GENDER ACCOUNTABILITY
An annotated bibliography of literature and
websites
February 2011
Update February 2018
Bradshaw,
S.
Gender and Social Accountability Ensuring
women’s inclusion in citizen-led
accountability programming relating to extractive industries. Oxfam America, 2016.
This report seeks to identify
gender bias in programming aimed at contesting power in “accountability
politics.” That is, it focuses on citizen-led social accountability efforts
that largely operate outside formal electoral politics. The study consists of
reviewing the literature and taking stock of existing Oxfam and international
nongovernmental organization (INGO) gendered social accountability and active
citizenship initiatives. It aims to generate a set of recommendations by which
Oxfam can ensure that its programming around citizen-led accountability,
related to its work on extractive industries, is gender sensitive.
Goetz,
A.; Jenkins, R.
Accountability to
women in development spending. Experiments in service-delivery audits at the
local level.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.196.7264&rep=rep1&type=pdf
What matters to consumers of
public services is local-level accountability. Local monitoring and auditing is
the only way to ensure commitments on paper at the local and national level -
particularly in areas of concern to women - are translated into practice.
Local-level analysis and activity make it easier to identify the impact of
spending patterns, to understand the use of resources at local government
level, and to pick up on corruption and mis-spending
of funds. This paper shows how groups in
Murthy,
R.K.
Accountability to citizens on gender and health. Chennai, 2007.
http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/accountability_to_citizens_wgkn_2007.pdf
Background paper prepared for
the Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network of the WHO Commission on Social
Determinants of Health. This paper reviews the practice of accountability to
citizens on gender and health, draws out lessons, assesses gaps, and recommends
strategies. Through a review of literature, the paper examines who within the
health sector is held accountable, to whom (amongst citizens), with regard to
what, and how accountability is operationalised.
United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM)
Progress of the world's women 2008/2009. Who answers to women? gender and
accountability. Unifem, 2008.
UNIFEM's biennial
flagship report argues that realising women's rights and achieving the
Millennium Development Goals depends on strengthening accountability for
commitments to women and gender equality. Progress 2008/2009 demonstrates that
for women's rights to translate into substantive improvements in their lives,
and for gender equality to be realised in practice, women must be able to fully
participate in public decision-making at all levels and hold those responsible
to account when their rights are infringed or their needs ignored.
Published at the
half-way point to the 2015 deadline for achieving the MDGs, the report presents
the case that women's empowerment and gender equality are drivers for reducing
poverty, building food security, reducing maternal mortality, safeguarding the environment,
and enhancing the effectiveness of aid.
United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) /
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
A user’s guide to measuring gender-sensitive
basic service delivery. UNDP / UNIFEM, 2009.
This guide is intended to
contribute to the development and more effective use of gender-sensitive
indicators so that services are delivered more efficiently and effectively to
women. It should be seen as a generic and basic tool to map and analyse
governance of basic service delivery from a gender perspective. It includes
indicators and measurement tools developed by multilateral and bilateral
agencies as well as by national counterparts. The guide also presents examples
of newly developed and innovative measurement initiatives in women's access to
public services.
Fick, Glenda
Gender checklist for free and
fair elections.
Checklist for free and
fair elections for the State and authorities responsible for managing an
election. Checklist for ensuring gender equality in free and fair elections:
political rights, registration of voters, the right to vote, the right to stand
for public office, voter education, the right to express political opinions,
access to information, the right to campaign, secrecy of the ballot, and review
of electoral procedures or decisions.
Ndulo, Muna
Constitutional provisions and enhancing participation of women in
elections. UN-OSAGI,
2004.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/meetings/2004/EGMelectoral/EP2-Ndulo.PDF
The Office of the
Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI),
organized an Expert Group Meeting on "Enhancing women’s participation in
electoral processes in post-conflict countries", in
This paper discusses
the participation of women in post conflict societies from a perspective of the
legislative measures that can be taken to enhance the participation of women.
It also considers non legislative measures such as the role of the media. The
paper first provides a background on constitutional provisions relevant to
elections, next examines the participation of women in elections and the
problems they face in their efforts to participate in elections. It then
considers legislative approches that have been taken
in several countries to increase women participation. It ends with a conclusion
that focuses on the chances of achieving the objective of improving women
participation in elections.
Woroniuk, B.; Schalkwijk,
J.
Electoral support and equality
between women and men.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/6/2/29592332.pdf
Tipsheet.
Bell, Emma
Gender and governance.
A bibliography.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/bb11.pdf
Section one of the bibliography lists general texts on the State and
good governance. This is followed by references for donor policy documents. The
rest of the bibliography is organised to reflect the central tenets of good
governance: effective public management; government accountability; and rights,
policy and the rule of law. Owing to a paucity of materials, a fourth aspect of
good governance, transparency through freedom of information, free media and
association, is covered in other sections and does not feature separately.
Bell, Emma
National machineries for women in development. Experiences, lessons and
strategies for institutionalising gender in development policy and planning.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re36c.pdf
What are national governments doing to promote the status of women?
Governments have created women’s committees, divisions, and bureaux, but have
these had any impact? This report reviews the experience of these so-called
“national women’s machineries” (NWM), drawing on cases from developing
countries. The mandates, status and effectiveness of NWMs have been constrained
by lack of commitment and funding from governments. In order to be more effective,
NWMs must restructure themselves so that women’s concerns are fully
mainstreamed into the strategies and activities of both governments and NGOs.
Equal Opportunities Commission (
Mainstreaming gender equality in local government. A framework. 1997.
http://www.arcidonna.it/mainstreaming/genderequality.htm
This document provides a framework
and synthesis of a research report entitled Mainstreaming gender equality in
local government. It involved case study research in a number of local
authorities in
International
Worldwide Declaration
on Women in Local Government.
http://www.sh.se/p3/ext/res.nsf/vRes/samtidshistoriska_institutet_guide_en_pdf/$File/Guide_EN.pdf P. 71.
On
Also available
in French (Union Internationale des
Villes et Pouvoirs Locaux).
Jaeckel, Monika
Advancing governance through peer learning and networking. Lessons
learned from grassroots women.
Grassroots women's groups deal with everyday survival
issues and the social cohesion of their families and communities. In doing so,
they develop the most ingenious solutions to issues like drinking water and
sanitation, environmental sustainability, housing, health, responsiveness to
natural as well as man made disasters and the eradication of poverty. They hold
a valuable knowledge base of first hand knowledge of what works and what does
not work on the ground.
In order to learn from this rich reservoir of
expertise and to increase the influence of grassroots women's perspectives on
public policy, the Huairou Commission with the
Support of the LIFE launched the "Our Best Practices Campaign for Local
Governance".
Mukhopadhyay, Maitrayee;
Meer, Shamim
Creating voice and carving space. Redefining governance from a gender
perspective.
https://www.kit.nl/gender/wp-content/uploads/publications/646_2111.bw.CreatingVoice.pdf
The book focuses on
sixteen organisation's initiatives across eight countries in Africa and
Chapters are devoted
to a variety of topics, including:
§ creating voice and
carving space
§ women's political
representation
§ increasing
responsiveness and accountability of governance institutions
§ citizenship
Each chapter also
includes a variety of case studies.
Pedwell, C.
Just politics. Women transforming
political spaces. OneWorld Action, 2008.
http://oneworldaction.org.uk/JustPolitics.pdf
In November 2007, OneWorld Action brought together 40 women and men from
north and south for a unique dialogue – Just Politics: Women transforming
political spaces. This report summarises the week’s events which explored what
difference women in power can make, and how women’s involvement in politics canbe supported and strengthened.
The report focuses
on two main themes:
1. Ways to increase
women’s political participation
2. Strategies for
transforming political spaces.
Much emphasis is
placed on accountability.
An overview
Bridge
Bridge Citizenship cutting edge pack.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/bridge-publications/cutting-edge-packs/gender-and-citizenship
How are citizenship
rights and responsibilities being extended and transformed by struggles for
gender equality? How can women and others marginalised by gender participate in
and influence the decisions that affect their lives? This pack is a concise,
practical resource for policy-makers, practitioners and activists. It
demonstrates how gendered understandings of citizenship rights can help
development actors promote the participation of all women and men in shaping
their societies and communities.
The pack is made up of:
§ Overview report – by Shamim Meer with Charlie Sever. External
adviser Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay
§ Supporting resources
collection – summaries of key
texts, case studies, tools, guidelines and key organisations
§ Gender and Development
In Brief bulletin. Also in French
The pack also is available in Spanish.
United Nations - Division for the Advancement of Women
(DAW)
Women, nationality and citizenship. New York: UNDAW, 2003.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/jun03e.pdf
This report outlines provisions in international
instruments and human rights treaties which address discriminatory nationality
laws and provides examples of where such instruments have been used. In many states, a wife's nationality is dependent on that
of her husband, which can leave women vulnerable in cross-national marriages.
Women can also be vulnerable in cases where they retain their own nationality
and move to another country, rendering them unable to access citizen rights in
the new environment. Women are often not allowed to pass nationality on to
their children which has significant implications for custody and security of
children. Recommendations focus on how actions at the international and
national levels can work with international instruments and amend national
laws. They also include gender training for the judiciary and immigration officers
and removing the barriers to dual nationality. Recommendations for NGOs include
initiating test-cases, disseminating national and international case law and
the production of 'shadow' reports to the Committee that oversees the
enforcement of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW).
Also available in French: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/jun03f.pdf
and Spanish: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/jun03s.pdf
An overview
Bridge
Cutting edge pack on gender and budgets.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk//bridge/reports_gend_CEP.html#Budgets
This pack provides
a concise & practical resource, which shows how budgets can be used as a
tool to further gender equality.
The pack contains:
§ Overview report - by
Helena Hofbauer Balmori (
§ Collection of supporting resources -
summaries of key texts, case studies and tools, and key organisations
§ Gender and Development
In Brief bulletin Also in French
The pack also is available in Spanish.
Budlender, D., Elson, D., Hewitt, G. and Mukhopadhyay, T.
Gender budgets make cents. Understanding gender responsive budgets.
This publication aims to inspire government officials, policy-makers,
donor agencies, and civil society groups to engage in gender-responsive budget
initiatives by demonstrating both equity and efficiency gains.
Inter-Parliamentary
Parliament,
the budget and gender. IPU,
2004.
http://www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/budget_en.pdf
This handbook, jointly produced
with the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank Institute and the
United Nations Fund for Women, was inspired by a series of regional and
national seminars on Parliament and the Budgetary Process, Including from a
Gender Perspective. Intended as a reference tool, this handbook sets out
practical examples of parliament's active engagement in the budgetary process.
It seeks to advance parliament's own institutional capacity to make a positive
impact on the budget, and to equip parliament, its members and parliamentary
staff with the necessary tools to examine the budget from a gender perspective.
The Handbook will also serve as a follow-up guide for participants of past and
future seminars on the role of parliaments in the budgetary process.
Oxfam
Gender-responsive budgeting in education.
Gender-responsive budgeting
(GRB) is an attempt to ensure that gender-related issues are considered and
addressed in all government policies. This paper uses the GRB approach to
explain how governments and donors can promote gender equality in education
through their financing decisions.
Website
with a lot of publications:
https://www.internationalbudget.org