litreview-int'ldevelopment

The partner organization of our project, CARE Canada is Canada’s global force dedicated to fighting poverty by empowering the women and girls. In order to further explore CARE Canada’s role on the international stage, we need to examine other international development agencies and organizations’ related experiences and methodologies in the process of empowering women. These are the ‘northern’ international development agencies, such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and World Bank that have supported the ‘southern’ governments and civil society in the implementation of gender mainstreaming – with analytical, institutional or financial assistance. ( Moser, 2005 ) Moser  argues that the gender mainstreaming is a process rather than a goal; she also comments that development agencies are increasingly held accountable to deliver on gender mainstreaming, which force them to allocate resources and develop more robust methodologies, including those that ‘empower’ local women through participatory processes. ( Moser, 2005 ) Consequently some practice from the south may provide useful lessons for those confronting problems of gender mainstreaming in the north. On the other hand, northern development agencies have a more advanced seasoned track record on gender mainstreaming. CARE Canada may have a useful contribution to make in shifting northern experience and training to southern countries. An important goal of CARE Canada is to defending dignity. Women’s dignity is deeply rooted in women’s right which many activists had devoted their lifetime to fights for. Felice Gaer in her article provides a critical history of how “women's” rights have been separated from and connected to “human” rights within the UN, arguing that the original structures of the UN subordinated women's equal rights organizationally and politically to other and more general human rights concerns, women activists pushed to separate, and thereby elevate the Commission on the Status of Women, establishing them as fully equivalent to the Commission on Human Rights. (Gaer, 2009) The aim of international organizations like CARE Canada of empowering women is the cornerstone of fighting for women’s rights. However, there are many  problems that feminists and activists face in the process of struggling to make the international development machinery become a pathway for the realization of women’s rights and social transformation.  ‘Women’s empowerment’, as used by international development organizations, is a fuzzy concept. T he fuzziness of the concept of women’s empowerment can carry strategic advantages for savvy politically active feminists working in global policy spaces.( Eyben and Moore, 2009 )  It reminds us that CARE Canada should make a clear, well articulated call, carefully choose the words when pursuing its goals. CARE Canada hopes to defending dignity and fighting poverty by empowering women and girls. <span style="color: #231f20; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Based on the principle of activating women’s self-help among women, it is considered empowering. However, the common notion of self-help has now been co-opted by international development institutions and practitioners, reducing it to mere ‘economic groups’, functioning as credit and savings groups.( Chari-Wagh, 2009) This way of “empowering” does not always have a positive impact on poverty alleviation because the programme does not have the capacity to displace patriarchal structures that bind women; by focusing only on ‘economic’ issues it fails to address the way deprivation of nutrition and health, increasing violence and insecurity are affecting women as economic actors. ( Chari-Wagh, 2009) Without addressing these questions it is not possible for women to get empowered. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">CARE Canada's first mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world, which seems address <span style="color: #231f20; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">more economic actors; it is suggested that the next important step is to articulate gendered citizenship rights for women. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Finally, although we draw most of the attention to gender issue like women’s rights, there remains a lack of understanding within the international community as to the meaning and implications of gender. Gendered identities and roles have implications both for women and for men. A comprehensive approach to peace-building and conflict transformation must therefore include a gender analysis if we want to achieve long-lasting peace. To guard against biological foundationalism and to ensure a comprehensive approach to peace-building, both a human-rights approach and a gender analysis are therefore required. ( Lockett, 2008) CARE Canada should recognize that women are not a homogenous group and that their experiences differ widely across geographical and temporal locations; when giving voice, resources, services and support to women, CARE also need ensure the respect for human rights both for women and men.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: LinLibertine;">Moser, Caroline(2005) 'Has gender mainstreaming failed?', International Feminist Journal of Politics, 7: 4, 576 — 590 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 3. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: LinLibertine;">Eyben, Rosalind and Napier-Moore, Rebecca(2009) 'Choosing Words with Care? Shifting meanings of women's empowerment in international development', Third World Quarterly, 30: 2, 285 — 300 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 4. Chari-Wagh, Anurekha(2009) ‘ Raising citizenship rights for women through microcredit programmes: an analysis of MASUM, Maharashtra, India’ Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal. Vol. 44, Issue 3, pp. 403-414 5. Lockett, Kathryn(2008) ‘ The Mechanisms of Exclusion: Women in Conflict’ Fem Leg Stud 16:369–376
 * <span style="msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msofontkerning: 18.0pt; msofontkerning: 18.0pt; msolist: Ignore;">2. ** Gaer, Felice(2009) ‘Women, international law and international institutions: The case of the United Nations.’ Women's Studies International Forum 32, 60–66