Evaluation of existing programmes and identification of new avenues for the enhancement of the role of women in development in Eastern and Southern Africa

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Multinational Programming and Operational Centre

(ECA/MULPOC) for Eastern and Southern African

States

Third Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee

of Experts (ICE) Gaborone, Botswana March, 1995

EVALUATION OF EXISTING PROGRAMMES AND IDENTIFICATION OF NEW AVENUES FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE ROLE OF

WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

1.0 INTRODUCTION

It is estimated that more than 70 per cent of the world's poor are women and extreme poverty is concentrated in Africa, south of the Sahara. And since Eastern and Southern Africa has a disproportionately large number of least developed countries (LDCs)

(twelve), we can safely deduce that the area is one of the worst affected by the crushing cycle of poverty affecting mainly women.

Furthermore, women in this subregion of wealth of minerals and wild life, control fewer resources, earn lower incomes and are often restricted to performing the role of a mother. In the wake of growing poverty and social dislocation women perform the additional role of holding families together. Women are discriminated against in employment education, provision of various social amenities and allocation of resources such as credits, land,

housing, etc.

The growing incidence of poverty among women, children and the elderly in the subregion is compounded by the rapid annual rate of population growth of about 3.2 per cent per annum compared to that of the rest of the developing countries which is estimated at 1.94 per cent. The plight of women particularly in Africa and the persistence of extreme poverty have been epitomized during the 1980s and 1990s following the oil crisis of the mid 1970s. The -recession that was sparked by the oil crisis of 1977 has continued unabated. The Abuja Declaration on Participatory Development: The .role, of Women in Africa in the 1990s- points out that the condition' of African women has worsened and the gains made in the early years of. independence in education, health employment and economics have been lost. The report points out that gross enrolment ratio at the

primary level fell from 80.9 per cent in 1980 to 70.6 in 1991. At secondary and tertiary level it fell from 41.2 to 38.3 per cent.

Urban unemployment increased from 7.7 percent in 1978 to 22.8 per cent in 1990 while female labour force also declined by nearly 2 per cent during the same period. This period was also characterized by drought and persistent food shortages resulting into malnutrition and increased infant mortality rates of 165 out

of 1000 live births.

Economic recession also coincided with a decline in the flow of foreign aid, increased debt burden, falling prices of commodities on the international market resulting in balance of payments difficulties. To redress the macro-economic imbalances governments were compelled to embark on reform programmes with the assistance of the International Monetary Fund and the World bank.

These programmes initiated in the 1980s were aimed at restoring the macro-economic balances and achieve economic and social transformations and thereby alleviate the growing poverty particularly among women. studies so far undertaken show that no structural transformations have been achieved. Instead the region continues to be characterized by economic.decline and persistent

poverty.

At independence, the "women in development" concept was relatively new and not operational. As a movement, it emerged in the early 1970s with the objective of highlighting the advancement of-women as one of the development objectives and priorities. The .first International Conference on Women was held-in 1975; which was also the International Women's Year. The women in development strategy focussed on the resource women represent for economic and

protagonists have pursued various approaches to operationalize the concept. Some of the approaches include the following:

achievement of equity of rights between men and women;

poverty alleviation among women;

more efficient investment among women;

mainstreaming women in all policies to ensure that all policies are gender sensitive;

social support towomen, such as child care facilities,

family planning; and

women's access to credits, seeds, extension services and other vital productive resources.

The setting up of a Centre at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa dealing with women affairs and training in the 1970s and subsequently the introduction in 1980 of a subregional programme dealing with women in development at the Lusaka-based MULPOC was in response to the growing aspirations of the women in development movement at the national, subregional and regional levels. Specifically the Lusaka-based MULPOC programme was aimed at. sensitizing governments, IGOs and NGOs arid coordinating the activities of women in development in Eastern and

southern Africa. J^When the programme which was funded by UNDP wound

up in 1987, the Lusaka MULPOC mandate was limited to monitoring the implementation of resolutions passed by the United Nations and

member States on women in development. The MULPOC was also mandated by its member States to disseminate all information on women issues for the benefit of its member States and IGOs.

The present report is a product of efforts by the Lusaka-based MULPOC to ^closely follow-upjprogress on mainstreaminqwomen in all policies, that is to say, ensuring that a_ll_Bolici_es, including sector focussed programmes and policies are aimed at influencing the functioning of the entire economy. The report is also a fulfillment of the mandate of the ECA Conference of Ministers' resolution of May 1993 which requested the Lusaka-based MULPOC to include women in development aspects in its work programme. The resolution was subsequently approved by the General Assembly.

Data for the compilation of this report was obtained from member States of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe through consultations with government officials and NGOs. Additional information was made available from official UN reports. The mission found out that although considerable data on women does exist in all countries, some of it has limitations. The mission's focus was therefore not just on data collection but to identify an analytical framework to permit rJ—assessment of qender^issues across countries; identify issues requiring interventions and make proposals regarding strategies and concrete measures designed to tackle problems for mainstreaming gender concerns .in critical areas of development. The report is thus -about women and development in the 1990s because /gender equality is .a "sine qua non" for economic efficiency, social justice and human rights .~\

,—i

The report itself is divided into ££ve~ parts namely, the introduction which provides an overview of the problem *6gender inequities. The second part sets out a conceptual and analytical framework about women and development. The third part is largely descriptive and indicates the various current policy issues being addressed by governments and women organizations in the member countries. The fourth part is concerned with proposals regarding future policy as well as measures and the framework for addressing women in development programmes. "Tl-w-j ^>

() ~*^ A '

2.0 CONCEPTIONAL CHANGES TO DEVELOPMENT

In recent years, conventional wisdora has been challenged on development theories and strategies that espouse and emphasize growth of national income through mere physical capital formation. There is a■growing school of thought which looks at economic development as a process of expanding the capabilities of- people, the ultimate objective being human development.

According to this school (Amartya Sen), development ought to be concerned with much more than expanding supplies of commodities.

Economic development should be concerned with the enhancement,6f.

capabilities so as to unblock creativity in human beings. This can be done through provision of education, health facilities, housing, nutritional needs, self-respect, popular participation, etc. This in turn results in&? economic growth:'

.. The.International Development Strategy for the Fourth United

Nations Development Decade (General Assembly resolution 45/199) and

Agenda 21 also emphasize a broader understanding of the development concept and the main elements to advance it. The international development strategy as adopted by the General Assembly in 1990 includes "gender equality both as a goal, and as a means to achieve fundamental development goals." One of the principal goals is "a

— ■—

is responsive to social needs, seeks a significant reduction in extreme poverty, promotes the development, and utilization of human resources" and skills and is environmentally sound and sustainable.

Furthermore the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 1/ defines human development as the process of enlarging people's choices - increasing their opportunities. The report states that development should be "woven around the people - both men and women equally, in the new policy approach the role of women in development becomes central to development.

While the United Nations strategy does not refute that economic growth is an essential ingredient in the development strategy, its strategy recognizes that economic growth by itself does not ensure that the benefits will be equitably distributed or that the physical environment will be protected and improved 2/.

1/ United Nations Human Development Report, 1992 p2.

2/ General Assembly resolution 45/199.. It is for this reason that poverty alleviation, human, resource development (including

women in developmentjand environment are given priority in the new

development strategy where policies and measures are needed.

It is important to mention from the outset that the gender dimension of development is not just a relationship of men and women in sexual terms. The concept refers to "socially constructed relationships between men and women that are linked to the state, the economy and to all macro and micro processes and institutions"

3/ Furthermore the gender dimension of development does not imply that development should target women only nor does it invite policy matters and institutions to be gender neutral in their actions.

The fundamental crux in gender equality lies in the way communities, are organized. Here the need for a radical reorientation of the social and economic set-ups is important.

While we recognize that gender relations shape women's access to resources and their work opportunities, we should also point out that there are difficulties encompassing the concept of gender.

Women are not a homogeneous group nor do they constitute a class.

Furthermore different countries and governments perceive gender relations differently due heterogeneity of ethnicities, culture, religion and political systems. The gender issue is therefore^

multifaceted and complex and requires an integrated approach.

3. CURRENT POLICIES ON WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SUBREGION

Since the mid 1970s and early 1980s governments of Eastern and Southern Africa have paid increasing attention to the women in development issues and have developed instruments such as programmes, ministries, national organizations, task forces on

women and development.

In Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

and Tanzania, either ministries, departments or units have been set up to deal with women and development. These institutions have been the focal points in coordinating issues of women in development at national level. They have been involved in campaigns of sensitization, mobilization, organization and coordination of women in development programmes at national,

subregional and regional levels. /

3-1 National. Level

A survey and inquiry of national programmes in the subregion

reveals that there is a commonality of problems affecting women in

development in their national contexts. However, the way

governments address these issues varies from government to government and this is contingent upon national priorities and a

host of other variables. Government policies have addressed

structural economic destorfions, revision of discriminatory' customary and modern laws, meeting of strategic and practical n<Lis

of women in various sectors including formal and informal rural and

urban sector, etc.

3-1-1 National. Machineries and Mechanising

The world Plan of Action adopted at the World Conference on Women held in Mexico in 1975 requested all governments to establish national machineries to accelerate the achievement of- equal

opportunities for women.

in Kenya as early as 1976 the Government established a Women's Bureau within the Ministry of Culture and Social Services with a view to coordinating women programmes 3/. Similarly at independence in 1980 the Government of Zimbabwe established the Ministry of Community and Cooperative Development and Women Affairs and m 1984 a National Training Centre for Rural Women was established primarily to meet the training needs of rural communities 4/. m Malawi the National Commission on Women in Development (NCWID) was established in 1984 and the restructuring of the Ministry of Community Services into the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and Community Services was accomplished in January 1992 to reflect government needs to address women in development concerns. Tanzania has also established a full Ministry of Women's Affairs and Social Development while in Botswana and Namibia departments within the. offices of the

President handle women in development issues.^ in Zambia the

National Commission for Development Planning under the Office of the President is responsible for women affairs.

2/ Ministry of Culture and Social Services: Government Achievements in the Development of Women (1963-1993), Republic of

Kenya, July 1993, p.2. - _

4/ National Training Centre for Rural Women Pamphlet Melfort

Zimbabwe, p.l.

In addition to the national machineries, many non-governmental

orgaizations j^NGCDs) exist to supplement government efforts. These

range from ^rasi-political, professional, religious, cooperatives

to grassroot associations. They deal with a variety of activities

racing from welfare and socio-cultural projects to legal and

training programmes.

3-1-2 Elimination of legal and attitudjnal forme; nf discrimination against women

It has been said that laws give effect to policy provided those laws are given effect. The constitutions of countries of the subregion guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms including the freedom from .^crimination on the basis of sex, among other

things. in his *»iard0to the National Communication Strategy in

support of the UN Convention on Elimination of All forms of

Discrimination Against Women," the President of Namibia H.E. Sam

Nujoma points out that: ./

"there is a need to bring in line with our constitution a number of legislative and administrative measures...inherited from the colonial era, which are still discriminating against women. I trust and believe that the implementation of this strategy will enhance the repealing of such laws from our statutes and provide a platform for change of traditional practices and

attitudes tnat downgrade women in this country" 5/- 5/ ..National Communication Strategy on" Elimination of All'"Forms of Discrimination against Women, Department of Women Affairs,

Windhoek, July, 1993.

I

Despite constitutional guarantees and the signing of conventions, discriminatory provisions are still prevalent in a number of countries. In the case of Lesotho, citizenship order No.

16 of 1971 provides that ^a person should become a citizen of Lesotho by birth and descent, \if at the time of birth that person's

father was a citizen of Lesotho^ The Order is therefore not, \p

gender-neutral as it discriminates against women. As a result of such discriminatory qualifications women are denied protection in several key areas of the law and practice that flow from those laws such as under customary law where the laws of inheritance

discriminate against women and in relation to property acquisition,

marriage and divorce.

For the majority of women, particularly in rural areas who are not emancipated their status is still that they have no legal capacity to enter into contracts unless assisted by husbands or

elders. This is demonstrated when a wom^Twants to have access to

credits or wants to acquire property 6/.

In 1990, the Government of Malawi ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women but a government policy report points out that "the vulnerability of Malawian women especially female household heads has been reinforced by limits imposed on their access to and control over land and other economic and productive resources" 7/.

6/ Promoting Gender Equality ^Employment in Lesotho: An Agenda for Action, ILO, January, 1994, p44.

7/ A Policy and Plan of Action for Women in Malawi op. cit. p.5.

Government policies in terms of changing the legal position of

women are not adequate. Far-reaching changes are required to nvr

eliminate discrimination and wanton violence against women and CfS bring about positive attitudes to promote gender equality.

3-1-3 Accessibility t.n productive resources and emplovrapnt

It has already been pointed out that lack of full

participation by women in the economies has contributed to the

current socio-economic malaise in the subregion. Governments have

not fully encouraged the formulation of policies and strategies for women in development in industries, agriculture, entrepreneurship and in the informal sector. Although within the framework of

poverty alleviation the governments of Namibia, Malawi and Zimbabwe

have formulated policies to generate income, these are not specific to women. There is need for comprehensive programmes designed to target rural women particularly income generation in agriculture, cottage and small-scale industries where women can reap benefits and achieve minimum economic potential to enable them effectivel

participate in development.

H°WeVer thQ mi0°i'n9/ "^i ■' LhatJ despite budgetary constraints virtually £ countries *ew*feB»*&^aining programmes

to promote diversification of women skills. In Malawi, the World ,

Bank-funded pilot project to promote women entrepreneurship *«e u

seen by the government as achieving the intended objectives

Effective 1994, the new government policy of Malawi also

deliberately targets and promotes girls education to vocational and professional training. However women's skills development and training in entrepreneurship^and management needs to be addressed

more aggresively if women ar^jattain positions of influence.

In response to training and to the new skills acquired by women, governments are increasingly giving access to SSU

employment^ However, structural adjustment programmes which require governments to trim their &l^r civil service is having an adverse effect on the employment of women in the formal sector Furthermore, liberalization and the increasing private sector imply that the employer is not necessarily bound by government policies that encourage the employment of women. In fact, often the private industry sector is biased against women_asshown on _thg_j;.ah1«.

below, such problems therefore push women from the formal to the"

informal sector. Unfortunately, the informal sector is underdeveloped and urgently requires support from governments and

tl^2,1W^C*frnUnity to enable it- play its role as employer of the

vastirural women.^ir

Page 14

Table I: Percentage of Females among Citizen Employees in Private

and Parastatal Sector: Botswana.

Agriculture (commercial) Education

Construction Manufacturing Mining —■

Source: Republic of Botswana:

Employment Survey 1986.

3.1.4 Policies Towards Servir

Percentage 14.7 54.5 4.0 27.6 5.8

Central Statistics Office,

P. 12.

Healthjnutrition and family planning are interlinked and have

a strong Searing on the economic and social development of a .-c°.untry- Yet Eastern and Southern Africa has the-"world's highest

v ... .fertility rates,.aft* the lowest 1 i f« pypppf,n^»(nf ^^o^i^^^s

..and the.highest infant mortality rate^ Furthermore, population

growth rates exceed economic growth rates. The population of the subregion is doubling every twenty years with no technological breakthroughs to reverse the trend. Maternal morbidity is widespread and the life time risk of maternal death for women in the subregion is one in 20 compared to one in 10,000 in developed

countries. "~~ " - . ~

There is need for governments to devise policies which will

ensure^women & have access to the services and resources needed

for a decent life. The mission found out that in most countries the majority of women have limited access to energy supplies, clean water, primary health care, child care, adequate nutrition,

adequate housing, sanitation, literacy training, etc.

3-1"5 Women in Decision Makinn in thp Subrernnn

It is often said that increased education and training is crucial for women's upward mobility and participation in decision making. This argument was advanced in all the countries visited where male literacy was higher than that of females. However according to ILO, in_^esotho^the literacy rate in 1986 was 54 n^

cen^^orj^en compared to 34_per cent for.men. At that time women

made up 59.1 per cent of the students in technical and vocational

schools, 75.9 per cent of students in the National Teacher Training

Colleg.es and exceeded the. number of male students at the National

University. It is pointed out that in Lesotho women outnumber men

in the civil service, among professionals, university lecturers

lawyers, workers in industries and constitute the majority of voters. Yet women are still treated as subservients in society.

They are conspicuously not prominent in policy making bodies and at decision making levels such as cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, members of parliament, judges or chief executives of

government and para-government bodies

Throughout the subregion, despite government pronouncements /' about uplifting women into the mainstream of decision-making, women /,

continue to be generally underrepresented in key areas of national T subregional and international decision-making. /

The 1985 Nairobi Forward-lookig Strategies for the advancement of women deal with three objectives: Equality, Development and Peace. The equality aspect concerns the participation of women in decision-making process and yet all evaluations point to- a very I K

disappointing performance.

3-1-6 International Perspgnf-i-u-o ^

The Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women continue to provide the long term basis for global action to achieve the objectives of equality of men and women by the year 2000 as defined in the strategies. The first review and appraisal of achievement of the objectives of the strategies undertaken in 1990 concluded that progress was slow. The Fourth World Conference on Women to be held, in Beijing in SepSsm^E 1995 will be the second "

review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-

looking strategies for the advancement of women.

In preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women:

Action for Equality, Development and Peace, regional preparatory activities are being conducted under the auspices of the regional commissions. In this respect the Fifth African Regional Conference on Women was held in Dakar, Senegal from 16-23 November 1994. The Conference which was preceded by other meetings organized by ECAs

African Centre for Women prepared an African Platform for Action.

The African Platform for Action encompasses African priorities and a framework for the design and formulation of appropriate

policies and programmes for women. The Africa Platform for Action is developed in consonance with the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies, the Abuja Declaration on Participatory Development:

The role of Women in Africa in the 1990s and the Kampala Action Plan 8/. Among the critical areas of concern for the Africa

region, the following nine areas are presented by the African

Platform as representing the concerns of Africa.

women, poverty, food security and economic empowerment;

women, education training, science and technology;

women's culture, the family and socialization;

women's health, family planning and population;

8/ Fifth African Regional Conference on Women: Vol 3, African

Platform for Action, ECA, African Centre for Women 16-23 November,

1994, Dakar, Senegal p.2.

women environment and natural resource management women in the peace process;

the political empowerment of women;

foF~A~cO."oTr women with special needs;

mainstreaming of gender-desegregated, data

Each of the above-named area analysed and agreed upon by /the

However in the subregion of Eastern^d" SoutherTTTfrica witiTits

unique characteristics, there is need to promote new avenues and

approaches to enhance gender equality and women and development.

4.0 ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT

It is recognized that progress to integrate women in the development process in Africa has been insufficient. We attribute the insufficient progress to the overall development strategies

pursued in many countries of the subregion which put emphasis on commodity - centred approaches. We therefore propose that during

the 1990s and bevond, development should without neglecting the

commodity-centre,{approach increasingly place emphasis on the human

resources capabilities. This approach puts the well-being of people

first and regard them simultaneously as both the means and the ends

of social and economic policy. The second approach proposed is the

one that deliberately accesses economic instruments to women to enable them to be effective agents of change. And third we propose that the bottom-up approach to women in development could accelerate the overall development process. Women should therefore participate in all aspects of development and be involved in decision making at all levels. Finally equitable income distribution is an important component of development involving

women.

4 --1- Human Resources Development AEEE

Few governments in Eastern and Southern Africa have ministries that deal with the overall human resources development strategy What are available are components of human resources such as education, social development or health. Human resources development in this context and for this purpose should be viewed from a gender perspective. Human resources should be seen as mobilizing the latent capabilities of people and recognizing their contribution in the development process. In this respect women in development issues should be integrated in the development plans as

well as in school cariculla^.

t

Since the majority of women live in rural areas, considerable

emphasis should be placed on local resource mobilization as a way

of allowing women to develop their capabilities. The approach

should give priority to the development of decentralized

administration to the local level. Improvements of human

capabilities reguires in particular that the capabilities of women be improved through deliberate programmes that reach women.

Programmes to target women should include education and training, health services, water supply and sanitation, food security and

nutrition policies.

The advantage of expenditure to improve human capabilities is that it has a potential to yield a return no less than the return from physical capital. This approach has been tested and proven successful in industrializing and developed countries.

4•2 Women's access to economic instruments

One of the moot stumbling obstacles to the integration of women in development and their effective participation in the development process is that they have extremely limited access to economic instruments which in turn can empower them. Formal financial institutions such as commercial banks and specialized and development financial institutions often cater for the needs of the higher echelons of the population.. Although women are better savers and have better records than men on defaults, they are mainly serviced by the informal sector such as relatives, friends or group-based financial money lenders. The new approach to women in development in terms of access to economic instruments should

focus on:

arrangements for provision of financial services and credits for rural women;

enhancing women's access to land and land titles by reforming the customary and modern land tenure laws in order to ensure equitable and efficient use of the

resource;

development of the informal sector where women are mostly

involved; and

development of cooperatives in the promotion of employment and income in the rural and informal sectors.

Although cooperatives are currently not popular, they have in the past contributed to the achievement of better economic, social and political conditions. An innovative approach to the enhancement of the role of women in development would be their involvement with cooperatives particularly in rural areas working in social areas particularly those of education, housing, health, social welfare^H^sSper and public transport. Cooperatives could thus generate employment for many rural women and bring in stable income. Furthermore informal type of cooperatives could improve the efficiency of agricultural production _and / contribute to community development as well as facilitate*cottage industries.

\

Cooperatives in rural and urban areas/could mitigate the V

negative employment and income impacts of structural adjustment measures through the mobilization of local financial resources.

For instance consumer cooperatives could help provide food and other staples at affordable prices. In rural areas farmers' cooperatives could fill in the gap created by reduced public expenditure. Governments' support to cooperative could directly affect the incomes of rural people in general and women in

particular.

4•3 Women in decision making and participation

Participation is essential and is an end in itself but participation has virtues which make it attractive to a process of human development. Once the majority of the population participates in local organizations and institutions, it is easier for them to identify their priorities. The people themselves could therefore identify the types of projects for their areas as

reflected by local needs.

The issue of women in decision making should be given priority by governments. Governments should devise measures to remedy low female representation in economic and other decision-making institutions. Female empowerment can only be achieved through effective participation in decision making. In fact it is proposed that one of the conditionalities for donor funding at the Paris Club could include efforts towards greater gender equality.

4-4 Income distribution in favour of women

In the past, in Eastern and Southern Africa, the major beneficiaries of human development programmes have been males, households in urban areas and people who are generally well to do.

Females and those living in rural areas and the poor have not had their fair share of the national cake. The need to redistribute income in favour of the poor in general and women in particular has become urgent because of the adverse impact of structural

adjustment programmes.

This can be done by^switching resources from expenditure on

urban hospitals to expeTidituTT" on rural primary health and

diverting resources meant for higher education such as

universities and colleges to primary and secondary education.

However, these measures could be counter productive if implemented

without caution and careful gnw-fc^g".^^ One other "

approach is to effectively ensure that the rich are appropriately taxed. Such revenue from businesses and land levies could benefit the lower income groups and assist in the redistribution of income

in favour of the poor and women particularly in the informal

sector. Finally, in order to promote diversification and backward and forward linkages incentives and subsidies are needed for the

rural women.

5.0 CONCLUSIONS

Gender inequality in the subregion is widespread and policies currently pursued by governments and other relevant institutions are not adequate to remedy the inequalities and imbalances. The issue is a complex one and bold interventions by. key players is necessary to bring about social change to achieve gender equality.

It is necessary for governments to pursue coherent policies and exchange experiences at subregional and regional levels so as to arrive at strategies targeted at different dimensions of the multifaceted gender problem.

Throughout this report we have emphasized that all aspects of the women in development -issue - poverty, food and nutrition, decision making or democracy, etc. are £&£. concerned with one of the most important productive factors of the economy, human

resources.

Since gender issues and concerns are so complex there is need for an integrated approach to ensure economic development transformation and sustainability. This requires radical reforms to remove impediments to gender equality. The strategy should involve both men and women and relevant institutions such as governments employers, trade unions non-governmental organizations and other local and grassroots organizations.

ECA/MULP0C/LUS/ICE/III/8

Page 25

The success of any comprehensive policy which addresses structural problems of people requires regular monitoring and evaluation. Naturally governments would be required to define targets and timetables which should be assessed periodically to

ensure that progress in gender equality is being attained