Resources

This article reflects on the vocabulary commonly used within development organisations to communicate about ‘gender and development’. It argues that the relevant terminology, though frequently used, remains problematic. Some terms are almost entirely absent, while others are used loosely and inappropriately – with the subtleties of carefully developed and much-debated concepts often lost. Terms such as ’empowerment’, ‘gender’, and ‘gender mainstreaming’ which originated in feminist thinking and activism have lost their moorings and become depoliticised. Despite these problems, there are indications that debates and language may be taking a more radical turn with the acknowledgement of the shortcomings of the practices of gender mainstreaming, the deepening of interest in the notion of empowerment, and the explicit adoption of a human-rights language.

The guide explores the theory and practice of feminist mentoring and its impact on both Mentors and young women leaders.

The guide explores the theory and practice of feminist mentoring and its impact on both Mentors and young women leaders.

Feminist allyship is about the specific principle and practices that inform our way of being an ally that is uniquely feminist, so that we are practicing a feminist way of being allies.

This glossary is an attempt to identify the right language to communicate gender and its role in health programming and research. It aims to equip readers with an understanding of all the relevant conceptual words used in the gender and health space, and to provide them with examples, tools, and resources to further their understanding. This document fills an important gap by providing a contextual glossary for gender and health that has been developed in the global South.

This is a resource to support your organisation on its journey for greater alignment with feminist purpose and practice. This module focuses on feminist leadership, governance and accountability — with an emphasis on power, intergenerational issues, and succession planning.

This guide explores what transformative leadership for women’s rights means, and how it links to women’s rights and gender justice.

Explanations of errors in past development theory and practice include changes in development conditions in professional norms and in modes of learning. How a fourth dimension, power, contributes to error is illustrated by three case studies – Freud and child sex abuse; the animal‐drawn, multi‐purpose, wheeled toolcarrier; and woodfuel gap analysis. Human society can be seen as patterned like a magnetic field, North–South, with powerful uppers and weak lowers. Uppers construct reality and project and transfer it to lowers. Their dominance, distance, and the professional ego generate and sustain misperception, as they generate, accept and interpret information to fit their needs and flatter their self‐esteem, and defend themselves against dissonance. Lower may mirror the reality of uppers, and generate, select, and distort information to fit what they believe uppers want, approve, and will reward. The resulting self-sustaining systems of power and misinformation are stable and hinder development. Solutions can be sought in reversals of power relations, changing behaviour and roles, redefining professional values, and enabling the poor, weak, and vulnerable better to conduct their own analyses and express their own realities.

This checklist is designed to assist in integrating gender into health planning and programming activities by highlighting key questions (as per gender analysis methods) and suggesting tips to address identified gaps.