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Implementing Gender Issues in Multilaterals: The Experience of the World BankAuthor(s): Minh Chau Nguyen, Anjana Bhushan and Jo BischoffSource: Focus on Gender, Vol. 2, No. 3, North-South Co-operation (Oct., 1994), pp. 70-76Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Oxfam GBStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030251 .

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70

Implementing gender

issues in multilaterals the experience of the World Bank

Minh Chau Nguyen, Anjana Bhushan, and Jo Bischoff

Since the 1970s, the World Bank has helped to illuminate the often unacknowledged contribution of

women to economic development. Research during the last two decades has documented substantial benefits from investing in women in terms of alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development. Recognising that women could make a still larger contribution if freed from the constraints that affect them, the Bank has experimented with operational strategies to ensure greater participation of women in development.

The Bank is increasingly concerned about integrating gender issues into the mainstream of its work. In April 1994, the Board approved the Bank's Policy Paper (Enhancing Women's Participation in Economic Development) and Operational Policy Statement (The Gender Dimensions of Development) on the subject. The Policy Paper provides an analysis of how investing in women fosters growth and efficiency, reduces poverty, helps future generations, and promotes sustainable development.

The Policy Statement outlines the Bank's goal, which is 'to reduce gender disparities and enhance women's participation in the economic development of their countries by integrating gender considerations in its country assistance programme.' These documents provide staff with clear

objectives to follow while, at the same time, outlining the basis for a discussion of gender issues with borrower countries.

The Bank's involvement in Women in Development began in the 1970s, partly in response to the catalytic effects of the International Decade for Women. In 1977, with the establishment of the position of Adviser on Women in Development, the enormous potential of women began to be discussed in Bank work. Some of the principles that were recognised early on included the relevance of women in development on grounds of improved efficiency and equity. However, the inadequate documentation of these principles, and the unevenness of institutional support, somewhat constrained their effective translation into policy and project work.

In the second half of the 1980s, conceptual, institutional, and operational changes accelerated. Senior management support became more consistent and visible, and resources for gender-related action increased. A core of specialised staff was established. A programme of country-wide assessments of gender issues was under- taken. More recently, well-documented Bank research findings have been success- ful in demonstrating and, in some cases, quantifying the benefits of addressing gender in development efforts. There is also a marked increase in information on

Focus on Gender Vol 2, No. 3, October 1994



Implementing gender issues in multilaterals 71

women's roles at the country level, including in economies in transition. These developments open the way for fuller integration of gender issues in Bank lending.

Closing the 'conviction gap' The World Bank's fundamental objective is to help borrowers to reduce poverty and improve living standards through sustainable growth and investment in people. The Bank discharges its objective through its financial and advisory roles. On one hand, it mobilises and invests resources for the integration of gender concerns into mainstream development activity; on the other, it disseminates its own cross-country experience, as well as the best available knowledge from other sources, to its clients.

In the Bank's view, worldwide progress in social and economic development over the past three decades has not translated into proportional gains for women. Despite such progress, women continue to lag behind men according to many basic indicators of well-being. They still face limited options and formidable barriers. The barriers begin with low investment in female education and health, continue with poor access to services and assets, and are made worse by legal and regulatory barriers that restrict options. The result is a loss of welfare, not only in foregone production and income, but also for society and women themselves. Poverty may persist; fertility rates may remain high; children's health may suffer; and the natural resources that women often manage - including land, fuelwood, and water - may not be effectively used.

Despite considerable evidence, there is still scepticism within the development community about the contribution women make to the socio-economic life of their respective nations. One reason for this lack of commitment is that, so far, the

arguments, based mainly on the notion of equity, have either preached to the converted or have simply failed to convince. In the ongoing campaign to close the 'conviction gap,' the World Bank is in a particularly good position to make the case for investment in women on the grounds of economic efficiency and poverty reduction.

Analytical research conducted by the Bank shows that improving women's productivity can contribute to growth, efficiency, and production - key development goals everywhere. Deliberate efforts to open up opportunities for women are, thus, not only a matter of equity or fairness but also of developmental efficiency. Such efforts directly reduce poverty through substantial economic pay- offs, in higher productivity and more efficient resource use.

Development and growth are best served when scarce public resources are invested where they yield the highest economic and social returns; indeed, social returns are, on the whole, far greater for women than for men. Investing in women helps in achieving these goals because the economic and social returns on such investments are high. Moreover, it has significant benefits for other generations.

To take an example, investment for increasing education generates considerable private economic returns for girls: research suggests that the rate of return on female education is higher than that for males, with secondary education for females having the highest rate of return, at 18.4 per cent, as compared to 13.9 per cent rate of return for males. Overall, the returns on female education exceed those for males by more than one percentage point (Psacharopoulos, 1993).

Education also helps women to secure higher earnings and move from low- paying, low-productivity jobs to those of higher economic value. In agriculture, where modern technologies have been introduced, returns to an additional year of



72 Focus on Gender

women's education range from 2 to 15 per cent, comparable to the returns for men (Quisumbing, 1994). Thus, education for women has a long-term and sustained effect on women's productivity, and yields higher economic returns than education for males. Education for women also contributes to lowering the maternal mortality rate, by increasing women's knowledge about health-care practices and reducing the average number of pregnancies. Studies suggest that an additional year of schooling for 1000 women may prevent two maternal deaths (Summers, 1994).

In addition, such investments are more effective than investments for boys' education. A study of girls' enrolment rates in a number of developing countries suggests that if twice as many women had gone to secondary school in 1975 in 72 developing countries, the infant mortality rate 10 years later would have been 38, instead of 81. Many more children of both sexes would have gone to school, and the fertility rate would have been 3.9 instead of 5.3 (Subbarao and Raney, 1993). Children of educated women perform better in schools. Studies in countries as diverse as Indonesia, the Philippines (King et. al., 1986), Malaysia (King and Lillard, 1987), and Morocco (Khandker and Levy, 1993) demonstrate the strong positive influence a mother's education can have on her children's educational aspirations, especially those of her daughters.

Furthermore, a study in Egypt, Kuwait and Lebanon found that daughters of educated mothers held fewer stereotypical sex attitudes that did daughters of non- literate mothers (Lorfing and Abu Nasr, 1985, cited in El-Sanabary, 1993). Once all the benefits are recognised, investment in girls' education may well be the highest return investment available in the developing world today (Summers, 1994).

Similarly, improving women's health improves the health of their children and other family members. For instance, food

supplementation for a malnourished expectant mother can purchase an additional year of healthy life for her child for an estimated expenditure of only $25, not to speak of the health benefits to the mother (World Bank 1994). Calculations by the World Bank show that improving health care for adult women aged 15 to 44 offers the biggest return on health care spending for any demographic group of adults. Of the ten main causes of illness in this group, six can be prevented or treated for less that $100 per year of healthy life gained, compared to three causes of illness for men. The marginal cost of providing a year of healthy life for women aged 15 to 44 is less than for any adult population (World Bank, 1993).

Increasing the income in the hands of poor women through the expansion of employment opportunities is also associated with reduced child mortality and improved child health and nutrition. In India, women's participation in a major public works programme in Maharashtra State considerably improved the nutrition of their children (Subbarao, 1993). Expanding the opportunities for women to participate in economically-productive activities in the formal labour market activities increases economic efficiency as well. Reducing gender-based wage differentials contributes to an economy's allocative efficiency, while increasing women farmers' access to inputs can yield substantial benefits. Data from Kenya suggests that there may be significant gains from increasing women's physical and human capital to the level of men's (Quisumbing, 1994).

Improving opportunities for women is, in addition, critical for ensuring development that is compatible with environmental sustainability. Sustainable development requires the easing of population pressures, and the conservation of natural resources; and women's decisions count heavily on both fronts. Reducing popu-




lation growth and raising agricultural productivity are important for sustainable development. Investment in women - in education, in raising women farmers' productivity, and in promoting an awareness of health and sanitation - can contribute significantly to environment- ally-sustainable growth. In fact, because of its effects on fertility and the use of natural resources, the Bank views women's education as one of.the highest return investments in environmental protection (World Bank, 1992).

Women and poverty reduction Investing in women is a major theme in the World Bank's two-pronged strategy for poverty reduction. This strategy calls firstly for broadly-based, labour-absorbing growth to generate income-earning for the poor, and secondly for improved access to education, health care, and other social services to help the poor to take advantage of these opportunities. Both these components are designed to develop, and use effectively, the greatest marketable asset of the poor - their labour.

The weight of poverty falls most heavily on certain groups, and women, in general, are disadvantaged. In poor households they often shoulder more of the work burden, are less educated, and have less access to remunerative activities. They may spend long hours collecting water or firewood - time that could be used more productively if safe water and adequate fuel were close at hand. Investment in women - in their education and health and in opening access to resources and assets - constitutes a two-pronged poverty reduction strategy.

Women, moreover, contribute heavily to the economic and social development of their families, producing more that half the food in the developing world and as much as three-quarters of the food in Africa. In

developing countries, women constitute about one third of the industrial labour force, one third of the services work force, and a major, and growing, share of workers in the informal sector, both urban and rural. Their household activities include caring for the young, old, and sick, household maintenance, food preparation, and fetching fuelwood and water. They contribute a large share of household income for family survival. Evidence from diverse country settings - Burkina Faso, Cameroon, India, Lebanon, Nepal, and the Philippines - suggest that when the time spent on home production is valued and included in the computation, women contribute between 40 and 60 per cent of household income (Quisumbing, 1994). Raising the productivity and incomes of poor women is, thus, important for alleviating poverty.

To the extent that women are over- represented among the poor, programmes aimed at improving women's economic participation and productivity are highly compatible with targeted approaches to poverty reduction. In several African countries, women head more than one third of families, suggesting that there is a potential for reducing poverty by expanding income-earning opportunities for women. In some of the poorest countries, such as Bangladesh and India, encouraging the entrepreneurship and self-employment of women, through projects such as the Grameen Bank, is proving to be a self- directed and targeted poverty reduction strategy. In Indonesia, lending under the KUPEDES programme dropped the poverty ratio 15 per cent to 4 per cent after three years of participation, as incomes of borrowers rose two and a half times (World Bank, 1990). As women gain access to income, their social position both inside and outside the family tends to change. To this extent, supporting women' s entrepreneurship is an 'empowerment' strategy.



74 Focus on Gender

In summary, analysis based on empirical evidence suggests that investing in women serves multiple objectives. These include promoting growth, promoting efficiency, reducing poverty, helping future generations and promoting sustainable development.

Putting the World Bank's gender policy into practice

Several effective strategies for enhancing women's participation have emerged from the past two decades of project experience. Some of these strategies are being put into practice in various developing countries, with the Bank's support. The outcome of these initiatives will vary depending on the prevailing social, economic, and cultural conditions of the country in question, but evidence suggests that closing the gender gap in many sectors is a realisable goal, even in low-income, developing countries.

There is particularly strong evidence of what works in five areas: education, health, agriculture and natural resource management, wage labour, and financial services. Other newly-emerging priority tasks include strengthening the data base for gender analysis, developing gender- sensitive policies and programmes, modifying the legal and regulatory framework, ensuring effective programme delivery, and mobilising resources.

The Bank supports member governments in designing and implementing gender-s'ensitive policies and programmes, concentrating on the areas where accumu- lated experience provides clear and unambiguous policy direction. It provides technical assistance to countries for strengthening their data base for gender analysis. In addition, the Bank helps governments to mobilise other donor resources to address gender disparities. Where appropriate and feasible, it can assist governments in their efforts to reform and establish a strong legal and

regulatory framework, and implement institutional measures to put these changes into effect, in order to tackle the access problems for women and improve their productivity.

Effective programme delivery depends on careful design, monitoring, evaluation and staff-training - areas in which the Bank has now gained some experience. At the project level, it is important to ensure that women themselves have a voice in the design and management of development policies and programmes. The Bank assists governments in ensuring effective programme delivery by establishing suitable monitoring mechanisms, a participatory approach, and training in gender analysis for country policymakers, planners, managers, and technicians.

In its own work, the World Bank is integrating gender issues into the mainstream, including focusing on countries and areas where under- investment in women has been acute. First, this will be implemented through an analysis of gender issues in each country. The World Bank's country poverty assessments could be a useful diagnostic instrument for this purpose, as they can analyse social indicators by gender. The second step is to give systematic attention to gender in country assistance strategies, especially for sectors in which gender disparities are most acute and demon- strably costly. The third step is the design and implementation of lending programmes that support the achievement of tangible progress in closing the gender gap through both adjustment and investment operations, where appropriate.

Although the bank's strategy is to mainstream gender issues in projects, its view is that, in some countries, self-standing, women-in-development projects are also necessary to pioneer efforts to promote women's participation in development.

In addition, the Bank continues its policy-oriented analytical work to advance




the conceptual and operational knowledge of gender issues in development. Specific priorities for future Bank analysis include an investigation into patterns of resource allocation within the family, and how these can reduce or enhance the effects of public policy; and what incentive systems can be used to stimulate changes in social, cultural, and legal institutions that limit the activities and rights of women.

Studies will also explore the association between low investment in women and the higher incidence of death and illness in the female, as compared to the male, population; the possibility that structural adjustment has different impacts on men and women; the legal and regulatory barriers that prevent women from participating in development; and the positive impact that women's participation in natural resource management can have on the environment.

Internal implications of the gender policy

Implementing the World Bank's gender policy will require improvement in staff skills. Therefore, an intensive training programme is planned in order to create awareness of the importance of addressing gender issues in Bank operations and to provide tools and practical knowledge for policy and project design in various areas. In addition, the Bank disseminates important analytical results and operational tool kits to help Bank staff to discuss 'what to do' and 'what works' with governments in various country environments.

Monitoring the integration of gender issues

The Monitoring Unit (MU) in the Education and Social Policy Department (ESP), established in October 1993, tracks actions that support the incorporation of

gender considerations into Bank work. The information base produced by the Unit supplies data to operational staff for use in policy planning and project formulation. The Unit's primary responsibility is to track the Bank's progress in implementing its poverty reduction strategy, in integrating gender issues into its operations, and in supporting human resources development in general.

The visibility of gender issues in World Bank activities has grown over time, and more so in recent years. Gender issues are being addressed increasingly, in country assistance strategies, and in the design and implementation of lending programmes. Gender-related actions were specified in at least 615 of the 4955 investment projects approved between 1967 and 1993, with over half of these 615 projects approved between 1989 and 1993. Attention to gender was clearly associated with poverty and human resources development: of the 615 projects, 93 per cent were in low- income and lower middle-income countries.

Country-wide assessments of gender issues were done in 72 countries during this period. In some countries, the process of conducting such an assessment encouraged a constructive dialogue with borrower governments, strengthened borrower and Bank commitment to gender issues, and increased cross-sectoral interaction between staff experienced in dealing with gender issues, and task managers.

To ensure the continued attention to gender issues, the Bank plans to strengthen its current monitoring system. Whereas present Bank monitoring focuses on identifying the gender content of Bank projects, future efforts will also identify how gender sensitivity can influence the design of policies and projects and their outcomes. The system will monitor the gender analysis being done in economic and sector work, and the linkage to the



76 Focus on Gender

Bank's lending operations. Evaluations of efforts to implement gender-sensitive policies 'on the ground' will also be carried out as part of the country implementation reviews provided to the Bank's Board of Executive Directors. Progress in implementing the recommended policy will be reported to the Board periodically.

Building partnerships Ensuring equity for women requires the concerted and sustained efforts of the many partners currently involved in the development effort. Other bilateral and multilateral donors, international institutions, and NGOs, have substantial experience in dealing with gender issues. It is important to recognise the comparative advantage of these various partners. Some organisations can have greater influence in making gender concerns a part of the political process. The Bank's strength appears to lie in generating analytical knowledge, ensuring gender sensitivity in its own operations, and helping governments and non-governmental organisations in implementing their agendas for closing the gender gap.

Individual governments are, perhaps, the most important of these partners. Their active involvement and cooperation is indispensable, as it is they who have the direct responsibility for widening the opportunities available to women, and thus improving the economic and social conditions of all - both women and men - in the developing world.

Minh Chau Nguyen is Manager, and Anjana Bhushan and Jo Bischoff are Consultants, in the Gender Analysis and Policy Unit, Education and Social Policy Department, of the World Bank.

References El-Sanabary, N (1993) 'Middle East and North

Africa' in Women's Education in Developing Countries, King and Hill (eds).

Khandker, S and Levy, V (1993) 'Schooling and Cognitive Achievements of Children in Morocco: Can the Government Improve Outcomes?', World Bank, Eduction and Social Policy Department, Washington, DC.

King, E and Lillard, L A (1987) 'Education policy and Schooling Attainment in Malaysia and the Philippines', Economics of Education Review 6:167-81.

King et. al. (1983) Change in the Status of Women Across Generations in Asia, Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.

Psacharopoulos, G (1993) Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update, Working Papers WPS 1067, Washington DC: The World Bank.

Quisumbing, A R (1994) Improving Women's Agricultural Productivity as Farmers and Workers, Education and Social Policy Discussion Paper no. 37, Washington DC: The World Bank.

Rhyne, E and Holt, S (1994) Women in Finance and Enterprise Development, ESP Discussion Paper Series no. 40, Washington DC: The World Bank.

Subbarao, K (1993) Interventions to Fill Nutrition Gaps at the Household Level: A Review of India's Experience, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Subbarao, K and Raney, L (1993) Social Gains from FemaleEducation: A Cross-National Study, World Bank Discussion Paper no. 194, Washington DC: The World Bank.

Summers, L H (1994) Investing in All the People: Educating Women in Developing Countries, EDI Seminar Paper no. 45, Washington DC: The World Bank.

World Bank (1990) World Development Report: Poverty, New York: Oxford University Press.

World Bank (1992) World Development Report: Development and Environment, New York: Oxford University Press.

World Bank (1993) World Development Report: Investing in Health, New York: Oxford University Press.

World Bank (1994) Enhancing Women's Participation in Economic Development, World Bank Policy Paper, Washington DC: The World Bank.



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