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UNIT 9: PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS AND STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS

Structure
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Objectives
9.3 Context of PGN/SGN in our Society
9.4 What are gender roles and How to understand these roles?
9.4.1 Productive roles
9.4.2 Reproductive roles
9.4.3 Community Management Roles
9.4.4 Community politics role
9.5 Gender Interests
9.6 Gender Needs
9.7 Practical Gender Needs (PGN)
9.7.1 PGN in productive roles
9.7.2 PGN in Reproductive roles
9.7.3 PGN in community roles
9.8 Indicators of PGN
9.9 Strategic Gender Needs (SGN)
9.9.1 SGN in productive roles
9.9.2 SGN reproductive Role
9.9.3 SGN in Community Role
9.10 Indicators of Strategic Gender Needs
9.11 Back ground for Gender Planning
9.12 The Need for PGN/SGN Approach
9.13 Contextual usage of SGN/PGN
9.14 Strengthens of PGN/SGN
9.15 Methodologies to use PGN/SGN
9.16 Requirements of PGN/SGN Facilitator
9.17 Barriers/obstacles in applying of PGN/SGN
9.18 Let Us Sum Up
9.19 Glossary
9.20 References
9.21 Questions for Reflection and Practice
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9.1 INTRODUCTION

This unit refers to the frame work of Gender need analysis for policy and planning. The
concept of gender needs is based on the work of Caroline Moser. Moser distinguishes
between practical and strategic gender needs and develops a gender planning methodology
called gender needs Assessment. The importance of Gender need analysis in policy planning
is explained in this unit. The understanding of the concept of Gender needs on PGN/SGN will
enable you to analyze the position of women in society/institutions it will strengthen your
understanding and skills in gender analysis. This unit can help you efficiently and effectively
gather information about community attitudes, capacities, and practices related to different
gender needs. The deeper understanding can enhance to derive gender policies and planning
favoring the equality of women.
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9.2 OBJECTIVES

After studying this Unit, you should be able to:

 Define Practical and Strategic Gender Needs;
 Explain the indicators of Practical and Strategic Gender Needs; and
 Analyze the strengths and obstacles of applying Practical and Strategic Gender Needs.
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9.3 CONTEXT OF PGN/SGN IN OUR SOCIETY

Today‘s social construct is based on patriarchic ideology. In Patriarchy men are looked upon
as superior and privileged in the domestic as well as public sphere, and have the social
sanctity to exercise power over women. The society priorities the needs and aspirations of
men and strives to fulfill them through subjugation of women with traditional cultural
practices. For example we might have come across the preference for sons during child birth,
Husband‘s expectations of wife‘s obedience, etc.

We have also witnessed the height of patriarchal attitudes when our male rulers
oppose the women‘s reservation policy in the parliament and in the assemblies. And thus we
experience gender discrimination. In our earlier lessons, we have learnt what is the difference
between sex and gender. Sex is based on biological differences. Women and men are
discriminated in all spheres with thrust of superiority for men and subordinating women. As
we see in patriarchy, the discrimination implies power over women, the structural hierarchy
and the subordination of women and men exercising power over women. Here, women are
treated as secondary and given lesser importance in opportunities. Women have low access
to power and decision making bodies, lack of access to wealth and other assets and have
lesser income. Moreover women are oppressed and seen as objects to retain the supremacy of
men. Thus it resulted in the differences between men and women, which are referred as
gender gaps. Validating the biological difference between man and women into gender
division and thereby establishing gender discrimination as the core value of patriarchy.

The discrimination perpetuated and maintained by all the informal institutions like
family, society and formal institutions also practice discrimination in a subtle way and in
some cases it is explicit. And thus in our societies, we experience the hegemony of
patriarchal norm in everyday life through the gender discriminatory role dividing both men
and women from ordinary situations to significant moments. For example Girl children are
given the toys of cookery and boys are given guns and motor bikes to play and girls in the co-
education classes are expected to clean the surroundings, or asked to play soft games like
cooking.

To perpetuate the discrimination different roles are defined to men and women. Through
these roles women and men are expected to perform in a given way and it strengthens the
patriarchical values of power and subordination. As we learn the core issue of inequality is
stemmed from the patriarchic ideology, and through gendering it has discriminated women
and men in all walks of life, this also ties up the women and men into the specific expected
role performance and makes women to take responsibility in fulfilling the tasks for the
benefits of men and others.
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9.4 WHAT ARE GENDER ROLES AND HOW TO UNDERSTAND THESE ROLES?

The roles expected of women and men to behave and respond in a particular way and it
categorized as a. productive roles, b. reproductive and c. community roles according to
Caroline Moser. Gender roles are affected by age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and by the
geographical, economic and political environment.
Changes in gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political
circumstances, including development efforts. Both men and women play multiple roles in
society. The gender roles of women can be identified as reproductive, productive and
community managing roles, while men‘s roles are categorized as either productive or
community politics.
9.4.1 Productive Roles
Refer to the activities carried out by men and women in order to produce goods and services,
either for sale, exchange, or to meet the subsistence needs of the family. For example, in
agriculture, productive activities include planting, animal husbandry and gardening that refers
to farmers themselves, or for other people as employees.
9.4.2 Reproductive Roles
Refer to the activities needed to ensure the reproduction of society's labour force. This
includes child bearing, rearing, and care for family members such as children, elderly and
workers. These tasks are done mostly by women.
9.4.3 Community Management Roles
Activities undertaken primarily by women at the community level, as an extension of their
reproductive role, to ensure the provision and maintenance of scarce resources of collective
consumption such as water, health care and education. This is voluntary unpaid work
undertaken in ‗free‘ time.
9.4.4 Community Politics Role
The activities primarily undertaken by men at the community level are organizing at the
formal political level, often within the framework of national politics. This work is usually
undertaken by men and may be paid directly or result in increased power and status. Triple
role/ multiple burdens: These terms refer to the fact that women tend to work longer and
more fragmented days than men as they are usually involved in three different gender roles
—reproductive, productive and community work.
Men are able to focus on a particular productive role, and play their multiple roles
sequentially. Women, in contrast to men, must play their roles simultaneously, and balance
competing claims on time for each of them. These roles keep them to stay in a given position
and take up responsibilities in family, society etc. These roles continue to nurture the interest
of men and the power structure in the society. This role division and discrimination often puts
women into the most disadvantageous position and thus accepting the vulnerability of women
and inequality between men and women.
The inequality perpetuated through patriarchy has put women in the detrimental position and
over the years made the victim of different forms of violence. The subtle and meek position
of women further divided the gap between men and women and in many societies the
women‘s sex ratio has declined drastically.

On the other side, the revival of humanism and equality by the social reformers has
challenged the prevalence of gender inequalities and made clarion call for women‘s equality.
For the practitioners of human rights and gender justice, sensitivity towards the
vulnerabilities of women becomes crucial. Ensuring women‘s equality was through
addressing the immediate needs of women to fulfill her assigned roles, which in turn would
arrest the vulnerabilities. This will also improve her living condition and consequently lead to
challenge the position of women in the society.

To attain the aforesaid change in the living conditions of women especially in the
developing countries, gender policies and gender planning are felt as essential factors at all
levels right from the domestic front to the public arena. The quest for bridging gap between
men and women and to augment the gender planning and policy processes has seen the
emergence and explorations of various frameworks for gender analysis and planning.

Identification of gender needs got momentum in the context of gender planning. To

gain clarity in understanding the concepts of gender needs has become imperative to gain
knowledge on the link between gender interests and gender needs.
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9.5 GENDER INTERESTS

The gender interest are ―those that women may develop by virtue of their social positioning
through gender attributes‖. Gender interest can be either practical and or strategic each being
derived in a different way and each involving different implications for women‘s subjectivity.
(1985 a: 232) Maxine Molynix.
One has to understand the gender interest as the core concern and the gender needs are the
means, the core concern are the expected change in the position in the process of
empowerment and the needs are the programs to attain it. In other wards the prioritized
concerns are translated into a planning need the means by which women‘s concerns may be
satisfied.
The social relations framework distinguishes between practical gender needs and
Strategic gender interests. 'Needs' tend to be defined from the top-down, as in defining and
administering to needs. 'Interests' is the language of rights. While using these tools as
development practitioners we need to relate to the strategic gender interests with the gender
needs.
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9.6 GENDER NEEDS

The frame work derived by Caroline Moser to understand the concepts of gender needs the
Practical Gender Needs (PGN) and the Strategic Gender Needs (SGN).
Gender needs are defined as:

Leading on from the fact that women and men have differing roles based on their gender,
they will also have differing gender needs. These needs can be classified as either Strategic
or Practical needs.
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9.7 PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS (PGN)

Practical gender needs are the needs women identify in their socially accepted roles in
society. PGNs do not challenge, although they arise out of gender divisions of labor and
women‘s subordinate position in society. PGNs are response to immediate and perceived
necessity, identified within a specific context. They are practical in nature and often concern
inadequacies in living conditions such as water provision, health care and employment.

9.7.1 PGN in Productive Roles

The productive roles of women demand her economic contributions to the family are
employment opportunities, wages, and income. The global economic crisis puts pressure on
women to take up multiple roles and the demand for women‘s productive role has increased
in developing countries. Gaining meaningful employment itself is a challenge and inability to
meet this need put women in more vulnerable position. The inadequacies in employment lead
to poverty and subsequently to nutritional deficiencies and anemia. Similarly land alienation
or promotion of technology in agricultural production often neglect the women‘s role in
agricultural production due to the lack of technical skills and moreover due to the division of
labor women‘s entry is not easily welcomed in the areas of non-traditional occupation.

Check Your Progress Exercise: 1

1. Identify the PGN in productive roles

9.7.2 PGN in Reproductive Roles

Women are tied up with their reproductive , productive and nurturing roles and for
performing these roles they do not have a conducive atmosphere. The PGN in reproductive
roles includes favorable living conditions, the health care, safe drinking water, nutritional
supplement, child care facilities, sanitation, nutrition, transport, family planning facilities and
fulfilling of other related needs.

Check Your Progress: Exercise: 2

1.Identify the PGN in Reproductive roles

9.7.3 PGN in Community Roles

A woman in their community management roles protects the environment and enhances the
capacity of land and soil. Women as mothers and care takers protect and preserve the
resources in the environment. The move to alienate by the vested interest destroys the
community resources and do not address the PGNs. Therefore preserving community
resources like water, forest land and other common resources enable to meet the PGN of
women so welfare schemes with farsightedness are important.
Check Your Progress Exercise: 3

1.Identify the PGN in community roles

Basically the aforesaid needs refer to ‗human survival needs‘ these needs are
considered throughout the world as ―women‘s needs‖ which has aroused from the expected
roles of women in a particular society. The responsibility of women to address the PGN often
is to reinforce the gender division of labour and thereby women are immersed in botheration
about the day to day affairs of taking care of her family, earning an income for the family
and managing the basic services . The above said deeds of women which are perceived as
their duties, benefit the patriarchy and make it difficult to challenge the subordinate position
of women‘s experience.

In India and other developing countries, we come across majority of women from the
economically backward sections struggling to fulfill the socially assigned roles, specially the
reproductive roles due to lack of accessibility to amenities, information and technical know-
how. Lack of access to practical gender needs often lead to exploitative atmosphere, for
example, lack of safe drinking water forces women to travel to far off and remote places to
fetch water and there are many cases reported of sexual violence and rapes. Like that, we see
abuses of women in many villages when they travel for collecting firewood.

In news papers we often read out the incidence of sexual abuse of women they had
gone for natures call due to lack of sanitation facilities and also reported news of attacks on
women are mostly sexual while coming back from work or schools/college in their own
vicinity due to inadequate lights. These social failures often put women into more drudgery
and they are absorbed in untold miseries that have lesser scope for upward mobility until
external interventions takes place.
The state promotion of traditionally played roles for women such as tailoring, receptionist,
teaching or cooking at a large scale, as employment are in a way meeting the PGN of women.
However it has not aimed at the change in the position of women. The state policies such as
providing suitable transport facilities and other needs to an extent address the PGN

As It was referred earlier the PGN are the “human survival needs’ and our state has the
constitutional obligation in addressing them. The state governments of India have also
formulated policies to address these needs in all most all the states. On a regular basis, we
witness women in the developing countries through collective efforts attaining the PGN. The
struggle in few of the states by the estranged masses, by both men and women, are to meet
the Practical Needs of that particular geographical area.
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9.8 INDICATORS OF PGN

 Good housing
 Safe drinking water
 Adequate water for domestic and other immediate consumption
 Maintenance of hygiene and sanitation
 Regular employment
 Adequate lighting
 Wages
 Child care facilities
 Health care and insurance coverage for women
 Availability of nutritional supplement, food
 Transportation facilities
 Regular Employment
 Electricity
 Fuel for cooking
 Income
 Availability of provision.

Check Your Progress Exercise: 4

List out the unmet practical gender needs in your area?

Check Your Progress Exercise: 5

Identify the schemes of state and central Government to address the above said PGN

Check Your Progress Exercise: 6

What are the central government policies to address the PGN?

Check Your Progress Exercise: 7

What are the policies for addressing PGN by your state Government?

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9.9 STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS (SGN)

Strategic gender needs are the needs of women identify because of their subordinate position
in society. They vary according to particular contexts, related to gender division of labor,
power and control, and may include issues such as legal rights, domestic violence, equal
wages and women‘s control over their bodies. Meeting SGNs assists women to achieve
greater equality and change existing roles, thereby challenging women‘s subordinate position.
They are more long term and less visible than practical gender needs.
9.9.1 SGN in Productive Roles
In productive roles, the SGN are to provide training for women in nontraditional
entrepreneurship. Land in the name of women give her the choice of decision making and
women as agricultural pioneers increase the agricultural production and evades poverty and
hunger. For example, through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) the
state ensures employment guarantee.
Check Your Progress Exercise: 8
Identify the state schemes addressing the SGN in productive roles.
9.9.2 SGN Reproductive Role

As we understand that the Reproductive role always keeps the women more susceptible for
abuses. Violence against women mostly takes place in the homes and therefore women‘s
access to control over their lives and bodies could be the strategic gender needs.
Though the inequalities have been caused by the gender discrimination, the attitudinal
changes and positive approach on gender relations can address the SGN of women. On the
other hand state policies can address to promote SGN.
Check Your Progress Exercise: 9
List out the laws addressing SGN in Reproductive roles

9.9.3 SGN in Community Role

The SGN needs of women in community roles are the space for collective organization,
freedom of expression, up-gradation of their skills, taking up leadership roles for managing
community resources. When state policies address SGN in community, bestows the women
with the role of leadership at the community level and thus brings equality in political
participation, gender budgeting, credit for capital assets in the name of women.

The more the women are organized, the chances are more for empowerment of women and
justice in the society. And in long-term the equations for women‘s role in governance will
also change positively when space is created for women‘s leadership.

Check Your Progress Exercise: 10

Analyze SGN addressed through this project

Kudumba-Shree, launched by the Government of Kerala in 1998 for wiping out absolute
poverty from the State through concerted community action under the leadership of Local
Self Governments, is today one of the largest women-empowering projects in the country.
The program has 37 lakh members and covers more than 50% of the households in Kerala.
Under this programme, Neighborhood Group (NHG) at the grass roots level are organized.
Each group would consist of 15 to 40 members, each member representing a family. The
members would all be women.

Four years ago sixteen women from the ward no 12 of Clappana Panchayat in
Kanrunagappaly Taluk of Kollam district were motivated to join the KUDUMBASHREE
.They began with savings and credit and are also regular in their meetings. Meanwhile they
were given loans which they availed to support their family income. They attended training
for entrepreneurship skills. Within these few years Shobha, one of the members shared that
she hads come out of her home domain to a public sphere. And as a group, they were now in
the process of leased land farming.

Lease land farming program is done with input support from Local Self Governments. Area
and production are given by Kudumba-Shree to women beneficiaries belonging to NHGs.
Area incentive is given for bringing the fallow land under cultivation and production
incentive is for achieving the inherent productivity of the crop selected for cultivation.

Six members of the NEIGHBOUR Hood Group (NHG) jointly took 60 cent land for
lease under the Lease land farming. The land is leased for Rs 3000 per year and also they
invested Rs 3000 (Rs 500 each) in the clearing of the land for banana cultivation and
planting the saplings. They hope that the hard work for the next eight months will definitely
yield good returns. They shared that other groups in the ward are also in similar projects.

According to the members, Kudumbashree initiative has today succeeded in

addressing the basic needs of the less privileged women, thus providing them a more
dignified life and a better future. Through the Collective Farming programme the multiple
benefits of poverty eradication, food security and financial returns through agriculture and
increased agricultural production are sought to be accomplished. Outflow under LLF for
2008-09 was Rs.8 cores.

The grassroots of Kudumbashree are Neighborhood Groups (NHG in short) that send
representatives to the ward level Area Development Societies (ADS). The ADS sends its
representatives to the Community Development Society (CDS), which completes the unique
three-tier structure of Kudumbashree. Today, there are 1.94 lakhs NHGs, over 17,000 ADS,
and 1061 CDS in Kudumbashree. It is this network that brings women to the Grama Sabhas
and helps them bring the needs of the poor to the attention of the local governments. (Source:
Government of Kerala Kudumbashree)

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_______________________________________________________________________

Proximity of the child care services to work place or home fulfills the PGN if the state
encourages or comes out with policies for locating child care attached to the workplace of
fathers then the state is addressing SGN. This planning process in addressing the PGN should
also link the challenge in the division of labour. Addressing SGN is the forerunner of
women‘s empowerment and gender equality. Linking PGN and SGN creates space for
women for example space and funds allotted for home based production and sales –
(promotion of household enterprises)can meet the PGN to earn an income and thereby her
position in the families. Opening employment in non-traditional avenues by state can address
the strategic gender needs and challenge the gender division of labor.

Check Your Progress Exercise: 11

List out the Gender division of labor in agriculture

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9.10 INDICATORS OF STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS
  Access to capital investment
 Land rights
 Ownership of assets
 Equality in Wages
 Political equality
 Sharing of domestic labour and child care by men
 Legislations to challenge the abuse of women
 Entry of women in non-traditional occupational sectors
 Reproductive rights
 Control over their bodies
 Equal status of women (constitutional provision)
 Gender Budgeting

Check Your Progress Exercise: 12

What are the areas of concern /support with regard to PGN/SGN in the following
schemes?

1. NREGA
2. Local Bodies such as Panchayat Raj, Municipalities and Corporations
3. Women Development Corporations schemes
Check Your Progress Exercise: 13
List out the laws addressing the strategic gender needs of women. (Examples Equal
Remuneration Act (1976) .Property rights laws)
Check Your Progress Exercise: 14

Identify the policy of Central government to address the SGN in India

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9.11 BACKGROUND FOR GENDER PLANNING

Knowledge of gender insensitivity practices, all through the review of statues of women at
the state level and looking at the incidence of violence against women indicates the
discriminatory attitudes prevailing in our society. As the sign of growth and development of
our economy and country reflects a positive trend in the global arena yet the Human
Development Indicators shows the disparities in gender division. As a developing country,
we can no longer ignore the gender discrimination's that are prevalent in our country.

When we look at women as partners in development, women‘s equality has to be

ensured through various efforts. The very most important would be to address the issues of
gender inequality and discrimination. In India, although gender equality is legitimized via
constitutional provision, gender inequalities have been ever present. It is apparent and takes
center stage in situations related to exercising power and authority.

Class, caste hierarchies and socio-cultural traditions, customs and norms contribute to
strengthen this malice. Thus women‘s contribution to the household, economy and society
goes unrecognized and never gets mainstreamed as most of their activities involved in do not
enter the sphere of the market.
On the other hand Gender equity entails the provision of fairness and justice in the
distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men. The concept recognizes
that women and men have different needs and power and that these differences should be
identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies the imbalances between the sexes.
Therefore while accepting women as partners in development, the partnership and equality
has to be ensured through various efforts of Gender Planning.

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9.12 THE NEED FOR PGN/SGN APPROACH

As development practitioners and advocates of human rights and gender justice one needs to
understand the vulnerabilities of women challenging their overall development, through
research. We need to find out the indicators of development.

We have seen the usage of PGN/SGN in different contexts of policy formulations

over the years. Five different policy approaches have been adopted by the development
policy makers in the developing countries. Moser categorizes the main policy approaches to
women and development as follows:
Policy approaches to low-income Third World women have shifted over the past decade,
mirroring shifts in macro-economic development policies. Five different policy approaches
can be identified, each categorized in terms of the roles of women on which it focuses and the
practical and strategic needs it meets.

o Welfare: Earliest approach, 1950-70. Its purpose is to bring women into

development as better mothers. Women are seen as passive beneficiaries of
development. It recognizes the reproductive role of women and seeks to meet
PGNs in that role through top-down handouts of food aid, measures against
malnutrition and family planning. It is non-challenging, therefore, still widely
popular.

o Equity: The original WID approach, used in the 1976-85 UN Women‘s

Decade. Its purpose is to gain equity for women, who are seen as active
participants in development. It recognizes the triple role unpaid housework,
care work and paid wage work/salary and seeks to meet SGNs through direct
state intervention giving political and economic autonomy, and reducing
inequality with men. It challenges women‘s subordinate position. It is
criticized as Western feminism, is considered threatening, and is unpopular
with governments.

o Anti-poverty: The second WID approach, a toned-down version of equity,

adopted from the 1970s onwards. Its purpose is to ensure that poor women
increase their productivity. Women‘s poverty is seen as a problem of
underdevelopment, not of subordination. It recognizes the productive role of
women, and seeks to meet the PGN to earn an income, particularly in small-
scale income-generating projects. It is most popular with NGOs.

o Efficiency: The third, and now predominant, WID approach, adopted

particularly since the 1980s debt crisis. Its purpose is to ensure that
development is more efficient and effective through women‘s economic
contribution, with participation often equated with equity. It seeks to meet
PGNs while relying on all three roles and an elastic concept of women‘s time.
 Women are seen entirely in terms of their capacity to compensate for declining
social services by extending their working day. Very popular approach.

o Empowerment: The most recent approach, articulated by Third World

women. Its purpose is to empower women through greater self-reliance.
Women‘s subordination is experienced not only because of male oppression
but also because of colonial and neo-colonial oppression. It recognizes the
triple role, and seeks to meet SGNs indirectly through bottom-up mobilization
of PGNs. It is potentially challenging, although its avoidance of Western
feminism makes it unpopular except with Third World women‘s NGOs.

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9.13 CONTEXTUAL USAGE OF SGN/PGN

It is important as in our country the emphasis for SGN/PGN is to attain the empowerment of
women. In India, constitution guarantees gender equality. As a progressive democratic state,
we have also adhered to the Convention of Elimination Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) and made promises at the international arena to safeguard the rights of women as
human Rights. Our further commitment to gender equality has been through our participation
and assurance in Beijing Platform for Action held in 1995, further to the Beijing plus
conferences and commitment to other related covenants. Emerging trends in global
development pushes marginalized women into further marginalization over the decades. We
witness the emergence of civil society groups in challenging the globalization policies as it
shrinks democratic space of women and other marginalized masses. The negative impact of
globalization has to be dealt through gender planning with the tools of PGN/SGN.

Therefore by and large addressing the PGN/SGN has been an agenda of the
government of India. The civil society organizations also, especially the interventions of
women‘s movements has to a very great extent influenced in strategizing of the gender
planning in India. The country as a whole needs the usage of PGN/SGN tool, along with
government machineries the other potential groups that can amalgamate PGN/SGN includes
NGOs, communities, corporate , public and private sector enterprises.
___________________________________________________________________________
9.14 STRENGTHS OF PGN/SGN

 Useful for development planning and analysis at all levels from policies to projects
 Recognizes the political questions of women‘s subordination
 Reflective tool for analyzing community
 Analysis brings out the women‘s position in society
 It leads to empowerment planning, monitoring and evaluating
 Used to lobby and advocacy efforts
 Conceptualizes planning as aiming to challenge unequal gender relations and supports
women‘s empowerment
 Makes all work visible and valuable to planners, through the concept of triple roles.
 Differentiation of gender needs as practical and strategic needs
 Classification of policy approaches.
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9.15 METHODOLOGIES TO USE PGN/SGN

 Case studies.
 Comparative analysis of different situation of target groups
 Focus Group Discussions
 Participatory appraisal method
 Personal Reflections
 Review of schemes and policies
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9.16 REQUIREMENTS OF PGN/SGN FACILITATOR

 Be a gender sensitive person

 Have commendable knowledge and skills in situation analysis.
 Should be familiar with the cultural background.
 Must have Interpersonal skills.
 Ability to relate the macro and micro context
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9.17 BARRIERS/OBSTACLES IN APPLYING OF PGN/SGN

As it was referred in the beginning of the text, the usage of PGN/SGN are to address the
prevailing inequalities and gender discrimination. Policy formulations and schemes to combat
the Gender Needs alone will not facilitate the achieving of PGN/SGN. While applying this
tool a number of barriers identified are:
 Gender biased Attitudes of the practitioners at all level from family to the policy
makers.
 Lack of conceptual clarity of the policy implementers .
 Inadequate fund allocation.
 Non implementation of women‘s Reservation Policy.
 Bringing attitudinal change and the gender sensitivity along with the public and the
government machineries.
 Does not address power in gender relationships.
 People‘s perceptions and attitudes about PGN/SGN are inconsistent and subject to
change over time.
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9.18 LET US SUM UP
This unit has given you a broader framework and deeper understanding on PGN and SGN.
PGN tries to address the basic needs where as SGN, strategically tries to address the
structural and other forms of inequality and discrimination existing between men and women.
PGN and SGN are helpful in policy formulation and the approaches used are also discussed
in this Unit. With the help of PGN and SGN indicators you can do gender analysis to
examine the status of women in particular.
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9.19 GLOSSARY

Sex role/ sex stereotyping:

It is the act of classifying and labelling human beings into fixed gender-based roles, which
are based upon preconceived perception, learned in and reinforced by society.
Practical Needs:
This refers to what women (or men) perceive as immediate necessities such as water, shelter,
transport, electricity and food.
Strategic Gender Needs:
Interventions addressing strategic gender interests focus on fundamental issues related to
women‘s (or, less often, men‘s) subordination and gender inequities. Strategic gender
interests are long-term, usually not material, and are often related to structural changes in
society regarding women‘s status and equity. They include legislation for equal rights,
reproductive choice, and increased participation in decision-making. The notion of ―strategic
gender needs‖, first coined in 1985 by Maxine Molyneux, helped develop gender planning
and policy development tools, such as the Moser Framework, which are currently being used
by development institutions around the world.
Kudumbashree: It is a government programme implemented by government of kerala. The
programme concentrates on the formation and implementation of self help groups.

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9.20 REFERENCES

Moser, Caroline O.N.(1993) Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice, and
Training. London: Routledge.
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9.21 QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND PRACTICE

1. Analyze the indicators of PGN with suitable examples.

2. Explain the importance of SGN in addressing the structural inequality between men and
women.
3. Examine the barriers in applying PGN and SGN.