Are the concerns of vulnerable and poor men sufficiently integrated into gender and development interventions? Have policymakers understood the consequences of economic and social change for poorly educated men and those on the fringes of household units headed by women? How can more men become collaborators, instead of obstructers, of the goals of gender equality?

A paper from Oxfam GB looks at the position of men in current Gender and Development (GAD) analysis. Findings from interviews with gender specialists in 30 major non-governmental, bilateral and multilateral development agencies assess the male-friendliness of gender-planning frameworks and what happens when men are excluded from GAD interventions. It looks at the extent to which gender training reflects the reconceptualisation of men inherent in the move from Women in Development (WID) to GAD. Rejecting sweeping generalisations about males, the paper argues for a more sophisticated understanding of how gender, race, and poverty interlink to disadvantage particular categories of men and women.

Where should agencies locate responsibility for gender? Is the goal of mainstreaming gender best served by maintaining GAD-specific machineries or do specialist units perpetuate the isolation of gender concerns from mainstream programming? The report cautions against following Oxfam’s example and abolishing specialist units until there is more convincing evidence for fundamental changes in gender attitudes.

Have things really changed? The World Bank, like many agencies formally committed to GAD, still slips into using the terms ‘gender’ and ‘women’ as if they are synonyms.

Patriarchal culture still rules. Clusters of men at the top of development agencies and southern governments create a formidable obstacle to GAD. Even in supposedly gender-aware agencies, complacent male staff perceive their organisation to be more gender-equal than their female counterparts do.

The report also draws attention to:

• Violence by men against men – often motivated by homophobia – is an enormous, albeit unquantified, problem across the globe.
• Male attitudes – even deeply held norms supportive of female genital mutilation and violence against wives – can be changed.
• Male backlash against the general tendency of donors to offer micro-credit only to women.

How can men be more involved in GAD? Can they be helped to go beyond verbal recognition of the issues involved in gender relations to the practical changes required to transform gender inequalities? The study urges agencies to:

• Fund workshops to bring men together to discuss gender-based inequality in relation to inequality based on race and ethnicity.
• Ensure that reproductive health interventions involve men and seek to raise the level of male concern for their partners’ health.
• Fund more research (qualitative as well as quantitative), grounded in local meanings and practices, to better understand contradictions between men’s actual lives and public stereotypes about men as fathers and husbands.
• Learn more about men’s role during a partner’s pregnancy and men’s presence and participation during childbirth.
• Recognise the importance of emotional support given children by fathers and engage in international advocacy to promote ideas and practices of responsible fatherhood.
• Introduce non-sexist, non-homophobic content into school curricula.

Source(s):
‘Mainstreaming men into gender and development: debates, reflections, and experiences’ by Sylvia Chant and Matthew Gutmann, Oxfam Working Papers, Oxfam GB, November 2000 Full document.

Funded by: World Bank, Nuffield Foundation, UK ESRC, Oxfam GB

id21 Research Highlight: 23 November 2001

Further Information:
Helen Bowers
Oxfam Publishing
274 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7DZ, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1865 311 311
Fax: +44 (0)1865 313 925
Contact the contributor: publish@oxfam.org.uk

Oxfam GB

Other related links:
'Do men matter? New horizons in gender and development' Insights #35

'A man amongst men: can male gender trainers tip the balance?'

'All together now ... Addressing men and masculinities in gender policy and planning'

Papers from the 'Men, Masculinities and Gender Relations in Development' Seminars

See the UNDP’s Men and Gender Equality site

'Masculinities and Gender Equality' from UNICEF

See UNICEF’s report ‘The Role of Men in the Lives of Children’