GOAL OF SECTION Ground the reader in key concepts and ideas related to gender equality and infrastructure. For further detail readers are directed to Annexes 1-4. | |
"Why is gender important for infrastructure policy and operations? Infrastructure development is not simply a technocratic question. It requires combining supply-side issues of technical design specifications… with demand side dimensions of who uses infrastructure, for what purposes, how it is paid for and with what impacts on individuals, households and communities. In this respect, infrastructure development is not gender neutral. Making Infrastructure Work for Women and Men: A Review of World Bank Group Infrastructure Projects 2005-2009, World Bank 2012 | |
KEY GENDER DEFINITIONS __________________________________ | |
Agency: the capacity to make decisions about one's own life and act on them to achieve a desired outcome, free of violence, retribution or fear. Gender: the social, behavioral and cultural attributes, expectations and norms associated with being male or female. | Gender equality: how these aspects determine how women and men relate to each other and the resulting differences in power between them. |
This section lays out a conceptual framework and vocabulary for how to think about gender equality and infrastructure. It is grounded in the World Bank's gender strategy, which is anchored in the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development (WDR 2012).