This document discusses improving the effectiveness of gender equality in mainstream economic policy and dialogue in the Pacific region. It provides background on efforts to economically empower women in the Pacific through microcredit initiatives and skills training. However, it notes that more needs to be done to fully integrate a gender perspective into mainstream economic planning. The discussion seeks input from members on key policy actions, steps to integrate gender into development planning and budgeting, and practical initiatives to support at national and regional levels. Responses from members highlight the need for gender responsive budgeting and targeted resources. Successful experiences with gender mainstreaming in economic policy from countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas are also shared.

1. Development Effectiveness Community
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Discussion: Improving Effectiveness of Gender Equality in
Mainstream Economic Policy and Dialogue
Compiled by Jennifer Namgyal, Beatrice Olsson, Alfred Schuster, Patrick Tuimalealiifano, and
Priya Chattier, Pacific Solution Exchange (PSE) Facilitation Team
Issue Date: 16 June 2011
From PSE Facilitation Team
Posted: 4 April 2011
Dear Members,
Over the last two decades, women‟s access to and contribution to economic development has been
discussed and debated under the ambit of women‟s economic empowerment. It is one of the critical
areas of concern under various international and regional gender commitments such as the Beijing
Platform for Action (BPFA), the Revised Pacific Platform for Action for the Advancement of Women
(RPPA) and the Commonwealth Platform for Action (CPoA). Pacific Island countries (PICs) have also
highlighted the need to target discussions, programmes and policy initiatives at the national level through
various national gender/women action plans and policies.
The economic empowerment of women is essentially a tool to reduce poverty among women and their
families, and to enhance their decision making ability and development. Initiatives in the region to
empower Pacific women economically have mostly focused on micro-credit initiatives such as the setting
up of village based skills building, income generating projects, business planning and financial awareness
workshops and capacity building initiatives focusing on the protection of economic rights of women in the
informal economy.
While an increasing amount of work is being done in the Pacific to analyze the different ways in which
women and men access and contribute to the economy, this has yet to be fully and systematically
integrated into mainstream economic planning and frameworks. An SPC (2010) report “Beijing +15:
Review of progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action in Pacific Islands countries and
territories” highlights pockets of achievement towards women‟s economic empowerment mainly in the
area of business and financial training for women but confirms that, overall, economic disparities between
women and men remain wide and significantly more could be done to address these disparities.
Despite this, there are encouraging signs such a: the increasing existence of good practices and
initiatives in selected PICs that can inform the acceleration of women‟s economic empowerment actions
in other PICs and the increasing inclusion of issues of women‟s economic empowerment in key regional
policy making forums such as the FEMM and the Trade Ministers meetings.

2. To contribute to and inform the policy discussions at the country and regional level, we would like to hear
from you, as members, on your experiences, insights, ideas and suggestions in terms of one or more of
the following questions:
 What do you consider the most important policy actions needed to achieve women's economic rights
and empowerment in the Pacific?
 Please share your experiences and suggestions of what steps are necessary to integrate gender
economic empowerment perspectives into national and sector development planning, budgeting and
monitoring processes?
 What are some practical initiatives that you would like supported at the national and regional level by
development partners?
 What discussions and follow-up actions do you think are needed to assist with national and regional
level implementation?
Responses were received, with thanks, from
1. Priya Chattier, The School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Law, The University of the
South Pacific (USP), Suva, Fiji
2. Chris Andrew, Greenlight Technology Group, Sydney, Australia
3. Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, FemLINKPACIFIC, Suva, Fiji
4. Jennifer Namgyal, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre, Suva,
Fiji
5. Ruth Maetala, Government Representative, Honiara, Solomon Islands
6. Gustav Aitaro, Ministry of State, Palau
7. Felicity Chard, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Asia Pacific Regional
Gender Team, Bangkok, Thailand
8. Keith Leonard, Development Consultant, Auckland, New Zealand
Further contributions are welcome!
Summary of Responses
Comparative Experiences
Related Resources
Responses in Full
Summary of Responses
The discussion on “Improving Effectiveness of Gender Equality in Economic Policy and
Dialogue” highlighted the need to target discussions, programmes and policy initiatives at the national
level through various national gender/women action plans and policies. Members considered whether
gender responsive budgeting is one of the means to ensure efficient allocation of resources to address
the relative and absolute deprivation of women in the Pacific. They also shared experiences on rural
employment and income generation activities that have enhanced women‟s economic rights in the Asia-
Pacific region and ways to apply gender responsive budgeting in the policy development process.
Responding to the question “what are the key policy actions needed to achieve women’s
economic rights and empowerment in the Pacific,” respondents noted that while most Pacific
Island governments have either ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, and/or are committed to the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, gender analysis and

3. gender responsive budgeting are far from reality. To illustrate this fact, members shared experiences with
three pilot projects from the Pacific where government used Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB). From
2002-2004, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, and Fiji introduced an „inside government‟
form of GRB that was externally funded and utilized external technical assistance. These pilot projects did
employ a comprehensive approach to gender issues in policies and budgets in the Pacific, focusing only
on selected agencies and programmes. Furthermore, the Cook Islands government is committed to
gender equality and takes the need to devise concrete measures for ensuring mainstreaming of gender
and women‟s human rights across all sectors. Gender equality is given its rightful place on all future
agendas across sectors.
In the Solomon Islands, particularly women focused programs and the Ministry for Women, Youth and
Children Affairs, took bold steps to make women and the public more aware about the human rights of
women. The ethnic crises in 1999, created an opportunity for women to exert their leadership roles in
conflict resolution, peace building and rehabilitation. Like many countries, Palau has established a
department within the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs called the Gender Development
Department. The Department funnels proposed bills and regulations to gender organizations for
comments and inputs.
Discussants noted that while these pilot projects raised awareness and increased some level of
understanding within their respective governments on gender issues in budgets and programs, fostering
accountability mechanisms to sustain these initiatives going beyond the pilot phase is necessary.
Highlighting the importance of Gender Responsive Budgeting in ensuring efficient allocation of
resources based on needs, discussants reiterated the need to restructure revenues and expenditures to
strengthen gender equality and women‟s empowerment. These actions will require strong political
backing and the development of national capacities to carry out gender analysis, and to implement and
sustain GRB efforts overtime. Without governments accountability towards gender equality and
mainstreaming gender into economic policy and more effectively coordinate efforts between government,
NGOs and donor partners, Pacific countries will find it difficult to improve effectiveness of gender equality
as a national priority.
Respondents also highlighted that it is important to change the focus of economic policy to “triple bottom
line” policy in development discussions whereby gender equality and women‟s human rights are included
as a measurable social indicator of all policies and programmes cross cutting all sectors. Additionally, it
may be more efficient (and more gender inclusive) to target specific areas of deprivation irrespective of
gender.
In sharing the necessary steps for translating gender equality commitments of the
government into responsive budgeting with effective institutional changes, processes and
mechanisms, members suggested the following:
 Using gender analysis and having a gender sensitive understanding of issues to inform policy
priorities whereby gender equality is articulated as a goal in policies, strategies, budgets,
programmes and projects in public and private sectors
 Increasing targeted national resources and official development assistance for gender equality with
gender inclusion as the explicit focus
 Ensuring that an enabling regulation and policy framework exist for women‟s economic
empowerment which eliminate discriminatory laws and close legal gaps
 Integrating, fully and systematically capacity-development on gender issues across the government
 Orienting economic policies around the provision of decent work and recognizing the impact of
unpaid work on women‟s economic activities and empowerment
 Demonstrating leadership by decision makers in prioritizing women‟s economic empowerment where
proactive efforts are made to foster women‟s voices, inclusion and participation in policy dialogue

4.  Generating and transmitting data, analysis and knowledge to decision makers and key stakeholders
on women's economic and social positions
 Involving the private sector in promoting gender equality and women‟s empowerment and expanding
public-private partnerships
 Mainstreaming gender in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of trade agreements and
initiatives
In addition, members identified a number of good practices of practical programmes/projects and
initiatives that could be replicated in the Pacific and supported at the national and regional levels by
development partners. Implementing economic empowerment initiatives is one area countries could
look at. For example, in Bangladesh, India, Syria, Guyana, Serbia, and Maldives various UNDP funded
projects have helped provide economic opportunities to vulnerable and poor women, focusing on
strengthening access to business and entrepreneurship development. Other UNDP programmes
mentioned aimed to alleviate poverty among women. These programmes work on building capacity,
improving planning and raising awareness as well as piloting concrete models for pro-poor development
at the community level. While aiming to strengthen the local private sector, it will emphasize linkages
between sectors and coordination of government management, and help create overall development
strategies that are effective and sustainable.
Other experiences shared included some microfinance and livelihood programmes and initiatives
implemented in Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, India, and Argentina. These programmes
developed micro and small women-owned enterprises, worked to expand income-generating
opportunities for rural women, enhance livelihood options as well as providing the necessary business
and technical skills, including the creation of a supportive environment to underpin rural economic
empowerment.
Exploring the “follow-up actions and discussions needed to assist with national and regional
level implementations”, discussants stressed that governments need to integrate gender and women‟s
human rights as critical crosscutting issues in all sectors. Secondly, they stressed the importance of
supporting the recommendations of the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women and the 2010 Forum
Economic Ministers Meeting to integrate gender in economic policymaking and dialogue across sectors.
Respondents noted governments in the Pacific have made several attempts to mainstream gender in
terms of policies ensuring gender equality in the economic sector, efforts to support women‟s
participation in policy dialogue has been weak. This is partly, due to pocketed and ad-hoc approaches
and lack of national capacity in gender mainstreaming in key sectors that promote economic growth.
Discussants pointed out that the main reason for the lack of coordination is due to the limited national
capacity in some countries to ensure that gender-mainstreaming in sector priorities are fully integrated
into the national strategy policies and development programmes. By identifying opportunities such as
gender responsive budgeting and efficient resource allocation in deprived sectors through economic and
microenterprise initiatives and the need for better coordination and improving gender equality
effectiveness at the national level, members also highlighted how essential it is to integrate gender
equality as a cross cutting theme in regional and national economic policy dialogues.
Along with sharing suggestions and experiences, respondents raised several questions that require
answers in order for national resource allocation mechanisms to be more gender-sensitive, including:
 Who should participate in budget making processes?
 What kind of institutional framework is necessary?
 What works and why – what is the evidence on making budgets open/participatory?
 How do governments make budgets responsive to exclusive groups, like women who are poorly
organized to influence resource allocation decision?

5.  What are the key obstacles in making budgets participatory? Is it to do closed budget mechanisms
and processes in the South Pacific whereby decisions are made on politics, vote pools or lobbying
tactics by larger interest groups?
 Whether or not gender equality commitments are sidelined by budgetary decisions?
 What policies and resource allocation mechanisms are most economically efficient irrespective of
gender?
Throughout the discussion, members explored the multi-dimensional aspects and approaches to
improving gender equality in economic policy and dialogue, and highlighted a number of successful
programmes and policies that promote women‟s economic rights. And while many national policy and
progress reports in the Pacific include gender concerns, the difficulties associated with coordination and
reporting on these efforts remain an issue. Finally, they stressed that women‟s economic empowerment
is an essential requirement for the advancement of Pacific societies, and it requires a multi-pronged
policy action across a number of sectors and programmes.
Comparative Experiences
From Felicity Chard, UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Gender Team, Bangkok, Thailand
Asia
Government of India (GoI) Scheme Helps Women Achieve a Degree of Economic
Empowerment Initiative, India
In 2006, the GoI launched the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Scheme guarantees
100 days of employment each year to every rural household. Since its start, the Scheme has enhanced
wage earning and strengthened the livelihood resource base of the rural poor. In 2009, 49% of workers
were women. The Scheme has reduced distress migration, and served as a buffer from economic
fluctuations. As of 2011, 3.7 million works have been undertaken through the Scheme. Read more
UNDP Project Reaching Out to Women to Enhance their Economic Empowerment, Uttar
Pradesh, India
UNDP India is implementing an IKEA supported project on “Women‟s Economic, Political and Social
Empowerment.” Women are encouraged to form self-help groups to access credit to setup enterprises.
Women-led federations in dairy and crafts industry were established and 238 SHGs have gained credit
without collateral. In addition, women are now accessing entitlements available through various national
development programmes. The project aims to reach 200,000 women in 500 villages by 2016. Read more
UNDP Supported Programme Empowers Ultra Poor Women, Bangladesh
From 2008-10 a national programme employed more than 34,000 women from ultra-poor women headed
households to maintain and repair almost 24,000 km of vital earthen roads and 1,500 public assets. The
program also provided targeted skill development training for livelihood and income-generating activities,
focusing micro-enterprise development and savings. After graduation, the women can invest their savings
in micro-enterprises, and project partner NGOs provided ongoing support. Read more
UNDP Funded Microfinance Initiative Increases Household Income, Mongolia
The Enterprise Mongolia Project (EMP) worked to reduce poverty and unemployment rates, primarily in
rural and remote areas, by strengthening and promoting sustainable small and micro-enterprises through
Public Private Partnerships. Half of the 1,000 clients are from women headed households; these women
received entrepreneurial training and increased access to financial services. Their average household
income increased by 33% and EMP also helped create 433 jobs. Read more
National Programme Enables Women to Become Entrepreneurs, Nepal

6. In 2009, the government adopted UNDP‟s pilot microenterprise development program as a national
program allocating funds to entrepreneurs, mostly women, in 18 districts. This programme has helped
create over 8,000 new entrepreneurs, 68% of which are women. It has also created more than 8,000
new jobs. Read more
Microfinance Initiative Improves Employment and Food Security, Myanmar
In 2009, a microfinance program was expanded to cover over 100,000 beneficiaries, 97% of which were
women. A recent impact study showed that beneficiaries have increased their productive assets,
diversified from agriculture to small and medium business. This has generated more employment and
food security. Over half a million loans (amounting to US$47 million) to support these activities were
disbursed in 2009. The loan repayment rate thus far is nearly 100%. Read more
UNDP Project Helping Rural Women Develop Micro and Small Enterprises, Samtse and
Zhemgang Districts, Bhutan
The project, launched in 2010, is working to address the employment needs and expand income-
generating activities of rural women in two disadvantaged districts. The project supports community-
based MSMEs and cooperatives, particularly for women and youth, by providing access to microfinance,
business development, marketing, and post-harvest management services. The project aims by 2012 to
increase the income generation and employment opportunities of poor women in these areas. Read more
UNDP Microfinance Pilot Project Targets Women, China
In eight ethnic minority villages, the project is establishing small microfinance projects. The projects were
designed to help generate income for households and the community. Women in particular were targeted
in this initiative, by encouraging them to pursue agricultural and handicraft projects. The project is
scheduled to conclude in 2011. Read more
UNDP Project Provides Women Economic Opportunities, Maldives
The project tried to address the high unemployment levels among women by strengthening economic
opportunities with a focus on business and entrepreneurship development. The project‟s main strategy
involved research, advocacy and mainstreaming of women‟s economic activities, facilitating small grants
schemes for skills training and small business initiatives, and capacity building of organizations in
implementing and promoting these activities. Read more
Europe and Americas
UNDP Project Offers Unemployed Women Economic Options, Serbia
In 2007, UNDP funded a self-employment project called „Severance to Job.‟ It provided employment to
531 women who lost their jobs because they had become redundant. The project offered redundant
workers the possibility to either invest their severance payments into training to get a job with a new
employer or to start their own business, with support provided through the Project. In 2009, the Project
helped 531 women become self-employed. Read more
Local Community Projects Enables Women to Generate an Income, Guyana
The „Replicable Poverty Linkages Project‟ was implemented through 18 community projects in five
regions. The community project activities included fish farming, duck production, and cash crop farming.
Sixty percent of the 645 beneficiary families were from female-headed households and 75% of the direct
project beneficiaries were women. Read more
Micro-Enterprise Initiative Helps the Poor Earn an Income, Argentina
UNDP partnered with an Argentinean programme to increase the income of the poor, particularly women.
The programme developed 12 micro-loan local institutions in the poorest regions of the country. It has
financed more than 3,600 micro-enterprises, which provide an income to 12,100 people in vulnerable
situations.

7. Middle East
Rural Community Development Initiative Empowers Women, Syria
UNDP funded a rural community development project supporting local institutions to provide financial
services for the poor, particularly women. The project empowered women by providing increased access
to financial assets and capital resources, and strengthening their voices in the decision-making processes
in their communities. Read more
Pacific Islands
Promoting Equity through Gender Budgets and Programmes, Palau (from Gustav Aitaro, Ministry
of State, Palau)
The government promotes gender equality through its budgets and activities related to economic and
social development programmes and projects. It has now established the Gender Development
Department within the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, which deals with gender concerns.
These efforts have enabled the government to address gender equality concerns raised by citizens
through an accountability mechanism set up between government and non-government organizations.
From Priya Chattier, USP, Suva, Fiji
Pilot Project on Gender Responsive Budgeting Tries to Create Accountability Mechanism,
Samoa
The project‟s Steering Committee came up with a proposal to engage heads of department and ministers
in establishing a high-level budget committee responsible for screening and prioritizing budget proposals
with significant social impact. This accountability mechanism sought to minimize divisions between those
responsible for different social and often disadvantaged groups. However, the time allotted for the pilot
proved insufficient to negotiate a major change in the budgetary and policy decision-making processes.
Pilot Attempts Use Gender Responsive Budgeting to Link the Work of Various Ministries, Fiji
In 2003, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) added a question to a budget circular requesting all government
ministries to provide an analysis of the impact of the proposed budget expenditures on men and women.
This pilot initiative didn‟t include systematic monitoring or an enforcement system of incentives and/or
penalties, and thus didn‟t have an effective accountability mechanism. The pilot demonstrated need for
capacity building and strengthening of links between gender concerns and daily work of the MoF.
Pilot Project Used Gender Responsive Budgeting to Encourage Accountability, The Republic
of the Marshall Islands
The project‟s accountability mechanism for gender sensitivity involved civil society organizations (CSOs),
particularly the umbrella group, Women United in the Marshall Islands. The representation of CSOs, along
with capacity building for NGOs, proved important to promoting government accountability on gender.
However, the pilot was not able to make significant progress towards changing budgets and policies
because there wasn‟t enough time to build gender analysis capacity and engage in budgetary processes.
Related Resources
Recommended Documentation
Beijing Platform for Action (from Priya Chattier, The School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Law,
The University of the South Pacific (USP), Suva, Fiji and Ruth Maetala, Government Representative,
Honiara, Solomon Islands)
Framework; The United Nations 4th World Conference on Women; Beijing, China; September 1995

8. Available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/plat1.htm
Agenda for women's empowerment designed to help governments remove all the obstacles to
women's active participation in all spheres of public and private life, including the economy
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
(from Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, FemLINKPACIFIC, Suva, Fiji and Ruth Maetala, Government
Representative, Honiara, Solomon Islands)
Convention; United Nations Assembly; New York, USA; 1979
Available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
By accepting this Convention, many Pacific Island States have committed to undertake measures
to end all discrimination against women, including mainstreaming gender into economic policy
Statement at the Inaugural Regional Meeting of Ministers of Energy, ICT and Transport (from
Jennifer Namgyal, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre, Suva, Fiji)
Speech; by Henry Puna, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands; Inaugural Regional Meeting of Ministers for
Energy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Transport; April 2011
Available at: http://www.mfai.gov.ck/index.php/news/19-general/158-gender-and-womens-human-
rights-critical-for-economic-development.html
Describes how gender perspectives, and women‟s human rights and economic empowerment are
critical elements for regional economic development, particularly in transport, energy and ICT
From Priya Chattier, The University of the South Pacific (USP), Suva and Jennifer Namgyal, United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre, Suva, Fiji
11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women
Article; Secretariat of the Pacific Community; 12 August 2010
Available at: http://www.spc.int/en/component/content/article/550-11th-triennial-conference-of-pacific-
women.html
Describes Conference recommendations towards improving gender balance in institutions and
legislatures and addressing violence against women, economic empowerment, & poor healthcare
Outcomes Document on 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women
Document; South Pacific Community; 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women; August 2010
Available at:
http://www.spc.int/hdp/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=99999999
Conference called for stronger regional multi-sectoral processes and mechanisms to accelerate
achievement of economic equality between women and men in the Pacific region
2010 Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting
Action Plan; Forum Economic Ministers; 2010 Forum Economic Ministers‟ Meeting; October 2010
Available at:
http://www.forumsec.org/resources/uploads/attachments/documents/2010_FEMM_Action_Plan_Final%20
28%20October%2020101.pdf (PDF, Size: 168 KB)
Highlights that one of the Meeting outcomes was to ensure that member countries fully consider
the role of women in economic development and integrate them into economic strategies
Sharp 2002
Paper; UNDAW, Oslo, Norway; 2007
Available at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/financing_gender_equality/ExpertPapers/EP.4%20Sharp.pdf
(PDF, Size: 142.3 KB)
Paper briefly discusses issues related to gender responsive budgeting by reporting on the
experiences with GRB in Australia and Pacific Island Countries and Territories

9. From Felicity Chard, UNDP Asia Pacific Gender Team, Bangkok, Thailand
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Paper; DAC Network on Gender Equality, Organisation for Cooperation and Development; Paris, France;
April 2011
Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/50/60/47561694.pdf (PDF, Size: 1.1 MB)
Argues that achieving women‟s economic empowerment is not a “quick fix” and outlines how to
start by integrating women into long-term commitments from all development actors
Integrating Gender Equality Dimensions into Public Financial Management Reforms
Issue Brief; DAC Network on Gender Equality, Organisation for Cooperation and Development; October
2010
Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/24/10/46142807.pdf (PDF, 778.72 KB)
Suggests ways to use gender-responsive budgeting techniques in public financial management
and outlines implementation challenges – potential resource for governments and donor agencies
Combating Poverty and Inequality Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics
Report; UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD); Geneva, Switzerland; 3 September
2010
Available at:
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpPublications)/BBA20D83E347DBAFC125778200440AA7?
OpenDocument
Looks at the strengths & weaknesses of various approaches to addressing poverty and women‟s
economic empowerment, given that gender inequalities exist at home and in market
Innovative Approaches to Promoting Women's Economic Empowerment: Paper for the
Partnership Event on September 25, 2008: MDG3 - Gender Equality and Empowerment of
Women: a Prerequisite for Achieving all MDGs by 2015
Document; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); New York, USA; 2008
Available for purchase at http://www.worldcat.org/title/innovative-approaches-to-promoting-womens-
economic-empowerment-paper-for-the-partnership-event-on-september-25-2008-mdg3-gender-equality-
and-empowerment-of-women-a-prerequisite-for-achieving-all-mdgs-by-2015/oclc/276338673
Chapter 4 describes several global best practices and innovative approaches, illustrating a range
of activities addressing and contributing towards women‟s economic empowerment.
Summary Report of the Joint Biennial workshop of the United Nations Interagency Network
on Women and Gender Equality and the OECD-DAC Network on Gender Equality
(GENDERNET): Women's Economic Empowerment, Accountability and National Ownership
Report; United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO); Vienna, Austria; February 2010
Available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/collaboration/Consolidated_Report_Final.pdf (PDF,
Size: 287.3 KB)
Describes workshop‟s focus on women‟s economic empowerment, exploring country ownership
for development & facets of accountability – international, domestic/local/democratic and mutual
Chapter 4: The Social Charter: Investing in the Nigerian People, Part 2: Empowering People,
Meeting Everyone's Needs: National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy
Chapter; Nigerian National Planning Commission; Abuja, Nigeria; 2004
Available at: http://www.enigeria.com.ng/downloads/partII.pdf (PDF, Size: 607.4 KB)
Presents Nigeria‟s social agenda for empowering its people, includes an emphasis on women's
economic, social, political and cultural empowerment, and outlines ways to achieve this

10. Executive Summary: Draft Strategic Framework on Gender and Women's Economic
Empowerment
Document; Department of Trade & Industry, The Republic of South Africa; Durban, South Africa; 2006
Available at: http://www.trevenna.net/sawen/Strategy%20Framework%202006.pdf (PDF, Size: 361 KB)
Outlines the government‟s strategic framework on gender equality and women‟s economic
empowerment, includes a list of specific recommendations on how to replicate this framework
Project Factsheet - Rural Employment Opportunities for Public Assets
Factsheet; UNDP Bangladesh; Dhaka, Bangladesh; March 2010
Available at: http://www.undp.org.bd/library/FactSheet2/FINAL%20REOPA-
CST%20factsheet%20Mar%202011%20(extended%20project).pdf (PDF, Size: 385.5 KB)
Describes socioeconomic development project working on reducing poverty and improving the
socio-economic situation of women by mainstreaming them into development programmes
Poverty Alleviation and Empowerment of Rural Women in Bhutan
Note; UNDP Bhutan; Thimphu, Bhutan
Available at: http://www.undp.org.bt/community-development.htm
Describes how the project is implementing poverty reduction interventions for women in remote
and un-reached communities that promote employment and income generation activities
Power of Collectives: UNDP-IKEA Foundation Helps Women Change Rules
Note; UNDP India; New Delhi India; 2010
Available at: http://www.undp.org.in/power-collectives-UNDP-IKEA-Foundation-helps-women-change-
rules
Explains how in 2009, UNDP & IKEA Foundation launched a 5-year project to encourage women
to form SHGs to gain access to credit for setting up enterprises to improve their economic status
Enterprise Mongolia Project - Phase II
Note; UNDP Mongolia; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Available at: http://www.undp.mn/Enterprise-Mongolia-2.html
Describes a project working to improve livelihood options for poor & marginalized men & women,
particularly in rural areas by raising incomes & creating jobs to economically empowering them
Poverty Reduction
Note; UNDP Guyana; Georgetown, Guyana; 2011
Available at: http://www.undp.org.gy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=98
Outlines completed project that strengthened the capacity of communities in depressed areas by
encouraging job creation for unemployed & worked with local communities to empower women
Women's Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation Project
Note; UNDP Syria; Damascus, Syria; May 2011
Available at: http://www.undp.org.sy/index.php/our-work/social-development-for-poverty-reduction/65-
womens-empowerment-and-poverty-alleviation
Explains how the project uses women‟s empowerment as an entry point for poverty alleviation
with a special focus on financial empowerment of women through microfinance initiatives
Severance to a Job, Support to Re-Employment
Report; UNDP Serbia; Belgrade, Serbia; 2009
Available at: http://www.undp.org.rs/index.cfm?event=public.publicationsDetails&revid=6486ADEA-A780-
0DE0-2830AB8BF620FE36
Describes completed project that supported the re-employment of workers (men & women)
made redundant during transition period in Serbia, to help improve their economic status

11. Microfinance for the Poor
Note; UNDP Myanmar; Yangon, Union of Myanmar
Available at: http://www.mm.undp.org/HDI/MICRO.html
Describes microfinance project currently servicing more than 440,000 clients, 97% are women,
who benefit by being able to start businesses and access to their own income
Poverty Reduction for Ethnic Minorities in China
Project Summary; UNDP China; Beijing, China; 2006
Available at: http://www.undp.org.cn/projects/52371.pdf (PDF, Size: 272 KB)
Describes project‟s 3 part approach to needs-based poverty reduction supporting tourism &
cultural industries based on cultural and natural assets and promoting gender equality
Recommended Portals and Information Bases
From Felicity Chard, UNDP Asia Pacific Gender Team, Bangkok, Thailand
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of India
http://nrega.nic.in/netnrega/home.aspx
Contains info on the Act that aims to enhance the livelihood security of men and women in rural
areas, according to national reports 2010-11 47.94% of the people involved were women
Micro Enterprise Development Programme (Phase III) - MEDEP-III, UNDP Nepal
http://www.undp.org.np/poverty/projects/medep-iii/index.php?ProgramID=78
Portal contains details on MEDEP‟s work to create off-farm employment and income opportunities
for the rural poor and especially for women, young people and disadvantaged people
Gender and Economic Empowerment, UNDP Maldives
http://www.mv.undp.org/v2/?lid=153
Contains info on project addressing high unemployment levels among women & youth by
strengthening economic opportunities, focusing on business & entrepreneurship development
Related Consolidated Replies
Customizing Gender Budgeting Handbook for State Governments, from Swapna Bisht Joshi,
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), New Delhi (Experiences, Examples).
Gender Community, Solution Exchange India. Issued 13 March 2009
Available at: ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/gen/cr/cr-se-gen-19060801.pdf (PDF, Size: 174 KB)
Experiences and suggestions to customize MWCD handbook on gender budgeting to enhance the
delivery mechanism of state governments through Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB)
Good Practices in Gender Mainstreaming, from Kanta Singh, Women Power Connect, New
Delhi (Examples, Referrals). Gender Community, Solution Exchange India. Issued 1 August 2007
Available at: ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/gen/cr/cr-se-gen-10060701.pdf (PDF, Size: 343 KB)
Shares case studies and resources on twelve thematic areas related to gender mainstreaming for
documenting best practices on a project assigned by MWCD and UNDP
State Specific Models of Gender Responsive Budget, from Kanta Singh, Women Power
Connect, New Delhi (Examples, Referrals). Gender Community, Solution Exchange India. Issued 21
May 2007
Available at: ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/gen/cr/cr-se-gen-03040701.pdf (PDF, Size: 212 KB)
Examples and referrals of state specific models of gender responsive budgets for framing up
policy to achieve a greater degree of women‟s empowerment

12. Responses in Full
Priya Chattier, The School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Law, The University of the
South Pacific (USP), Suva, Fiji
In addressing the first question of this discussion, we need to know that women and men play important
roles in the economy though they are placed and remunerated differently in economy. Three sectors in
the economy is important when analyzing the situation of women and men in the economy: formal
economy (market & state activities), informal economy (small scale activities using unpaid labor force)
and care economy mostly in the households. This highlights the different contributions of women and
men to the economy, including the care economies. This also exposes the linkages and trade-offs
between household and market economy and calls for creative ways of recognizing, counting and
rewarding women‟s unpaid labor and for equitable sharing of the budget.
Hence budgets are not neutral instruments and engendering the budget is possibly one of the means of
meeting the aspirations and needs of gender equality in mainstream macroeconomic policies.
I would now like to bring to light the aftermath of Beijing Platform for Action (1995) which led to the
emergence of gender analysis of public budgets as an important tool for determining the different impact
of expenditures on women and men and to help ensure the equitable use of existing resources. Gender-
responsive budgeting (GRB) initiatives have been carried out in more than 60 countries across all
continents, which made a significant contribution to financing gender equality and women‟s
empowerment. With more than 20 years of gender responsive budgeting experience, internationally
useful lessons have been learnt and a body of research has been accumulated on GRB (see Sharp, 2002).
Also in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) many GRB efforts begun (and ended) as pilot
projects as a means to raise awareness and understanding within government on gender issues in
budgets and programs. During the period 2002-2004 an „inside-government‟ form of GRB was introduced
in three Pacific Island Countries – the Republic of the Marshall Islands (gender responsive budget);
Samoa (youth/gender responsive budget); and Fiji (gender mainstreaming project with a small budgetary
component). On one hand, an achievement of all three pilot projects was that they engaged with the
question of how to foster accountability mechanisms that would sustain the initiatives if they were to go
beyond the pilot phase.
However, this goal of changing budgets and policies along gender sensitive lines cannot be pursued in a
vacuum and it takes time to engage with budgetary processes and decision-making. It needs to be
understood in relation to the interrelated goals of awareness raising and accountability. Good budget
making process requires understanding both the key differential gender impacts and how policies might
generally be better designed to achieve outcomes, which meet the needs of women and men and girls
and boys of different economic categories equitably. Tools to develop gender responsive budgets include:
1. A gender situation analysis
2. A gender analysis of policy
3. A gender analysis of budget
In virtually all PICs, there is no evidence that gender perspectives and the concerns of women are taken
into account in the preparation of budgets at either national or local level.
The follow up actions that need to be taken at national and regional level include making governments
accountable for translating their gender equality commitments into budgetary commitments through
effective institutional changes, processes and mechanisms. This would mean transforming the public
policy environment by bringing about desired budgetary and policy changes. The element of

13. accountability involving issues of voice, aspects of transparency and credibility of government
commitments to gender equality needs to be explored in the context of public policy environment to find
out whether or not public spending captures gender equality commitments and if not, then what are the
reasons why national resource allocation mechanisms are not gender-sensitive?
Perhaps there is need to draw attention to several important issues on budget making processes:
 Who participates?
 What kind of institutional framework is necessary?
 What works and why – what is the evidence on making budgets open/participatory?
 How do governments make budgets responsive to exclusive groups, like women who are poorly
organized to influence resource allocation decision?
 What are the key obstacles in making budgets participatory? Is it to do closed budget mechanisms
and processes in the South Pacific whereby decisions are made on politics, vote pools or lobbying
tactics by larger interest groups?
 Whether or not gender equality commitments are sidelined by budgetary decisions?
Chris Andrew, Greenlight Technology Group, Sydney, Australia
As with previous issues, improving effectiveness of gender equality could also be well served by changing
the focus of economic policy to “triple bottom line” policy. Development discussions are not the exclusive
domain of economics, but rather encompass environmental and social factors as well.
By ensuring gender equality is included as a measurable social factor under TBL analysis, development
partners would be forced into greater transparency on the effectiveness of their investment in this area.
As always – “you can‟t manage want you can‟t measure”.
Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, FemLINKPACIFIC, Suva, Fiji
It really shouldn't be an effort to integrate gender equality Economic Policy and Dialogue - by now with
most Pacific Island governments either having ratified CEDAW or committed to the Beijing Platform for
Action - achieving gender equality commitments should be one of the key indicators of all public policy
making processes and action particularly by ensuring women's realities are taken into account through
available qualitative data and information...
Gender budgets, gender analysis should by now be a matter of practice - not merely a matter for debate
from the micro to the macro level.
Jennifer Namgyal, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre, Suva, Fiji
I would like to draw your attention to a very strong intervention on gender equality, made by the Prime
Minister of the Cook Islands, Henry Puna, in Noumea in early April, at a regional meeting of Ministers for
Energy, ICT and Transport.
INAUGURAL REGIONAL MEETING OF MINISTERS FOR ENERGY, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND TRANSPORT
I would like to raise a critical cross cutting issue, which we have not considered this afternoon, which is
the gender aspect of all of these economic sectors. For example, women‟s equal access to information
and communication technologies and to sectoral priority setting and decision-making is critical to proper
development of this sector. Women have unique and under-addressed transport needs including
transport safety issues, suitability of transport systems to facilitate women‟s work in markets, women‟s
employment in the transport sector, and so on. And women have unique energy needs and consumption

14. patterns, with the energy sector playing a key role for example in reducing rural women‟s heavy work
burden through energy efficiency initiatives and in increasing women‟s role in energy-sector employment
and decision-making.
I note that these and other issues were discussed at the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women in
August held in this room last year, and the recommendations which all of our governments endorsed
include several that are relevant to our meeting this week. For example, at this Conference it was agreed
to integrate gender and gender expertise into regional sectoral meetings such as this one. Also, that
national and regional level discussions and frameworks on market development, trade, information and
communications technology, infrastructure and energy involve the participation of women and integrate
gender and women‟s human rights.
The 2010 FEMM Action Plan also notes the need to „ensure the important role of women in economic
development of member countries is fully considered and integrated into economic strategies‟. We are
here discussing key aspects of our national and regional economies, so I am concerned that gender
equality as a cross cutting issue in our sectors has not been discussed. The Cook Islands government is
committed to gender equality and takes seriously the need to devise concrete measures for ensuring
gender and women‟s human rights are mainstreamed across sectors. I‟m sure my colleagues around the
room would agree. So in short, Mr. Chair I want to request that gender equality be given its rightful place
on all future agendas across our sectors, and I recommend that our Resolutions this week take proper
note of these important issues. I can put forth the following proposed language Mr. Chair:
That Ministers of Energy, ICT and Transport recognize the need to integrate gender and women‟s human
rights as critical cross-cutting issues in all of these sectors;
Those Ministers note and support the recommendations of the 11th Triennial Conference of Pacific
Women and of the 2010 Forum Economic Ministers Meeting, as they relate to the integration of gender
and women‟s human rights in our sectors.
Ruth Maetala, Government Representative, Honiara, Solomon Islands
I acknowledge the previous contributions and want to share some realities experienced in Solomon
Islands. It is immensely crucial that we understand the background justifications for gender equality in
the Pacific and thus understand the reasoning at country level. I do not know much about how other
countries address gender equality issues through policies to ensure equality in all sectors. I appreciate
the learning from Priya's sharing about the pilot projects in Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific region.
For Solomon Islands, gender equality had not been considered until much after the Beijing Platform for
Action, which saw the gradual awareness that there is inequality, which needs addressing. Although there
had been attempts to mainstream gender in terms of policies to ensure equality in the economic sector,
efforts to support women's participation are weak because of the pocketed approach and lack of capacity
to implement gender mainstreaming in key sectors that promote economic growth.
Prior to the acceptance and promotion of gender as a development agenda, women were just part of a
society. They were seen as part of a whole. Solomon Islands, particularly women focused programs and
the Ministry for Women, Youth and Children Affairs took bold steps to make women and the public more
aware about the human rights of women. The ethnic crises in 1999, created an opportunity for women to
exert their leadership roles in conflict resolution, peace building and rehabilitation.
Here, women took part in many programs targeting rehabilitation particularly the Community Peace and
restorative Fund- an AusAID funded program, which encouraged direct aid delivery to the community
level encouraging income generation for both men and women. The period ended quite abruptly, as
focus in rehabilitation work was taken over as a RAMSI responsibility paying more attention to legislative

15. and policy reforms. In 2009, at the eve of the CNURA government, a Gender Equality and Women's
Development (GEWD) policy was passed by cabinet, which incorporated women's economic
empowerment as a key priority for government for the next five years.
Further challenges remain because of the uncoordinated effort of government, NGOs and donor partners
in ensuring gender equality paying attention to mainstreaming national economic policy and dialogue. In
one sense, while we are aware of the effectiveness of gender budgeting, and other processes to ensure
women benefit, or to ensure de-facto measures are in place to promote gender equity, financing these
processes is another question.
Further, the lack of capacity of nationals to carry out gender related work remains a reality. Solomon
Islands since the ratification of the UN CEDAW has not met its reporting obligations to the UN. Does this
mean that since the Beijing Conference, and now the UN CEDAW and other world conferences which
seem to attempt at holding parties accountable for international legislation and policy have monitoring
mechanisms that are effective. I doubt it.
It is in this context that gender equality in economic policy, dialogue, and gender mainstreaming in the
economic, private business sectors remain weak and difficult to penetrate even where it requires support
from aid donors. Everyone wants ownership thus; efforts to reach collective decisions are far from reality.
NGOs are not playing their role as advocators for change - nor do they have a sense of partnership and
ownership in efforts to implement government policy. This brings me to my final question, do Pacific
governments see the need to improve effectiveness of gender equality as a national priority or is it just
something used in every document to increase donor funding only?
I will be interested to learn from other countries in the Pacific.
Gustav Aitaro, Ministry of State, Palau
In Palau gender equality is promoted in budgets, activities and activities in economic and social
development programs and projects. Like many countries, Palau has established a department within the
Ministry of Community & Cultural Affairs, which is called the Gender Development Department and
proposed bills and regulations, are funneled through this office to gender organizations for comments
and inputs. We also have an annual Women‟s Conference (Mechesil Belau) whereby women in Palau
meet to discuss cultural, new, and emerging issues and also propose to Congress and the Executive
Branch their concerns.
Palau is a matrilineal country and thus women have significant role within our society. The women
choose the chiefs and have the power to rescind them. Women also have a significant role when it comes
to setting conditions relating to cultural practices and to educate the community of those conditions and
practices. The annual Mechesil Belau Conferences have influenced legislation and national policies aimed
at preserving Palaun culture and traditions.
Felicity Chard, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Asia Pacific Regional
Gender Team, Bangkok, Thailand
Thank you for providing the UNDP Asia Pacific Gender Team with the opportunity to contribute to the
current discussion on including women‟s economic rights in mainstream economic policy in the Pacific. A
timely and welcome discussion given the importance that women's economic empowerment has for many
of the countries in the Asia Pacific and the current efforts to achieve gender equity and women's
empowerment more generally throughout the region.

16. It is widely recognized that women‟s economic empowerment is an essential requirement for the
advancement of society, to promote gender equality and achieve development goals. Increasingly
women's engagement in economic activity positively effects their status in society and the household,
family health and wellbeing, educational activities and also impacts on women‟s ability to participate in
decision making processes. It is a multi-dimensional challenge that requires a multi-dimensional
response, and one that requires action across a number of fronts including:
Applying gender responsive budgeting (GRB) to ensure an efficient allocation of resources based on
identified needs, and to restructure revenues and expenditures to strengthen gender equality and
women‟s empowerment. GRB must be backed with political will, capacity development and sex-
disaggregated data:
 Using gender analysis and a gender sensitive understanding of issues to inform policy priorities;
 Articulating gender equality as a goal in policies, strategies, budgets, programmes and projects in
both the public and private sectors;
 Having increased targeted national resources and official development assistance for gender equality;
 Ensuring that an enabling regulation and policy framework exist for women‟s economic
empowerment;
 Fully and systematically integrating capacity-development on gender issues across the whole of
government;
 Eliminating discriminatory laws and closing legal gaps;
 Having gender inclusion as explicit policy focus;
 Orienting economic policies around the provision of decent work;
 Demonstrating leadership by decision makers in prioritizing women‟s economic empowerment;
 Generating and transmitting data, analysis and knowledge to decision makers and key stakeholders
on women's economic and social positions;
 Involving the private sector in promoting gender equality and women‟s empowerment and expanding
public private partnerships;
 Making proactive efforts to foster women‟s voices, inclusion and participation in policy dialogue;
 Mainstreaming gender in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of trade agreements and
initiatives; and
 Recognizing the impacts of unpaid work on women‟s economic activities and empowerment.
A number of recent publications have investigated different aspects of this topic and provide a range of
solid solutions and suggestions:
 OECD recently released the following issue paper on Women's Economic Empowerment;
 Another OECD publication on Integrating Gender Equality Dimensions into Public Financial
Management Reforms;
 In 2010 UNRISD published a report on Combating Poverty and Inequality Structural Change, Social
Policy and Politics that looks and the strengths and limitations of various approaches to addressing
poverty in the current context. An overview of the main report can be read at
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpPublications)/BBA20D83E347DBAFC125778200440A
A7?OpenDocument;
 A number of best practices are listed in chapter four of the Innovative Approaches to Promoting
Women‟s Economic Empowerment document;
 The Summary Report of the Joint Biennial Workshop of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on
Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) and the OECD-DAC Network on Gender Equality
(GENDERNET) that was held on the topic of Women‟s economic empowerment, Accountability and
National Ownership;
 The NEEDS Strategy (the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) used in
Nigeria; and
 The Executive Summary of the Draft Strategic Framework on Gender and Women‟s Economic
Empowerment.

17. Additionally, we include below a number of good practices of practical UNDP initiatives that could be
replicated in the Pacific and supported at the national and regional levels by development partners.
Economic Empowerment Initiatives
 Bangladesh: helping ultra-poor women: Over a three year period (2008-10) more than 34,000
women from ultra poor female headed households were engaged in the maintenance and post-flood
repairs of almost 24,000 km of vital earthen roads, as well as the 1500 public assets. This national
program supported by UNDP provides social safety nets through wage employment and savings. The
program provides 2 years employment for women and targeted skills development training for
livelihood and income generating activities with a focus on micro enterprise development. As part of
the daily wage they received, nearly 30% was reserved for mandatory saving. These savings are now
available to the women as they graduate from the program to invest in micro enterprises. Ongoing
support will be provided to the women by project partner NGOs. A mid-term evaluation of the
program has found that it “is one of the best examples of poverty alleviation programs in
Bangladesh, with a very relevant strategy to pull deprived women out of poverty”.
 India: guaranteeing employment: India has 320 million people living under the poverty line.
Introduced in 2006, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the world‟s largest cash for
work program, provides a guarantee of 100 days of employment each year to every rural household,
which demands it. The scheme, to which UNDP has made important design and policy contributions,
has been successful in some important ways. It now reaches all 615 rural districts, more than 44
million households have been provided with employment, and over 3.5 billion person days of
employment have been generated. In 2009, 49% of participants were women. The enhanced wage
earnings have led to a strengthening of the livelihood resource base of the rural poor in India, have
reduced distress migration, and have become an extremely important buffer against both the
employment shocks generated by the economic crisis (as migrant workers returned home to their
villages) and against the drought that has swept across large parts of rural India in the summer of
2009. In 2009 the program had significantly high work participation of marginalized groups including
Scheduled Castes (30%), Scheduled Tribes (22%), and women (49%). Thus far, more than 3.7
million works have been undertaken (of which 2.3 million remain in progress), covering water
conservation, rural connectivity and land development.
 India: India CO is implementing an IKEA supported project on Women's Economic, Political and Social
Empowerment in one of the poorest regions of the country (Eastern Uttar Pradesh). The project aims
to reach out to 200,000 women by 2016.
 Throughout Bangladesh the rural poverty reduction project directly benefited 24,444 extreme poor
rural women through a cash for work scheme and skills training , thus providing a safety net against
food insecurity. In 2009, $4.6 million has been saved by these women.
 UNDP supported Syria‟s Rural Community Development at Jabal Al Hoss supporting local institutions
to provide financial services for the poor, particularly for women, including introducing Islamic
lending procedures. Disbursed 12,000 loans for a total amount of SYP 360,000,000 as of June 2007,
of which 43% were given to women. This created more than 1,000 jobs and improved the income of
beneficiaries by an average of 20% and empowered women in the target area through increasing
access to financial assets and capital resources, thus strengthening their voices in the decision-
making processes in their communities. The Ministry of Agriculture is currently sustaining the
initiative. Key success factors were local ownership as well as gender mainstreaming as members of
the local village development committees, marketing committees and literacy classes, women were
engaged at all stages of decision-making.
 The Guyana „Replicable Poverty Linkages Project‟ undertook to implement 18 community projects in
five regions, ranging from fish farming, to duck production and cash crop farming. 60% of the 645

18. beneficiary families are from female headed households and 75% of the direct project beneficiaries
are women.
 In Serbia UNDP supported the self-employment of 531 women who lost their job as redundant
workers by 2009 through the Severance to Job project.
 Maldives: A project to address the high level of unemployment among women and youth by
strengthening economic opportunities for vulnerable women with a focus on business and
entrepreneurship development. The main strategy involves research, advocacy and mainstreaming of
women‟s economic activities, facilitating small grants schemes for skills training and small business
initiatives, and capacity building of organizations in implementing and promoting these activities.
Microfinance
 In Nepal a major UNDP microfinance program helped create over 8000 new entrepreneurs (of which
68% are women) and over 8000 new jobs. In 2009, the Government adopted UNDP‟s pilot micro
enterprise development program as a national program, allocating additional funds and expanding to
18 districts.
 In 2009 a Myanmar microfinance program expanded its coverage to over a 100,000 new clients, with
total clients now totaling almost half a million borrowers – 97% are women. Over half a million loans
amounting to around US$47 million were disbursed in 2009 with a repayment rate of almost 100%. A
recent impact study confirmed that clients have increased their productive assets; diversified from
agriculture to small and medium business which have generated more employment; are more food
secure by US$100; are able to spend almost 20% more on education and healthcare; have better
coping capacity in illness, childbirth, and deaths; have reduced borrowing from informal sources by
84%; have higher bargaining power on the purchase and sales of products; and women clients have
more control over assets and were playing a greater role in household and community decisions.
 A UNDP Bhutan project aims at addressing the specific needs of employment and income generating
activities of rural women in two of the most disadvantaged districts of Samtse and Zhemgang. It
focuses on the development of micro and small women-owned enterprises and expansion of income
generating opportunities for rural women as well as support the provision of the necessary business
and technical skills including the creation of a supportive environment to underpin rural economic
empowerment. Community based MSMEs and cooperatives, particularly those of women and youth,
supported through improved access to micro-finance, business development services, marketing,
group formation and post-harvest management services.
 China: A pilot project was carried out in eight ethnic minority villages to establish small micro-projects
to generate income for households and the community. In particular, women were targeted in this
initiative to pursue projects such as diversifying agricultural and/or animal husbandry, handicraft
and/or artisan development, community based tourism facilities, and health and social service
delivery improvements.
 UNDP has been an implementing partner to Mongolia‟s Enterprise Mongolia Project (EMP) that aims
to reduce overall poverty and unemployment, mainly in rural and remote areas of Mongolia, through
strengthening and promoting self-sustainable small and micro enterprises. Results include 1,000
clients – half of which were women single breadwinners – receiving training at or through Enterprise
Mongolia Centres (EMCs) and increased access of micro and small entrepreneurs in rural and urban
areas to a range of financial services: 300 clients received loans from financial institutions for the first
time, 100 of which were women. The average household income of the beneficiaries of this initiative
increased by 33%; 433 new jobs were created or facilitated. Public Private Partnership was key to the

19. success of this initiative as the project established a partnership with the private financial sector for
both financial contribution and technical/operational support for implementation.
 UNDP partnered in a Argentina programme to increase the income of poor people, in particular
women, that developed 12 micro-loan local institutions in the poorest regions of Argentina and
financed more than 3,600 micro-enterprises that constitute a source of income for 12,100 people
living in vulnerable situations.
Keith Leonard, Development Consultant, Auckland, New Zealand
I've been following this discussion with interest. I'm moved to reply based on the statement in Felicity's
contribution that says applying gender responsive budgeting ensures an efficient allocation of resources.
Before questioning this statement, let me say that I fully support the empowerment of women and the
addressing of gender inequities. The question is how best to achieve this? What policies and resource
allocation mechanisms are most economically efficient. I wonder if targeting women (in general) in
national budgets is sufficiently precise to be an economically efficient way of addressing the relative and
absolute deprivation of many women in the Pacific.
Would it not be more efficient (and more gender inclusive) to target specific areas of deprivation
irrespective of gender? In the province of Balochistan in Pakistan it may make sense (i.e. be economically
efficient) to target women as a group in basic education (for example) since only 15% (last time I saw
data) of females in this province are literate. However, is it economically efficient to target women in
education in the Pacific?
Let me just use one example of a policy applied in the Pacific that had fantastic gender outcomes without
discriminating on the basis of gender. At one point in this Pacific country, merit-based selection of senior
civil servants was introduced and processes put in place to ensure it happened. The result? Many more
women in senior positions in government.
I guess what I'm saying is that it may not always be efficient or effective to allocate resources or target
policies to broad segments of the population such as by gender or race. More precise targeting will be
more economically efficient.
Many thanks to all who contributed to this discussion!
If you have further information to share on this topic, please send it to Solution Exchange for the
Development Effectiveness Community in the Pacific at pse-dec@solutionexchange-un.net with the
subject heading “Re: [pse-dec] DISCUSSION: Improving Effectiveness of Gender Equality in Mainstream
Economic Policy and Dialogue. Additional Reply.”
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