Two Perspectives on Gender Equality Discourse in the Context of International Development: the Human Rights-based Approach (HRBA) vs. the Economic Approach

This paper outlines how gender issues have been discussed from the Fourth UN Women’s Conference, the Beijing Conference, to the Fourth High Level Forum (HLF-4) on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea in 2011. From a historical overview on gender issues, two different perspectives are identified within the context of development. One is the economic approach taken by the OECD and World Bank, and the other is the human-rights approach as typified by UN institutions and civil-society organizations (CSOs). Analyzing issue papers, articles and reports released from both perspectives and featuring gender and development in their titles, this paper investigates the different standpoints on whether gender is a means to or an end for development and aid effectiveness, in order to ascertain the meaning and implications of gender agenda as an outcome of HLF-4. Although gender has recently been addressed as a cross-cutting issue in the development context, it is difficult to achieve practical outcomes of development or poverty reduction without providing consideration to women, who hold an absolute majority of the world’s poor. However, this approach to gender as a means ought to be extended toward a more sustainable and human-rights based approach as the international aid framework becomes more inclusive and focuses more on development effectiveness.