MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Empowerment of Women and Gender Mainstreaming in Rural Microfinance;” by Getaneh Gobezie; published by UN Women

By Getaneh Gobezie; published by UN Women; September 2011; 17 pages; available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/egm/Gobezie-RP-2-EGM-RW-Sep2011.pdf.

This paper provides an analysis of the empowerment of women and gender mainstreaming strategies in rural microfinance. “Gender mainstreaming” is used to refer to the “process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs”, while the “empowerment of women” is defined as “the process by which women take control and ownership of their lives through expansion of their choices.” The author examines attitudes and practices within rural households that can be harmful to women and girls, explores the tenuous connection between current practices in microfinance and gender equity, and offers conclusions regarding gender mainstreaming and empowerment of women in the context of microfinance.

The author discusses how poverty and unequal power relationships can contribute to women holding a disadvantaged position relative to men, a lack of recognition of women as active members in the community, limitations on their control of assets, and limited access to markets and information. In the absence of legal protection and other forms of leverage, women have a lower position in bargaining processes and are more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Although poor men may be as disadvantaged as poor women regarding access to material resources in the public domain, they often seek to maintain control within the family as a mark of prestige. Also, parents with little resources are more likely to provide better education, health conditions and nutrition to male children who are perceived to have better earning potential than female children.

While microfinance advocates argue that creating opportunities for women to earn an income improves their position within the household and can bring about gender equity, studies show mixed results from microfinance in terms of advances in women’s empowerment. On one hand, there are positive findings in terms of consumption, health care and contraception, decision-making power, spatial mobility, access to property and reduced domestic violence. On the other hand, women borrowers have experienced negative consequences within the household and on a wider scale because of a series of triggers that can re-enforce the patriarchal system including: changes in personal values such as modesty, respect, acceptability to husbands and kin; and difficulty reconciling paid work with childcare needs; a top-down, “one-size-fits-all” lending approach; lack of other services in addition to microcredit.

The author proposes that efforts to promote the empowerment of women include encouraging women to articulate their needs and priorities and develop the ability to “envisage” how they can improve their livelihoods and lives. Tools such as the Gender Action Learning System (GALS), which was developed by the Dutch nonprofit Oxfam-Novib, can positively influence women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming at micro, meso and macro levels by focusing on the socio-cultural contexts that define the different social roles of women and men.

By Mihaela Grindeanu, Research Associate

Sources and Resources:

UN Women paper, September 2011: “Empowerment of Women and Gender Mainstreaming in Rural Microfinance”: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/egm/Gobezie-RP-2-EGM-RW-Sep2011.pdf

Microfinance Paper Wrap-up, April 11, 2012: “MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Women are Useful to Microfinance: How Can We Make Microfinance Be More Useful to Women”, Workshop paper at 2011 Global Microcredit Summit”, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinance-paper-wrap-up-women-are-useful-to-microfinance-how-can-we-make-microfinance-be-more-useful-to-women-workshop-paper-at-2011-global-microcredit-summit/

MicroCapital Story, March 26, 2012: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “Istanbul Declaration” Proposes Discussion of Income Inequality, Women’s Empowerment, Environmental Sustainability at United Nations (UN) “Rio + 20” Conference in Brazil in June”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-istanbul-declaration-proposes-discussion-of-income-inequality-womens-empowerment-environmental-sustainability-at-united-nations-un-rio-20/

MicroCapital Story, March 6, 2012: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: WEMAN Global Launches Gender Finance Resources, Promotes Gender Mainstreaming”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-weman-global-launches-gender-finance-resources-promotes-gender-mainstreaming/

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