Gender Mainstreaming Programmes

Support for Mainstreaming Gender into Development Policies and Programmes
 

The silent partners

Women are a vital force in the economy

Impoverished women are often among the most economically marginalized members of society. Yet low-income women are also among the core participants of the informal economy in Indonesia, frequently making money through small businesses, roadside operations, cleaning services and other informal activities of the service industry. These are vulnerable enterprises.

During the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, female workers in Indonesia were extremely challenged. Between 1997 and 1998, the number of women who earned wages below the poverty line doubled from 11 percent to 22 percent. Indeed, women are generally most vulnerable to chronic poverty due to gender inequalities in the distribution of income, in access to credit schemes, in control over property and natural resources, and because of biases in the labour market. As core participants in Indonesia’s development process, the rights and potential of women to contribute at an equal level to men must be secured.

Toward inclusion and empowerment

In coordination with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment, UNDP is working to mainstream gender issues across national and local level development plans. Through this partnership, UNDP and the Government are working together to hold training sessions among government bodies on women’s issues, and to analyze more closely the link between gender and poverty. In particular, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment seeks to develop a macro-level approach to promoting women’s participation in development. This is being accomplished through ensuring a gender component to government-run development programmes as well as by improving the Indonesian national policy framework for gender mainstreaming.

UNDP has multiple roles to play in this process. Providing and structuring the funds for this initiative is a major component of this role. Matching support will also be provided through consultations with the Programme Secretariat, as well as through workshops, and seminars. Topics for such meetings will include gender training among government development professionals, implementation of regional and national registers to the national statistical system, and strategies for including more gender related inputs to the Indonesian Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.

In it for the long haul

The central goal of this program is not simply to link gender issues into a broader strategy for economic development in the country. Rather, and perhaps more challenging still, it is the goal of this programme to inspire women across the country to become more empowered and in control of their economic and social contributions. UNDP is working to identify and forward policies that will help to streamline gender issues in the Indonesian development process.

Chiefly, UNDP is approaching this through the development of programmes aimed to target and train government officials in a full range of gender issues. In addition to providing on the job and formal training in gender mainstreaming and advocacy, gender will be integrated into pro-poor policy development through the PRSP process at national and regional levels. With women as full participants and partners in the economic and social development of Indonesia, the country’s potential will reach new heights.

Further Information

• Download the Fact Sheet of Gender Mainstreaming Programmes 2006 (PDF 142 KB)