Gender and Development
The integration of gender into development thinking unfolded in three overlapping phases — WID, WAD and GAD — each reflecting changing theory and policy priorities since the 1970s.
A multidimensional process of expanding human freedoms, capabilities and well-being. Amartya Sen reframed it as the removal of "unfreedoms" — poverty, tyranny, lack of opportunity — rather than simply economic growth.
WID — Women in Development (1970s)
The WID approach was launched by Ester Boserup's landmark Woman's Role in Economic Development (1970), which showed that colonial and post-colonial planners had systematically overlooked women's productive labour in agriculture and trade. The US Percy Amendment (1973) and UN International Women's Year (1975) followed.
- Liberal-feminist roots.
- Aim: integrate women into existing development by giving them access to credit, technology and education.
- Critique: treated women as a passive add-on; left the structures producing inequality untouched.
WAD — Women and Development (late 1970s)
A Marxist-feminist response.
- Argued women were already integrated into development — but on exploitative terms (low-wage factory work, unpaid care).
- Focus on global economic structures and how capitalism uses gendered labour.
- Critique: still treated "women" as a class apart and underplayed everyday gender relations.
GAD — Gender and Development (1980s onwards)
The current dominant paradigm. Emerged from socialist-feminist and postcolonial critiques.
- Shifts focus from women to gender relations — the dynamic between women and men.
- Analyses power, institutions and household bargaining.
- Recognises men as gendered actors and includes masculinities.
- Distinguishes practical gender needs (immediate, e.g. water, food) from strategic gender interests (long-term, e.g. legal equality) — framework by Caroline Moser (1989).
Comparison table
| Feature | WID | WAD | GAD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roots | Liberal feminism | Marxist feminism | Socialist & postcolonial feminism |
| Focus | Women | Women & global capitalism | Gender relations |
| View of state | Neutral, can deliver reform | Tool of capital | Site of struggle |
| Key policy | Integrate women into projects | Restructure global economy | Mainstream gender across all policy |
| Key thinker | Boserup | Beneria, Sen | Moser, Kabeer |
Sustainable Development Goals and gender
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted at the UN in 2015, made gender a cross-cutting theme.
- SDG 5: "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." Specific targets cover violence (5.2), child marriage (5.3), unpaid care (5.4), leadership (5.5), reproductive health (5.6), property rights (5.a) and ICT access (5.b).
- Predecessor: MDG 3 (2000–2015) focused narrowly on gender parity in primary education.
- WID = integrate women; WAD = critique global capitalism; GAD = transform gender relations.
- Moser distinguishes practical vs strategic gender needs/interests.
- Naila Kabeer's empowerment framework: resources, agency, achievements.
- SDG 5 covers everything from violence to leadership to digital inclusion.
- Pakistan ranks near the bottom (~145/146) on the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2023.
Key indices to memorise
| Index | Publisher | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Gender Development Index (GDI) | UNDP, since 1995 | HDI scores disaggregated by sex |
| Gender Inequality Index (GII) | UNDP, since 2010 | Reproductive health, empowerment, labour market |
| Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) | World Economic Forum, since 2006 | Economic, education, health, political subindices |
| Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) | OECD | Discriminatory laws and norms |
Gender budgeting and mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming (UN ECOSOC, 1997) requires that the differential impact on women and men be assessed at every stage of policy. Gender-responsive budgeting translates this into fiscal practice — pioneered by Australia (1984), now used in over 90 countries including Pakistan (piloted from 2005 under the Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative with UNDP support).
The empowerment framework
Naila Kabeer (1999) defines empowerment as the expansion of strategic life choices for those previously denied them, across three dimensions:
- Resources — material, human, social.
- Agency — the ability to define one's goals and act on them.
- Achievements — the outcomes realised.
A common CSS question asks you to distinguish WID, WAD and GAD. Memorise their decade, root feminism, and core slogan. Then anchor your answer with Moser's practical/strategic needs and Kabeer's empowerment framework — these are the two analytical tools examiners look for.
Pakistan: a snapshot
- Labour force participation (female): ~21–24% (PBS LFS).
- Adult literacy gap: female 52%, male 73% (PSLM).
- Maternal mortality ratio: ~154 per 100,000 live births (PMMS 2019).
- Political representation: 60 reserved seats for women in the National Assembly (out of 336).
These figures illustrate why a GAD lens — not just adding women to existing projects — is now standard in Pakistan's Public Sector Development Programme.