Details

Technical Note

A Note on Gender and Devolution

Amina Hassan, Shandana Khan Mohmand

INDUSTRY :

AREA : Gender

ORGANIZATION : Seed

LENGTH : 33

LUMS No : 17-001-2005-2

PUBLICATION YEAR : 2005

KEYWORDS:

Gender,Devoluton,Military Regime,Government,Decentralization

DESCRIPTION:

In March 2000, the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf launched its Devolution of Power Plan in Pakistan with the objective of devolving administrative and political power to the grassroots level. A distinctive feature of the three-tiered local government structure was the reservation of a significant 33 percent seats for women in local councils at the union, tehsil and district levels. The democratic and participatory effects of decentralization had been considered especially empowering for politically marginalized groups, primarily women and the poor. Moreover, quota systems, of which seat reservation was a variant, had been considered complementary to women¿s political participation. The Local Government Ordinance, 2001, encompassed both decentralization and seat reservation. International debate on both tools in their relation to politically empowering women necessitated a review in Pakistan¿s particular socio-political context ¿ an attempt this note undertakes. This note revisits the relationship between decentralization, quota systems and women¿s political capacity. The objectives of this project were twofold, firstly, to use fieldwork to quantitatively and qualitatively enrich the existing literature on these issues with Pakistan¿s particular experience. Secondly, to use the collected data and international experience with quotas and decentralization to indicate possible recommendations for gender-progressive local government reforms in the country. Two main arguments lie at the core of the note. Firstly, it is proposed that the reservation of seats for women in Pakistan¿s local bodies is an effective means of increasing their representation as well as their political participation in the country¿s local level governance. Secondly, it argues that despite the first assertion, there is no direct causal relationship between local government formation and seat reservation on the one hand and women¿s political empowerment on the other; one does not inevitably translate into the other. The impact of reservation of seats for women through the Local Government Plan has to be analyzed at two levels: the impact of the structural changes on the de-jure vs de-facto participation of elected women councilors is one concern; the other concern is the impact of reservation on the political representation and participation of non-elected women citizens. Bringing women into governance structures is an end in itself; however, women councilors can also become a channel of representation and participation of women citizens in general. Similarly, the participation of women citizens can determine the support and incentive structures for women councilors in performing their elected duties. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

N/A

SUBJECTS COVERED:

Gender