NATASHA’S CHRONICLES : Gender Month

I have resolved to dedicate the month of March to ‘gender’. I’ll be discussing its associated issues, facts and its relevance in the world today and I know you will be definitely learning loads from it. I would be very grateful if you felt free to write to me if you have any further ideas for the topic, arguments, disagreements and your reasons for them, solutions you might suggest or even just your opinion. Let’s say I’ve posed the debate motion; you debate against or with me and the ideas are ours to share. Today we discuss, ‘Gender in relation to development.’During a discussion under UNIFEM, the United Nations Development Fund for Women the theme was, ‘gender equality for development effectiveness.’ This was focused towards improving National Development planning in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Many different factors proved that inclusion of gender into development planning remains a very crucial factor for the development of any country. Rwanda, being recently included into the Commonwealth of Nations puts her under position to pay attention to issues affecting her fellow member states. Within the CIS, statistics show that when gender related issues are missing from national plans, these issues receive far less attention from policy makers, much less high-level politicians than when they’re included. A survey of priorities have been identified to show the need for improvement in; social welfare, access to economic resources, including employment and entrepreneurship. Gender-specific needs in health, education and domestic violence as well, are among the priorities that should be included in national plans. With such sensitivity to gender balance in all sectors, we can achieve a great deal of development. It is argued that the effectiveness of gender equality promotion lies in these policies getting aligned with national development plans and poverty reduction strategies. This contributes to Aid effectiveness by providing a natural point of alignment for international donors. It’s then a method used to move beyond the document and actually ensure implementation where gender aspects of all strategies and programs are clearly defined and linked with relevant sections of the budget.I know, I agree! I believe Rwanda has taken a great stride in gender sensitivity to attain her level of development. I must commend the Government of Rwanda but particularly, the person who has taken a sole decision to actualize this dream. We have still got a long way to go and with the above idea, I believe we are fast tracking to our destination. hozatash@gmail.com