Substantive gender mainstreaming and the missing middle: a view from Dutch development agencies

Abstract

Dutch development agencies were among the frontrunners and promoters of gender mainstreaming from the mid-1990s. In this article, we reflect on their experiences of mainstreaming gender, and argue that procedural approaches need to be complemented with more substantive approaches. We trace the resourcing of gender mainstreaming policies in Dutch development agencies, and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of commonly used instruments, targets, and gender assessments. Our lessons are based on a collaborative learning programme involving practitioners, policy makers, and academic researchers.

Les organismes de développement néerlandais figurent parmi les pionniers et les promoteurs de l'intégration du genre depuis le milieu des années 1990. Dans cet article, nous réfléchissons à leurs expériences de l'intégration du genre et soutenons que les approches procédurales doivent être complétées par des approches plus substantives. Nous retraçons la mobilisation de ressources pour les politiques d'intégration du genre dans les agences de développement néerlandaises et réfléchissons aux points forts et faibles d'instruments, cibles et évaluations du genre fréquemment utilisés. Nos enseignements se basent sur un programme d'apprentissage collaboratif faisant intervenir des praticiens, des décideurs et des chercheurs universitaires.

Desde mediados de los años noventa, las agencias de desarrollo holandesas han estado a la vanguardia en cuanto a la promoción de la integración de la perspectiva de género. En este artículo, las autoras analizan las experiencias de dichas agencias en relación a este tema, sosteniendo que es necesario complementar los métodos de procedimiento con métodos más sustantivos. Asimismo, revisan las formas de financiamiento de las políticas dirigidas a la integración del género en las agencias de desarrollo holandesas, analizando las fortalezas y debilidades de los instrumentos, de las metas y de las evaluaciones de género. Las lecciones correspondientes se basan en un programa de aprendizaje en el que colaboraron, conjuntamente, actores, responsables de formular políticas e investigadores académicos.

Keywords:

• gender mainstreaming
• Dutch development co-operation
• organisational change
• transformation
• gender

Notes

1. The data are based on the annual reports for the financial year 2011 and responses to a questionnaire with additional information provided by the gender specialists in the organisations. For Hivos, the financial data are based on its annual report 2010, as the figures for 2011 were considered inadequate due to the recent introduction of a new project administration. The data on staff are for 2011. The reconstruction of the figures concerns the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NGOs Cordaid, Hivos, ICCO, Oxfam Novib and Plan Netherlands, and the Women's Fund Mama Cash. This selection, however, does not deny the importance of some thematic specialised organisations. The Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Alliance, for instance, supports specific women's rights in the field of sexual and reproductive health.

2. Mama Cash is an international women's fund, established in the Netherlands in 1983. It mobilises resources to provide grants to women and girls’ organisations worldwide to advance women's human rights (www.mamacash.org).

3. For clarity and comparison, we are referring to full-time equivalent posts, even though individual staff may actually be employed on part-time contracts.

4. The Logical Framework Approach is a target-oriented management tool adopted by many development agencies to plan, monitor, and evaluate their work.

5. This phrase comes from Aruna Rao at the On Track with Gender expert meeting of 21 February 2011.

6. Plan Netherlands is not included in this section as it did not participate in the On Track with Gender trajectory.