to monitoring and reporting on the implementation of 4 the ARGS. As detailed in the next section, the principal services provided by the AFTPM gender team to support this work are:  | Developing and maintaining a Regionwide, country-level database of sexdisaggregated
and gender-relevant data and indicators – the first version of this database is already completed (the Africa Country Gender Database, ACGD), and can be accessed through the Region’s gender website and SIMA system.
| | | Developing and maintaining a Regionwide, country- level database of key resources
and expertise (individual and institutional) focused on the entry points identified above
– this database provides an inventory of resources available to TTLs and others
working on individual countries/projects. The Country Contact Database (CCD) is
accessible via the Region’s gender website.
| | Developing and deploying tools and methodologies, including model TORs and other
resources, to support the preparation of SCGAs and the implementation of the
identified priority actions in country work programs. This is part of the work to
strengthen the Region’s institutional capacity to address gender issues in operational
work, and will be made accessible via the gender website, the Regional debriefing
program, infobriefs, training programs, and workshops.
| | Mobilizing resources, including: Grants [Japanese Social Development Fund (JSDF)
and Institutional Development Funds (IDF)] for institutional strengthening and
capacity building support in the area of gender mainstreaming; and Consultant Trust
Funds to support country-specific integration of gender in operational tasks. This
includes mobilizing expertise and capacity in identified priority sectors for tasks
retained in CT work programs.
| | | Strengthening networking, communications, and capacity on gender issues within
the Bank and within the Region, with focus on developing and validating gender focal
points in Country Offices, sectoral and network staff working on tasks in areas related
to the four entry points, and more systematic engagement with Regional and Bankwide
management on implementing the gender mainstreaming strategy.
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III. FY04-05 Gender-Related Work Program and Deliverables
9. To support the implementation of the ARGS, the work program of the AFTPM gender
team has three interrelated components: (i) carrying out SCGAs for all active countries in the Region, including in conjunction with other core diagnostic ESW, such as Poverty Assessments; (ii) engendering priority instruments and operations focused on the four identified entry points; and (iii) meeting corporate and Regional responsibilities for gender mainstreaming. The core elements of the program are summarized in Table 1 (attached). Note to reviewers: Pls provide PDFs so we can link to tables here. 1 Engendering Development, 2001. A World Bank Policy Research Report. New York, Oxford University Press. See also: Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?, 2000. Report prepared jointly by the African Development Bank, African Economic Research Consortium, Global Coalition for Africa, Economic Commission for Africa, and the World Bank. Washington, D.C. 2 C. Mark Blackden and Chitra Bhanu, 1999. Gender, Growth, and Poverty Reduction, 1998 SPA Status Report on Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank Technical Paper No. 428, Washington, D.C. 3 "Integrating Gender into the World Bank’s Work: A Strategy for Action," The World Bank, January 2002. The strategy was approved by the Bank’s Board on Septemb er 18, 2001. The Bank’s gender policy, OP.4.20, along with a new BP4.20, building on this strategy, was issued in March 2003. 4 These entry points are not exclusionary in nature, and other priority entry points may be identified and acted upon in the framework of SCGAs, country dialogue, and country priorities. The ARGS supports lexibility at the country level in setting and acting on gender priorities. Such priorities may include focusing on key sectors (agriculture and rural development, HD, water, energy, infrastructure, financial services) or key themes (HIV/AIDS, governance, legal issues, conflict, poverty). |
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