Three UN Agencies Join Efforts to Tackle Gender Inequality in Local Development
Gender Equitable Local Development seeks to improve women's access to basic services
The Gender Equitable Local Development Programme will build the capacity of local governments to mainstream gender perspectives into development planning and budgeting processes, while expanding the participation of women and community organizations into those processes. In Niger, above, a woman sits in with local authorities while important decisions are being made as to what types of infrastructure to spend their limited resources on. Photo by Adam Rogers / UNCDF
NEW YORK - 25 September 2007: As part of the worldwide effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals, there is increasing emphasis on the need for local government reforms to be associated with improving service delivery through local governments. What is often left out of the dialogue, however, is a major cross-cutting concern that merits more attention: the gender dimension of local development and in particular women's effective participation in local government, to help meet their specific needs and address gender inequalities.
To address this gender gap, three United Nations organizations -- the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) -- have launched a joint programme to ensure gender equitable local development and improved access to resources and services for women. The Gender Equitable Local Development (GELD) programme is being piloted in five African Least Developed Countries and will concentrate on gender responsive planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
UNCDF Deputy Executive Secretary Henriette Keijzers said the primary emphasis will be on building the capacity of local governments to mainstream gender perspectives into the planning, implementation and monitoring of local development plans, while facilitating the broad-based participation of women and community organizations in those processes. "In many countries the United Nations has been at the forefront in promoting gender responsive budgeting and the building of local government capacities for service delivery," she said. "Now we want to combine these different strengths into one joint initiative."
Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM's Executive Director a.i., added: "This programme hopes to ensure that women's interests are fully addressed in local level plans, budgets and decision-making processes. Gender budgeting experiences around the world provide useful lessons and tools that can be upscaled through this programme."
The GELD programme will construct a model that establishes linkages between planning intentions and policy outcomes in relation to achieving gender equality through equitable interventions. Its total programme budget is US$ 6,155,000. To date, commitments to the project include $350,000 from UNCDF; UNIFEM and UNDP. The three organizations are currently engaged in efforts to close the funding gap. Ten bilateral donors attended the launch of the programme and some have already expressed interest in joining the initiative.
