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GENDER EQUALITY IN UGANDA 203 10 The national machinery for gender equality in Uganda: institutionalized gesture politics? joy c. kwesiga Introduction National machineries for the advancement of women are an accepted feature of many United Nations (UN) member states, having progressively gained ground during the 1975– 85 UN Decade for Women and in subsequent UN Conferences on women which called for their strengthening. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has observed that lack of appropriate structures officially mandated to implement the agenda for the
THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE 8 Gender awareness and the national machineries in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe zuzana jezerska Introduction: the basic problem of identification and terminology The countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) saw fundamental changes to their political and social systems towards the end of the twentieth century. The processes of change affected most aspects of the social and political lives of the citizens of these countries. However, men and women experienced differently the burdens and gains of
146 CASE STUDIES 7 National machinery for gender equality in Sweden and other Nordic countries birgitta åseskog Introduction In this chapter I want to describe the ‘Nordic model’ of national machinery for gender equality. I want to show the similarities between the countries, but also the differences. The official Nordic cooperation on gender equality, conducted by the Nordic Council of Ministers, is based on the development of pilot projects and reports on priority areas. It provides excellent opportunities to develop new methods and strategies and is a forum
The role of national machineries, as a way to promote the status of women, acquired international relevance during the World Conference on the International Women's Year, in Mexico City in 1975. This book reflects Division for the Advancement of Women's (DAW) long-standing interest in the area of national machineries, bringing together the experiences, research and insights of experts. The first part of the book sets out the major issues facing national machineries at the conceptual level. It reflects upon five aspects of democratization: devolution or decentralization; the role of political parties; monitoring and auditing systems; and the importance of increasing the presence of women within institutions of the state and government. The second part is a comparative analysis and sets out the major issues facing national machineries at the political level. A combination of factors, including civil society, state bodies and political actors, need to come together for national machineries to function effectively in the interest of gender equality. Next comes the 'lessons learned' by national machineries in mainstreaming gender. National machineries should have an achievable agenda, an important part of which must be 'a re-definition of gender issues. The third part contains case studies that build upon the specific experiences of national machineries in different countries. The successful experience of Nordic countries in gender mainstreaming is also discussed.
CONCLUSIONS 265 Conclusions: looking forward shirin m. rai The chapters in this volume have provided a comparative and critical assessment of national machineries in different countries and geographical regions. This brief concluding chapter will provide an overview of the main issues raised by the contributors. These include both the success stories of, and the challenges faced by, national machineries for women. As national machineries are at the cusp of an expanded role, there is a need to review current practices, lessons learnt and organizational
INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction shirin m. rai The role of national machineries, as a way to promote the status of women, acquired international relevance during the World Conference on the International Women’s Year, held in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1975, which called for their establishment. The World Decade for Women (1976– 85), during which two other World Conferences on Women were held (in Copenhagen,1 1980 and Nairobi,2 1985), gave further impetus to the setting up of institutional mechanisms at the national level, to promote the status of women. By the end of
1 Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women: mainstreaming gender, democratizing the state? shirin m. rai Institutionalizing women’s interests in all areas and sectors of policy at all levels has been a concern of women’s movements worldwide, as well as of international institutions such as the United Nations (UN). Gender mainstreaming has emerged as a strategy for addressing this issue, relevant to all states and public institutions. National machineries for the advancement of women are regarded as appropriate institutional mechanisms for ensuring
184 CASE STUDIES 9 The government of the United Kingdom: the Women’s National Commission1 wendy stokes Introduction There have been two significant stages in the creation of national machineries for women within government in the United Kingdom. The first phase was in the 1960s and 1970s, when anti-discrimination and equal pay legislation was accompanied by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Commissions (EOC) in England, Scotland and Wales, and the UK-wide Women’s National Commission (WNC). The governments of the 1980s and 1990s established a Minister for
. Some of the constraints faced by the Commission have been structural — poor resourcing, for example. Others could be addressed but would require a radical rethinking of the Commission’s relationship with the state. In this concluding section I examine the options before the Commission in the light of the consensus that emerged on national machineries at the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. National machineries in the Beijing Platform for Action In its recommendations on national machineries for women, the Beijing Platform for Action suggested the
96 COMPARATIVE ANALYSES 4 National women’s machineries: structures and spaces nüket kardam and selma acuner Introduction This chapter will focus on the ‘lessons learned’ by national machineries in mainstreaming gender issues, drawing from our experience of the Turkish national women’s machinery (NWM) as well as other published case studies. As we enter the twenty-first century, we have seen a number of institutional changes for gender equality. National machineries have been established, restructured, streamlined and upgraded in an effort to promote gender