South Asia Gender Initiative

Transcription

1 South Asia Gender Initiative Issue 3 November 2012 Applying a gender lens to the Bank s work in South Asia Equitable access to quality education for girls and boys in Pakistan Equitable access to a quality education is critical to the development of a prosperous society in Pakistan. The hallmark of such an education system is the transmission of values, rather than indoctrination, and equitable access for both girls and boys. But despite policy-level commitments to education, there are significant social and cultural barriers that constrain equal access to education in Pakistan today. The work of the government and its partners such as the World Bank is to ease these constraints to equal access, which the government is aiming to do through its provincial-level education sector reform programs in Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh. At the policy level, Pakistan demonstrates a strong commitment to education. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and the inclusion of Article 25 A is an important step forward by the Government of Pakistan, mandating that every child age 5-16 years has the right to free and compulsory education. The high opportunity costs associated with educating girls and lowering investments in girls schools, coupled with the inequitable distribution of resources to the provincial governments, compound the tendency toward increasing gender disparities in education in Pakistan. 1 Pakistan still faces daunting challenges in educational quality and equal access, however. According to recent estimates 2, Pakistan has the highest share of out-of-school children in South Asia: more than 8 million out of almost 20 million primary school age children. Of these 8 million out-ofschool children, 54 percent are girls. These figures place Paki- stan second worst in the global ranking for out-of-school children, after Nigeria. There are stark gender disparities in literacy in Pakistan, with males at 69 percent and females at 46 percent. Pakistan s Net Enrolment Rates are 71 (males) and 61 (females) at the primary level; these decline sharply to 22 percent (males) and 19 percent (females) at the middle school level of education. 3 Among many, three key factors limit girls access to education. First and foremost, parents have concerns for safety of girls traveling long distances to go to school. This is especially the case 1 World Bank Education at a Glance: Pakistan ( 2 UNICEF 2011, Out of School Children Study, Pakistan Study Report, SAHE 3 Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PLSM) survey , Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan; EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011, UNESCO. World Bank Pakistan Country Gender Assessment-- Bridging the Gender Gap: Opportunities and Challenges. Washington, DC: World Bank.. 1

2 for adolescent girls in areas where the community is more conservative and Purdah is observed. Second, the opportunity cost of sending girls and boys to school has increased due to natural disasters such as the 2005 earthquake and the floods in Third, lack of female teachers plays a major role in restricting girls participation, as do lack of schools, missing infrastructure and poor overall safety for the children. Much is being done by the government together with its partners, such as the World Bank, to address these challenges, especially through provincial-level education sector projects. The Community Support Program, implemented with World Bank and USAID support, is recognized internationally as an outstanding example of government-community partnership for girls education. Under the Balochistan Education Support Project (BESP), 635 Community Schools (CSs) have completed 3 or more years of successful operation in remote areas of Balochistan. Over 50,000 students are enrolled in BESP-supported/established schools, contributing about 6 percent to the overall NER of the province. Of those enrolled, 44 percent are girls. Similarly in Punjab, the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program (PERSP) addresses supply side constraints. By providing stipends for girls and free textbooks, the project has seen female primary net enrolment increase from 42 to 59 percent. Conditional cash transfers have been offered on the basis of attendance, and this had a positive effect on the attendance levels as well (project closed June 30, 2012). Finally, the Sindh Education Reform Program has added 600,000 more children in school and hired 13,500 more teachers. The female-male net enrollment has increased from 61 percent to 76 percent. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 525 new primary schools have been established over the past few years, half of which are exclusively for girls. In addition, 1700 classrooms have been added, 313 middle schools upgraded to a higher status, and 75 middle-secondary schools constructed. To encourage female enrolment at the secondary level of education, conditional stipends have been provided as an incentive to retain and educate the female population. Free text books have been distributed to all students from pre-primary levels through 12th grade in public schools (project closed March 24, 2011). Programs such as these are only a start. With sustained commitment from the government and a focus on effective interventions over the long term, Pakistan someday hopes to achieve equal access to education, which will contribute to the country s social and economic development. Re-Awakening Project: A new hope for women in Sri Lanka Following the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka, the World Bank supported a number of ambitious resettlement and reintegration programs targeting those displaced during the conflict. One of these, the Re-Awakening Project (RaP), which is located in the northern and eastern regions of the country (see map), has a special focus on gender. RaP has introduced several women-centered activities focused on livelihood restoration, economic reintegration and support to vulnerable people affected by the conflict. RaP works with resettled communities to evolve a local institution called the Village Development Organization (VDO) to plan and implement much needed rural infrastructure development. The program has taken a bottom-up approach in supporting planning and implementing activities by engaging young men and women as Community Resource Persons (CRPs). In turn, these CRPs have been instrumental in organizing their fellow community members for small-scale community infrastructure development activities. There are approximately 400 CRPs working in the project area, and among them 96 percent are young women. RaP also includes a special program called FEEP (Family Economy Enhancement Package) that has assisted nearly 6,000 war widows in eight districts of the Northern and Eastern provinces. The program is flexible and allows women to select an income 2

3 the hope of starting an income-generating activity of her own. From the VDO, she obtained a loan of Rs. 20,000 to buy a sewing machine to enable her and her daughter to make dresses for people in the village. Her daughter also received additional funds under the Skill Development Program of the Project, which helped her take a course in dressmaking held outside of the village. At present, both mother and daughter earn sufficient income to manage daily expenses and save for the future. Born in Jaffna, Indrani is 50 years old and lives at Uppukulam- South in Mannar. Her husband was disabled in the war and is not able to work. Due to their financial constraints, they were unable to send their three children to school. In 2009, she received loans from the VDO and cooperative bank to build and expand a buy back systems business with five other poultry farmers in the area. She has since doubled her business and is now planning to employ three other widows to expand further. activity that suits the village life pattern and poses the least disturbance to their daily chores. The total cost of the package varies according to the needs of the communities in different areas and to the demand in a particular area. To date, 800 women have benefitted from the intervention. A few specific instances are illustrative of the project s impact: Kusuma is a 45-year-old widow living with her children in a border village called Pandukabayapura in the Anuradhapura district, where she runs a textile shop with her daughter. She joined the VDO and became a member of a Small Group with Though such cases are inspiring instances of positive change, there is more to be done to integrate war-affected women into the mainstream society. The RaP approach shows the critical role women must play in rebuilding war-damaged, local community structures. Cessation of conflict has released widows from stress, allowed freedom of movement and security, assistance at livelihood development, greater access to education and healthcare, and access to other public services. But policy makers should create women-centered economic rehabilitation programs in the North-East to reap better results. Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, Parliamentarian. 3

4 Gender Action Plan (GAP) AAA - Are Pakistan s women entrepreneurs being served by the microfinance sector? Fostering women s entrepreneurship is important for Pakistan s economic growth and inclusion agenda. In turn, access to financial services is a central component of starting and growing a business for women entrepreneurs. In FY12, through the support of Gender Action Plan (GAP) trust funds, the South Asia Finance and Private Sector Development Unit (SASFP) undertook a study to determine whether Pakistan s female entrepreneurs have access to and are using microfinance loans for their businesses. In particular, the report raises and addresses two distinct issues. First, evidence suggests that women often are not the final users of loans, but rather are conduits to male household members. Second, a very low proportion of female microfinance clients are entrepreneurs. The study explores why businesswomen in Pakistan may not be using microfinance products to meet their start-up and working capital requirements in spite of identifying access to finance as a key constraint to their business operations. The study concludes with recommendations to develop pilot loan products that are valued by -- and customized for -- women entrepreneurs, and which eliminate discriminatory practices in loan screening and processing, such as the exclusive reliance on male guarantors and husbands permission. The policy framework in Pakistan is gender neutral, neither limiting nor promoting access to credit or finance for women. The State Bank of Pakistan, a driver of policy on microfinance, encourages market-based mechanisms and focuses on creating an environment that promotes inclusive finance on a sustainable basis. Key strategic frameworks on microfinance emphasize the provision of appropriate and affordable financial services for all, including women, but do not go beyond data reporting on the numbers of women clients, which are misleading. One of the study s key findings is that among microfinance clients in Pakistan who are women -- that is, 59 percent of those who are counted as microfinance clients in the country -- a significant proportion are likely not the final users and beneficiaries of the loan. Between 50 and 70 percent of the loans made for women clients may actually be for use by their male relatives. In urban programs that lend exclusively to women, on average only 28 percent of the women borrowers are using the loans themselves. In comparison, in rural areas approximately 68 percent of women clients are the final borrowers. In addition, 90 percent of women have to ask for permission from their husbands to obtain a loan, and 60 percent have to urge their husbands to repay the loan. The passing-on of loans is more prevalent in programs that lend exclusively to women, in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) than in microfinance banks (MFBs), and in urban areas than in rural regions. 4 Moreover, the presence of credit information bureaus can have unintended consequences: men that 4 State Bank of Pakistan regulations instruct microfinance banks (MFBs) to undertake a business and repayment capacity analysis of their borrowers, making it less likely that women can be used as conduits. The operations of MFBs are subject to multiple levels of oversight, making it difficult to engage in indirect lending (loans for the use of other family members). 4

5 have defaulted in the past now use women to access credit. A second key finding is that businesswomen are rarely given the opportunity to access individual loans. Women make up only 3 percent of these banks portfolios, yet across all MFBs, women account for 18 percent of borrowers and 24 percent of total clients. Larger loans for women entrepreneurs seem to disappear even at MFBs that have evolved from NGOs and have a long history of working with women borrowers. Additional requirements further reduce access to individual loan products for women. Most MFIs require women to obtain permission and signatures from their husbands, and nearly all institutions require clients to provide at least two guarantors. Generally, only men -- ideally unrelated men -- are seen as valid guarantors, which poses a prohibitive barrier to women who rarely interact with men outside of the family. The SASFP study serves as a first step in identifying these dual challenges first, ensuring that women borrowers are the true beneficiaries of microfinance products, and second, offering explanations and rationales for the emergence of these practices and for missed opportunities. Building on the recommendations from this report, SASFP is launching a pilot technical assistance initiative, supported by the Women s Leadership for Small and Medium Enterprises (WLSME) initiative and the Gender and Development anchor (PRMGE). The objective of the proposed work is to pilot the design of innovative lending mechanisms that support women entrepreneurs in Pakistan through the use of microfinance banks and business development service providers. regional gender action plan (RGAP) for SAR One of the IDA 16 requirements on gender is that all Bank regions develop a Regional Gender Action Plan (RGAP). The South Asia Region draft RGAP was shared with Regional Management in October 2012, to favorable reviews. Although SAR performs among the top of all Bank regions in the proportion of its operations that are gender-informed, the challenge of improving gender outcomes in SAR countries and moving toward greater gender equity is a daunting one. Some of the region s gender indicators are among the worst in the world even compared to regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, that have much slower economic growth. the most persistent, egregious, and intractable gender issues in the region (includes impact evaluations in stand-alone operations); 2. Strategic mainstreaming of gender into key analytical pieces, Country Assistance Strategies/Country Partnership Strategies/Interim Strategy Notes (CASs/CPSs/ISNs) and projects with a particular focus on those sectors that have a greater impact on gender disparities and changes in gender roles (includes impact evaluations in sector operations); 3. Capacity building for Bank staff and external leadership development on gender. Progress in achieving gender equity in South Asia has been mixed. Primary enrollment ratios are above or near parity in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka, but markedly lower in Afghanistan. Women s labor force participation is low across the board and among the lowest in the world. Skewed sex ratios favoring men, poor education, low skills for better employment, and social norms limit women and men s economic opportunities and agency in the region. The SAR RGAP is a three-year action plan (FY13-FY15) that closely follows SAR s goal of applying a gender lens to the World Bank s work in South Asia, targeting both women and men as agents of change. Building on the momentum of the region s growing gender program under SAGE, three action pillars frame the RGAP: 1. Stand-alone gender projects and AAA aimed at addressing 5

6 Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 3 Summary of SAR RGAP Commitments (FY13-15)* Stand-alone gender projects and AAA Launch at least two stand-alone gender projects or pilot operations in FY13-15 Deliver one stand-alone gender AAA in each SAR country within FY13-15 Deliver a AAA on male gender issues at the regional or country level Conduct at least two impact evaluations in gender projects/pilots in different sectors Strategic Mainstreaming of Gender into CASs, projects and sectors Incorporate gender into the 6 countries with a new CAS/CPS/ISN in FY13-15 Carry out one new gender-sensitive Poverty and Social Inclusion Analysis (PSIA) each FY Carry out gender-focused impact evaluation or gendered beneficiary analysis in one operation/pilot in each SAR department -- SASHD, SASPM, SASFP and SASSD within FY13-15 Improved collection of gender-disaggregated beneficiary data in SAR operations Capacity building and external leadership development Carry out SAGE BBL that features speakers on gender issues for each SAR country in each FY Hold one high-level event on gender issues held each FY among leaders in region Ensure that SAGE Cross-sectoral, cross-country working group members keep respective countries and sectors informed about corporate developments on gender Establish a SAGE website (internal and external access) that catalogues gender work in all SAR sectors * Questions about the SAR RGAP may be directed to Jennifer Solotaroff (jsolotaroff@worldbank.org), Regional Gender Coordinator for SAR. For more information and to become involved in SAGE activities, please contact: Social Development Unit: Maria Correia, Jennifer Solotaroff, Soham Sen, Indira M. Edwards Country Teams: Afghanistan: Asta Olesen, Najla Sabri Bangladesh: Jessica Leino, Sabah Moyeen Bhutan: Andy Kotikula India: Meera Chaterjee, Sangeeta Kumari, Giovanna Prennushi Maldives: Parthapriya Ghosh Nepal: Bandita Sijapati Pakistan: Samina Islam, Mehreen Muqaddissa Sri Lanka: Razaak Ghani Sector and Service Units: PREM: Andy Kotikula HD: Jessica Leino, Nkosi Mbuya, Yoko Nagashima Finance/PSD: Martin Maxwell Norman, Mehnaz Safavian SD: Dan Biller, Parmesh Shah, Bernice Van Bronkorst SARSQ: Zia Al Jalaly SAREX: Gabriela Aquilar 6