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Gender Analysis

NZAID commitment, rational and key concepts

NZAID commitment and rationale

Poverty and gender inequality are among the most pervasive and persistent global problems and challenges. Poverty affects women and men, girls and boys, but the impacts are different based on their sex, age, ethnicity, race, economic status, education, literacy, and disability. Gender inequality cuts across other forms of inequality, intersecting with economic, social, and political conditions, to often produce more intensified forms of poverty for women and girls than for men and boys.

Worldwide, 70 % of those living in ‘extreme poverty’ are women and children.

Research across countries has shown that women spend a far greater share of any income earned, often close to 100%, on the family including children’s healthcare, schooling and food. This contrasts with men spending a larger share of their income on discretionary goods for themselves and 50% or less of their income on the family. ¹

Poverty elimination is the central focus of NZAID’s work. Our understanding of poverty goes beyond the purely economic to encompass the inability to meet basic needs; poverty of opportunity and vulnerability to poverty. Just as gender inequality exacerbates poverty, poverty often leads to increased gender disparity. Both poverty and gender inequality are human rights violations. NZAID’s human rights approach commits us to ensuring that development benefits all. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential for achieving sustainable and equitable development.

Key concepts

Gender is often confused, conflated, or used interchangeably with other terms such as ‘sex’ and ‘women’. Increasingly now, the ‘politically correct’ term is ‘gender’. For example, when trying to determine a person’s sex (male or female), one is often asked what is your gender?

Gender equality implies that the interests, needs, priorities and experiences of both women and men are understood and taken into consideration. Gender equality is not only a women’s issue, but should concern and fully engage men and boys. Understanding gender terms and concepts is key to developing effective strategies to reduce inequality, discrimination, and ultimately eliminate poverty. The core concepts outlined below are expanded on further in Annex 5: Selected terms.

Gender:

Social attributes, opportunities and roles associated with being female and male and the relationships between and amongst women and men, girls and boys. What is expected, allowed and valued in a woman, man, boy or girl in a given context, society or culture at a specific time and place.

Sex:

Physiological, biological and hormonal characteristics that define and differentiate humans as either female or male.

Gender equality:

The equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys. Gender equality does not mean that women and men, girls and boys become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities, and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born female or male.²

Gender equity:

Recognises that different approaches may be needed to produce equitable outcomes by taking account of and addressing the differences between and amongst the lives of women and men, girls and boys and the diversity of different groups of women/girls and men/boys.³