Nikita Kaushal is a postgraduate student in the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Oxford. Here she shares some of the key ideas about the role of women in development discussed during the 2013 OxFID conference.
Should Aid and development start with women? Gender inequality cuts across all races and communities. In development circles, women are touted as the magic cure because of their role in population control (control on reproduction), children’s health and education, and microfinance opportunities ensuring that the money is spent on the family. But is this putting an undue pressure on women? Is it better to have a more holistic approach addressing both genders rather than creating a box for women in development?
The role of women in development activities should be integrated into every step of a development programme, making an attempt to address complementary mind-set change in men. If women begin to play an increasing role outside the home, men will need a gradual change of mind set with regards to household duties and so on.
‘Women’s justice and security needs a societal change and social transformation takes time.’
You can read more about women and water, or women and natural hazards in our blog posts from the last week. We have been focussing on the role of women in development in reflection of International Women’s day, which was on the 8th March.
