In the World Bank, social assessments are one of the most important new operational tools to integrate social issues into lending operations. Social Development and Results on the Ground (WB, 1996) states that "gender is a major social factor in achieving growth and equity, therefore projects need to mainstream gender" and that "women’s participation in economic and social development is essential for promoting economic efficiency and for reducing poverty." Therefore, the integration of gender into social assessments is critically important. This note highlights best practice examples for mainstreaming, or integrating gender into social assessments and provides practical guidelines to identify critical entry points to achieve this.
Results of a recent review of a small sample of social assessments that represent different countries and sectors – undertaken as part of a study on mainstreaming gender and social development into World Bank work – showed that to date gender has not been systematically included in social assessments. In addition, the study highlights that the integration of gender into the design of a social assessment does not automatically result in a gendered output, while a lack of gender in the design does not necessarily preclude a gendered output.
Finally, the study showed that the integration of gender into a social assessment is primarily determined by the individual researcher who designs and implements the social assessment, and their awareness of gender issues. Some useful and easily achievable lessons and entry points for the mainstreaming of gender into social assessments have been identified by this review.
Box 1: Ways to integrate gender into commonly used social assessment tools
- Sample population for assessment must include both men and women.
- Use both men and women interviewers.
- When culturally appropriate, interview men and women separately, as men and women may not always speak freely in front of each other.
- Ensure interviews are undertaken taking account of men’s and women’s different work schedules. For example, do not schedule a village meeting at times that women are usually preparing meals.
- Ensure that data is gender-disaggregated during collection and analysis.
Box 1 provides very basic and practical recommendations for the integration of gender into some of the commonly used social assessment tools, including quantitative surveys, participant observation, focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews. The following more detailed guidelines will ensure that gender is successfully integrated into social assessments:
BUILD GENDER INTO THE DESIGN OF SOCIAL ASSESSMENT
Stakeholder analysis, household surveys, focus group discussions, and other methodologies are in principle gender-neutral and do not necessarily incorporate a gender analysis or bring out gender issues. Therefore gender and gender analysis need to be built in from the beginning of the project cycle.
The same recent review of social assessments from a gender perspective provides examples to illustrate these issues:
- The social assessments for the Baku Water Supply Rehabilitation project and the Kazakstan Water, Sanitation, and Health project were both gender neutral in terms of their methodology. However, in the case of the Baku gender issues were identified during the social assessment process, and women were identified as the main beneficiaries of the project. In contrast, whilst being a similar project in a similar socio-economic and cultural context, they were not in Kazakstan.
ENSURE GENDER INTO DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Experience from various studies shows that gender disaggregated information can easily be obtained by, for example, interviewing poor men and women separately. However, some social assessments that include gender in the design and gather gender-disaggregated information do not necessarily follow this through in the analysis. This may be due to a lack of adequate time, resources, and/or skills to analyze and present gender data. Therefore social assessments need to plan and budget for the integration of gender into the study design, the collection, and analysis of gender disaggregated information.
- In the Mexico Participatory Poverty Assessment, 50 percent of those interviewed about their perception of their role in the development process in Mexico were women and 50 percent were men. However, no gendered conclusions were drawn. The assessment included women’s and men’s views on separate, specific sectors and issues, but their views were not compared on the same issue. So while the information was available, it was not processed as a gender analysis.
Another best practice pointer that was identified during the review is that social assessments that include the evaluation of gender issues as one of the key objectives and integrate gender into the design of the social assessment are also the most successful in integrating gender into the data analysis. Furthermore, including a gender specialist in the social assessment team can facilitate this outcome.
- The strong analysis of gender issues in the social assessment for the Nicaragua Rural Municipalities Project points to the effectiveness of including the evaluation of gender issues as a key objective as well as having a gender specialist in the social assessment team.
INCUDING GENDER IMPROVES PROJECTS
As was stated above, gender is a major social factor. Failure to integrate gender can seriously impede the successful outcome of a project. Conversely, including gender from the beginning of the project cycle and into the social assessment can improve projects by identifying and addressing the roles and needs of its intended beneficiaries. Below are some examples of how successfully gendered social assessments helped to improve project design and outcomes.
- The gender analysis carried out during the initial stage of The India Cataract Blindness Control Project, revealed several logistical, financial, and socio-cultural factors that prevent individuals, particularly women, from seeking cataract surgery. Consequently, outreach activities focused primarily on women and isolated tribal populations, as those least likely to seek treatment.
- The objective of a recent social assessment in Nigeria was to examine institutions operating at various levels in society. The study included gender analysis, as well as analysis of other social variables such as ethnicity, age, and class. The information was used to develop priorities on the basis of gender.
- A social assessment for the urban transport project in Ashgabat, aimed to capture gender differences and found that urban public transport is particularly important for the poor and for women. As a result, improvements were introduced that directly served the needs and interests of low-income groups and women.
CONCLUSION
Social assessments are clearly an important and effective tool for incorporating gender concerns into World Bank operations. All social assessments can, at little extra cost, include gender issues in household surveys, focus group interviews, and other methods used. In some cases gender may not be an important consideration for a project, but this can only be established reliably after the completion of a social assessment that has successfully integrated gender.
The preceding information comes from Social Development Notes, July 1998, and was written by Caroline Moser, Annika Tornqvist, and Bernice van Bronkhorst. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTGENDER/0,,contentMDK:20260598~isCURL:Y~menuPK:489221~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:336868,00.html
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