Gender Equality Results in ADB Projects. Juliet Hunt
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Nepal, and Pakistan.
Findings for Indonesia
Positive Gender Equality Results Were Achieved
Each of the projects achieved positive results for women and girls and each contributed to broader gender equality objectives for Indonesia. In the CERD project, women had good access to training and microfinance resources due to implementation of the project GAP. This led to many practical benefits, including increased income, increased capacity to meet urgent needs for family medical treatment and school fees, and increased skills in community planning and financial management. Both women and men benefited from improved small-scale village infrastructure. The CERD project also contributed to some strategic changes in gender relations. Women’s access to credit increased their entrepreneurial activities, physical mobility, and exposure to people outside their communities. More women were involved in community decision making through their management of community-based savings and loan organizations (CBSLOs).
The DBEP also achieved some important practical benefits. A range of special measures were provided to support poor and disadvantaged children in remaining at school. These measures included scholarships, supplementary feeding, assistance with transport to school, and outreach to marginalized children. Girls and boys received equal access to these benefits, which led to increased primary school enrollments and more girls and boys making the transition from primary to lower secondary schooling. Female teachers had access to professional development opportunities including subject-specific training. Upgraded school facilities, more textbooks, and improved teaching methods benefited both girls and boys. The provision of scholarships to girls helped some schools in East Lombok address the problem of early marriage. This was an important strategic change in gender relations due to the DBEP’s investment in postprimary education for girls.
The SCBD project contributed to institutional changes through the incorporation of district GAPs into the capacity building action plans (CBAPs) developed by regional governments through the project. Districts that complied more fully with SCBD GAP requirements achieved important changes in institutional structures and legal frameworks. These changes included the establishment of women’s empowerment offices and increases in local budgets to support women’s empowerment. These results have the potential to deliver practical benefits in the long term if district GAPs are used to enhance gender sensitivity in the delivery of public services and poverty reduction activities . Few other gender equality results were demonstrated from the SCBD project due to delays in implementation and the nature of the project design, which focuses on building the capacity of regional governments.
Gender Equality Results Contributed to Overall Development Outcomes and Effectiveness
In both the CERD project and the DBEP, there was clear evidence that gender equality results contributed directly to achieving the projects’ overall development outcomes and effectiveness. In the SCBD project’s case, there was the potential to do so, but it was too early in project implementation to demonstrate these impacts.
For the CERD project, effective implementation of the GAP resulted in high levels of participation by women in CBSLOs, and this directly contributed to the CERD project’s overall goal of increasing the incomes of the rural poor. Women who had previously earned little or nothing made up 65% of credit recipients. For many, this was the first time they had ever saved money and been able to access credit. Their income contributed to increased household income and reduced the number of households living below the poverty line. The CERD project’s promotion of women’s participation in training and community-based planning resulted in increased confidence and skills that also contributed directly to the project’s community empowerment objective.
The DBEP’s special measures to keep poor children in school directly contributed to increased enrollments and transition from primary to lower secondary education for girls and boys.
The Quality and Implementation of Gender Action Plans and Gender Provisions Varied
Gender considerations were well integrated into the project designs for the CERD and SCBD projects. Both had GAPs that were included in the loan covenants. The CERD project’s GAP included targets or strategies for the participation of women in all project components. Gender-related targets for the CERD project were included in the project design and monitoring framework (DMF) and responsibility for integrating gender equality into the project was included in the terms of reference (TOR) for several project staff.
The GAP elements were implemented and most of the targets for women’s participation were achieved. A part-time project gender adviser helped to develop ownership of the GAP among government staff and nongovernment organization (NGO) facilitators and build capacity to implement it in the districts. Sex-disaggregated data for most activities were collected and included in project reporting. However, there were no baseline data for comparison and there was no monitoring or reporting on overall GAP implementation.
The SCBD project’s GAP required district GAPs to be developed and included in regional government CBAPs. A part-time gender adviser was recruited to assist with this process. Although there were no specific targets for women’s participation in CBAP development or project training, or other gender-sensitive indicators, the loan covenant and DMF included gender-related outcomes for merit-based appointments, promotions, and training opportunities. These elements of the SCBD GAP had not been implemented due to a focus on integrating district GAPs into CBAPs, lack of attention to monitoring and evaluation, and considerable delays in project implementation.
A GAP was not included in the report and recommendation of the President (RRP) for the DBEP. However, the project design included some gender targets, which were also included in the loan covenants, but not in the DMF. While the targets were a good design feature, specific strategies to implement them were not developed. There was no provision for a project gender adviser to assist with implementation, or to build the capacity of the implementing team or their understanding of why the gender provisions were important. Consequently, while some of the targets were implemented and contributed directly to the practical benefits achieved, project implementers were unaware of other gender provisions in the project design. Despite inclusion in the loan covenant, sex-disaggregated data were not collected on some key targets, so it was not possible to verify results in these areas.
Gender Action Plans and Gender Provisions Produced Gender Equality Results
RGA-I demonstrated that GAPs are effective tools for ensuring that both women and men participate in and benefit from loan projects because they promote a systematic and integrated approach to addressing gender issues in project design and implementation. RGA-II in Indonesia confirms this finding.
The CERD project’s GAP ensured that women were able to participate in all project activities and hence realize benefits in an equitable manner. Because of the project GAP, the CERD achieved comprehensive gender equality results including many practical benefits for women, some strategic changes in gender relations, and some institutional changes.
The DBEP’s gender targets also contributed to the achievement of important practical benefits for women and girls. However, because some gender provisions were not implemented, opportunities to enhance practical benefits and achieve more strategic gender equality results were missed.
The SCBD project has not yet achieved many gender equality results. However, with more sustained attention to overall GAP implementation, the project has the potential to increase the number of women in regional government decision making and to achieve practical benefits for women in the longer term by improving the delivery of public services and promoting a gender-responsive approach to poverty reduction and economic development programs.
Factors that helped to achieve gender equality results in Indonesia included the following:
| (i) | Comprehensive gender analysis during project preparation. Loan designs for the CERD and SCBD projects included assessments of key gender issues. This helped to shape the project designs. In the CERD project this resulted in GAP strategies or targets for each component that ensured that women participated |