Mainstreaming gender into governance and public administration organizations : a case study of governance and public administration reform Luang Prabang Provincial Pilot Project Lao PDR | |
| Author | Theonakhet Saphakdy |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.GD-05-04 |
| Subject(s) | Women executives--Laos Public administration--Loas Women in development--Laos |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. GD-05-04 |
| Abstract | The Governance & Public Administration Reform Project in Lao PDR recognizes that a critical factor in alleviating poverty is the recognition of the role that women can play to support the countrys development and the need for greater equity between men and women. This research was engaged to undertake a study of perceptions of gender and the obstacles preventing gender equity within the organizations. To strengthen the local administration and thus ensure that the benefits of economic growth and modernization are distributed more equally across the country, a systematic process of decentralization is now under way in Lao PDR. Today, national development priorities are centered around rural development and the narrowing of the gap between rural and urban areas, which makes decentralized governance even more important as "the missing link between anti-poverty efforts and effective poverty reduction." GPAR Luang Prabang was the first "decentralization" pilot established under the guidance of the Prime Minister's Office and the GPAR Central project. It assists the provincial authorities in the design and implementation of a better governance system, featuring accountability, predictability, sound public sector management, optimized service delivery, participation and transparency, in order to provide cost-effective services to the population. How to institutionalize or sustain change related to new perspectives in the practices of governments and other organizations is involved in the development process. The term institutionalization has been widely used in the relation to integration of women or gender into regular development practices. The fact that a women or gender perspective has only very rarely been institutionalized in these practices both the conceptual underpinnings and the practical activities around institutionalization need to be explored. Mainstreaming gender into organization has been detected in this research to understand the current trend and justify the implementing measures along with the organizational mechanism toward the reduction of gender inequalities and imbalances among the staff structures and the descriptions of responsibility. In reality, the gender perception exists naturally or traditionally, in the case of Lao it is serious, but the recognition of the norms and values between man and woman plays important role to justify themselves first. Whereas, the raising awareness is not enough means but to intervene and get through to the whole mechanism of those institutions and organizations becomes critical not to be underscored the value and important role of women in particular. For a certain institutional framework, mainstreaming gender has to be done since the beginning of the set up to determine that who are the key players and their responsibilities and involvement in all round movements as well. To attain the appropriate share or active participation in all activities, if and when necessary some policy mandate have to be applied since the perceptions on tendency of gender discriminations is there. In this study, the current institutional framework are figured out and analyzed according to the information on gender perception and the real pictures in context regarding with degree or level of participation, in terms of staff member number and roles and responsibility respectively. More measures and approaches have to be taken to achieve a certain level of gender equality in the context, at the same time the point to be considered is not only awareness raising but the capacity building and movement toward the practice from attitude through knowledge gain is recommended here. |
| Year | 2005 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. GD-05-04 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Gender and Development Studies (GD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kusakabe, Kyoko; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Resurreccion, Bernadette ;Swierczek, Fredric W.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of New Zealand; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2005 |