Essays On Gender And Governance - United Nations Development ...

The Impact of Gender Inequality on Governance
minority women (such as the Chakma in Bangladesh) sometimes
hinged on the nature of the minority community’s relationship with
the majority, especially with the majority-dominated state at any
given historical moment (Ain O Salish Kendra, 2002).
The capacity to re-imagine the state in South Asia is both
influenced and limited by the fact that women and men have rarely,
if ever, experienced, or been encouraged to imagine, a viable
alternative to the organising principles and functioning of an
overarching state, even if, as an institution, it is inefficient and
frequently corrupt and repressive. Hence, women and men
continue to perceive themselves as located within and in
relationship to the existing state, and in large measure expect the
state to continue in its many roles as intervener and mediator rather
than reduce its capacities. However, women in general are very
clear that the state falls considerably short of what it could do to
alleviate the lives of its citizens. Most women envision a democratic,
participatory, accountable, non-discriminatory and gender sensitive
state that is committed to the transparency of processes of
governing. Many also see the state as a provider of law, order and
peace as women are disproportionately victimised by violence of
all types (Ekatra, 2002). They also desired a state where religious
or ethnic differences would not be deployed for political gain.
Others, especially if they were from disenfranchised minority
communities, emphasised the need for a state to guarantee physical
and economic security, and to maintain the rule of law, including
respect for fundamental rights (Asmita, 2002, and Ain O Salish
Kendra, 2002). It was felt that a decentralised state was more likely
than a centralised one to address effectively everyday, local
concerns (Ekatra, 2002). In short, women are interested in seeing
the welfare state persist and strengthened, acting as a provider of
resources and employment, a site of adjudication, and as the owner
and maintainer of essential services. This takes on added urgency
in a context where structural adjustment and economic reform
programmes threaten to curtail state-provided facilities that are
vital to women’s capacities to continue discharging their
responsibilities to their families and communities.
There is also hesitation by communities to take on full
responsibility for managing resources that could be utilised by
citizens. While communities may profess to have a shared
83