Appendix A: Background Paper

What are the Assumptions behind Gender Based Analysis?

Gender based analysis is based on the following assumptions and values. To achieve gender equality we need to:

1. Build constructive partnerships between women and men. (this does not exclude women only groups or organizations from also working towards this goal);
   
   
2. Recognize that every action, policy, program, project and socio-economic trend affects women and men differently;
   
   
3. Understand that gender equality does not mean that women become the same as men;
   
   
4. Promote the equal participation of women as agents of change in economic, social and political processes;
   
   
5. Design specific measures to eliminate gender inequalities;
   
   
6. Recognize that women's empowerment is a key to success in this process;
   
   
7. Understand that men and boys can also be negatively affected by actions, policies, programs, projects and socio-economic trends.

Why Use Gender Based Analysis?

The Beijing Platform for Action from the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women states that:

Canada has tabled a Federal Action Plan in which it states that Canada will work towards the goals outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action. The use of gender-based analysis is one tool that Canada has adopted to achieve these goals.

Measuring the differences between women and men gives us the information we need to figure out why these differences exist. We can then work on developing ways to remove or reduce these differences. We have also learned from past experience that:

1. You can never assume that women and men will benefit equally from any given action, policy, program, or socio-economic trend;
   
   
2. Most actions, policies, programs, projects or socio-economic trends do not have the same impact on women and men;
   
   
3. Women and men often have different priorities and perspectives.

To achieve gender equality we need to integrate gender equality measures into all policies and programs from the design stage onwards. Otherwise our policies and programs may inadvertently increase inequality between women and men and make their socio-economic situation worse. If you conduct a gender-based analysis at the beginning of any process, it will reveal the key gender issues you need to consider. You can then develop ways to overcome both existing imbalances and to avoid adding to future problems.

Women and men often have different priorities and different needs. Therefore we need to allocate resources to them in different ways. We can find an example of this in the recent debate over what should be done with the surplus in the federal budget. Pre-election polls found that more women than men felt that it was a priority to invest the surplus in health and education. A higher percentage of men felt that we should use the money to reduce the debt or to lower taxes.

This does not mean that men are either financially more responsible than women or that they are less community-oriented. It also does not mean that women do not consider the national debt to be important. Instead it shows the difference in women's and men's priorities and responsibilities in these two sectors.

Canadian women hold a greater responsibility for tasks related to health and education at both the household and community level. Recent cuts in services by our various governments have increased women's workloads more than men's. Since these cuts affect more women directly it is not surprising that more women than men feel that additional support to health and education is apriority. When there are such clear differences of opinion, you can use gender-based analysis to explain and address the differences in your policy and advocacy work.

(6) Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Fourth World Conference on Women, 15 September 1995