WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT

                                                           Richard J. Estes
                                                 University of Pennsylvania

A popular Chinese expression says that "Women hold up one-half of the
sky"-meaning that women are as important as men in all aspects of life. 
And yet in China, as elsewhere in the world, the status of women continues
to be substantially inferior to that of men.  Worldwide, for example, women
continue to have the highest rates of illiteracy, to earn significantly
less money than men even when performing the same work, and to have fewer
legal protections available to them for help in resolving disputes.  In
many parts of the world women continue to be unable to own property in
their own names, cannot travel without the written approval of a male head
of household, and may not divorce of their own volition.  In situations
where divorces are approved, a substantial number of women worldwide may
not even have access to their children, let alone retain parental rights. 
The small number of women worldwide who occupy important positions of
political or policy making power is already well established.

     Certainly, the majority of women in developing countries have yet to
realize the minimal economic objectives, legal protections, and political
aspirations that were sought as part of the International Decade of Women
(1975-1985).  The reasons for lack of more substantial social progress for
women over the past two decades are many but center on several realities: 
(1) that development efforts, in the main, continue to be directed at
improving the social and economic conditions of men in developing
countries; (2) that the role of women as co-partners, let alone as leaders,
in development has been grossly underestimated by the international
development community: and (3) that the assistance strategies of the
majority of international development organizations, intentionally or not,
have functioned to perpetuate social and economic inequalities
which, for centuries, have retarded the social progress of women.

     Irene Tinker identified six myths that are commonly held by
development planners that
 work to the disadvantage of women.

     MYTH:     Women are dependent on men.
     FACT:          Women-as well as men and children-work to
                    contribute to the survival of poor rural and
                    urban families in the Third World.  Far
                    from being dependent, it is estimated that
                    women are the heads of one out of every
                    three families worldwide.

     MYTH:     Women do not work.
     FACT:          Generally, rural women in the Third World work between
                    10 and 12 hours a day, collecting water and fuel as well as
                    growing, processing, and marketing food.  Urban women
                    most often work in small businesses.

     MYTH:     Women are not farmers.
     FACT:          In many countries, women produce most of the food for
                    family consumption.  Women provide nearly half of all
                    agricultural labor in the world.

     MYTH:     Animal work is a man's domain.
     FACT:          Wherever animals such as cows, and sheep are raised for
                    consumption, women rather than men are likely to be
                    responsible for their care.

     MYTH:     A woman's income is incidental.
     FACT:          In many countries, a woman's income is critical to the
                    survival of the family.  Typically, the poorer the family,
                    the greater the proportion of its income is provided by
                    women.

     MYTH:     Women do not understand business.
     FACT:          In Southwest Asia, West Africa, and Central America,
                    women have traditionally dominated local markets.  In
                    many countries women have moved into large-scale
                    production and trade-especially in textiles and clothing
		    -as well as into small industry.


     The reason that myths such as these persist is simply that they serve
the purposes of myth-holders, i.e., males and other females who benefit
from the subjugation of powerless women.  Certainly economic considerations
are at the core of the problem.  

     And so it is for women in all sectors of social, economic, and
political life in virtually all areas of the world, including many women
residing in the highly advanced industrial nations of both the East and the
West.  The perpetuation of gender-based myths works to the detriment of
women everywhere; they also impose an undue and unnecessary burden on men
while keeping both genders in social and economic relationships which, over
the long term, work to the benefit of neither (e.g., earlier death and
higher rates of illness among stress-prone men).

     The gap in social progress between men and women worldwide continues
to be enormous, and closing it in the foreseeable future seems doubtful. 
Widespread agreement exists that at least the following minimal objectives
must be pursued if women are to achieve social parity with men in the near
term:

 1.  Every effort must continue to be made to help women achieve legal
     guarantees, rights, protections, and entitlements equal to those
     accorded to men.  Today, some 40 nations, including seven otherwise
     socially advanced European countries, continue to make unavailable to
     women the same constitutional  protections that are available to their
     male citizens.  In some developing countries, male children enjoy a
     higher standard of legal protection than do either their mothers or
     sisters.

 2.  Women need to be able to share ownership of the land that they work
     and to reap the economic profits that result from their labor.

 3.  Women need increased access to basic and higher education, to skills
     training, to basic health care (including prenatal and maternity
     care), and to safe and reliable methods of contraception.

 4.  Women in developing countries, like men, require assistance in
     establishing and operating their own businesses, and need access to
     viable channels for influencing the political decisions and social
     policies that affect their well-being and that of their children.

 5.  Women must be integrated fully into all levels of development
     planning and implementation.  Development plans that fail to take
     into account the contribution of women to development will not succeed
     in achieving the social transformations that they seek.

 6.  In all respects, women must be viewed as co-equals with men in
     considering alternative courses of action, in participating in the
     decisions that directly affect their welfare.  Nothing short of
     equality between the genders will make possible the improvements that
     are urgently needed in the social standing of women throughout the
     world.

                           RESOURCE MATERIALS ON
                           WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT


BASIC BOOKS

Afshart, H. 1991. _Women, Development, and Survival in the Third World_.
(New York: Longman).

Allen, M. and Mukherjee, S. N. 1982. _Women in India and Nepal_. (Canberra,
Australia:
 Australia National University). 

Anker, Richard and Catherine Hein. 1986. _Sex Inequalities in Urban
Employment in the Third World_. (Geneva: ILO).

Bookman, A., and Morgen, S. 1988. _Women and the Politics of Empowerment_.
(Philadelphia:
 Temple University).

Brydon, Sylvia C. 1989. _Women in the Third World: Gender Issues in Rural
and Urban Areas_.
 (New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers University Press).

Brocas, Anne-Marie et al. 1990. _Women and Social Security: Progress
Towards Equality of Treatment_ (Washington: International Labour Office).

Charlton, Ellen M. 1984. _Women in Third World Development_. (Boulder, CO: 
Westview
 Press).

Charlton, Ellen M. et al. (eds). 1989. _Women, the State, and Development_.
(Albany: State
 University of New York Press).

Cook, Rebecca et al. 1985. _Women:  Progress Toward Equality_ (wallchart).
(London:
 International Planned Parenthood Federation).

Dayal, Rekha (ed.). 1987. _Resource Book on Women's Development:
Co-operation with Government, Donors, and Voluntary Organizations_. (New
Delhi: Swedish International Development
 Authority).

Deere, Carmen Diana and Leon, Magdalena (Eds). 1987. _Rural Women and State
Policy: Feminist Perspectives on Latin American Agriculture Development_.
(Boulder: Westview). 

Dhruvarajan, V. 1989. _Hindu Women and the Power of Ideology_. (Granby, MA:
Bergin & Garvey). 

Elson, Diane. (ed.). 1991. _Male Bias in the Development Process_ (New York:
St. Martin's
 Press).

Fuentes, A. and Ehrenreich, B. 1983. _Women in the Global Factory_. (Boston:
South End Press).

Jayawardena, K. 1986. _Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World_.
(London: Zed). 

Lupri, J. (ed.). 1979. _The Changing Role of Women in Family and Society: A
Cross Cultural
 Comparison_ (Leiden: Brill).

Mies, M. and Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., and Werlhof, C. V. 1988. _Women: The
Last Colony_.
 (London: Zed).

Momsen, Janet M. 1991. _Women and Development in the Third World_. (London
and New
 York: Routledge).

Nuss, Shirley et al. 1989. _Women in the World of Work: Statistical
Analysis and Projections to
 the Year 2000_. (Washington: ILO).

Okin, Susan M. 1979. _Women in Western Political Thought_. (Princeton:
Princeton University
 Press).

Radcliffe, Sarah A. 1988. _Gender in the Third World: A Geographical
Bibliography of Recent Work_. (Brighton UK: Institute of Development Studies
at the University of Sussex).

Sanday, Peggy. 1981. _Female Power and Male Dominance: On the Degrees of
Sex Inequality_. (New York: Cambridge University Press).

Seager, Joni and Ann Olson. 1986. _Women in the World:  An International
Atlas_. (New York: 
 Simon and Schuster).

Sivard, Ruth. 1985. _Women: A World Survey_. (Washington: World Priorities).

Staudt, Kathleen. 1990. _Women, International Development, and Politics:
The Bureaucratic
 Mire_. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press).

Townsend, Janet G. 1988. _Women in Developing Countries: A Selected,
Annotated Bibliography for Development Organizations_ (Sussex UK: Institute
of Development Studies).

United Nations. 1989. _World Survey on the Role of Women in Development_
(Vienna: UN Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs).

United Nations/Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP). 1989. _Status of Women in Asia and the Pacific Region_. (Bangkok),
ST/ESCAP/417.

Vickers, J. 1991. _Women and the World Economic Crisis_. (Atlantic Heights
NJ: Zed Books).

Young, Kate (ed.). 1988. _Women and Economic Development: Local, Regional,
and National
 Planning Strategies_ (Paris: Unesco).

Yuval-Davis, Nira and Floya Anthias. 1989. _Women-Nation-State_. (New York:
St. Martin's
 Press).


SELECTED ARTICLES

Armstrong, M. J. and Armstrong, R. W. 1991. "New Zealand Maori women's
Health: Status and Self-Help Action in the 1980's," _Women's Health_
17(2):45-64.

Carolina, Chapel Hill. 1990. "Demographic Surveys and Nigerian Women,"
_Signs_ 15(2):259-284.

Elmslie, K. D. 1989. "AIDS and Women," _AIDS Care_ 1(2):219-222.

Dhruvarajan, Vanaja. 1990. "Religious Ideology, Hindu Women, and
Development in India," _The Journal of Social Issues_ 46(3):57-69.

Gutierrez, Lorraine M. 1990. "Working With Women of Color: An Empowerment
Perspective," _Social Work_ 35(2):149-153.

Kissman, Kris. 1990. "The Role of Fortune Telling as a Supportive Function
Among Icelandic
 Women," _International Social Work_ 33(2):137 -144.

Ling, Chee Yoke. 1989. "Women, Environment and Development: The Malaysian
Experience," _Development_ 2-3:88-91.

Palley, M. L. 1990. "Women's Rights as Human Rights: An international
Perspective," _Annals of American Academy of Political Social Science_
515:163-78.

United Nations. 1991. "United Nations Commission Proposes Action to
Prohibit Violence
 Against Women," _UN Chronicle_ 28:68-69.


INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

International Labour Organization 
International Planned Parenthood Federation
United Nations/International Research and Training Institute for the
Advancement of Women 
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom 
World Young Women's Christian Association


U.S. ORGANIZATIONS

Agency for International Development, Office of Women in Development
Center for the Study of Women and Society 
Women's International Network
Women's International Policy Action Committee 


DECLARATION AND AGREEMENTS

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 1990.
_Revised Guiding Principles on Women in Development_. (Paris).

United Nations. 1968. _Constitutional, Electoral Laws and Other Legal
Instruments Relating to the Political Rights of Women_. (New York), Sales #
E.69.IV.2--useful for comparative historical
 purposes.

United Nations. 1979. _Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against
 Women_.

United Nations. 1985. _The Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the
Advancement of Women_ (as adopted by the World Conference to Review and
Appraise the Achievements of the UN Decade for Women: Equality, Development
and Peace).

United Nations. 1988. _Compendium of International Conventions Concerning
the Status of Women_. (Vienna: Centre for Social Development and
Humanitarian Affairs), UN Sales
 #E.88.IV.3.


------------------
Excerpted from Richard J. Estes (1992) _Internationalizing Social Work
Education:  A Guide to Resources For a New Century_ (Philadelphia: 
University of Pennsylania School of Social
 Work).

Permission is granted to disseminate this document so long as proper
credit has been given to the source.