Women in Development-WID

Objective

• Despite the forward-looking gaze of the UN Commission, throughout the 1950s and 60s the prevailing view of women in development was summed up in what Moser2 describes as the welfare approach. Agencies treated women (as was largely the case in the developed world) as objects of reproductive potential, with motherhood and being wives as their assumed most important roles in the development process; since development entailed some notion of beneficial social change, this change equated for women with enhancing their health and abilities as wives and mothers. Mother and child health (MCH) schemes like the Mothers' Clubs proliferated, created in many developing countries with the assistance of aid agencies holding specific mandates for women and children, such as UNICEF. Similarly, large numbers of 'skills training' schemes concentrated (as some still do) on teaching women sewing and cooking, reinforcing a gendered division of labour within the household and society.
• Women in Development (WID) first came to prominence in the early 1970s as an approach to include women in development. Research and information collected throughout the UN Decade for Women (1975-85) highlighted the existing poverty and disadvantage of women and their invisibility in the development process. Different policy responses and interventions focused on women as a separate group resulting in women’s concerns being “added on” and peripheral to mainstream development efforts. This frequently resulted in adding components and actions targeted only to women rather than integrating them fully into the project activities. WID policies and interventions have, in the main, concentrated on women’s productive work. The failure to make an explicit link to women’s reproductive work has often added to women’s workload. Gradually, it was recognized that an approach that focused on women in isolation was inadequate and not sustainable because it did not take into account the overall project objectives or integrate women fully into their implementation. Moreover, it did not address or change unequal gender relations in various social and economic settings.

Criticism

• The validity of the basic assumptions of the WID approach have been criticized by some, while other consider that it does not go far enough. The latter group says it ignores the larger social processes that affect women's lives and their reproductive roles. The approach does not address the root causes of gender inequalities. The Gender and Development (GAD) approach in the 1980s attempted to redress the problem, using gender analysis to develop a broader view. The approach is more concerned with relationships, the way in which men and women participate in development processes, rather than strictly focusing on women's issues. In a 1988 paper Women in Development: Defining the Issues for the World Bank, Paul Collier argued that gender-neutral public policies may be inadequate, and gender-specific policies may be required to more effectively alleviate problems. In at least some countries, women have become increasingly involved in financial budgeting and management and since the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women there has been a surge in gender-responsive budgeting.