World Bank Country Gender Assessments

1
World Bank Country Gender Assessments

• Lucia Fort
• Gender and Development Group, PRMGE
• The World Bank
• May 17, 2006

2
CGA Objectives

• Inform the Banks policy dialogue with client
  country
• Help identify priority areas for
  gender-responsive interventions to feed into the
  Banks Country Assistance Strategy (CAS)
• Follow-up (monitor, assess) gender interventions
  identified in the CAS

3
Suggested Components

• Country gender profile
• Review of the country laws, institutional and
  policy context for promoting gender equality
• Review of the World Banks lending portfolio in
  the country
• Recommended policy and operational interventions
  based on gender analysis and stake holder
  consultations.

4
Completed CGAs

• FY02-05 TOTAL 41
• Africa 10
• EAP 5
• ECA 5
• LAC 13
• MENA 4
• SAR 2

5
Assessing CGA Institutional Impact

• Assessment in progress
• Reviewed 7 CGAs delivered from FY02-05 Jordan,
  Egypt, Benin, Uganda, Malawi, Vietnam, and
  Afghanistan
• Focus on good practices resulting in
  institutional impact (not on stellar documents)

6
Preliminary Findings

• CGAs add value.
• Timing is important
• Gender Approach is better than focusing only on
  women
• CGAs have impact on Bank Country Assistance
• Consultation is important for Country ownership
• Need more resources for launch, dissemination
  follow-up

7
CGAs add value

• New gender related information or analysis
• Jordan notes womens high education and high
  fertility, but low labor market participation
• underutilization of human capital resources
• Afghanistan beyond womens low education and
  high maternal mortality, identified womens
  economic participation and how to strengthen it.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Poverty Assessment
  highlights the importance of increasing female
  labor force participation in order to achieve
  poverty reduction.

8
Timing is important

• CGAs impact is more likely when conducted before
  and to feed into
• Poverty Assessments (Benin)
• Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) (Jordan,
  Vietnam)
• Interim National Development Strategies
  (Afghanistan)
• Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSC) (Uganda
  and Benin)

9
Gender Approach better than only women

• Gender approach tends to be more effective than
  woman- only to achieve acceptance.
• Afghanistan switched focus from women only to a
  gendered community approach addressing men and
  women. This has led to buy-in by men at local
  level. Women are now elected to community
  councils for the first time.
• Vietnam introduced gender into the national
  development strategy, thus training authorities
  on moving away from womens machinery but
  inserting gender issues into mainstream policies
  and activities.

10
Results in Bank Country Assistance

• Jordan. CGA key tool in formulation of national
  policy on women in the labor market including
  revision of labor laws
• Egypt. CGA findings led to
• putting gender based violence and FMG on the
  countrys agenda and
• revising nationality and tax laws to include
  women.
• Donors to support actions based on findings such
  as from gender budgeting and establishing family
  courts.

11
Consultation promotes ownership

• The process of consultation with Government,
  parliamentarians, CSO, academia, donors, and
  private sector promotes country ownership.
• Jordan. Ministry of planning established a gender
  unit. CGA influencing national development
  agenda.
• Malawi. Ministry of Finance established a gender
  unit and follow-up activities to CGA findings.

12
Conclusions

• CGA is a valuable mechanism to put gender into
  policy dialogue and country assistance
• CGA promotes changes at national level
  (regardless of its impact in the WB)
• Institutional requirements for ensuring impact
• Country director support
• gender expert/focal point to link CGA to
  different Bank procedures
• Participatory consultation with government, civil
  society, academia and donors throughout the CGA
  process
• Dialogue with a government ministry (such as
  Finance and/or Planning) and not only with
  Ministry for Womens Affairs
• budget for additional publications,
  dissemination, and follow up when the CGA is
  successful

13
Recommendations

• A future combined instrument would benefit from
• Good information data providing targeted
  information
• Consultative process
• Dissemination in country
• Ability to promote country ownership
• Follow-up discussions on application of findings
  in country and in the Bank country assistance
  (requires )
• Monitoring impact on Bank procedures and in
  country both at policy dialogue level and in
  operations with clear indicators.

14
Food for Thought!

• How to ensure the impact of a combined gender,
  poverty, social analysis report?
• The Bank Instruments (CAS, ESW, etc.)
• Country Assistance the portfolio
• Government National Programs Instruments
• Parliamentarians/Donors/Civil Society/Academia