Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
“Gender” Kicks Off ODA Task Force Seminar for FY2006
Kenya, Thailand and Pakistan Connect for Experience Sharing Session
Mainstreaming gender into development activities was the focus of discussions at the first distance seminar for Japan's ODA Task Force held this fiscal year, on June 21, 2006. Connecting the TDLC with Kenya, Thailand and Pakistan, members of each country's Task Force, including Japanese Embassy, JICA and JETRO staff, participated to share their experiences and exchanged opinions with speakers in Tokyo.
Following a brief summary of ongoing local projects from Bangkok and Nairobi, Ms. Asako Osaki, Consultant and former UNDP staff with experience in gender issues, gave a presentation from Tokyo titled "For materialization of gender-sensitive ODA -From WID (Women in Development) to GAD (Gender and Development)". Ms.Osaki challenged the notion that development is gender neutral, and said gender needed to be considered from the outset, in both project and policy planning.
Daniele Testelin, Counsellor of the Embassy of Canada also spoke from the TDLC on "Why Mainstreaming Gender Matters - Canadian International Development Agency's Perspective". Ms.Testelin emphasized equal access and control over resources as the two most significant issues in gender mainstreaming, and spoke of the need to focus on gender differences and inequalities, not women per se.
Japan's ODA Task Force Seminar is organized by the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), which conducts training programs for the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The TDLC has supported the program as a capacity building effort. In its first year, participating sites included Bangladesh, Bolivia, Guatemala, Vietnam and Laos for a total of 8 sessions. FASID plans to conduct several additional seminars this year.
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