Rao, Aruna

The ominous vision of elephants and dragons in the title of this article represents the perplexing equation of progress and backlash that characterises work on gender equality and women’s rights. This article advocates a move away from the ongoing debates about gender mainstreaming, towards re-framing strategies for ending gender discrimination. Synthesising the analysis and priorities […]

In the world of feminist activism, the time is ripe for reflection and review. We need to ask why change is not happening, what works, and what is next. This article points to the fact that while women have made many gains in the last decade, policies that successfully promote women’s empowerment and gender equality […]

Development organisations can play a significant role in supporting women in the communities where they work to challenge unequal gender relations. The authors of this article argue that the majority of development organisations fail to do so because they pay insufficient attention to the importance of social institutions in perpetuating inequality. Two prominent approaches to […]

This article affirms the importance of changing the rules, not playing by them, if we are to transform institutions so that they reflect and promote gender equality. It describes how institutions block efforts to promote gender equality, and suggests that recent efforts to ‘professionalise’ NGOs have exacerbated this tendency. However, NGOs are also currently concerned […]

The Gender Quality Action-Learning (GQAL) Programme of BRAC, a large rural development NGO in Bangladesh, is described and analysed. This Programme works with male and female field-staff and managers in a process of issue-analysis, action planning, and implementation (the GQAL cycle) to address organizational change and programme quality concerns in a way that is informed […]

In April 1996, 24 women and men from Asia, Africa, Latin and North America, and Europe met for five days in Canada, to share their experience of helping organisations, especially development organisations, to include women in their programmes, and ensure equitable power relations between women and men. This article gives an account of some of […]