9066 A Progress Report on the World Bank Initiative ~ A WORLRNIUUATN ',,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C ...' 73 j ) -, .. -. .Y - Women in Development A Progress Report on the World Bank Initiative The World Bank Washington, D.C. i 1990 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/THE WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing September 1990 The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this book are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any mnanner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or to its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequences of their use. The cover photograph, by Curt Carnemark, shows a woman and child in Zimbabwe. ISBN 0-821341623-0 Contents Foreword by Barber B. Conable v Acknowledgments vi 1. Introduction and Summary 1 The Importance of Women in Development I Education 5 Health and Family Planning 6 Agricultural Extension 6 Credit 7 Other Measures 7 The World Bank's Response 8 Future Directions 12 2. Attention to Women in Lending Operations 14 Projects in High-Priority Fields 15 Education 15 Population, Health, and Nutrition 15 Agriculture 18 Progress in High-Priority Fields 18 Activity in Other Fields 21 Conclusion 23 3. Attention to Women in Economic and Sectoral Work 24 Incorporating Women's Concerns 25 Conclusion 30 Boxes 1. Education and Training for Women 16 2. Population, Health, and Nutrition for Women 17 3. Agricultural Services for Women 19 4. Women in Agricultural Specialties 20 5. Projects Modified to Address Women's Concerns 21 6. Women and Natural Resources 22 iii iV CONTENTS 7. Credit and Entrepreneurship 22 8. Macroeconomic Adjustment Operations 23 Case Studies 1. Nigeria: Girls' Education 25 2. Ghana: Policy on Population, Health, and Nutrition 26 3. Colombia: Community-Based Day Care 27 4. Jamaica: Women's Employment 27 5. Pakistan: Women's Employment 28 6. Mexico: Rural Women's Employment 28 7. Bangladesh: Women and Poverty 29 8. Bangladesh: Health Care and Public Expenditure 29 9. Brazil: Public Spending on Health Care 30 10. Rwanda: Women and Food Security 30 11. Indonesia: Women's Access to Credit 31 12. Zimbabwe: Female Farmers, Cooperatives, and Support Services 31 13. India: Agricultural Extension 32 Foreword Improving opportunities for women is not only a matter of human justice, but also a sure route to faster and more sustainable develop- ment. Most people recognize that women have the right to participate in political and economic decisionmaking and to enjoy the fruits of social and economic progress. But in much of the world, they do not have the opportunity to do so. Women in many parts of the world still lack access to education and training, to health and family planning services, and to information and resources. Often, their legal standing is inferior and they are unable to participate in politics and in policymaking. As a result, these women are denied choices in their own lives and also are prevented from contributing all that they might to family well-being and to national progress. There is a direct relationship between expanded opportunities for women and improved health and learning for chil- dren, slower population growth, and the easing of environmental pressures. The United Nations Decade for Women (1975-85) helped focus public attention on the important role women can and do play in socioeconomic development. As a result, many governments adopted strategies to improve opportunities for women, thereby contributing to development and equality. The World Bank also identified women in development as a prior- ity and has integrated this concern into its analytical work and lending operations. As many as one out of five Bank operations approved in 1989 included specific recommendations for assisting women. In- deed, it is encouraging to note that some progress has been made in each area considered in this report on women in development. This is a promising start, but only a start. I call on all governments, nongovernmental organizations, and development agencies to work toward the common goal of equal opportunity for all people-male and female-and to help transform this goal into a reality. Certainly the World Bank will continue to intensify its own efforts for women in development. Barber B. Conable President, The World Bank v Acknowledgments This report was prepared by Barbara Herz, chief of the World Bank's Women in Development Division, and Gotz Schreiber, principal economist in that division. Ann 0. Hamilton, director of the Popula- tion and Human Resources Department, provided general direction. The report includes major contributions from Hans Adler, Sayeeda Chaudhry, Laurence Foglierini-Salomon, Benjamin Patterson, Harold Pilvin, and Julie Scher. Section 1 is based primarily on the findings from "Women in Development: Issues for Economic and Sector Anal- ysis," Policy, Planning, and Research Working Paper 269 (World Bank, Policy, Research, and External Affairs Office, Washington, D.C., 1989). Bruce Ross-Larson and Patricia McNee edited that paper, and Judy Lai coordinated its production. vi I Introduction and Summary During the United Nations Decade for Women (1975-85), govern- ments and institutions, including the World Bank, adopted policies to enhance the role of women in development. Although progress was achieved, particularly in health and schooling, less was accomplished in other areas. In 1987, therefore, the Bank launched a stronger and more focused initiative to integrate attention to women in develop- ment through its analytical work and lending. This report summa- rizes the rationale for these efforts, describes progress in implementingthe initiative, and outlines future directions. In general, the Bank is focusing on increasing women's economic productivity by investing in human capital and improving women's access to productive resources and the labor market. The Importance of Women in Development The rationale for any long-term effort by the World Bank is its poten- tial contribution to economic growth and the reduction of poverty. The Bank's women in development initiative is no exception. Expand- ing women's opportunities, especially in ways that enhance their productivity and earming potential, will raise women's own living standards and contribute to better economic performance, the reduc- tion of poverty, and improved family welfare. Over time, it will also help to slow population growth. Because social and cultural forces influence women's economic productivity, deliberate and thoughtful effort is required to involve women more effectively in the develop- ment process. The economic contribution of women is known to be substantial. Women produce more than half the food in the developing world and as much as three-fourths in Africa. They play a substantial role in the storage, processing, and marketing of food and cash crops, and they often have charge of small livestock. Women constitute about one- fourth of the industrial labor of the developing world and an even 1 2 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY higher proportion in many of the expanding export industries of East Asia and Latin America. Women also work in the large and growing informal sectors of both rural and urban areas. The economic contribution of women goes much further. Beyond their work in the formal and informal labor force, women usually have the primary responsibility for the care of children and the elderly and for many household chores. Women often spend several hours a day fetching household water and fuelwood (which constitutes 90 percent of the household fuel used in Africa). Because much of women's work is done at home or outside the formal economy, it is not fully recognized in official statistics or by policymakers. But studies in Nepal and the Philippines suggest that, when women's production is valued properly, rural women contrib- ute about half of the family's income. Moreover, many poor families are headed by women (for example, one-third of families below the poverty line in India, two-fifths of all families in Jamaica and rural Kenya, and one-fifth of those in Togo and urban Brazil). Thus women's earnings make a particular contribution to the alleviation of poverty; moreover, women perform such tasks as feeding the family, which directly relieve misery. Women make a crucial contribution to the health and learning of children, which improves future economic performance. Many stud- ies show that families depend heavily on women for nutrition and health care, particularly in low-income areas. A study in India shows a link between women's earnings and children's-especially daughters'-health, and several studies demonstrate the effect of maternal education on the schooling of children, especially girls. Evidence also suggests that the most effective way to slow population growth is to improve educational and earning opportunities for women while extending family planning services. Women's economic options relative to men's vary widely in differ- ent cultures and at different stages of economic development. In the early stages of economic development, women tend to bear many children and to work in or near the home, whereas men are allowed greater choice of occupation. This tendency for both rural and urban women to remain inside the home and family is more marked today in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. By contrast, in much of East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the rest of Africa, women are generally less confined. Needless to say, excep- THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT 3 tions arise in all regions. Generally, however, as economic develop- ment opens up more opportunities for education and employment, women's choices naturally expand: couples tend to have fewer chil- dren, and women tend to enter the formal labor force, in which earnings are higher. Economic development thus brings with it the promise that women will be able to earn more, learn more, and secure better health for themselves and their children. As economies advance and options increase, cultural barriers can also be reduced, but the process is obviously neither automatic nor fast. For women, as for men, the ability to realize their economic poten- tial depends both on their human capital-their health and educa- tional status-and on their access to information, resources, and markets. Compared with men, however, women face additional and more intractable barriers to access because of their mothering role (multiple pregnancies and child care) and because of cultural tradi- tions, sometimes reflected in law or policy, that tend to keep women more home-bound than men and more restricted in their choices of employment and social interactions. These barriers are worse in con- ditions of poverty, but they persist even in industrial countries. They restrict women's access to the information and resources required to respond to economic opportunities. For example: * Excess fertility can damage the mother's health and, therefore, the welfare of her family. It can also limit her earning capacity by making it more difficult for her to leave the home for training or to buy or sell goods. * Parents are often more reluctant to educate daughters-or even to provide them with health care or food-perhaps because women have (or are expected to have) fewer income-earning opportunities than men, because girls are expected to do more household chores, because girls leave their families when they marry, or because tradition discourages aging parents from accepting help from daughters. � Agricultural extension programs customarily address male farmers, so women must rely on second-hand information, which may not cover the topics most important to their agricul- tural productivity. * Women often have difficulty obtaining credit because they are poorly educated, because they are not used to dealing with banks or banks with them, or because they rarely hold title to land or other assets, often required as collateral. 4 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY * Women's legal position remains inferior by law in some coun- tries and by custom in more, and women are often reluctant to use what legal channels they have to pursue claims against men. * Where women are traditionally secluded, they may not be al- lowed to work in the fields, gather for training, or travel to markets; in some places, women must get a male relative's permission even to seek emergency health care. In other words, because of deficits in education, poor health, interrup- tions for childbearing, or laws and regulations, many women have more difficulty earning money or breaking into the formal sector. When such problems combine to inhibit women's productive po- tential and earning capacity, a vicious circle results: women produce and earn less, so parents invest less in education and health care for their daughters, who will, as a result, also produce and earn less. The daughters will also lack some of the skills and resources they need to care for their own families. The result is a loss of welfare, not only in forgone production and income, but also for society. Fertility rates may remain high, children's health may suffer, and the natural re- sources that women often manage-including land, fuelwood, and water-may not be used well. Intervention to assist women will thus also promote economic performance, family welfare, alleviation of poverty, and slower pop- ulation growth. Indeed, intervention is justified on grounds of equity alone. In addressing the obstacles facing women, it is necessary to be sensitive to the role of culture. Governments must consider how best to realize women's economic potential within their own sociocultural contexts, and they should consult with women's groups and nongov- ernmental organizations when setting priorities and designing pro- grams. The problems women have in realizing their economic potential must be addressed with a wide range of measures. A few areas, however, are already emerging as keys to success. In the long run, the greatest effect is likely to come from investment in human capital-in education and in health and family planning. In the short run, the ability of the current generation of women to earn more, and to contribute more to their children's future earning capability, can be improved by measures to increase women's access to resources, in- cluding information and credit. A study from Kenya suggests that THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT 5 female farmers with the same access as men to productive inputs, extension, credit, and education produce about 7 percent more per acre. Yet several studies suggest that the average female farmer in Kenya produces 4 to 15 percent less than the average man, which gives some notion of the economic cost of denying female farmers the same access to education, extension services, credit, and even land that men have. Education As is the case with men, educated women tend to produce and earn more. Evidence from a variety of socioeconomic settings suggests that the economic returns to female education (measured as proportional increases in wages) are substantial and comparable to those to male education. Moreover, the influence of the mother's education on family health and family size is great-greater than that of the father's education. Maternal education may also have a greater effect on children's learning. Girls' primary school enrollment rates are lower than boys' in almost all regions. This difference is greatest in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In spite of the benefits to society of female education, there may be disparity at the household level between who pays and who benefits: parents may be willing to invest less (in fees, clothing, books and other supplies, and labor forgone) in their daughters' education because the benefits go primarily to the daughters when they mature and to the daughters' children. In addition, parents may be more reluctant to send girls to distant schools or to schools that lack privacy or have mostly male teachers. Even where primary enrollment rates are more nearly equal, gender-related differences often show up at the secondary or postsecondary levels of education, and such differences often appear in specialized fields (for example, fewer girls enter scientific and technical fields). In addition to improv- ing the quality of education, which can build demand, promising measures to increase female enrollment and retention include: * recruiting and training more female teachers, especially from their own communities * establishing more community-based (less distant) schools * scheduling classes more flexibly with respect to hours, days, and seasons 6 INTRODUCT1ON AND SUMMARY * providing greater privacy and safety for girls and female teach- ers-or even, where necessary, establishing girls' schools (with- out sacrificing quality) * improving the quality of schooling and encouraging parents to let girls attend * waiving fees or providing scholarships for girls. Health and Family Planning Improved health not only reduces the toll of morbidity and mortality on women but increases their economic prospects. Moreover, society benefits from improved health and lower birthrates. During the re- productive years, women face special health needs, especially in circumstances in which they bear many children, are malnourished, or suffer from chronic diseases such as malaria. In many places, a fourth or more of all deaths of women of childbearing age are associ- ated with pregnancy and childbirth. The probability of dying in pregnancy is fifty to one hundred times greater in many developing countries than in industrial countries. Because of multiple pregnan- cies, the lifetime risk that a woman will die in pregnancy-primarily from infection, hemorrhage, toxemia, obstructed labor, or primitive (usually illegal) abortion-may reach one in twenty. Thus health measures of particular relevance to women include: *providing better services at the community level and improving referral to health facilities at the next-highest level * delivering family planning services, including a variety of meth- ods to meet the needs of couples who wish to delay the onset of childbearing, space births, or end childbearing when they have the number of children they wish � providing prenatal care to improve both maternal and child health and nutrition and to identify high-risk pregnancies in time to help both mother and child - more effectively assisting with normal and high-risk childbirth X combatting anemia with improved nutrition and iron supple- ments. Agricultural Extension Extension services are traditionally directed to men, even where women clearly perform much of the farm work and make many of the farming decisions. A few programs, particularly in Africa, are THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT 7 pioneering in providing extension to women as well as men, not through separate programs but by adjusting existing services. Prom- ising strategies include: * designing programs with an awareness of female farmers' issues (the crops or animals for which women are responsible and the tasks women perform) * recruiting and deploying more female extension agents * working more with groups of, say, fifteen to twenty farmers, which may be particularly effective for women, who may be more accustomed to working together in such groups than are men * encouraging women to comment on programs and giving them information. Credit Women lack access to credit because of tradition or because they lack education or collateral. Very poor women in Bangladesh who were allowed to borrow for the first time (at market interest rates) increased their incomes by half; they repaid almost all their loans on time; and they improved their children's attendance in school and increased their own practice of family planning. Yet few credit programs meet women's needs. Special measures can help channel credit to women, but it is worth noting that, since women often pay exorbitant interest in the informal credit sector, these measures need not include subsi- dizing interest rates below the levels prevailing in the formal credit market. Promising measures include: * providing credit to groups of women, relying on group guaran- tees and peer pressure to repay instead of asset-based collateral * lending small amounts for cash-earning activities chosen by the borrower and allowing gradual repayment in small amounts * encouraging savings and letting them serve as collateral for loans * providing training and administrative support to help women handle money and bureaucratic requirements. Other Measures The areas just noted are those in which investment most obviously pays off by increasing the productivity of women. This is not to say, 8 INTRODUCTON AND SUMMARY however, that other areas should be ignored. For example, women often spend hours of drudgery every day in fetching wood and water and in cooking. Measures to free more of their time for other activities would thus be of value. Such measures include those of general benefit, such as investment in water supplies and rural roads, and those likely to be of particular benefit to women, such as development of alternative fuels and local woodlots, promotion of more efficient stoves, and provision of child care. Also promising are the prospects for increasing female labor force participation. As economies ad- vance, women's labor force participation tends to increase, but many studies show that most women work in lower-paying fields. In iden- tifying ways of improving women's prospects for employment, it is important to distinguish disadvantage in education or the demands of child care from legal or regulatory discrimination. This subject needs to be pursued, particularly in parts of East Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The World Bank's Response In 1975, at the start of the United Nations Decade for Women, the World Bank created the post of adviser on women in development to increase attention to women in the Bank's activities. The initial focus was on making Bank staff more sensitive to the need for greater efforts on behalf of women and on preparing a report, Recognizing the "Invis- ible" Woman in Development, which was published by the Bank in 1979. The Bank also participated in United Nations conferences during the Decade for Women. At the end of the Decade for Women, the Bank assessed its strategy with regard to women in development and considered ways to in- crease attention to these issues in policymaking and lending. The conclusion was that many Bank staff had been convinced of the importance of allowing more opportunity for women, but most were unsure how to go about it or what the operational priorities ought to be. Consultations with other donors, nongovernmental organiza- tions, and governments revealed similar situations in many develop- ing countries and donor agencies. In 1987 the Bank embarked on a more focused and ambitious initiative to assist women in the developing world, by establishing a Women in Development Division, identifying women in develop- THE WORLD BANK'S RESPONSE 9 ment as one of the Bank's "special operational emphases," and, more recently, by placing a coordinator for women in development in each of the Bank's four regional complexes (Africa; Asia; Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa; and Latin America and the Carib- bean). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and several member governments, including the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, have provided additional resources for the women in development initiative. The women in development initiative first involved establishing a rationale and a conceptual framework for addressing women's issues and compiling a portfolio of examples from the Bank's lending oper- ations. This helped to show that efforts to address women's role in development are practical and affordable and make economic sense. It also established the areas in which action was most needed. Efforts thus far include: * reviews of the literature on women's issues and issuance of a general guideline on what is known about how to approach these issues in the Bank's lending operations * the launching of research on women's agricultural productivity in Africa (financed by the UNDP), women's access to public services, women's education, and female employment * publication of two country studies, Kenya: The Role of Women in Economic Development and Women in Pakistan: An Economic and Social Strategy (World Bank, 1989), which assess the situation of women and offer a plan of action to expand women's opportu- nities, and the planned publication of a similar study on Bangladesh * an international initiative to provide "safe motherhood" (partic- ularly through maternal health and family planning services at the local level) in cooperation with the World Health Organiza- tion, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, the UNsP, the United Nations Children's Fund, and others * projects that include actions specifically addressed to women * country assessments and action plans on women in develop- ment * economic and sectoral work * training of staff * efforts by the Economic Development Institute to increase the number of female participants and to address women's issues more effectively in its curricula. 10 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY Since lending operations provide the most concrete opportunity for the World Bank to assist women in development, the Bank assessed the treatment of women's issues in all 442 operations approved in fiscal 1988 and 1989. The review suggests that the women in develop- ment initiative has begun to have some effect, at least as reflected in stated objectives, although the real benefits must, of course, depend on implementation. One in five operations approved in fiscal 1989 included project-specific recommendations about the role of women, compared with only one in ten in fiscal 1988 and even fewer in earlier years. More than one-third of all fiscal 1989 operations in Africa included actions specifically addressed to women. The review of lending operations revealed that activities to assist women were, in fact, concentrated in high-priority fields, particularly education; population, health, and nutrition; and agriculture. Some 28 percent of the education projects approved in fiscal 1988 and 44 percent of those in fiscal 1989 propose specific actions to improve female education. Six of the eight population, health, and nutrition projects approved in fiscal 1988 and ten of the eleven in fiscal 1989 address women's needs specifically. Of the fifty-three operations approved in agriculture in fiscal 1989, twenty-two (sixteen in Africa) included specific actions to help women. This compares with nine out of fifty-six projects approved in fiscal 1988. Progress can also be discerned in these important areas over the longer term. Comparison of seventy-three operations in these fields in fiscal 1988 and 1989 with a paired set of seventy-three similar projects in the same countries approved from 1980 to 1987 reveals that the share of operations with project-specific actions to assist women increased from 9 percent in the earlier period to 30 percent in the later one for agriculture operations and from 22 percent to 33 percent for education projects. It remained at 75 percent for population, health, and nutrition operations. In addition, some projects approved in fiscal 1988 and 1989 illustrate the possibilities for addressing women's needs in other fields-small-scale industry, water supply, energy- and in adjustment operations. Such projects are described in section 2. A review by the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department of a sample of projects approved in the early 1980s emphasizes the importance of effective planning (incorporating gender-disaggre- gated data) and supervision of projects to ensure that women's needs are taken into account. Some ongoing projects have been modified to THE WORLD BANK'S RESPONSE 11 give greater attention to women. For the past five years, the Opera- tions Evaluation Department has systematically assessed projects' effects on women in agricultural production in the course of impact evaluations, which assess the experience and results five to ten years after completion of a project. The evaluations show that projects that benefited women usually had sound sociological analysis in advance, with data disaggregated by gender and a clear target population; well-defined objectives relating to female beneficiaries, and adequate instruments for achieving these; suitable institutional mechanisms and strong commitment from management; and Bank staff trained to oversee the achievement of the objectives. The results of a similar review of the treatment of women in economic and sectoral work-which provides the analytical basis for a policy dialogue with governments and for the Bank's lending and technical assistance-are summarized in section 3. Based on a review of the 254 internal reports on economic and sectoral work written in fiscal 1988 and 1989, the review concludes that more of them (25 percent) discussed women's issues in some depth than in the preced- ing eight-year period (when 19 percent of the total were deemed to have done this). In economic and sectoral work as in lending, atten- tion to women's issues is focused on the high-priority areas-social services and agriculture. The same is true in country economic mem- oranda and other internal macroeconomic reports. Examples of eco- nomic and sectoral work addressing women's issues are included in section 3. In the second half of 1989, each of the Bank's country departments began, for one or more of its client countries, a women in development assessment and action plan. These plans, which build on the earlier operational and analytic work that helped establish priorities, gener- ally confirm those priorities, adapted to countries' circumstances. The plans provide an integrated set of recommendations, covering the principal sectors and sometimes other sectors, on how to improve women's productivity and thereby relieve poverty and address other development objectives. Some twenty-three such assessments are now being prepared. As already noted, two, on Kenya and Pakistan, were discussed with the respective governments and published in 1989. Several others, including those on Bangladesh, India, and Nigeria, have also been discussed with the governments, and the one on Bangladesh is in the process of publication. 12 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY The published reports-on countries with disparate cultures and economic circumstances-focus on increasing women's productivity, to help women but also to promote economic efficiency, reduce poverty, improve children's health and learning, and bring down birthrates. The reports note the "double burden" on women of pro- duction and reproduction. They stress the necessity of education and health care for girls, particularly where girls have far less opportunity than boys. These reports also focus on the majority of women, who work as farmers, entrepreneurs, and laborers, and they give less attention to women in higher-paying occupations. (This is a strategic decision that will be reconsidered periodically.) They call for changes in policy and for investments to expand female access to education, basic health and family planning services, and programs (such as agricultural extension and credit) that will enable women, particu- larly the poor, to produce and earn more. They also identify ways to make these services more accessible and affordable. They suggest bringing services physically closer to women and girls. This means organizing service networks so that many distribution points offer at least the basics (such as one-room schoolhouses, community health posts, and outreach workers), rather than fewer, more centralized distribution points offering more comprehensive services but requir- ing more travel time. The studies suggest ways to involve communi- ties in planning, delivering, and financing services. They recommend including more women as providers of services and managers of programs-for example, in teaching, family planning, extension, and credit. They recommend strengthening women's groups and working with them as contact points to receive services and provide advice on women's needs. Such steps can be cost-effective not only in helping women but also in addressing broader objectives. Future Directions In the near future, the Bank expects to give attention to women's issues in the high-priority areas just identified: female education, family planning and other reproductive health subjects, agricultural extension, and credit for female farmers and small-scale entrepre- neurs. It will also increase its attention to women's participation in the labor force. Over the next year or so, particular emphasis will be given to the following activities: FUTURE DIRECTIONS 13 � expansion of policy work and research, with priority given to the development of guidelines on cost-effective interventions in specific fields, reflecting the best available operational experi- ence * setting an agenda for research to support policy formulation, including efforts to collect data disaggregated by gender, to strengthen the analytical foundation for efforts to improve women's opportunities * more explicit attention to women's issues in the policy dialogue with governments * implementation of the women in development assessments and action plans with more attention to assessing government ac- tions to address women's issues and actual results * inclusion of specific efforts in the Bank's operations to test, monitor, and evaluate promising programs for women, espe- cially in the high-priority areas * increased training of staff on the role of women in development. In conclusion, policymakers need to do more to involve women in the process of development in order to make more rapid progress in improving economic performance, relieving poverty, and slowing population growth. Such measures will also improve equity for the population as a whole. The steps outlined in this report will enable the World Bank to contribute more effectively to this effort. 2 Attention to Women in Lending Operations To determine how World Bank lending operations address women's issues, Bank staff reviewed internal project documents-the staff ap- praisal reports or president's reports for all new operations approved in fiscal 1988 and 1989. Since most fiscal 1988 operations had been prepared by the time the women in development initiative was effectively launched, the initiative could have only a marginal effect on them, but fiscal 1989 operations could take the initiative fully into account. The review suggests that the women in development initiative has begun to have some effect. One in five operations approved in fiscal 1989 included project-specific recommendations relating to women- compared with only one in ten in fiscal 1988 and fewer in earlier years. Six percent of the fiscal 1988 operations and 15 percent of the fiscal 1989 operations are judged to have the potential for substantial effect on women's well-being. Several points should be kept in mind when considering these findings. First, staff appraisal reports and president's reports repre- sent intentions-effort will be required to implement the projects effectively. Second, not all operations in all sectors are equally impor- tant for actions related to women. Operations in the area of human resources-education and population, health, and nutrition-are of prime importance. Operations to alleviate poverty and adjustment lending are also important, as is lending in agriculture, the field in which most women in the developing world are employed. It is reasonable to expect many lending operations in these areas to ad- dress women's issues. Nonetheless, some operations in other fields may also have consider- able effect on women-for example, in the development of entrepre- neurship and credit opportunities and in the areas of water supply and sanitation, household energy, rural transport, and urban development. Some operations in these fields are already addressing women's needs. 14 PROJECTS IN HIGH-PRIORITY FIELDS 15 Projects in High-Priority Fields The influence of the women in development initiative is most evident in education, in population, health, and nutrition, and in agriculture. Education Improving female education is crucial, and more projects now ad- dress the particular constraints on increasing girls' enrollment. Five of the eighteen education projects approved in fiscal 1988 and seven of the sixteen in fiscal 1989 propose specific actions to help girls and women. These include efforts to hire and train more female teachers, provide flexible schedules and schools closer to home, offer separate lavatories or housing for female students and faculty, improve text- books by removing gender bias, establish special incentives to in- crease female enrollment and reduce drop-out rates, and expand vocational training for girls. Notable examples of such projects come from some of the countries where culture, geography, and economic conditions pose the greatest challenge (box 1). Expanding female access to basic education is especially important, and six of the fifteen operations in primary and secondary education in fiscal 1988 and 1989 include specific actions to improve girls' participation. Higher education and training can help women move into the formal labor force; several projects include specific efforts to improve women's access. Population, Health, and Nutrition In lending for population, health, and nutrition, the Bank mainly supports primary health care. Women are the principal users of basic health services, mainly because they seek help for their children. Women are also the primary users of family planning services. It is natural, therefore, to expect population, health, and nutrition opera- tions to address women's issues. Six of the eight projects approved in fiscal 1988 and ten of the eleven in fiscal 1989 do address such basic matters as family planning, nutrition for mothers and children, and maternal and child health care (box 2). The intent of most projects is to bring about a greater variety and better quality of services. Many also help to bring services closer to users. More women are being 16 ATTENTION TO WOMEN IN LENDING OPERATIONS trained and employed as health care providers, especially at the local level, where women can often work more effectively with female clients. The few population, health, and nutrition projects that do not specifically address women fall into such fields as malaria control or the financing of health care systems-but even there some recent projects identify and address women's needs. Box 1. Education and Training for Women Bhutan: Primary Education (fiscal 1988). Provision of more local schools and "extended classrooms" will improve female access to schooling in the difficult terrain of Bhutan. A study will examine the reasons for varying female enroll- ment and retention rates and achievement; this will facilitate further improve- ments in primary education under a follow-up project. Morocco: Rural Primary Education (fiscal 1989). To increase rural girls' school attendance, the project will provide more local schools, cheaper text- books, and various incentives. Promotional campaigns will stress female educa- tion. Earlier enrollment of girls (at age five or six) will be encouraged, and child care for younger siblings will be provided. Girls will have priority for boarding in lower secondary schools. Teaching materials will be improved to reflect the circumstances of women in the community. India:Vocational Training(fiscal 1989). The projectstrengthens the National Vocational Training System by upgrading 400 industrial training institutes and improving planning and management in the training system. Women's partici- pation will receive particular attention. The project will increase by 9,000 a year the number of women the system can train for twenty-two occupations in the modern sector. Eighteen new training programs for trades in nontraditional areas will be introduced. The project finances training for women instructors in sixteen trades and provides four new women's regional vocational training institutes. Turkey: Second Industrial Training (fiscal 1988). The project supports the development of a countrywide system of higher-level technicians' training for occupations in industry and tourism. It will finance training programs in occu- pations particularly attractive to women (the programs would have an estimated 80 percent female enrollment) such as commercial studies, administrative ser- vices, financial administration, and tourism, to increase women's employment in parts of the economy with greater potential for growth. Nepal: Engineering Education (fiscal 1989). The project will strengthen the Institute of Engineering of Tribhuvan University, where female enrollment has been only about 6 percent. It provides for the construction of separate hostel facilities for women. In particular, new advanced programs in architecture, elec- tronics, and rural planning are expected to attract women. International and local faculty fellowships will be provided, with preference given to female faculty. PROJECTS IN HIGH-PRIORIY FIELDS 17 Box 2. Population, Health, and Nutrition for Women China: Integrated Regional Health Development (fiscal 1989). The project supports improvements in the quality of health service for 10 million to 12 million people. It includes a component for strengthening diagnosis and treat- ment in the area of maternal and child health. Health education will be incorpo- rated into maternal and child health care, and workers in this area will receive feedback on the causes of infant and maternal deaths. The detection of high-risk pregnancies will be improved, as will referral services, and mechanisms will be developed to monitor growth of preschool- and school-age children. Extension training will upgrade the skills of midwives and staff at village health centers; health workers will be trained to assess pregnancy risks, and hospital staff who attend mothers and children will learn to handle such problems as hemorrhage and infection. Ethiopia: Family Health (fiscal 1988). The project will improve access to and the quality of health care in the Shewa region, with emphasis on women and young children. Forty-five percent of the children will be immunized against communicable disease, 45 percent of mothers will be taught to recog- nize and treat dehydration, 50 percent of pregnant women will receive ante- and postnatal care (including tetanus immunization and vitamin and mineral supplements), and 17 percent of eligible women are expected to practice contraception (as compared with the present 2 percent). Innovations to be tested, and possibly replicated nationwide, include "maternity villages" for women with high-risk pregnancies; delivery of basic services (including contraception) by community health workers; and measures to improve re- gional-level management. India: Fifth (Bombay and Madras) Population (fiscal 1988). The project is designed to deliver an affordable package of family planning services and other high-priority welfare interventions in urban slums. It will also develop systems for outreach, management, and supervision that could be replicated elsewhere. It will directly benefit some 1.6 million women and 0.9 million children. High- priority interventions will include better family planning, prenatal care, identi- fication of and institutional delivery for all high-risk pregnancies, and immunizations. Kenya: Thiird Population (fiscal 1988). The project helps the National Council for Population and Development to strengthen Kenya's population program, promote demand for family planning services, and increase the supply of such services. It mobilizes and coordinates the resources of the government and of nongovernmental organizations, in which women play a leading role in designing and delivering family planning services. The project supports organi- zations such as KANU/Maendeleo ya Wanawake (the national women's organi- zation), the Family Planning Association of Kenya, and the National Council of Churches in delivering extensive family planning services and health care at the community level, often through women's groups. 18 ATTENTION TO WOMEN IN LENDING OPERATIONS Agriculture Throughout the developing world, women play an important role in agriculture-in crop production, livestock management, forestry, fisheries, and processing and marketing. An increasing proportion of the Bank's agricultural operations seeks explicitly to improve female farmers' access to services and markets and to raise their productivity. Of the fifty-three operations approved in fiscal 1989, twenty-two (sixteen in Africa) included specific actions addressing women's is- sues, an increase from the nine (out of fifty-six) projects approved in fiscal 1988. Measures to help women are found primarily in extension opera- tions and in multicomponent agricultural services and rural develop- ment operations (box 3). Various operations consider female farmers' specific needs, work with women's groups in designing programs and delivering extension services and credit, increase training and deployment of women as extension agents and supervisors, and provide more production and processing technology geared to female farmers. Since women's lack of legal title to land or other assets that could be used as collateral limits their access to institutional credit, efforts are under way to employ group guarantees of repayment and to allow the use of savings as collateral. Other operations seek to encourage cooking methods that save time and reduce fuel consump- tion and to change land tenure to protect the rights of women. Several projects support research on production and processing technologies that provide employment for women and increase their productivity on the farm and in the home. In other areas of agriculture, some recent projects demonstrate what can be done (box 4). Progress in High-Priority Fields Before 1988 Bank operations that specifically addressed women in development were mostly in agriculture, education, and population, health, and nutrition. To evaluate progress over a longer period in these important areas, Bank staff compared seventy-three operations approved in fiscal 1988 and 1989 with a paired set of seventy-three similar projects in the same countries, approved between 1980 and 1987 (forty-seven project pairs in agriculture, eighteen in education, and eight in population, health, and nutrition). This comparison PROGRESS IN HIGH-PRIORITY FIELDS 19 Box 3. Agricultural Services for Women China: Shandong Agricultural Development (fiscal 1989). The project seeks to increase rural incomes through the development of irrigation systems, live- stock production, and mariculture. One third of the project-the upgrading of small livestock production and processing-is targeted mainly to women. Rear- ing of small livestock is widespread and mainly a female occupation (almost 100,000 women in the target area maintain small animals), but levels of technol- ogy and investment are low. The project will involve training and deploying 245 female extension workers and 20,000 female village technicians to improve access to veterinary and extension services for women. About 3,200 women will find jobs in new agricultural processing activities and about 3,800 in processing maricultural products. Guinea: National Agricultural Extension and Researcih (fiscal 1989). Using the training and visit method of extension, the project gives special emphasis to reaching female farmers. Women will be employed in key positions at headquar- ters and in prefectures. Extension agents will meet with women's groups, discuss the most important needs, provide custom-made messages, and support the development of cooperatives. Morocco: National Agricultural Credit (fiscal 1989). The project supports private investment in agriculture and associated activities, with particular atten- tion to areas in which women are active. The National Agricultural Credit Bank has experience lending to women, and its female borrowers are good repayers. The project will, among other things, provide credit to women and assist in developing promising production and processing activities. Savings and loan packages for rural women will be provided for activities with particular potential for combining farm and nonfarm activities. Nigeria: Multistate Agricultural Development Project 11 (fiscal 1989). The project will provide agricultural services directly to women in three states, with programs tailored to specific zones. As part of the regular extension service, retrained experts in home economics will address the technical needs of female farmers, and the number of female extension agents will be increased. Agricul- tural processing will receive special attention, to increase value added, generate income for women, improve nutrition, reduce drudgery, and free female labor forother tasks. Improved tools and implements will be sold through government outlets and retailers, and credit will be provided through the Cooperative Financing Agencies. Rwanda: Agricultural Services (fiscal 1989). To increase the number of women receiving agricultural services, extension agents and husbands of female farmers will be made more aware of female farmers' needs, women's groups will serve as contact points, advice will be offered on areas of special interest to women (such as horticulture, livestock, and nutrition), and women's coopera- tives will be helped to obtain credit. 20 AlTENTION TO WOMEN IN LENDING OPERATIONS confirms that progress is being made. The share of operations with project-specific actions addressed to women increased from 9 percent in 1980-87 to 30 percent in fiscal 1988 and 1989 for agriculture opera- tions and from 22 percent to 33 percent for education projects. The share remained at 75 percent for population, health, and nutrition operations. Moreover, some ongoing Bank projects have been modi- fied to give greater attention to women's issues (box 5). Box 4. Women in Agricultural Specialties India:National Sericulture (fiscal 1989). Women provide about 60 percent of the total labor input in mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, and raw silk production, and they dominate two critical aspects of sericulture: silkworm rearingand cocoon reeling. The project includes a varietyof measures to improve women's working conditions, reduce health hazards, and improve their ability to earn and control income from sericulture; it will affect women in some 5 million households. It emphasizes extension advice for women and provides for more female subject matter specialists and extension agents. It promotes women's access to cocoon markets, credit, advanced technology, and technical training, and it will increase the employment of women in sericulture agencies. The project also provides direct support to nongovernmental organizations and women's groups promoting the participation of women and other underprivi- leged groups in sericulture. Nepal: Hill Community Forestry (fiscal 1989). The formation of forest user groups will strengthen the management of forest resources at the community level and improve local access to fuelwood and fodder, particularly for women. Users' preferences, especially those of women who critically depend on forest products, will be emphasized in planting and in planning for use of wood. A study covering women's role in the use of forest products will be undertaken. Cameroon: Livestock Sector Development (fiscal 1989). The project will promote the participation of women through increased emphasis on livestock and by taking into account women's multiple roles in livestock production. The project will strengthen 250 producers' associations, with particular attention paid to the remunerative activities of women. Loans for livestock production and services will be made available to women, and a female project adviser will be sent into the field. Tanzania: Cashew and Coconut Tree Crop (fiscal 1989). The project will support research on women in cashew production, with a full analysis of incentives and constraints. It will provide extension services and recruit female extension staff, use marketing advisers to train female traders, identify legal and institutional constraints on women's access to trading credit, and improve conditions and incentives so more women can engage in cashew processing, including home processing of by-products. ACTIVITY IN OTHER FIELDS 21 In general, experience from earlier projects suggests that projects benefiting women usually had good sociological analysis during planning, with gender-disaggregated data and key target groups identified; well-defined objectives relating to women beneficiaries and well-designed ways to reach these women; suitable institutional mechanisms and strong commitment by management; and Bank staff trained to oversee these aspects. Activity in Other Fields In other areas-such as industry, energy, transport, urban develop- ment, and water and sanitation-women's specific role is less obvi- ous. Still, women own and operate small industrial and trading enterprises, work in industry, use urban services, need transport, fetch and use water, and require access to sources of energy. Some recent projects in these fields illustrate possibilities for addressing women's needs (boxes 6 and 7). Examples are found in countries with highly disparate social and economic circumstances, which suggests that promising strategies can be developed as women's roles are better understood. Three of the twelve fiscal 1989 structural adjustment operations, and two of eight in fiscal 1988, set some conditions or included some actions to help women contribute to macroeconomic adjustment or to Box 5. Projects Modified to Address Women's Concerns Kenya: National Agricultural Extension (fiscal 1983). The project was ex- tended and refocused in 1987 so that extension services would be delivered to female farmers. Now more than half of all farmers regularly contacted by extension workers are women, and women's groups are proving to be particu- larly effective as contact points for extension messages. Nigeria: Multistate Agricultural Development Project I (fiscal 1986). The project has been modified during implementation to strengthen its impact. In Imo State, almost 20 percent of extension workers are now women, home economists have been upgraded to become subject matter specialists, and exten- sion messages now cover crops usually managed by women and other farming activities primarily of interest to women. About 40 percent of farmers contacted in Imo State are women, and women's groups have become very effectivecontact points for the delivery of extension services and agricultural inputs. 22 ATTENTION TO WOMEN IN LENDING OPERATIONS Box 6. Women and Natural Resources Mexico: Women, Water, andDevelopnient (fiscal 1989). Developed afterlocal meetings with women, the project combines activity in the areas of water supply and sanitation with support for women's economic activities. It will provide water and sanitation services to 200 low-income communities in rural and peri-urban areas to improve health and to free women from the chore of fetching water. Credit will be extended to women to finance such activities as producing greenhouse flowers, fish farming, sewing, and poultry raising. Niger: Energy (fiscal 1988). The project's household energy component di- rectly benefits women, notably through its emphasis on stoves fueled by wood, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas. Reductions in the tax on kerosene and kerosene stoves will induce people to use less fuelwood. A national committee on improved stoves and household energy, chaired by the national women's association, has been established by the government to monitor activities. Box 7. Credit and Entrepreneurship The Gambia: Enterprise Development (fiscal 1989). Women account for nearly half of the employment in the informal sector but are poorly represented in formal small and medium-size enterprises. Limited access to business train- ing, support services, and credit is a key constraint. To address some of these difficulties, the project will provide training, some of it specifically for women entrepreneurs, in business finance and project preparation and appraisal. Finan- cial and logistical support will be given to the Gambian Women's Finance Company, which manages a loan guarantee fund for female entrepreneurs, so that it can provide technical assistance in finance and management. (This fund is financed by contributions frombusinesses and matching funds from Women's World Banking, an international nongovernmental organization that promotes bankingservices forwomen.) A special line of creditis earmarked forthe projects of female entrepreneurs. A survey will identify other assistance that could be provided under this project or elsewhere. Ghana: Private Small and Medium-Size Enterprise Development (fiscal 1989). The principal objective of the project is to support private small and medium-size enterprise development. Among other things, the project will channel.resources to Women's World Banking (Ghana) to provide more techni- cal assistance and entrepreneurial training for female entrepreneurs and to improve their access to institutional credit. CONCLUSION 23 Box 8. Macroeconomic Adjustment Operations Venezuela: Structural Adjustment (fiscal 1989). The loan will support social action, especially measures intended to meet the health and nutritional needs of highly vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, infants, and preschoolers. Bolivia: Second Emergency Social Fund (fiscal 1988). Against the backdrop of economic depression and fiscal austerity measures, the Emergency Social Fund supports small-scale employment and income-generating activities and provides social assistance targeted to the rural poor, those dislocated by the collapse of the mining industry, pregnant and nursing women, and preschool children. The operation specifically addresses women's economic issues through subprojects that link health and nutritional services with credit and management training. Pilot operations will test ways to provide women with working capital for production and retailing enterprises. Women's coopera- tives are given special emphasis. Subprojects provide women with training in construction and maintenance of housing and of water and sewerage systems. High-priority assistance to pregnant and nursing women and infants includes food supplements, education about nutrition, construction and operation of day care centers and health posts, supplies for oral rehydration, and pharma- ceuticals. improve their future productivity. Measures supported include a nutrition program for pregnant and nursing women, measures to improve educational opportunities for girls in rural areas, and efforts to increase the productivity of rural women. Two social sector adjust- ment operations included actions specifically intended to help women during adjustment, by improving health care for women and children, training women in construction, encouraging contractors not to discriminate against women in employment and pay, and targeting credit to women (box 8). Conclusion The World Bank's lending operations are giving increased attention to the role of women in development. It is too soon to judge results, but there is evidence of progress in identifying women's issues and in recommending specific actions, and in placing certain conditions on loans. A larger proportion of fiscal 1989 operations addressed women's concerns and included specific actions or conditions than ever before. 3 Attention to Women in Economic and Sectoral Work Economic and sectoral work reports provide the analytical basis for an informed policy dialogue with borrowers and for the Bank's lending and technical assistance. Some 254 economic and sectoral reports prepared during fiscal 1988 and 1989 were re- viewed for attention to women's issues in their analysis and in their recommendations about policy. These included all 147 completed economic and sectoral work reports plus 107 in ad- vanced draft stage. Of the reports prepared during fiscal 1988 and 1989, 25 percent addressed women's issues in some detail. In comparison, 19 percent of reports in a sample covering the years 1980-87 addressed women's issues. There was little change from fiscal 1988 to 1989 in the aggregate performance. Women's issues received attention primarily in reports on popula- tion, health, and nutrition, education, and agriculture, and in country economic memoranda and other macroeconomic reports that covered these areas. Reports addressing women's concerns in an economic context generally dealt with poverty or the creation of employment. Ten of the thirteen reports on population, health, and nutrition treated women's issues in detail. Seven of the fourteen reports on education paid substantial attention to women's concerns. So did seven of the eight reports dealing with a broad range of social services, 28 percent of the macroeconomic reports and country economic memoranda, and 30 percent of the reports on agriculture. Six reports treating women's issues in detail emerged from work in fields other than these: four dealt with the administration and financ- ing of development activities, one with rural water, health, and sani- tation, and one with reconstruction. 24 INCORPORATING WOMEN'S CONCERNS 25 Incorporating Women's Concerns Economic and sectoral reports that treat the subject of women in development in some depth and offer policy recommendations fall into three main categories: * Those which consider women's issues solely in the context of social services (education and population, health, and nutrition); this includes most reports on social services and a number of country economic memoranda. * Those which also consider women's concerns in the context of poverty or employment analysis, or both; several reports on social services, country economic memoranda, and other macro- economic reports are in this group, as are four reports on the administration and financing of development. * Those which consider women's issues in the context of the main economic activities; this includes ten agriculture reports and a few country economic memoranda. Most reports on social services discuss women's issues in the context of family planning, maternal and child health care, safe moth- erhood, nutrition, and school enrollment. Several suggest specif- ic steps to provide better access for women and girls (case studies 1 and 2). The second category of reports paying specific attention to women in development covers poverty and employment. The report on social Case Study 1. Nigeria: Girls' Education A 1989World Bank internal report analyzes genderdifferences in primary school enrollment and theircauses (including school fees). The report notes that Nigeria has created a Women's Education Unit and organized conferences on women's participation in science, mathematics, and technology courses. Kaduna State allows young married women one year's maternity leave from school. Most states offer nonformal education for women. The Universal Primary Education drive is changing attitudes toward female education. The share of female teach- ers in primary schools is rising, and women make up half of the students in teacher training colleges. The report recommends media campaigns and re- search on education of women, nomads, and gifted children. 26 ATrENTION TO WOMEN IN ECONOMIC AND SECTORAL WORK Case Study 2. Ghana: Policy on Population, Health, and Nutrition The HealthMinistry of Ghana should consider introducinga checklist to identify pregnant women who should deliver under medical supervision, according to a 1989 internal Bank review of the country's policy on population, health, and nutrition. Women's secondary education being the most important factor in contraceptive use, the report recommends that the Education Ministry draw up action plans to have more girls complete primary school and enroll in secondary school. Recommended medium-term reforms include new channels for the delivery of services, such as private midwives and doctors, maternity homes, missions, and major employers in the public and private sectors. Villages can be reached by building on the social marketing program for contraceptives. Use of the services of private midwives should be encouraged; most of Ghana's 282 private midwives currently practice in the principal urban areas, and they may lack some equipment and facilities for tests. The report recommends that mid- wives offer a wider range, of services in government facilities and that they assist in prenatal clinics. programs and poverty in Colombia, for instance, analyzes govern- ment-run social programs that concern women; it discusses an inno- vative community-based day care program that addresses child care, nutritional needs, and health monitoring for preschoolers while giv- ing poor mothers the opportunity to obtain employment or training (case study 3). A project featuring an expansion of this day care program has recently been appraised. The report on reconstruction in Sri Lanka recommends measures to provide employment for women in the reconstruction of housing. The 1989 country economic memo- randum on India treats female poverty, illiteracy, and health and recommends measures to help poor women find employment. The review of Jamaica's social welfare program analyzes female poverty and government programs to address it (case study 4). The report on employment in Pakistan recommends ways to increase women's income (case study 5). Many reports on strategies to alleviate poverty emphasize the need to equip women to help their families escape poverty (case studies 6 and 7). The four reports that address the role of women in development in the context of administration and financing are a diverse group. The review of public expenditure in Bangladesh, which is concerned with INCORPORATING WOMEN'S CONCERNS 27 Case Study 3. Colombia: Community-Based Day Care The government's program of establishing children's welfare centers in local homes, modeled on pilots run by nongovernmental organizations, provides community-based day care, nutritional support, and health monitoring for about 400,000 preschoolers in poor urban areas. This lets the mothers work outside the home, which is especially important for single mothers because female-headed households are among the poorest. The 1988 Bank report further notes that volunteer "community mothers," chosen by the community, provide the day care in their homes. The agency implementing the program provides the com- munity mothers with orientation, helps them obtain loans to upgrade their homes, supplies essential furniture and equipment, and pays them a small fee. The program seeks to meet 80 percent of the children's nutritional needs; food is obtained at wholesale prices through community purchase, funded by the program and a small parental contribution, and through the program's direct allocations of a nutritional supplement. Case Study 4. Jamaica: Women's Employment About 36 percent of households in Jamaica are headed by women. Unemploy- ment among these women is three times that of male heads of household, and more than half of the poorest 30 percent of households are female-headed. Shortages of child care and credit are significant problems. Teenage pregnancies are a primary cause of dropping out of school. Human Employment and Resource Training is a government program targeted to groups with high unemployment. According to the 1988 Bank review of the program, women predominate among its beneficiaries. It includes residential training for employ- ment in hotels, commerce, construction, textiles, and data processing; on-the-job training; a no-collateral small credit scheme and training for business ventures in the informal sector; and a program for small farmers combining extension, credit, and land reform. the rural health care system, notes that to be cost-effective, public programs must be targeted more at needy women and children (case study 8). The report on public expenditure for social programs in Brazil discusses using nongovernmental organizations to reach poor mothers and female-headed households (case study 9). The review of public expenditure in Zambia recommends better targeting of food 28 A1TENTION TO WOMEN IN ECONOMIC AND SECTORAL WORK Case Study 5. Pakistan: Women's Employment Official female employment rates in Pakistan are implausibly low, according to a 1989 internal Bank report. The largest unrecognized group of female workers is rural women working at home and on family farms. Traditions limiting women to work at home and rising demand for labor are driving up rural wages. Women are an important target group for employment policy, on grounds of equity and because constraining their access to the wage labor market creates significant inefficiency in the economy. Training programs are urged for women, youths, and the urban poor. The report notes that employing female instructors to train women close to home will be important, as will effective gearing of training to prospects for employment. Case Study 6. Mexico: Rural Women's Employment Some 87 percent of rural women work in agriculture, and 24 percent manage a microenterprise, a 1989 internal study by the Bank found.Some 51 percent would like to manage an enterprise, but only 11 percent have the start-up capital. Some states have initiated programs to provide credit to women for small-scale enterprises or assistance in improving agricultural production, and the Inte- grated Rural Development Districts deploy social workers to assist women. The report suggests increased emphasis on making extension services accessible to women, expansion of women's activities in the Integrated Rural Development Districts, employment of more female staff, identification of special activities in which women would be encouraged to take the lead (such as water supply, small enterprises, group enterprises, and agriculture), and targeting the health and nutrition components of rural development programs specifically to women. security programs to the most vulnerable, such as children and nurs- ing mothers. The report on the role of communes in development in Rwanda urges more emphasis on female farmers in the effort to attain food security and recommends a range of measures to assist female farmers (case study 10). Examples of reports that discuss women in agriculture or private enterprise are those on rural credit in Indonesia (case study 11), agricultural cooperatives in Zimbabwe (case study 12), and agricul- tural extension in India (case study 13). These reports recognize women as economic agents and recommend specific measures to INCORPORATING WOMEN'S CONCERNS 29 Case Study 7. Bangladesh: Women and Poverty Women, who constitute many of the poor in Bangladesh, predominate among the assetless and unemployed. Heavy floods have further reduced their income- earning opportunities because of severe loss of livestock, housing, and vegetable crops. The Bank's 1989 report recommends greater urgency in expanding pro- grams to alleviate poverty. The system for distribution of food has already been improved. The report recommends closer cooperation with nongovernmental organizations that provide income-generating opportunities and services, in- cluding training, health care, credit, and education, to poor women. Credit programs that reach poor women should be expanded, and successful pilot programs using innovative methods should be considered for replication. The causes of low female school enrollment need comprehensive review. Case Study 8. Bangladesh: Health Care and Public Expenditure Supply-based management of rural health care is yielding diminishing returns, a 1989 Bank review found, and effective demand needs to be increased. An important step is to improve awareness of maternal and child health care. Only 16 percent of rural women receive any prenatal care, and only 5 percent of rural children under the age of one year are immunized. Informational campaigns and programs to involve communities, increased funding for drugs and supplies, and donor support for new programs in the area of maternal and child health are recommended. The report emphasizes the complementarity of programs in family planning and maternal and child health care. Public programs will be most effective if they are targeted to the truly needy, particularly poor women and children. overcome gender-based constraints on their productivity. The review of Indonesia's rural credit system discusses women's demand for credit and makes recommendations to improve their access to credit. The study of cooperatives in Zimbabwe notes that women, who predominate in the farming of food crops, face constrained access to credit, technical support, facilities for marketing, and membership in cooperatives, and it discusses measures to develop support services for women. The report on agricultural extension in India devotes considerable attention to ways of bringing extension messages to farm women. 30 ATTENTION TO WOMEN IN ECONOMIC AND SECTORAL WORK Case Study 9. Brazil: Public Spending on Health Care Targeting of neighborhoods has worked in a nutrition project in northeast Brazil, according to a 1988 Bank report. Other federal programs are designed to serve pregnantand nursing mothers, children in day carecenters, and children in poor families. Yet about three-fourths of public spending on health is for high-cost hospital care, mainly in urban areas. The report recommends better targeting to reach the poor, including mothers and female-headed households, and encour- aging nongovernmental organizations to supplement the government's efforts. It urges more decentralization and cost recovery to help fund programs for the poor: 31 percent of births in private hospitals are caesarian and highly subsi- dized, but 1.5 million women give birth annually without prenatal care. Case Study 10. Rwanda: Women and Food Security Although women do most of the work on farmland, they are not reached by extension and technical staff. The Bank's 1987 report on the role of communes in socioeconomic development recommends more emphasis on the role of women in efforts to attain self-sufficiency in food. Specific recommendations include developing and providing more technology appropriate to women's needs (such as water tanks, grain mills, pulping equipment, and grain silos), deploying more female extension staff, increasing female participation in train- ing provided by the Commune Center for Development and Continuing Educa- tion, and increasing support for women's associations. Conclusion More reports on economic and sectoral work in fiscal 1988 and 1989 discussed the role of women in development than in the preceding eight-year period. Most did so in analyzing social services, and a number included women's concerns in discussions of poverty or employment. Some reports emphasize the role of women as agents in the reduc- tion of poverty or as actual or potential producers and discuss ways to increase their productivity. Analyses of constraints on women's productivity tend to focus on health, nutrition, and, to some extent, literacy. A few reports examine ways of improving women's earning power through potentially fast-working actions such as day care for CONCLUSION 31 Case Study 11. Indonesia: Women's Access to Credit Indonesian women are active borrowers from rural financial institutions, but various factors constrain their access to credit-notably targeted lending for specific activities or crops, lack of collateral, the policy of granting one loan per household, and complicated application forms. A 1988 Bank review of rural credit arrange- ments suggests that nonfinancial assets commonly held by women (such as ani- mals, jewelry, and batik) might also be used as collateral, thereby improving women's access to institutional credit. Citing evidence showing that there may be substantial independence between men's and women's income-earnig activities in the household, the report recommends waiving the rule of one loan per house- hold in such cases because it limits access to loans for creditworthy borrowers. And the report notes that in some programs loan officers assist borrowers in completing applications, and in others application forms are kept very simple, filled out by a loan officer and only signed by the borrower. Case Study 12. Zimbabwe: Female Farmers, Cooperatives, and Support Services Women predominate in crop production but are hampered by lack of access to credit, marketing facilities, and membership in cooperatives. The Bank's 1989 review notes that the Central Organization of Agricultural Cooperatives has urged all cooperatives to reserve seats for women on their management commit- tees and is preparing a workshop to investigate the role of women in coopera- tives. In response to women's concerns about late deliveries, lack of technical support, and lack of transport for marketing produce, the Ministry of Commu- nity Development, Cooperatives, and Women's Affairs intends to develop spe- cial support services for women, including training, finance, technical inputs, purchasing, and marketing. children, changes in financial, regulatory, or legal barriers to credit, and vocational training. A number of reports address the role of women in agriculture. The role of women in development has not been addressed as often in reports on small and cottage industries, energy, urban development, or rural transport, all fields in which the participation of women can be significant. One serious constraint on analysis of women's issues in many countries and sectors is the paucity of data on the economic and social 32 ATrENTION TO WOMEN IN ECONOMIC AND SECTORAL WORK Case Study 13. India: Agricultural Extension Women's involvement in agriculture in India varies among and within regions and depends on a rangeof socioeconomic factors. To date, most states' extension services have not effectively reached farm women. A 1988 Bank review of Indian agricultural extension recommends that the extension services ensure that agri- cultural technology reach farm women and that extension messages be relevant to their concerns. Studies should be initiated to ascertain women's involvement in agriculture, develop the information needed to modify extension methodol- ogies so they reach women, and determine the most effective gender composi- tion and deployment of extension staff. characteristics and status of women. This constraint needs to be addressed in future economic and sectoral work, policy dialogue, technical assistance, and lending operations. More effort should go into information gathering through research institutions, women's organizations, nongovernmental organizations working with women, and so on. Sample surveys, carried out within the economic and sectoral work program or as part of Bank-aided projects, can help provide insights into women's socioeconomic situation. More attention to women in development will be given in the Bank's economic and sectoral work, as in its lending. No country can afford to underequip and underutilize more than half of its human resources. Alleviating poverty, ensuring food security, reducing pop- ulation growth, improving the quality of a country's future labor force, and properly using the natural resource base all depend sub- stantially on women. The World Bank Headquarters 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. 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