Terms on Gender

ACCESS
Definition
Women and men's opportunities to obtain or use resources (food, credit, technology, etc.) or services (education, health, etc.).
The ability and opportunity to acquire resources do not necessarily imply that people will have the power to command or control the benefits that derive from these activities.
It is recommended to distinguish between " use of " and " control over" a resource. Often women have access to land, seeds and/or credit, but do not have the decision-making power over that resource. (Moser, C., 1989").
Example
WFP accepts the challenge to improve women's access to longer-term assets, while recognizing the institutional and cultural constrains which slows down progress.
BENEFICIARY
Definition
Person and/or group of persons who benefit from a specific project, Programme or other form of development and/or emergency intervention. In order for the project or intervention to target its beneficiary group successfully, it is recommended that the beneficiaries be classified in terms of gender (women, men; girls, boys) and age, as well as in terms of socio-economic class and cultural affinity, so as to affinity, so as to define better the characteristics of the group in question.
Case-Load: Number of beneficiaries. In line with -WFP's people-centered approach, it is recommended that " number of beneficiaries" be used instead of caseload; the latter has a numerical and statistical connotation.
Example
While emergency operations are directed to stricken populations as a whole, women and children tend to the major direct beneficiaries of WFP food assistance, not by design, but of necessity, because women and children have fewer options than men, viz., mobility, alternative sources of livelihood, tradable assets at their disposal or skills.

BOTTOM UP APPROACH
Definition
A bottom-up approach means that interventions must always be planned and implemented with the participation of both women and men, and measured in terms of how such interventions will affect people's lives in ways that are meaningful to their priorities.
Example
It is evident from the data that women, in many African countries are the main participants in food-for-work programs. There is a potential food-for-work program to increase the assets and resources of women if they are planned and implemented with their full participation.
CAPACITY-BUIDING
Definition
A set of actions aimed at strengthening country offices, national counterparts and NGOs involved in the implementation of project in developing countries. It is expected that capacity building will help nation offices in developing countries to achieve self-reliance.
Example
Capacity-building activities for gender include the following: the recruitment of local gender country offices to apply assessment tools and make recommendation for follow-up action, replication and subsequent training of staff and counterparts. The majority of country offices plan to revise the Monitoring and Evaluation system. The Gender Action Fund will be used to enhance the Training of Trainers capacity within WFP and counterparts, to conduct socio-economic and gender training workshop that will include national staff and counterparts, and to carry out nation and local training.
COMMUNITY
Definition
People who live in local administrative unit, such as in a municipality; or are associated ethnically such as in a tribe; or belong to a local rural or urban ecosystem, such as people of a neighborhood; or individuals a common framework of interests. A community is not a homogeneous entity, and there are relationships of power within it .The member of a community have different needs, priorities and roles. It is common for women to have little influence over community organization and usually they do not take decisions, which affect the community as a whole.
Example
Sometimes there are contradictions between involving the community and gender objectives. In Kenya community-based food distribution systems proved to be biased towards refugee leaders who are mostly men. WFP (World Food Programme) and UNHCR eventually abandoned this system in favor of a centralized food distribution where food is distributed under supervision to registered card-holders who are, in most cases, the senior member/head of household, thus giving women more chance to participate.
All community members need to be able to play a role in decision-making that affects their livelihood, in particular over access to and management of common resources. This implies the right to set up community gatherings and organization. Women must be able to fully participate in these processes.
CONTROL
Definition
In a development lexicon, control refers to the capacity to make decisions over a resources or situation. It is important to differentiate between access to and control over the use of resources, on the one hand, and access to and control over the benefits derived from the mobilization of resources on the other. Even where women have unrestrained use of resources, they are not always able to realize the gains from their use.
Example
The principle of targeting food to families or groups of families has been applied in most of the free distribution in the Great Lakes region and has resulted in a more efficient and equitable system. Under these systems beneficiaries are well informed in advance of their entitlements, and are then responsible for dividing up food among themselves. Food distribution through women (heads of households or senior female members) and their participation as managers has been vigorously promoted. Several women's groups have been organized and trained for this purpose by NGOs.
In Honduras gender analysis in this project will permit verification of whether women's access to and control over resources has improved and if they have gained decision-making positions in community organizations.
Women are found to be the main collectors of food during the distribution process. However, this does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that women have full control over the food collected from the distribution sites.
DECISION-MAKING
Definition
Control over a resource, including labor or development processes. It is necessary to separate various spheres of decision-making: one of production (of food or goods) where decisions are often taken by men, and the other of reproduction or human resource maintenance activities (including all the household tasks involved in caring for family members), where decisions are often taken by women; these are linked by a third sphere in the use of income, where decisions are often by men. The person in the household who has control over the resources is often the one who decides how to allocate intra-household resources, including food. Significant evidence shows that when women have decision-making power in their household, the trend is to convert more resources into food for family consumption. It is important to understand the decision-making process within household in order to address health and nutrition and household food security programs adequate.
Example
In Angola committees were created to represent people affected, but representatives were normally selected from the traditional authority, the party and the administration and they are all male. Women were therefore also excluded from these committees. The situation in Goma and Bukavu was somewhat different as women were organized in associations on all camps and they have made efforts to penetrate the decision-making structures even though with difficulty. Most of the camp were male-dominated.
In Nicaragua, women play an important role in the decision-making process, since they are involved in the establishment, management and administration of the centers as well as in day-to-day activities.
DEVELOPMENT
Definition
A process through which men and women, with varying degrees of external support, increase their options for improving their quality of life.
Development is based on women and men's mobilization, utilizing local resources to the utmost in a process in which their needs are met, their organizations are strengthened and the environment is preserved. Funds deployed in the development process have to be used in an efficient and cost-effective manner. WFP channels food aid with a view to increasing opportunities to improve the nutrition status of those most in need, enhancing their living conditions, supporting their access to water, health facilities, school enrolment and attendance, improving their access to credit and labor, and strengthening their participation in community organizations.
Example
Women are involved in development everywhere and all the time. The point is to create conditions under which women can be involved in social and economic transformation on better terms. The involvement of women in the development process is not just a matter of ethics, but of good economics.
DISADVANTAGE GROUP
Definition
Group within a society that is marginalized and has reduced access to resources and services such as education, health, credit and power. Some examples of disadvantaged groups are those affected by natural or man-made disasters (Such as refugees, returnees or internally displaced persons), some ethnic groups, older adults, children, and disabled persons. Women and/or girls in these groups tend to have fewer opportunities than their male counterparts.
DISCRIMINATION
Definition
A difference in treatment based on age, sex, ethnicity, religion or other factors, rather than on individual merit (IPS; 1996). Discrimination reduces the opportunities to have access to resources, health, education, employment or power.
Example
It is evident that women are marginalized in emergency and disaster situations as they are excluded from the decision-making structures, given the traditional nature of the committees that are established or utilized.
DISEMPOWERMENT
Definition
Any action, policy, development and/or relief Program or process through which women's and men's priorities, needs and interests are further ignored, reducing their participation in decision-making and representing an obstacle to their economic, political and social improvement.
Example
One problem has been identified as presenting a bottleneck to women's participation in elections. In many countries refugees are registered to participate in elections through their registration cards. Registration cards only hold the name of the heads of households who in the large majority of cases are men. Refugee women are not aware of these conditions for voting. They have underlined the fact that they do not participate in election committees and are not informed of the outcome of meetings. refugee women feel that this process is contributing to marginalized them.
EMPOWERMENT
Definition
A process though which women and men in disadvantage position increase their access to knowledge, resources, decision-making power and raise their awareness of participation in their communities, in order to reach a level of control over their own environment. The process of integrating gender equality and empowerment of women in WFP has major implications for policies and programming, and for the development of human resources.
Example
In India in a major move to empower women as a key structural measure for poverty alleviation, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (Panchayat Raj Act) of 1993 ensured a minimum of seats for women in all elected offices of 250,000 local bodies. About one million women are emerging as decision-makers; 75,000 are expected to become chairpersons at the village, block and district level.
ENTITLEMENT
Definition
The right to have command over resources. It can take the form of rights over resources. It can take the form of rights over labor, land, goods and cash, and includes rights of use and/or sale and purchase. Command over resources is not typically controlled by law as ownership is. Each member of a household is entitled to a certain quantity of commodities, including food, according to his/her sex and age. Therefore, food entitlements are determined by the endowments (land, labor, and livestock) of a person or family, and the amount of food they can acquire through trade and/or production (Sen, A; 1990 46, FAO;1990 16 ). Usually women and men, and girls and boys in a household have different entitlements over food, which is part of the customary practices.
Example
Gender differences in entitlements exist in many patrilineal societies and bear much responsibility for intra-household welfare differentials and, hence, differences in opportunity set. In contemporary societies the distribution of resources occurs through a complex system of claims, which are in turn embedded within social relations and practices that govern possession, distribution and use patterns of those societies.
FAMILY
Definition
A group of persons of common ancestry; living under the same roof and sharing domestic resources and/or responsibilities.
There are many different types of families. These include:
Extended family: a family comprised not only of parents and children, but also of relatives living in proximity;
Biological family: a group consisting of two parents and their biological children;
Nuclear family: group consisting of parents and their children (biological and/or adoptive) (IPS;1996 30 ).
Family members have different roles, needs and priorities, based on sex and age. In planning development or relief interventions, it is necessary to examine family composition and the various roles of family members. Usually the terms family composition and household are used interchangeably. In a strict sense, the term family is use to refer to common ancestry, while the term household is used more for a socio-economic unit.
Example
In a polygamous marriage co-wives will only share food when the husband instructs them to do so. It becomes important for WFP staff then, to ensure that all wives in a family are registered and benefiting from the relief program. In Sankhari Malawi, it was discovered there were families where one wife was receiving aid and the other was not. (WFP; 1995 98 )
While various concepts the family exists in different social, cultural, legal and political systems, the family is the basic unit of the society and as such is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and support. The process of rapid demographic and socio-economic change throughout the world has influenced patterns of family formation and family life, generating considerable change in family composition and structure. Traditional notions of gender-based division of parental and domestic functions and participation in the paid labour force do not reflect current realities and aspirations, as more and more women in all parts of the take up paid employment outside the home. At the same time, widespread migration, forced shifts of population caused by violent conflicts and wars, urbanization, poverty, natural disasters and other causes of displacement have placed greater strains on the family, since assistance from extended family support networks is often no longer available.
FEMALE
Definition
The term female refers to biologically-based refers as to women. The term women or girls refers to biologically and socially or culturally based references to gender ( IPS; 1996). It is recommended that the term " women" used, when possible, since " female" has a more biological connotation.
FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY
Definition
This concept refers to the fact that women and men experience poverty and its effects in different ways. Women are more negatively affected than men as a result of economic globalization are and more specifically, as a result of the macro-economic policies of many developing countries, which often include structural adjustment programs.
Example
Women and men experience poverty in different ways and the feminization of poverty may be a question less of whether more women than men are poor than of the severity of poverty and the greater hardship women face in lifting themselves and their children out of the trap.

GENDER
Definition
The differences between women and men within the same household and within and between cultures that are socially and culturally constructed and change over time. These differences are reflected in: roles, responsibilities, access to resources, constraints, opportunities, needs, perceptions, views, etc. held by both women and men. Thus, gender is not a synonym for women, but considers both women and men and their interdependent relationships. ( Moser, C. 1993).
Example
WFP policies recognize that " gender" is a critical variable in project and overall development planning". Gender refers to socially acquired and culturally specific attributes distinguishing women and men. A focus on gender recognizes socially and culturally determined differences between women and men, primarily in relation to the household division of labor, and their access to and control over production resources and assets.
GENDER ANALYSIS
Definition
Examination of a social process which considers the roles played by women and men, including issues such as the division of labor, productive and reproductive activities, access to and control over resources and benefits, and socio-economic and environmental factors that influence women and men. Gender analysis also refers to the systematic investigation of the differential impacts of development on women and men (OXFAM; 1994 40; IPS; 1996 30). Gender analysis is a tool that is applied in WFP throughout the project cycle (appraisal, monitoring and evaluation), as well as to any other assessment or analysis of benefits, beneficiaries or executing agencies. It is also applied in the design and implementation of policies, in the development of human resources, training, etc.
Example
Gender analysis is project work seeks to organize information in such a way as to distinguish the resources, activities, potentials and constraints of women and men in a given beneficiary groups and to ensure maximum efficiency and sustainability in pursuing a development goal.
Improving gender analysis and planning is another focus of training for WFP counterparts. National workshops are held to improve the capacity to work with partners on more equitable measures to select beneficiaries, design activities, manage food commodities and develop food aid programs in partnership with women's fliteracy and leadership development programs
The construction of roads might have different effects in different socio-economic groups in the project area, for example, on the landless or on cash-crop producers and subsistence farmers (men and women). Gender analysis should form part of the analysis of the differential effects of the road on each of the major socio-economic groups.
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD)
Definition
An approach to development based on the premise that all policies, programmes and projects should reflect the needs, priorities, roles and the differential impact of development processes on men and women. The GAD approach strives for gender equality by seeking full recognition and understanding of the contributions that women make to development. It aims to increase women's access to and control over resources on equal terms with men, as gender analysis has repeatedly shown that women do not benefit equality. (UNRISD, UNDP; 1995 65). GAD represents a shift from the marginal position of "Women's issues" to the center of the development agenda, in both institutional and theoretical terms. This has led to the rethinking of institutional structures, rules, priorities and goals, and to a substantial redistribution of resources (Kaber, N., and Subrahmanian, R; 199632).
GENDER AWARENESS
Definition
The recognition that the life experiences, expectations, and needs of women and men are different, that many times they involve inequity, and that they are subject to change. In development and relief work, gender awareness refers to the perception and realization of the ways in which women and men participate in the development process, how they are affected by it, and how they benefit from it. Experience has shown that without such awareness, not only will development and relief interventions fail to meet the needs and serve the interests of all people they are intended to help, but they may indeed hinder the situation of women.
Example
A longitudinal study in rural Guatemala revealed through statistical analyses that the differences in weight and height between two groups of adolescents were due to differences established when they were three years old. The weight and height of boys was three times better than that of girls.
The strength of the WFP Women's Training Centers in Bangladesh seems to be in the awareness building side, not exclusively through the process of formal training, but also through the informal regular 'get-togethers' during which women share achievements and problems.
GENDER BALANCE
Definition
WFP refers to gender balance as the goal of having the same number of women and men staff in the different levels of the organizational structure. WFP is making special efforts to increase the number of women staff members in high-level positions.
Example
Although much work remains to be done, the number of female staff has increased substantially at all levels and in all categories, through a proactive recruitment and promotion policy, and a better retention rate.
GENDER-BASED DIVISION OF LABOR
Definition
The division of labor in societies is directly tied to socio-cultural patterns, which determine the tasks that women and men should perform. Generally speaking, societies use the different reproductive roles that stem from biological differences between women and men as the basis to divide their tasks both in the home and in the public sphere
In public spheres male domination is well recognized, while in the household economy and in the domestic sphere, it is necessary to analyze the division of labor and power relation of women and men in order to understand their dynamics. In all societies there is a set of norms that demarcate responsibilities for the decades, in some societies the division of labor between women and men has changed.
Example
Taking into account the account of work a person can do in four hours, an NGO in Malawi established work norms. The beneficiaries work in the project in the afternoon, after laboring in their fields. Generally women and men must fulfil same work norms before earning a day's food. However, women find it difficult to complete their household chores, as well as their field and project work. In this case the project norms had to be re-evaluated.
GENDER BIAS
Definition
Actions against women (or men) based on the perception that the other sex is not equal and does not have the same rights.
Example
In most cases women were not involved in the food distribution process as employees or decision-maker. The data show that the majority of employees, field monitors and supervisors were male. As the ration cards were in the men's name, women had limited access to or control over the food rations.
GENDER-DIFFERENTIATED IMPACT
Definition
the effects of policies, programs, projects and/or measures, which have a different impact on women and men (IPS199630). These may widen or narrow the existing gaps between women and men in their control over resources and benefits derived from them. In countries manifesting gender gaps, WFP implements measures aimed at achieving a differential impact, benefiting women and girls.
Example
Emergency situation affect women and men differently. For example in a study of time spent in a day which compared the lives of women and men, it was found that women's normal activities were accentuated by the hardship of life in the camp, with less time for sleeping and productive activities. The lives of men had also changed in that their previous role had been distributed.
By the end of 1995, approximately 500 Village Development Committees had been established in Combodia. Members were elected. Women had to represent at least 40 percent of the membership. There was a Ministry for Women's Affairs, elevated from the former secretariat. A National Policy on women had been promulgated to guide ministries and agencies on how to meet women's needs. The First Socio-economic Development Plan 1996-2000 incorporates explicit considerations of the role of women in development process.
GENDER EMPOWERMENT MEASURE (GEM)
Definition
This index, developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) quantitatively measures the empowerment of women on a country-by-country basis. The index measures gender inequality in three key areas: a) Power over economic resources based on earned income: b) access to professional opportunities and participation in economic decision-making; and c) access to political opportunities and participation in political decision-making, i.e. it indicates women's participation in political and economic life and in decision-making positions such as by the number of parliamentary seats and the number of professional and managerial jobs held by women. The greater the gender disparity, the lower the GEM.

GENDER EQUALITY
Definition
A term which reflects an equal sharing of power between women and men, in their equal access to education, health, administrative and managerial positions, equal pay for work of equal value and equal seats in parliament, among others (United Nations; 199558; UNDP; 199549). WFP shares the United Nations' goal of achieving gender equality. The process of integrating gender equality and women's empowerment into WFP's policies has major implications for programming, and as regards the development of human resources. WFP will pursue the following four strategies; a) staff and counterpart capacity-building in analysis and planning, taking into the differences between women and men; b) managers' role in mainstreaming gender issues; c) development of guidelines on gender equality and empowerment; and d) exchange of experiences.
Example
Due to the challenge that grass-root participation poses to existing norms and power relations, introducing "participation" may result in the creation of conflicts within the community. Tradition should not be evoked as a way of avoiding the issue of gender equality
GENDER EQUITY
Definition
The fair distribution of resources and benefits between women and men according to cultural norms and values. This concept has different implication in different countries because it is based on different cultural standards. It is usually based on the traditional perception that women and men do not necessarily have the same needs and rights. The UN system promotes gender equality, pushing beyond cultural definitions of gender equality.
GENDER FOCAL POINT
Definition
Staff of the country offices and headquarters who: a) monitor the implementation of WFP's Gender Action Plan; b) maintain relationships with Gender Focal Points in government and other relevant organizations; and c) acts as training and briefing resources mobilizes on gender analytical planning.
GENDER FRAMEWORK

Definition
A series of analytical tools which set out different key categories of factors that are relevant in the analysis of specific topics, including gender variables . These tools will contribute to the understanding of women's and men's roles, their needs, access to power, their coping starting points for designing and programming WFP assistance from relief to development.

GENDER GAP

Definition
The disparity (measured quantitatively) between women and men, and girls and boys, in their access to resources, education, health, services or power. The reduction or expansion of gender gaps can better illustrate to development workers to what extent women and men, and girls and boys have benefited from project or policy interventions in areas such as education, health care and food distribution.

Example
WFP undertook assessments to identify cases where a gender gap existed in a management of the assets created by food-for-work activities, in the distribution of their long term benefits or in access of training and credit facilities. In Equador, the computerized monitoring and evaluation system now includes indicators to follow up project benefits from a gender perspective; in Bolivia, as a result of the analysis the monitoring and reporting requirements included in the plan of operations were modified to take this specific concern more into account.
The situation of women in Yemen (March 1996) shows that 45.9 percent of urban females' aged 10 and above are illiterate compared to 16.3 percent of males.
Where gender-gaps exists, specific targets are being introduced in country program to invest 60 percent of resource in women and girls. For example, in the Bangladesh Country Program, specific targets were introduced within the Rural Development Program to reach more women beneficiaries and to meet the required investment level of overall resources in women and girls.

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

Definition
Gender is a dimension that has to be incorporated in all policies, and development planning and processes, since it helps to understand better the attitude, needs and roles of women and men in society, on the basis of social, economic, political and cultural factors. Thus, gender has to be considered as part of the general analysis of an activity, policy, program, event or process. It should be mainstreamed and should not be considered as a separate issue.

Example
In Honduras, the WFP project mechanisms to ensure benefits to women will be: a) women will participate at the level of 50 percent in committees at the community and municipality levels in food distribution, results monitoring and assessments of projects that will be carried out under a food-for-development scheme; b) a simple monitoring tool will be distributed to the Field Units to monitor food distribution among household members, and access to, and control over food and other resources; c) the training package delivered by UNFPA, UNICEF, PAHO and WFP on health and nutrition, project implementation and community building will include gender as a cross-cutting issue; d) the Management Units will receive advice from the leading "Women's Office" on how to meet the Commitments to Women made at the Beijing Conference in 1995; e) the terms of reference of project personnel will include gender sensitivity, especially for Management Unit staff; h) the project will organize a gender workshop every year with the participation of implementing agencies (NGOs, municipal councils and the health sector) to access how gender issues are being included in project implementation; and g) data collection and indicators will be desegregated by gender.

GENDER NEEDS

Definition
Since women and men play different roles, have differential access to and control over resources and face different types of constraints, they usually have different needs and priorities. When planing development interventions, it is often assumed that household members have the same needs. In these cases, women's needs are often not expressed
Practical gender needs (PGN): Need related to the women; men and children play in society. Activities which address the practical needs of women include a) reducing their workload; b) increasing their incomes, among others. (OXFAM; 1995 41). PGN do not address the subordinate position of women in society; therefore, they are not directly linked with women's empowerment.
Strategic gender needs (SGN): A need that questions the traditional roles that women and men play in society. SGN is a response to inequalities in decision-making positions and long-term benefits (Moser, C.; 1989 36 ). Addressing the strategic needs of both women and men requires long-term planning, and requires work with both to bring about changes in gender relations. Activities which address strategic gender needs include: a) achieving equality of legal rights such as land tenure; b) improving access to productive resources; c) enhancing participation in decision-making; d) acquiring equal opportunities in employment; e) taking up positions of power; and f) gaining the right to participate in decisions about development interventions.

Example
Some 70 percent of full-time farmers in Malawi are women and one third of rural households are headed by women; yet women have less access than men to agricultural extension, credit, technology or inputs. As a result, they comprise a large portion of the rural poor and are less able than other farmers to cope with the consequences of drought. The needs of such women, especially those of rural households headed by women, should be addressed in both an emergency free distributions of maize and food-for-work, development projects.
If WFP is going to introduce a gender-sensitive, community-based policy concerning food distribution, it will be necessary to avoid a static perspective on what constitutes the differential needs of men and women. It must also consider the different requirement of women and men at different stages of the life cycle. In this respect, the elderly children and adolescents are also part of a gender-sensitive approach that acknowledges the differential needs of a population.
In Guatemala the participation of women as full members in the sectoral committees is effective. The needs of to the extent that the existing assistance fits their needs.

GENDER PERSPECTIVE

Definition
A focus which introduces a framework of analysis to be used in order to be used in order to assess how women and men affect and are affected by policies, programs, projects and activities in any development or relief interventions.

Example
The determinants to define the level at which refugees in eastern Zaire achieve food security will be more relevant and systematic if refugee women and men are studied in different group, taking into account the specificity of each group. Access to resources, mobility, political conditions, security, availability of non-food items, level of vulnerability, etc. are experienced and perceived and perceived differently by refugees according to their sex, age, wealth and social status.

GENDER-RELATED DEVELOPMENT INDEX (GDI)

Definition
The GDI is based on the Human Development Index (HDI) 5 adjusted for gender inequality. The GDI adjusts the average achievement of each country in life expectancy, educational attainment and income, in accordance with the degree of disparity in achievement between women and men. The greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower a country's GDI

GENDER RELATIONS

Definition
Analysis of women and men's positions in relationship to each other. (IPS; 1996 30). As a result of unequal gender relations, women's practical needs for the basics of life, including water, food and shelter may be met but not their strategic needs. Women often are unable to later outcomes according to their own wishes due to unequal power relations based on gender.

Example
In most regions of the world today woman are represented in a wide range of professions and occupations, but they continue to be stereotyped as dependent upon a male breadwinner within a family unit. This reflects a crystallization of traditional gender relations. As a result, women have limited opportunities to become decision-maker, whether in the family, in their communities, or at the national political level. WFP is attempting to rectify this situation by providing opportunities for women in decision-making roles, e.g., in food management and distribution.


GENDER ROLE

Definition
Socially determined behaviors, tasks and responsibilities for women and men based on socially perceived differences that define how women and men should act. Gender roles change over time, through individual choices or with social or political changes such as economic crises, natural disasters and consequent emergencies, and post-war situations in which the decision-making power and responsibilities of women and men may vary

Example
While the responsibility of African women in preserving the family has always proven to be critical, in situations of exile the role of women becomes even more difficult. For example, many women and girls after the Rwandese tragedy have found themselves forced to assume the lone role of family breadwinner. Refugee women's survival strategies in eastern Zaire in ensuring the economic well-being of the household has led to increasing responsibility on their part and changed roles within the family.
During post-war situations women often become the sole providers of food for children, the sick and the elderly, as men are absent. At the same time, they often lack the necessary resources and sometimes also the experience to make decisions for the entire household. They may also be expected to revert to their former traditional roles despite their new skills. Consequently, the physical and psychological stress on these women is enormous.


GENDER-SENSITIVITY
Definition
Understanding and consideration of socio-cultural factors underlying sex-based discrimination. The term also applies to attitudes that socialize girls and boys into certain behaviors or opportunities, for example, pushing boys to play sports or not expecting girls to do well at sports. (IPS, 1996 30). Gender-sensitive planing uses specific methods and tools to provide women and girls more opportunities for their participation in the development process and to measure the impact of planned activities on women and men.
Example
WFP Bolivia has prepared an Action Plan to promote and monitor the role of women in WFP's activities from 1997 to 2001.Work plans must include: a) design of a system for gender involvement by trimester; b) definition of indicators to monitor follow-up actions; c) creation of a gender analysis matrix to analyze activities undertaken; and d) revision of M&E forms to provide gender data and information on credit, training, food distribution and planning. Furthermore, the major part of the technical and administrative personnel will be women.
Following up on the Commitments to women made in Beijing in 1995, memoranda of understanding (MOU) on joint and individual responsibilities were signed with seven international partners in 1996. The MOUs define the following implementation and monitoring requirements: the application of a participatory mode of planning that considers the specific needs and potential of refugee and displaced women; the provision of appropriate and adequate food for women and children at risk; and measures taken to ensure that women hold key positions in the management of food aid.
A gender-sensitive program addresses the differential losses of both women and men, and seeks to anticipate the balance of power in the interest of community survival.
GENDER TASK FORCE
Definition
The WFP Gender Task Force advises the Program on the overall strategy and monitors progress in the implementation of a WFP Action Plan on Commitments to Women. Chaired by the Deputy Executive Director, the Gender Task Force operates at the senior management level in the field and at headquarters to ensure that progress achieved is sustained throughout the Program.
GENDER TRAINING
Definition
Teaching activity aimed at developing a common understanding of gender policies and concepts, as well as skills in targeting, beneficiary participation and monitoring of gender equality.
Example
In the Latin American and Caribbean region, gender policies and practices were integrated into WFP's regional planning and training workshops. All international staff and some national officers have participated.
National gender training workshops with counterparts were organized in Bolivia, Guatemala, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Uganda. Workshops were followed up with the preparation of gender action plans.
GRASS-ROOTS ORGANIZATION
Definition
Community-based group, which is part of civil society and represents the interests of its members. The construction of legitimacy (meaning the ownership and organization) is an important issue which grass roots organization is faced.
Example
In order to achieve a grass-roots level of participation in both emergency and development interventions, it is important to identify the different actors who are to participate in terms of class, gender, and ethnic representation.
MALE
Definition
The term male refers to biologically based references to sex. (IPS; 199630). In line with WFP's people-centered approach, it is recommended that the term "man" be used when possible, since "male" has a biological connotation.

MAN
Definition
Refers to socially or culturally based references to adult males. The term male should be used when referring to biologically based references to sex.
MATERNITY
Definition
The quality or state of being a mother. Refers to tasks, responsibilities and activities that a woman performs to give birth and/or bring up children. Women make a significant contribution to welfare of the family and to the development of society which is not always recognized. The social importance of maternity and the role of parents in the family and in the upbringing of children should be acknowledged. These activities require shared responsibilities of parents and society as a whole. Maternity, motherhood and the role of women in procreation must not be a basis for discrimination nor restrict the participation of women in society. It is important to recognize the important role played by women in caring for the family members.
Expectant woman-mother It is recommended to use expectant mother rather than "pregnant woman''. Expectant mother implies not only the fact of delivering a child, but also a human condition related to motherhood.
Nursing mother, A women who breastfeeds her children. It is recommended to use the term "nursing'' mother rather than "lactating'' women. "Nursing mother'' not only describes the fact of providing milk to children, but also covers aspects related to human care.
Example
In designing a food intervention, a hierarchy among individual objectives needs to be established to reflect the relative importance of the causes of nutrition and health problems faced by expectant and nursing mothers and infants in the specific situation.
WFP will provide assistance to those women and children whose nutritional vulnerability is directly linked to a lack of sufficient and appropriate food intake. Priority will be given to malnourished children and undernourished expectant and nursing mothers. Food delivery performance, child growth and birth weight are the key indicators for the monitoring process.

MATRILINEAL
Definition
Societies or groups organized on the basis of female descent in which the identity, family name or inheritance is determined through the mother's line.
OWNERSHIP
Definition
The right to have control over a resource.
It is important to note the differences between having control over and having access to resources. To have decision-making power over it, which normally derives from ownership of it. To have access to a resource is to have the possibility of making use of it, but not necessarily of having any control over it.
To own, to have access to, and to control resources are actions that are generally gender-based. For example, in some cultures, women do not have the legal right to own land or livestock. They therefore do not have decision-making power over them, even if they make of and manage them on a daily basis.
Example
At the initial stage of a project in Bolivia, women conducted most of the work; notably, the care and milking of the animals, which were purchased with project credit, and delivery of milk to processing plants. However, full membership in the producers' associations and benefits from market proceeds were often denied to them, on the grounds that their husbands represented them sufficiently. After discussion, the project-operating manual was changed to ensure the legal registration of the women and their businesses in their names. This measure, together with the provision of credit and technical assistance to women, ensures that they have control over dairy production and distribution, and the sale of milk.
PARTICIPATION
Definition
To take part in an activity, endeavor, or objective; to engage or have a share in something in common with others.
In a development lexicon, participation refers to individuals, groups' communities and institutions taking part in the decision-making process related to the development effort. Participation must include persons or groups marginalized or discriminated from decision-making positions. It is often necessary to develop specific strategies and tools to promote the participation of marginalized or discriminated groups such as women or ethnic minorities. Participation leads to empowerment.
WFP recognizes the following level of people's participation in projects: a) as food recipients; b) as workers; c) as consulted members; d) as planners; and e) as decision-makers. WFP also recognizes that community participation is a promising and dynamic approach that is sustainable, needs oriented and crucial to equitable rehabilitation and development. The concern is for women to be able to participate fully at all level of action and decision-making.
Example
The participation of women and men in food aid operations is an essential component in disaster situations, as it empowers the community to control the information and resources to which they are entitled.
Community participation is critical to promote self-reliance and long-term sustainability of projects. In Malawi, Mozambique, Angola and Zaire to empower women and men, to improve their assets, skills and capabilities, and to deal with their vulnerable and food-insecure situation, it is imperative that they participate in the identification of their needs, and the planning and implementation of programs to facilitate the recovery and reconstruction of their communities.
PEOPLE
Definition
A body of persons united by a common culture, tradition or sense of kinship, usually having a common language, and common institutions and beliefs, and often politically organized. In most cases, in order to de-emphasize the anonymity of the individuals being addressed, the term "people'' should be further broken down into gender, age, class and ethnic group, where appropriate.
Example
To improve the lives of the poorest people is the main goal of WFP's mission. The Mission Statement clearly defines WFP's mandate in the development area as support of economic and social development with the core policies and strategies of improving the nutritional status and quality of life of the most vulnerable people, especially women and children, during critical periods of their life.
POLICY
Definition
Course of action adopted by a government, organization, and institution, group or individual, to guide Programme activities . Policies are not neutral. Gender-sensitive policies are those addressed to meet the targeted needs of women and men on equal terms within existing distribution of resources and responsibilities.
Gender-blind policies: Policies that do not make distinction between sexes. Assumptions incorporate biases in favor of existing gender relations and so tend to exclude women.
Gender-aware policies: that acknowledge that development actors are women as well as, men that they are constrained in different, and often unequal ways, and that they may consequently have differing and sometimes conflicting needs, interests and priorities
The WFP Committee on food Aid Policies and Programs (CFA) approved the food aid policy on women in development in 1987 and the sectoral guidelines on gender variables in food-assisted project in 1989. These have been reinforced by the 1995 Commitments for Women. The WFP policies address two priority areas for improving the quality of projects: the quality of women's participation and equality in the distribution of benefits. WFP's Mission Statement indicates that women's advancement is the key to solving problems of hunger and poverty, and ensures a broad-based participation of the target group population in the design, implementation and monitoring of WFP supported activities.
Example
Nation food policies often neglect to take into account the common maldistribution of food among households or even communities and regions. In addition, explicit attention is necessary to how food is distributed within the household.
Because gender is an integral part of social life, all policy is filtered though a gender lens; policies can perpetuate gender is an integral part of social life, all policy is filtered through a gender less; policies can perpetuate gender inequality, but others can serve to break down gender inequality.

POVERTY
Definition
The failure to meet people's "basic needs", i.e., the incapacity to achieve the necessary levels of health, nutrition, housing, education and employment to be able to look forward to a reasonable duration of life.
Poverty is a complex and multidimensional problem with origins in both the nation and international domains. The lack of access to healthy and adequate food for all family members is one of the most critical components of poverty which is further aggravated by the exclusion from decision-making and lack participation in local organizations and political processes. Poverty affects disproportionately women and children, the weak and disabled, and people in rural areas. In almost all countries, there are more women then men at the lowest levels of income, and households by women than men at the lowest level of income and households headed by women are among the poorest groups in every society (United Nations; 1997 63). The application of gender analysis to a wide range of economic policies and Programs is therefore crucial to poverty reduction strategies.
Example
Hunger and poverty are not impartial. They beset women much more then men. Seven out of 10 of the world's hungry poor are women and girls. When civil wars, drought and other disasters ravage a land, three out of four victims are women and young children.
SEX
Definition
The biological characteristics of being male or female that are genetically determined.
SOCIAL NORMS
Definition
Standards or models of behavior practiced by societies and rooted in their cultural, ethnic and historical backgrounds. Often social norms limit the participation of women in mainstream development, due to the fact that they are limited in their time, access to education, resources, services or their participation in decision-making processes.

Example
WFP in Yemen faces a great challenge. Yemen is one of the more conservative countries of the Middle East region; it is characterized by pronounced gender inequity. Taking account of social, cultural and political factors is particularly important at this time. Religious conservatism is leaving its mark on the manner and education. It is estimated that 78 percent of WFP's current beneficiaries are women (female students and nursing mother).
In Pakistan, data indicate a low utilization of Mother and Child Health services, with 38 percent of births attended by trained health personnel and 30 percent of expectant mothers immunized against tetanus. It appears that a variety of cultural and social factors have hindered women's full participation in and benefit from primary health services.
WOMEN-SPECIFIC PROJECT
Definition
A project addressed primarily to women. Such projects are often relatively small-scale, and have reduced budget, low governmental priorities and minimal impact. They may help to awareness on issues linked with women's lives and living conditions, deliver information and training, and be useful to test specific actions. However, these projects should be seen solely as an initial step in the enhancement of women's capacities and participation in the public sphere, to be followed by other joint programs.
WORK
Definition
Human activity that produces good and/or services. It is necessary to distinguish between productive (most often remunerated), and reproductive (usually non-remunerated) work. The term "invisible" labor refers to unremunerated subsistence household maintenance and agricultural work, mostly performed by women and girls. Invisible work includes tasks such as: carrying water and fuelwood, growing and processing primary agricultural produce for the household, and performing domestic work, including child care.
Example
When women are direct beneficiaries as workers, (under food for work) this approach values their contribution, transforming it into food rations, thus meeting three interrelated objective: a) ensuring food supply for household food security; b) valuing women's contribution through income in kind; and c) emphasizing women's importance in the household through direct control over the food they bring.