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Briefing Note 4 Key Principles for the Promotion of Gender Equality 18
Key principles for the promotion of gender equality are:
1. Achieving gender equality is not a ‘women’s concern’ but the responsibility of all in
society
In the past most advocates for the promotion of gender equality were women. It is,
therefore, sometimes thought that this subject only concerns women and not men.
However, this idea is now fast disappearing. There is increasing consensus that gender
equality is the responsibility of all in society and requires contributions and inputs from both
women and men.
2. In case of pronounced imbalances, gender-specific measures are needed to address
inequalities and advance the status of women in society
The relation between the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of women is
not always well understood and sometimes it is thought that these are two different issues.
This is not the case. The advancement of women is a necessary strategy whenever they
are in a disadvantaged position compared to men. As current inequalities are often quite
large, equal treatment of men and women from now on is usually not sufficient, as existing
inequalities could remain or might even become larger. Gender-specific measures are
usually needed to redress existing imbalances between the position of men and women
until women can participate in, and benefit from, development on an equal footing with
men. Gender-specific measures usually involve both women and men.
3. Promoting gender equality will benefit all in society
Sometimes a fear exists that advancing the position of women means that something is
taken away from men. However, the promotion of gender equality does not imply giving
more power to women and taking away power from men. The promotion of equality
between women and men is empowering for both sexes and leads to a win-win situation for
both. ‘Power-over’ which refers to a situation of subordination on the one hand and
domination on the other, is unjust and detrimental to development because of the unequal
exchange it entails. A win-win situation is created by advocating:
• power-to: creative and enabling type of power, people’s empowerment
• power-with: group power, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
• power-within: spiritual strength, self-confidence
4. Gender equality needs to be ‘mainstreamed’, i.e. addressed in all development
programmes and at all stages of the programming cycle
It is sometimes thought that the promotion of equality between men and women is only
relevant in soft sectors, such as education, health and welfare, and not in hard sectors,
such as macro-economics. In other instances, it is considered that gender equality will be
achieved if something small and extra is done especially for women. These ideas do not
lead to progress in practice, because gender inequalities are deeply ingrained in the social,
economic, cultural and political fabric of societies. Gender equality is an issue which needs
to be addressed in all development fields and at all stages of the programming cycle, i.e. at
the planning and design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages.
18 Training of trainers’ (TOT) Manual on Gender Equality at Work in Viet Nam, Briefing Notes for Participants, Nelien
Haspels, ILO Bangkok, 2001.
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