Gender issue in urban governance in Bangladesh

Introduction

The topic of governance is very broad and of great complexity. It is referred to as “study of good order and workable arrangement,” (Williamson, 2005). In the broadest sense, governance concerns performance of the government including public and private sectors, global and local arrangements, formal structures and informal norms and practices, spontaneous and intentional systems of control. In the simplest sense, governance means the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). In the empirical analysis of public policies, governance is considered to encompass all aspects of the exercise of authority in the management of the resource endowment of a state and the manner in which the power is exercised. The quality of governance is determined by the impact of this exercise of power on the quality of life enjoyed by the citizens. In Bangladesh among the citizens around 48.8% is female (BBS, 2006) and 10.4% households are female headed (BBS, Pocket Book 2006). That means half of the human resource is designated as female who has importance as consumer, labor, support for family member, work force and necessary part of society. So it important to study gender issue in urban governance.

Q. (a) Write down the gender issue considering the norms of urban good governance?

Ans:

The campaign for urban good governance is underpinned by seven interrelated norms. These are sustainability, decentralisation, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, civic engagement and citizenship, and security. Whilst each of these is applicable to both men and women, there are specific gender aspects that need to be highlighted. The norm is an analytical framework for viewing women’s greater inclusion in the decision-making. The gender issues considering the norms of urban good governance are discussing below:

• Sustainability

Women play a critical role in urban life, with extensive responsibilities for their families’ welfare. Sustainability is a cornerstone of future cities’ planning and management, have been identified as a pre-requisting for sustainability (UNCHS: 2000a). At times women’s livelihood strategies and efforts to provide their households with basic necessities bring them into conflict with local government. It is essential that urban poor women’s constraints are recognised and worked with, through supportive partnerships with local authorities.

• Decentralisation

Decentralisation presents the opportunity for greater involvement of women in planning and consultation processes, and also has the potential for a more gender conscious allocation of local resources. Local authorities are closest to their citizens and hence in the best position to involve women in the decision making process and in consultation (IULA, 1998; UNCHS, 2000c:19). The decentralisation of authority and resources is also an important means of improving stakeholder participation.

• Equity

Equity is the city implies representation as well as access to resources. Equity of access to decision – making and the basic necessities of urban life are basic to good urban governance. Yet there are countless ways in which income or social status affect people’s ability to participate in city life and access its resources. Even when resources are available, public expenditure may be under allocated in gender terms (UNIFEM,2000:12).

• Efficiency

The role women play in the urban economy is often not recognised because much of it takes place in the informal economy or hidden from view as home-working. Cities need to be efficient in terms of finances and administration. This means regulating and coordinating local authorities’ management, and targeting finances for effective performance. To ensure this happen, women and men have to be able to contribute optimally to their own survival and the economy.

• Transparency and accountability

A World Bank study demonstrates that the greater women’s rights and the more women participate in public life, the less public sector corruption there is (world bank, 2000B: 1). Women must be in a position to access, interpret and comment upon local government performance. Transparency and accountability depends upon city administrations and politics being open to public scrutiny.

• Civic engagement and citizenship

Government and international agencies alike have increasingly appreciated the importance of women’s grassroots organizations. The crucial role played by the women organised on the ground – in advocating for services and providing infrastructure and basic services themselves in the absence of provision from other sources – cannot be over-emphasised. It is the responsibility of local authorities to encourage the full engagement of women citizens.

• Security of individual and their environment

Insecure and even hostile urban environments can be perpetuated by local authorities’ inattention to planning for women’s security both domestically and in public places. Security of individuals and their environment is a matter of growing urgency as unsafe cities restrict access and mobility for their citizens, especially women.

Economy of any society can not be active properly in sense of its capacity with out integration of women in the economic activities because they are the half part of society. Women in Bangladesh urge the economic growth by their labour force. Now days they are specialized in some specific type of small and large industries such as garments, handicraft, plastic so on. In those specific setcor they are more favourable than men. In such a situation they need the equivalent access to service and facilities as for men.

Q. (b) What are the consideration/aspects to be addressed in formulating policy issues of gender in terms of what is the issue, what has so far been done, what needs to be done & what are the constraint faced?

Ans :

Urban governance is turn only be effective with the involvement of women alongside men. Women and men experience and use the urban environment in different ways and often have different priorities in terms of urban services and infrastructure. These differences can only properly be understood with reference to prevailing constructions of gender. For this reason that Habitat’s Women and Urban Governance Policy Paper concerns itself with the two key aspects: women’s increased role in local decision-making, and issues of concern to women in local governance.

At present, some activities engaged in by urban poor women may not only be ignored in urban decision-making but even proscribed by law and harassed by urban authorities. Greater involvement of women in urban governance will help ensure that woman’s interests and needs as citizens contributing to and using cities will feature better in urban policy and investments. Urban policy makers and planners, whether women or men, all need to be gender aware.

The important issues which are to be considered to address in formulating policy are given below:

1. Women's representation in local government

2. Recognition and support for urban poor women's activities

3. Participatory urban policy

4. Eliminating urban violence against women

5. Building capacity of women and CBOs

6. Building capacity of local governments

7. Gender budgeting

1. Women's representation in local government

What is the issue?

If the good urban governance campaign norms of equity and civic engagement are to be met, women's active participation in public institutions must be secured. Policies to facilitate the involvement of women in decision-making are needed, not only within public institutions, but also within civil society. Much of the current thinking on women in the decision-making process has been framed by international agreements such as CEDAW, the Beijing Platform For Action and the Habitat Agenda.

What has been done so far?

• International agreements, including CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA) (1995) speak specifically to the importance of creating a gender balance in decision-making. The PFA suggests governments set specific gender targets to achieve a gender balance in government and administrative positions (PFA 190(a)), and encourages governments to track the gender balance in decision-making processes in public and private sectors (PFA 190(e)).
• Item 9 of the Worldwide Declaration on Women in Local Government makes similar references.
• IULA is pursuing a strategy of increasing women's role in urban governance through its regional structure.
• UNCHS (Habitat) has pursued an increased role for women in urban governance. The outcomes include an association of women municipalists that has been formed in Latin America and a system of awards for municipalities on gender-sensitive urban planning and management.

What needs to be done?

• Strengthen associations of women leaders and representatives at global, regional, national and local levels.
• Develop mechanisms to facilitate the involvement of women in the local sphere, such as civic education programs, and family support.
• Support women's access to representation within municipalities by the implementation of quota systems.
• Promote the participation of women who are in a situation of social exclusion or marginalization.

What are the constraints?

Very little direct attention has been given to women at the local level and their involvement and contribution to decision-making at city level. Even when women do enter local government, there is evidence of poor retention rates and high turnover, resulting from the difficulties women face in balancing their responsibilities at home and at work with their political engagement. Means to address this constraint are developed in policy issue 5 on capacity building.

2. Recognition and support for urban poor women's activities

What is the issue?

Women's livelihood activities in urban areas support their communities' social and economic wellbeing but often go unrecognized or supported. In the process of urbanization in developing countries, women's traditional roles of supplying water, fuel, food and other items for domestic consumption are heavily constrained by the lack of services in informal and unplanned settlements. Their duties are also extended to coping with the lack of sanitation and refuse disposal services in an effort to protect their families' health. In addition, they need to carry out income generating work in or near the home to contribute to household funds while caring for the home and children. Yet many of these activities contravene urban by-laws and are even harassed by urban local authorities. The good urban governance campaign norms to be addressed are equity, efficiency and sustainability.

What has been done so far?

• Widespread poverty alleviation measures and other programs to support micro-enterprises assist urban poor women and imply a shift in urban governance.
• Habitat's Campaign on Secure Tenure establishes policy dialogue on the status of informal settlements
• Several countries have adopted positive policies towards informal settlements.
• Policy measures to promote and plan for urban agriculture have been taken in some countries.
• Urban fuel plantations have been included in some urban plans, and urban fuel policies initiated.

What needs to be done?

• Review urban by-laws from a gender perspective, including women's representatives and organizations from low-income and informal settlements.
• Should be Established policy review forums in low-income urban settlements, ensuring women's interests are identified and included in strategic plans that local authorities can implement in collaboration with communities.

What are the constraints?

Entrenched interests in urban areas fail to recognize that activities of low-income urban residents, including women, are necessary due to lack of household and local authority resources. These are reflected in legislation that restricts the livelihoods of urban poor women.

3. Participatory urban policy

What is the issue?

Urban policy needs to be derived from a bottom-up process that involves citizens, men and women, and recognizes community-based organizations, including women's organizations, as legitimate stakeholders in urban governance. The Habitat Agenda recognizes community based organizations (CBOs) as a major partner in designing, implementing and monitoring human settlements strategies, including gender issues and women’s empowerment. In policy-making decisions are often restricted to the experience which means that women's concerns largely remain invisible and neglected. The good urban governance campaign norms to be addressed are efficiency, sustainability, decentralization and civic engagement.

What has been done so far?

• The Habitat Agenda recognizes the principle of subsidiary whereby the lowest levels of society are involved in decision-making inputs. More and more governments are beginning to subscribe to the principle.
• The Habitat Agenda also encourages local governments to support civic engagement, to promote broad-based participation in urban governance and to establish legal and institutional frameworks for promoting gender equality, and the full and equal participation of women
• Some local authorities have responded to the initiatives and demands of local women's organizations, particularly in addressing the issues of service provision and urban security.
• There are increasing examples of participatory city management, including participation in the budget process.

What needs to be done?

• Create a supportive legal framework to allow CBOs to be established, to act independently and to associate freely.
• Develop policies for dealing with CBOs and include relations with CBOs in the national gender policy. The policy should recognize the strategic role CBOs play in national development and clarify the responsibilities of all stakeholders to facilitate the involvement of CBOs.
• Establish a mechanism for partnerships and consultations with CBOs.
• Provide capacity building to local authorities on how to deal with CBOs (See Issue 6).

What are the constraints?

Prevailing attitudes about who qualifies to inform policy and who has relevant knowledge continues to hinder the participation of local organizations in policy making. Low levels of public sector transparency are another constraint, as is the lack of structures for dialogue with people's organizations. CBOs on the other hand, often lack the capacity to interact with local government. Further, sometimes CBO structures themselves are not gender-sensitive enough, especially concerning women's involvement in political negotiations.

4. Eliminating urban violence against women

What is the issue?

Violence against women is an obstacle to their participation in governance and must be stopped. As a pervasive risk it restricts their full participation in society. VAW, while not a discrete urban issue, has been linked closely with issues around housing and shelter. In the domestic domain, the consequences of violence against women reach beyond the family, affect the development of children and have impact on the society as whole. Violence in the public sphere affects women's ability to participate freely in urban governance. The good urban governance campaign norm to be addressed is security of individuals and their environment.

What has been done so far?

• Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that "everyone has the right to liberty and security of person".
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) agreed in 1979 deals specifically with women's equal rights.
• The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action devotes an entire area of critical concern to the subject of Violence Against Women (VAW).
• Regional instruments, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of VAW, have led several countries to change their laws.
• A few local authorities have developed gender-based approaches to local policies and some NGOs have victim-aid policies and sensitize people to the problem.

What needs to be done?

• Raise awareness of men and work with the perpetrators of VAW in order to address the real causes of the problem, which are the products of social and cultural practices.
• A gender-based approach to urban safety and access to data disaggregated by sex are essential. Planning programmes of local authorities can then target the particular needs of both men and women.
• Modify the design and planning of urban space to reduce the feeling of insecurity and occurrences of assault. The expertise of inhabitants and in particular of women is needed to achieve this.
• Use the Women Safety Audit as a planning tool to achieve this.

What are the constraints?

• Violence against women, particularly domestic violence, remains a hidden problem.
• Information on the subject is rarely available because it is considered to be within the confines of what is private and intimate.
• Furthermore, violence against women is a form of discrimination but is not always recognized as such.
• Therefore, local authorities may not be willing to address the issue openly, and to include this aspect of urban safety in their priorities and plans for good urban governance.

5. Building capacity of women and CBOs

What is the issue?

There is need for building the capacity of women, and of community-based organisations, to facilitate their links to local government. The trend towards decentralisation poses enormous challenges to elected representatives and local officials, particularly women, many of whom lack the requisite knowledge and skills for local level decision-making. Developing stronger community-based leadership programmes will generate a body of women equipped for political responsibility. Evidence suggests that a strong core of women political representatives can be causally linked with greater public sector transparency and accountability. This is also linked to more informed gender input in planning and budgetary programmes. There are many capacity-building initiatives relating to organisations of the urban poor, including women, in local governance. These include the actions taken by the central government in Uganda to enhance women's participation in local governance, by providing functional and civic education to local leaders including women. NGOs and CBOs globally have also embarked on civic education programmes aimed at increasing local participation in governance, especially for women. Although these initiatives indicate the emergence of a trend towards improving women's capacity for involvement in local governance there is still much to be done. The relevant norms of the good urban governance campaign are decentralisation, transparency, and civic engagement.

What has been done so far?

• The Women and Habitat Programme and Local Leadership and Management Programme of UNCHS have developed manuals and conducted training aimed at building the capacity of women.
• UNDP has developed a gender and development capacity building programme aimed at equipping governments with the pre-requisite skills in gender mainstreaming.
• Various international, regional and national women's networks have embarked on civic education programmes at local level.
• Donor agencies and bi-laterals have allocated resources towards women and community based organizations’ capacity building initiatives.

What needs to be done?

• Sharing of information and collective learning on existing activities aimed at capacity building of women at grassroots level.
• Donor support to such activities, based on learning from best practices and taking them to an effective scale of operation.

What are the constraints?

• The majority of capacity building programmes and initiatives are not yet aimed at building capacities of women and local organizations to deal with the challenges of decentralization and urban governance.
• It is still a new approach to many trainers, training institutions, and to local authorities.

6. Building capacity of local governments

What is the issue?

There is a need to build the capacity of local authorities to link with community-based organisations (CBOs), especially those that incorporate poor urban women. There are few formal mechanisms, in developed or developing countries, for local authorities to incorporate citizens' priorities into their planning and decision-making about how urban neighbourhoods are managed. Structures of local government may fail to keep up with fast changing urban conditions, especially with the rapid urban growth and proliferation of informal settlements in many developing countries. Women among the urban poor have formed many grassroots organisations to address their daily needs and these have formed the basis of urban social movements. This is also true in developed countries where women's organisations attempt to influence local planning through organised lobby groups. Local authorities often lack the necessary organisational structure, knowledge and skills to work effectively with community based organisations. The good urban governance campaign norm to be addressed is civic engagement.

What has been done so far?

• Resolution CHS 13/13 of 1991, endorsed by the UN General Assembly, invites governments and local authorities to collaborate with women's networks.
• Local authorities in Europe have responded to the initiatives of organisations such as the German Mothers' Centres and the women's advisory committees in Netherlands.
• Informal settlement planning committees have been established in some developing countries, although they are often not yet formally linked to local authorities.
• UNCHS (Habitat) supports stakeholder involvement in its promotion of city consultative forums, although gender representation is not always systematic.
• UNCHS (Habitat) has a programme of capacity building for local authorities which include citizen participation.
• UNCHS (Habitat) has a set of "enablement indicators" that are gender sensitive and relate to citizen participation in decision-making.

What needs to be done?

• Capacity building tools developed by international agencies should be made completely gender sensitive.
• Gender sensitive capacity building tools developed by international agencies should be widely disseminated and tested, to provide local authorities with guidance on working with community based organisations, including women's grassroots organisations.
• Local authorities and governments should institute training programmes for councillors and staff on collaboration with CBO's, including women's organisations and networks.
• The capacity of women leaders should be built on accountability to the women they represent.

What are the constraints?

• Local authorities have well established structures, which do not incorporate public participation.
• Adapting them to an institutional structure that has such links will take time and presents many obstacles.

7. Gender budgeting

What is the issue?

Gender budgeting should be included in urban policy and programme planning at all levels. The budget is a key tool for the implementation of social, political and economic policies and priorities. Budgeting is normally done by technocrats oblivious to women's needs or what goes on in the day-to-day activities of women in homes, work-places and on the streets. This results in economic inefficiencies as well as inequities. The budgeting process as a potential tool for implementing progressive commitments and policies cannot be left to the technocrats alone. At present, the majority of women have no say in how money is collected and how it is spent. At the city or municipal level, gender budgeting entails allocating adequate finances towards basic services, transport and the informal sector or micro-enterprises. Policy needs to find ways to re-direct resources to areas and groups previously under-resourced, as well as to take into account the "principle of affordability". Generating a more comprehensive set of gender data within city jurisdictions will assist local government officials in consistently focusing resources in a gender conscious way (UNEP, 2000). Capacity building by and for local authorities in women and urban governance will help ensure that they are able to effectively use the gender disaggregated information at their disposal. The good urban governance campaign norms to be addressed are both equity and efficiency.

What has been done so far?

• Several countries (South Africa, Uganda) have adopted gender budgeting in policy and programme planning at national and local level.
• Tools and methodologies for gender responsive budgeting have been developed and compiled by UNIFEM,
• The best practice on Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil provides some insights.

What needs to be done?

• Build capacity of women in gender budgeting skills at city/municipal level.
• Build capacity of local authorities to mainstream gender priorities in plans and programmes
• Develop tools for gender budgeting at municipal level.

What are the constraints?

• Most local authorities have existed for decades and have long established and consolidated their priorities, hierarchies, culture and power.
• The lack of technical budget skills amongst women leaders.

As far as gender is concerned, there is need to be aware that both women and men have something to contribute and all efforts should be made to explore and tap these valuable resources without succumbing to prejudices based on gender misconceptions. Information in this case should flow in a two way process, not the top-down approach that sometimes prevails. In partnerships all parties gain from sharing information with others and their work is made easier. As central and local government authorities should target both women and men for inputs and share their life experience. Through sharing information on activities, some potential problems may be proactively dealt with while trust is built. Sufficient initiatives by government authorities to address gender issue lead to more competitive and creative city and rural development.