1.
www.iied.org @IIED
Strengthening
women’s voices in
public and private
governance
Lessons from Tanzania, Senegal and Ghana
Philippine Sutz, Emilie Beauchamp, Anna Bolin
12 April 2021

2.
Our vision
“We work together to strengthen people’s
voices in the decision-making arenas that affect
them — from village councils to international
conventions.”
--Andrew Norton, Director, IIED

3.
Why do local
women’s voices
in private and
public
governance
matter?
Women in Senegal attending a forum on
women’s land rights (Photo: Copyright Philippine Sutz)

4.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Voice /participation key for gender equality and women’s
empowerment;
• Local women’s voices underrepresented in public and private
governance;
• Need for better integration into projects, programming and
policies, but how?
• Limited evidence of what works, and how in promoting
women’s voices across sectors
• Decided to undertake a cross-sectoral analysis to identify in our
work factors that enable or constrain local women’s voices and
participation in public and private governance
4

5.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Voice /participation key for gender equality and women’s
empowerment;
• Local women’s voices underrepresented in public and private
governance;
• Need for better integration into projects, programming and
policies, but how?
• Limited evidence of what works, and how, in promoting
women’s voices across sectors
• Decided to undertake a cross-sectoral analysis to identify in our
work factors that enable or constrain local women’s voices and
participation in public and private governance
5

6.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Voice /participation key for gender equality and women’s
empowerment;
• Local women’s voices underrepresented in public and private
governance;
• Need for better integration into projects, programming and
policies, but how?
• Limited evidence of what works, and how in promoting
women’s voices across sectors
• Decided to undertake a cross-sectoral analysis to identify in our
work factors that enable or constrain local women’s voices and
participation in public and private governance
6

7.
Case studies

8.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED 8
Tanzania: bringing the law home through
village by-laws
Women discussing draft by-laws at the Women’s Forum in Msanga ward, Kisarawe district in Tanzania
(Photo: Copyright Kennedy Rwegarulila)

9.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
TAWLA’s Approach
• supporting adoption of gender-
sensitive village by-laws
 Participatory
 community dialogue
 Promoting local ownership
9
Outcomes
• Implemented in 6 districts
• Women are more present and
vocal in village meetings
• Women have an increased
knowledge of their land rights
Approach and outcomes

10.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Women’s quotas in national
legislation: an important
starting point
• Local rules: effective tool to
‘ensure that national
legislation is implemented
locally
10
• Having community members
in the driving seat is
paramount
• Collaboration with local
authorities also key
• Local rules that provide
community-wide benefits
contribute to local ownership
Lessons learnt

11.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED 11
Senegal: inclusion in local climate investment
decisions
Devolved Climate Finance
mechanism:
• Implemented over 284
community-prioritised
resilience investments in four
countries in the Sahel
• Core component of
mechanism is community-
centered planning
DCF investments in Senegal: a
rice cultivation project, a well, and
a school where toilets for girls were
constructed (Photo: Emilie
Beauchamp)

12.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED 12
Approach
• Social inclusion of
different social group
groups (including women)
is critical for sustainable
outcomes
Gender-positive actions:
• Community involvement
• Quotas in communal
decision committees
Soanes et al. 2019. https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G04424.pdf

13.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Women’s priorities seen
reflected in the types,
locations, designs of
investments
• Although women’s priorities not
systematically integrated
• Women’s participation varied
highly between villages
13
Outcomes
Women using DCF investments in Senegal: top – an irrigated
garden, bottom a well. (Photo: Daouda Cissé)

14.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Gender lens and active
engagement of women
needed at all stages of
planning
• Engaging with “all relevant
groups” requires power
dynamics assessments
throughout project
14
• Education/skills and
social networks, and
recognition of women’s role
were key factor
• Participation occurred
across intersecting identities
& influenced by
intrahousehold dynamics
Lessons learnt and reflections
See papers:
Djohy. 2019. Social inclusion in the DCF mechanism in Senegal & Mali
Patnaik. 2021. Gender and participation […]: Evidence from the decentralized climate funds project in Se

15.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
Ghana: strengthening individual and
collective agency through enterprise
15
Women shea nut collectors and processors in the Tele-Bere region, northern Ghana (Photo: © Tele-Bere VSL Association)

16.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
National Executive
Committee (NEC)
Forest Zone
Working Group
(BIT & Women’s coaches/
advocates/mentors)
National Working Group
Savanna Zone
Working Group
(BIT & Women’s coaches/
advocates/mentors)
Transition Zone
Working Group
(BIT & Women’s coaches/
advocates/mentors)
FFPO FFPO FFPO
FFPO FFPO FFPO FFPO FFPO FFPO
Producers
Producers
Producers
Producers
Producers
Producers
Producers
Producers
Producers
General Assembly
Business Incubation
Team (BIT) & Women
Champions Wing
Ghana Federation
of Forest and Farm
Producers

17.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Protection of ‘open-access’
Baobab and Shea trees
• Formalise village savings
and loans association
• Critical mass of women at
local and zonal platforms
• Joint solutions identified with
key stakeholders
17
Moving away from “women’s issues” to
common challenges and solutions
Members of one of the cooperatives in the Savanna zone
processing shea nuts into butter to be sold to the Savanna
Fruits company in Tamale (Photo: © Sophie Grouwels,
FAO Rome)

18.
Enabling
factors

19.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
An enabling institutional and
legislative framework:
 Decentralised and participatory
 Mechanisms in place to identify and
prioritise needs
 Progressive laws, gender part of a
strategic vision and operational plan
Community and household:
 Meetings - timing, place, notice
 Engaging men and leaders on
gender roles and division of labour
19
A supportive environment
Members of a Tenun Ikat Sikka weaving cooperative in
Flores, Indonesia, discuss the design of a new financial
mechanism (Photo: © Anna Bolin, IIED)

20.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Women’s groups and
networks:
o amplify current voices
o support new voices
o create role models
20
• Basic education & skills:
ability and confidence to
speak in public;
• Legal and technical
knowledge on relevant
issues (land, agriculture
etc..)
Individual & collective capabilities are both
needed…

21.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
• Working horizontally & vertically –
not just a gender lens
• Work on short and long-term
pathways for critical mass
• Shifting social recognition of
women’s role
21
… to build critical mass so voices are heard at
scale
Exchange visit and training of Nepalese women entrepreneurs to
the Self-Employed women’s Association in India (Photo : Amit Poudyal)

22.
Philippine Sutz Emilie Beauchamp Anna Bolin / @IIED
New challenges:
• How gender intersects
with other identities
• Need new approaches
to address power
dynamics
22
Challenges
Known challenges:
• Social norms
• Limited access to
resources
• Few examples of
leadership
• Project duration &
learning

23.
Next steps?
Meeting of the Women’s economic group in Darou
Khoudoss, Senegal (Photo: Mamadou Fall)