NGOs Need to Apply the ‘Gender Lens’ to Their Work

By adopting a Gender Lens, NGOs can begin to transition from taking a Women in Development approach – which focuses purely on working with women – to one that is more oriented around Gender and Development

By Pearl Tiwari

Whilst a vast amount of work is being done in India by NGOs to empower women and provide access to a range of resources and opportunities to uplift them, the time has come for NGOs to view their work through a ‘Gender Lens’ – going one step further in tackling the gender inequity that is so fiercely, holding India back. This article will view gender only from the women and men perspective.

Sadly, we live in a world where both men and women have conditioned beliefs about the roles different genders are supposed to play in families, communities and society.  Yes, both men and women have been socially conditioned – by mainstream media, by cultural practices, by family systems – to believe certain roles are meant for certain genders. These beliefs are deeply entrenched in a country like India.

Just as we rely on a pair of glasses to help us see more clearly, there is a need for NGOs to put on a pair of glasses loaded with ‘Gender Lenses’ to review the activities in which they are undertaking, the way in which they are communicating and the outcomes they are expecting in their work.

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In doing so, NGOs can start to see where their work falls on the ‘gender spectrum’, and put in place initiatives to move things from being ‘gender unequal or gender blind’ to being ‘gender responsive or gender transformative.’

It is important for this lens to not only be applied by NGO management, but for field workers and beneficiaries to also begin to recognise the pre-conditioned views they have around gender.  

In Chandrapur, Maharashtra, a group of cotton farmers and NGO field workers were introduced to the gender lens and spectrum to assess where things sat in relation to their work around growing Better Cotton.  One field worker jumped up with a bold realisation – “I now realise our paintings and communications are gender blind – whenever we put up wall paintings in villages, we always paint a man!”  Very gender blind, when, according to the International Trade Centre, women cotton farmers account for 70% of the labour in sowing and 90% of the labour in cotton picking in India. Given the criticality of the production-related tasks that women perform, women farmers directly impact the quantity and quality of cotton produced – and should therefore be represented in wall paintings. 

So what questions can NGOs begin to ask themselves, by applying the Gender Lens to their work? According to ‘Smartygrants’ you can begin with:

• Do programs encourage active participation, leadership and non-traditional roles for women and girls?
• Do you provide the support structures (e.g., childcare, transport, domestic violence screening, counselling) required by women and girls to participate successfully within specific programs? 
• Do you support and prepare women and girls to maximise their current social and economic wellbeing? 
• Do you encourage women and girls to participate by providing support and feedback, and seeking outcomes that are meaningful to women and girls?
• Do you use language in promotions, advertisements and other material, that will encourage (not discourage) women and girls to participate?
• Do you time activities to ensure that all genders are able to participate? 
• Do you hold activities in locations that are accessible to people of all genders? Are they safe, appealing and welcoming to people of all genders? 
• Do you provide a setting and environment in which all genders feel comfortable voicing their opinions?
• Do you identify any other possible barriers to participation by women or girls? Are there any barriers to men, boys or people with non-binary gender identities participating? How can they be minimised or eliminated?
• Do you perceive women and girls as active partners in desired change, rather than mere beneficiaries?

By adopting a Gender Lens, NGOs can begin to transition from taking a Women in Development approach – which focuses purely on working with women – to one that is more oriented around Gender and Development – focusing more on the way in which gender is perceived, and the roles/responsibilities that are assigned, by everyone in a community.  Men. Women. And transgender.  

With so much work being done to engage women, and ensure their participation, much progress has been made!  It is now time for NGOs to progress to the next level. Of course in a vast and diverse country like India, there is no ‘cookie-cutter’ approach – every village, district and state has their own nuances and complexities when it comes to gender.  

We must therefore be patient, and take small steps in this direction – confronting the root causes of gender inequality, rather than merely trying to enable women within the existing, gender imbalanced system.

(Authored by Pearl Tiwari, Director and CEO, Ambuja Cement Foundation)