Gender, Citizenship and Governance

Decentralization, women's rights and development

Beall, Jo | 2007
  • Author(s): Beall, Jo
  • Publisher: International development research centre (IDRC)]
  • Pages: --
  • Keywords: women's rights, decentralization in government, local government, civil and political rights, women in development, human rights, development strategies
Rights-based approaches and decentralization are examined to interrogate the contemporary appeal and to discern if and how they benefit women. The conclusion reached is that advancing women's rights cannot be left to the local level.

Decentralizing government and de-centering gender : lessons from local government reform in South Africa

Beall, Jo | 2007
  • Author(s): Beall, Jo
  • Publisher: London school of economics (LSE)
  • Pages: --
  • Keywords: women, local government, decentralization in government, gender equality, south africa
The experience of democratic reform in South Africa is invariably held up as an example of good practice in advancing gender equity in governance. Drawing on this experience, some of the paradoxes for women and gender equity of decentralization strategies and local governance are highlighted.

Decentralizing government and centralizing gender in southern Africa : lessons from the South African experience

Beall, Jo | 2005
  • Author(s): Beall, Jo
  • Publisher: United nations research institute for social development (UNRISD)
  • Pages: --
  • Keywords: decentralization in government, gender, women, democracy, local government, political participation, social aspects, cultural and social anthropology, south africa, southern africa, angola, mozambique, zimbabwe, zambia
This paper argues that: (1) effective involvement of women in local governance is predicated both on the approach adopted by political parties and on how women are organized at the local level; and (2) neo-liberal policies may serve to undermine the potential for gender-sensitive service delivery.

Can political affirmative action for women reduce gender bias?

Beaman, Lori | 2009
  • Author(s): Beaman, Lori
  • Publisher: Centre for economic policy research (CEPR)]
  • Pages: --
  • Keywords: women, affirmative action programmes, public sector, political participation, india
Reservation policies, by giving voters the ability to observe the effectiveness of women leaders, might pave the way for improving women’s access to political office and reducing statistical discrimination. This column summarizes India’s experience with quotas for women in public office.

Women politicians, gender bias, and policy-making in rural India : The state of the world's children 2007 background paper

Beaman, Lori | 2006
  • Author(s): Beaman, Lori
  • Publisher: United nations children's fund (UNICEF)
  • Pages: --
  • Keywords: women, political representation, women in politics, public services, child health, education, india
This paper studies how mandated political representation for women in India has affected policy outcomes and the well-being of children. It also examines how politically empowering women affects political participation by women villagers and the constituents’ perceptions of female leaders.
 

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This information portal provides access to selected free, full-text electronic documents on women’s political participation & representation, women’s rights, institutional mainstreaming, and decentralization & local governance. Find your resources in the database.