Introduction
Gender analysis is essential to understand how different genders experience development differently. It helps create programs that are fair and inclusive. To carry out effective gender analysis, there are three significant cornerstones or foundational elements. These cornerstones guide the process and ensure that the analysis addresses all key aspects of gender inequality.
The Three Cornerstones of Gender Analysis Methods
1. Access and Control
This cornerstone focuses on who has access to resources and who has control over them.
- Access means the ability to use resources like land, education, healthcare, and income.
- Control means the power to make decisions about the use of those resources.
For example, women may have access to farmland but no control over how it’s used or how the profits are spent. Understanding this difference helps design better resource distribution policies.
2. Division of Labour
This refers to how work is divided between men and women in households and society.
- In most communities, women are responsible for unpaid work like cooking, cleaning, and child care.
- Men are often involved in paid labor or public decision-making roles.
Analyzing division of labour shows how much time and energy women spend on unpaid work, which limits their ability to participate in education, paid jobs, or leadership.
3. Participation and Decision-Making
This cornerstone studies the involvement of women and men in making decisions at various levels — home, community, or government.
- It assesses who speaks in meetings, who votes, who leads, and whose opinions are considered.
- In many cases, women are underrepresented in leadership or policy-making roles.
Understanding this helps ensure that programs are designed with input from all genders and benefit everyone equally.
Conclusion
The three cornerstones — access and control, division of labour, and participation in decision-making — are essential for conducting meaningful gender analysis. These pillars reveal the root causes of gender inequality and help create more inclusive development strategies that empower both women and men.