Review 3 final 2 - TAU - National Treasury

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE UNIT REVIEW | SIMULTANEOUS MAINSTREAMING OF GENDER AND DISABILITY
variations in practice to overcome inequalities based
on gender and disability. In practice, gender and
disability equality norms often have to fight their way
into institutional thinking as these norms are perceived
to be in conflict with traditional organizational norms
and in competition with core business priorities. 8 In
business, the goal of competitiveness of the economy
takes precedence over equality considerations, thereby
condoning the many manifestations of gender and
disability inequality such as unequal pay and job
stereotyping.
Compliance to Law and Policy
There is always a link between good governance and
compliance with law and policy. Good governance is
not something that exists separately from the law and
it is entirely inappropriate to unhinge governance from
the law. The eradication of discrimination based on
gender and disability, as envisioned in the Bill of Rights,
has shifted compliance from the voluntary to the
obligatory domain. No longer do public and private
sector organisations have the choice of whether or
not to remove barriers and to accommodate women
and persons with disabilities. The starting point of any
analysis on this topic is the duty of office bearers to
discharge their legal duties in respect of gender and
disability equality and removal of unlawful and unfair
discrimination.
Implementation challenges
Gender and disability mainstreaming has the potential
to be transformative in nature, changing the dominant
paradigms in which we work. However, the essence
of gender and disability mainstreaming makes it
a challenge to implement. The task is formidable
not only because of the inherently political nature
of its transformative potential, but because of the
challenge of scale in terms of range and the nature
of change required. 9 Realising the potential of gender
and disability mainstreaming requires significant and
systematic change. Experience to date suggests that
the move from policy to practice has been challenging,
and while policy and strategies have varied in their
impact, they have, however, all fallen short of the
articulated goal of gender equality. In most cases,
implementation has also fallen well short of declared
policy. 10
Governance Imperatives
Setting priorities, goals and targets
The first and perhaps most essential task for
governance is articulating a set of priorities and
goals for mainstreaming gender and disability that
are in line with the legal and policy framework for
gender and disability and that can be agreed upon
by the members of the organisation. This set of
goals on the organisational level reflects the national
and internationally agreed-upon standards and
benchmarks for gender and disability.
Setting up structures and processes
Corporate governance mainly involves the
establishment of structures and processes, with
appropriate checks and balances that enable office
bearers to discharge their legal responsibilities and
oversee compliance with legislation in respect of
equality and non-discrimination based on gender and
disability. The more established certain governance
practices become, the more likely a court would regard
conduct that conforms with these practices as meeting
the required standard. Governance practices, codes and
guidelines therefore lift the bar of what are regarded as
appropriate standards of conduct. Consequently, any
failure to meet a recognised standard of governance,
albeit not legislated, may render a board or individual
director liable at law. 11
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Enabling change for development