Bulletin

Issue: June 2006

News

Helping women around the world

Helping women get a better deal in many Asian and Pacific countries is a daunting task. But it is a challenge that La Trobe University lecturer, Dr Wendy Mee, takes in her stride.

Describing herself as a feminist social scientist by training, Dr Mee, a lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology, has taken assignments as a 'gender and development' (GAD) consultant for the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Australia's CSIRO.

ADB consultancies take her to such colourful and historic places as Bukhara and Samarkand on the old Silk Route in the Republic of Uzbekistan in Central Asia.

Her most recent assignment was to Papua New Guinea for a social impact review of the Lihir gold mine.

Wherever she finds herself, and recently it was in strife-torn Nepal, her task is basically the same - to ensure that women receive appropriate and equitable treatment in development projects.

ADB assignments relate directly to her teaching in La Trobe's Development Studies program, where she teaches a second year sociology subject Gender and Development.

This subject examines key concepts and debates in international development from a feminist perspective. It examines the impact of development and other national and international development forces on the social conditions in less developed countries of Asia and the Pacific, particularly on more vulnerable members of society.

Dr Mee says that poverty and gender inequality very often ensure that women and girls have less opportunity to benefit from developmental forces and social change.

Her expertise in this area stood her in good stead when ADB asked her to review some of their development projects.

'It is imperative that women are not marginalised by such projects,' Dr Mee said. 'One way that this can be achieved is to ensure that those running the projects are aware of local gender relations. For example, in areas where women are heavily involved in agricultural work, it would be inappropriate to send men exclusively on training courses to improve farming methods.'

Her first assignment was to Uzbekistan in November 2000. She travelled extensively, not only to major cities but also to rural areas meeting many women leaders involved in government and non-government women's organisations.

'One of my tasks was to evaluate how women were coping with the difficult economic circumstances which developed when the former Soviet republic moved from a centrally-controlled economy to a form of market economy,' Dr Mee said.

'Women in this country face a heavy burden. Firstly, they now have to pay for many things, such as medical treatment and crèches, that were formerly provided free. Secondly, real wages have fallen making the economic burden even harder.'

She has subsequently visited other countries to evaluate the contribution of 'gender and development' specialists in ADB's resident missions in Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Bank sought an expert to consult with these specialists and others in their countries to report on ways to ensure that women receive equal treatment in employment, training, decision-making and other aspects of ADB-funded projects.

Dr Mee's most recent assignment in Papua New Guinea was in partnership with Dr Martha Macintyre from the University of Melbourne.

She said there had been a number of new developments in how to improve the performance of social reviews in the mining industry. 'Many of these developments have been influenced by international sustainable development initiatives. Relatively little acknowledgement has been given to the impact of mining on gender relations within affected communities.

'The Lihir project sought to establish a more robust social review framework, one which is both responsive to local needs and priorities and in line with emerging international standards as reflected in international agreements. These agreements include UN conventions, OECD guidelines and World Bank protocols, as well as principles for sustainable development.

'One important aspect of this project was to insure that the social review was "gender inclusive" in its design.'

Dr Mee's experience elsewhere had shown that gender was an important component of all social impact reviews, even in the case of projects that ostensibly have little to do with women or gender, such as the construction of mines and the design of sanitation systems.

'I would like to think my work is making a contribution to help women. It is important not only to consider women's practical needs in the design of projects but also more long-term strategies which empower women and ensure they are involved in the implementation and design of projects that impact on their lives.'