Armenia

III.Mainstreaming Genderin Project Operations158. This chapter reviews gender issues in sectors on which the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) plans to focus its operations under the country partnership strategy, 2014–2018. While some of the topics included here have been approached in the past as genderneutral,consideration of the different roles and responsibilities of men and women, theirunequal access to resources, and the potential impacts of neutral policies illustrate thatgender should be given consideration in such sectors.159. The ADB Policy on Gender and Development (GAD, 1998) adopts mainstreamingas a key strategy for promoting gender equity and women’s empowerment. 230 The ADBapproach to GAD, and specifically to the promotion of gender equality, includes (i) treatinggender as a crosscutting theme in all social and economic processes, and (ii) adoptingtargeted measures to address egregious gender disparities. ADB guidelines set forthfour categories for integrating gender in projects, ranging from those that include genderequality and/or women’s empowerment as a primary outcome to those that includesome gender elements. The categories are (i) gender equity theme, (ii) effective gendermainstreaming, (iii) some gender elements, and (iv) no gender elements. 231160. At the time this assessment was conducted, four of ADB’s projects in Armeniahave mainstreamed gender to some extent. Further details about each project’s genderaction plan are provided in the relevant sections that follow.Table 7:Gender Mainstreaming in ADB ProjectsProjectWomen’s EntrepreneurshipSupport Sector Development ProgramWater Supply and Sanitation Sector ProjectGender MainstreamingCategoryGender equity themeEffective gendermainstreamingGender ActionPlanSustainable Urban Development Investment Program Some gender elements (undergoing revision)North–South Road Corridor Investment Program Some gender elementsSource: ADB. Gender and Development. http://www.adb.org/themes/gender/projects/gender-mainstreaming-categories230 ADB. 2003. Gender and Development. Manila. p. viii.231 In 2012, the “some gender elements” classification replaced the former “SGB: some gender benefits” classification. See Guidelinesfor Gender Mainstreaming Categories of ADB Projects for full definitions. Note that projects that are categorized as either genderequity theme or effective gender mainstreaming are deemed to include “significant gender mainstreaming.” The results frameworkformulated in light of ADB’s Strategy 2020 established corporate targets that 40% of all ADB operations and 50% of those financedthrough the Asian Development Fund should include significant gender mainstreaming.48