Gender Equality Results in ADB Projects. Juliet Hunt
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Long-Term Strategic Framework of the Asian Development Bank 2008–2020. This is the second round of RGAs carried out by ADB. The first series was undertaken in 2004 and 2005. It reviewed 12 loans in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Findings for Viet Nam
Positive Gender Equality Results Were Achieved
Each of the projects achieved positive results for women and girls and addressed some of the key gender disparities identified in ADB’s Viet Nam Country Gender Assessment. In CRUEIP, women’s participation in project activities was very high with all the targets for women’s participation in training, committees, and management positions exceeded. This led to a range of practical benefits including improved living and environmental conditions due to small infrastructure activities managed by the Viet Nam Women’s Union (VWU) and changed attitudes and behavior on waste disposal and sanitation practices. Training increased the skills, confidence, and status of women. CRUEIP also achieved some important strategic and institutional results such as the strengthened capacity of the VWU to manage and monitor civil works activities and an increase in women’s participation in community decision making. Another strategic change is that more men participate in community sanitation activities.
The HICH project achieved several important practical benefits. New and upgraded medical facilities and equipment (including obstetric and pediatric wards and ultrasound machines) strengthened the capacity of health services to respond to women’s needs. These improvements in health services, the construction of kitchen facilities and separate toilets for women, and the provision of food and travel allowances, led to increased use of health services by women—particularly for antenatal checks. Women’s participation in training was very high and priority was given to women from ethnic minority groups. Due to the training, female health staff have better skills and qualifications and staff at all levels have a better understanding of women’s health needs. An important strategic change was a reduction in the burden of care on women when looking after hospitalized family members, due to the provision of food and travel allowances.
USEDP also achieved some important practical benefits. There was a 7% increase in girls’ enrollments in secondary schools in disadvantaged provinces targeted for school improvements (such as the construction or upgrading of school classrooms and boarding facilities). Better quality school facilities and equipment substantially improved the learning environment for both boys and girls. Almost twice as many women participated in training activities, with 33,762 female teachers and 17,382 male teachers trained. The project also trained curriculum and textbook writers to review and revise the curriculum in a gender-sensitive manner. Boys and girls had equal access to vocational and career guidance.
Gender Equality Results and Quality Gender Action Plans Contributed to Overall Development Outcomes and Effectiveness
GAP implementation and the achievement of gender equality results directly contributed to the achievement of overall loan objectives in each project. In CRUEIP, GAP implementation also increased the effectiveness of the project and is likely to increase returns on the loan investment and the sustainability of outcomes in the long term. In those provinces where the GAP was well implemented, overall project progress was much better, because GAP software activities enhanced community ownership of sanitation investments, contributed to changed attitudes and behavior on waste disposal, increased understanding of the links between environmental and household sanitation and good health, and facilitated community inputs into large sanitation infrastructure works. Some communities voluntarily increased their contributions to infrastructure construction to enhance its sustainability. Provincial project management units and the people’s committees valued and supported the work of the VWU and the GAP implementation, because they could see how it contributed to the overall effectiveness of the project, and because it helped them achieve the sanitation standards required for city status.
The HICH project’s gender and ethnic minorities action plan (GEMAP) directly contributed to the overall project objective of improved health status of the poor by addressing a range of constraints on ethnic minority women accessing health services; by targeting information, education, and communication materials to women; and by improving the capacity of health care providers to respond to women’s and children’s needs. It also helped to implement government policy in relation to better access to services for women and ethnic minorities.
USEDP aimed to improve access, quality, and equity in upper secondary education. USEDP targeted a key barrier to girls’ access to education—the physical proximity to school and the availability of boarding rooms. This resulted in increased girls’ enrollments in the most disadvantaged provinces.
The Quality of Gender Action Plans and Their Implementation Varied
All three projects had a GAP or GEMAP1 that was included in the loan covenants, but the quality, implementation, and monitoring of the plans varied. CRUEIP and the HICH project both had a GAP that was based on comprehensive and explicit gender analysis and both had GAP targets and strategies for every project component. USEDP’s GEMAP also covered every project component; however, the gender analysis underlying the GAP was not explicit in the project design and many of the GAP elements were broad statements of intent rather than specific strategies or targets. In all three projects, the GAPs provided an initial roadmap for implementers and some key features of the GAPs were integrated into the project designs and overall approach to implementation.
CRUEIP and the HICH project invested in participatory approaches to develop and update their GAP with key stakeholders early during project implementation. As a result, GAP strategies and targets were relevant, implementable, and achievable. Most project team members were aware of and took ownership of the GAP, and they understood the rationale for focusing on women’s needs and ensuring their participation. USEDP’s GEMAP was also updated early in project implementation, but the process was not participatory. As a result, few project implementers were aware of the GEMAP or its key elements, and there appeared to be little understanding of the need to systematically consider gender issues during implementation or monitoring. While the revised GEMAP included some important strategies, it was difficult to link many elements with either the original design GEMAP or with the project components, and overall it was a poor communication tool.
In CRUEIP and the HICH project, the GAPs were well implemented and monitored, although this was only the case for CRUEIP in some provinces. CRUEIP and the HICH project had project gender advisers to assist with implementation. In both cases, these advisers built ownership and capacity for implementation, and monitored the achievement of targets and GAP implementation. While some GEMAP elements for USEDP were implemented, particularly those that were integrated into the overall project design, others were not. USEDP only had a gender adviser to assist at the commencement of the project. This was a missed opportunity to build the gender capacity of the executing agency and project implementers.
Quality Gender Action Plans Produced Comprehensive Gender Equality Results
The first rapid gender assessment demonstrated that GAPs are effective tools for ensuring that both women and men participate in and benefit from loan projects, because GAPs promote a systematic and integrated approach to addressing gender issues in project design and implementation. The RGA in Viet Nam confirms this finding, with the GAPs from all three projects directly contributing to the achievement of gender equality results.
With its GAP and targets for women’s participation, CRUEIP ensured that women were able to participate in project activities and increase their skills. Furthermore the gender analysis conducted during project preparation shaped the design of the whole project and not just the GAP elements. Because of its high-quality GAP, its long-term project gender adviser, and ownership of the GAP by the provincial project management units, CRUEIP achieved comprehensive results, including a range of practical benefits and some strategic and institutional changes by enhancing women’s role in decision making.
The HICH project had a high-quality GEMAP and achieved important practical results by increasing women’s access to health services. It also achieved strategic results by