Development for Results - Gender Equality

Support for and promotion of gender equality is essential to achieving the overarching goals of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA): poverty reduction, human rights, and sustainable development. Gender equality contributes substantially to improving the well-being of women, men, girls, and boys in our partner countries. CIDA supports the achievement of equality between women and men by

• advancing women's equal participation in decision making;
• promoting the human rights of women and girls; and
• reducing gender inequalities in access to and control over the resources and benefits of development.

Gender equality is a crosscutting theme in all of CIDA's policies, programs, and projects, helping to make aid more effective and deepening our understanding of our partners' local contexts.

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Equal participation in decision making

Improving livelihoods of women in Pakistan

With CIDA's support, the Aga Khan Foundation has been working in Pakistan's northern region and in the district of Chitral to help improve people's livelihoods. This initiative has had a significant impact on many women, who have become more literate, active in the community, organized and integrated with men's organizations. Since the project's start in 2001:

• more than 125 women have been elected to public office at the local level;
• more than 20,000 women have graduated from Adult Literacy Centres;
• 6,000 young women are computer literate as a result of classroom training;
• more than 32 percent of women now own tangible assets (land, built properties, shops, jewellery, and fruit and forest trees), which is a 19 percent increase from 2001; and
• a growing number of women are entering non-traditional sectors in the public service, holding elected office, providing professional services, and starting microenterprises. As a result, annual off-farm income for women increased 60 percent since 2001.

Marketing of farm products in Mali

In Bambara, the language spoken by 60 percent of Mali's population, faso jigi mean "a people's hope." This term is also the name of a farmers' organization that is helping Malians take an active part in marketing their shallot and grain crops. Women are participating both as decision makers and as producers:

• Women producers are represented on Faso Jigi's board of directors and supervisory board.
• Between 2006 and 2007, the percentage of female shallot and grain producers involved in the organization's operations increased from 18 percent to 22 percent.
• Increasing numbers of women are growing grain crops, which are traditionally reserved for men (308 women in 2007, compared with 129 in 2006).

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Human Rights of Women and Girls

The Kore Fanm Project in Haiti

The Kore Fanm (Support to Women) Fund in Haiti is for organizations and institutions that promote, protect, and defend women's rights, and seek to prevent violence against women. Through CIDA's Kore Fanm Fund, Canada has established itself as the lead donor in Haiti for equality between women and men, producing many impressive results, such as the:

• establishment of 30 new shelters for women victims of domestic violence;
• development of a new law that criminalizes rape; and
• training of women journalists and the provision of equipment to 23 community radio stations that produce programs on gender equality and women's rights.

Helping Victims of Acid Violence in Bangladesh

The Acid Survivors' Foundation (ASF) helps victims of acid violence in Bangladesh reintegrate into society with treatment such as plastic and reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological counselling. Before ASF was formed, there was no specialized institution to provide them with these services. CIDA has supported the ASF since its inception, helping it to get established and to carry out awareness-raising campaigns on preventing acid violence. Thanks to the ASF:

• there has been a steady decline in the incidence of acid throwing;
• two pieces of legislation were enacted by Parliament related to the control, sale, and purchase of acid and the punishment for acid violence;
• the number of successful pro­secutions against acid attackers has increased, and the length of time required to resolve cases has declined from between three and four years at the beginning of the project in 2004 to one year by 2008; and
• a 40-bed hospital has been set up to treat acid-burn victims.

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Equal Access to and Control over Resources and Benefits of Development

Rights and Livelihoods of Women in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, Canada is helping to protect the rights of women and girls and improving their livelihoods. As a result:

• more than 445,000 Afghans, more than two thirds of whom are women, are accessing small loans and financial services enabling them to build assets, increase incomes, and reduce vulnerability to economic stress;
• our election assistance continues to strengthen the democratic rights of women-27 percent of Afghan parliamentarians are women; and
• more than 5,000 Afghans, 80 percent of whom are women, have received literacy training.

Protecting and Promoting the Rights of Domestic Workers in Bolivia

With CIDA's support, Development and Peace partnered with a working women's federation in Bolivia, resulting in the establishment of a new law that marked a major step forward for women's rights. This new law finally guarantees domestic workers the same labour rights as in other professions, including:

• an eight-hour workday;
• one day off per week;
• medical insurance;
• an annual holiday;
• an indemnity when laid off;
• a minimum wage; and
• the right to join an association.

For more information on how Canada is supporting gender equality in the developing world, visit CIDA Site.

For more information about CIDA's projects: please visit The Project Browser

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0G4

Telephone: 819-997-5006 / Toll free: 1-800-230-6349
TTY: 819-953-5023 / Toll free TTY: 1-800-331-5018
Fax: 819-953-6088
Email: info@acdi-cida.gc.ca

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Development for Results - Gender Equality (423.85 KB, 6 pages)