Gender mainstreaming

The interviewees understand gender in two ways: diversity of gender and difference between men and women (Kuusipalo, 2002, pp.210-215).

Yes, it was spoken about. In the sense of, for example, different policy areas, and Namibian politics. In a way that gender perspective and that consideration would be from the level of planning to implementation. And this was especially the case when a new ministry was opened there. This Ministry of Poverty Eradication.

The Ministry of Poverty Eradication and whether it was now social development or something like that. But poverty eradication is the leading theme there. So, while Finland is supporting that ministry ... That's when we started to draft their strategy and more. It is important to take this mainstreaming perspective as it starts from the planning stage.

Kyllä puhuttiin. Siinä mielessä, että esimerkiksi eri politiikan lohkoilla, ja Namibian politiikassa. Että se tavallaan se sukupuolinäkemys ja se huomiointi olis ihan sieltä suunnittelutasolta sinne toteutukseen. Ja tää oli esillä erityisesti, kun sinne avattiin uus tota ministeriö. Tää köyhyyden poistamiseen tähtäävä ministeriö. Ministry of poverty eradication and oliko se nyt social development, tai joku vastaava. Mut poverty eradication on siinä kuitenkin se johtava teema.

Niin siinä kun Suomi tukee sitä ministeriötä…Niin sillon just alettiin draftaamaan sitä niitten strategiaa ja muuta. Et tässä on tärkeää ottaa tämä valtavirtaistamisen näkökulma siitä, et se lähtee siitä suunnittelu asteelta.

(Interview 3)

The third interviewee signifies the diversity of gender by presenting an example of establishing a new ministry in Namibia. Gender perspective was supposed to be included in the strategy of ministry that is focusing on topics such as poverty and development.

According to the expert, Finland was present in the process and applying gender mainstreaming was important. The first interviewee who approaches gender through its diversities, stresses that women who belong to sexual minorities, or with disabilities should be taken into account when gender is considered in project planning and put it into action.

(Kuusipalo, 2002, pp.214-215.)

Regarding Kuusipalo (2002, p.219), post-modern feminists’ discussions highlight gender diversities and aim to get women’s voices heard, also the white, heterosexual and western female subject is criticized. In the fifth interview the expert stresses that in terms of promoting equality and mainstreaming gender, women should be considered and listened to.

The seventh interviewee discusses on mainstreaming by stating that different social positions of girls and women need to be acknowledged. The latter expert mentions that for example

violence of extremist organizations and migration might affect acts to support women and girls.

On the contrary to the approach of diversity, an informant in the fourth interview signify gender and equality through a difference between male and female and gendered roles.

According to the expert, one should not go too far by understanding girls and boys as similar;

gender is presented through dichotomy, but gender mainstreaming associates to disappearing gender roles which are closer to understanding gender categories as similar. (Kuusipalo, 2002, pp.212-214.)

Yeah no, I do not know, I'm not more closely acquainted with the issue, but what comes to my mind about this kind of gender mainstreaming, is precisely the fact, that these gender roles are loosing, and why they are so much talked about, whether you do not talk about girls and boys, but in a way. Well, that's not about it, well I don't necessarily feel that it is. I personally think that a girl like a girl and boys are boys, that it wouldn't be too good to go too far…

Joo no en mä tiedä, en oo asiaan itse tarkemmin perehtynyt, mut se mikä itsellä tulee mieleen tällasesta sukupuolen valtavirtaistamisesta niin on nimenomaan se, että häviää nämä sukupuoliroolit ja miks niistä nyt on paljon puhuttu, siitä et ei puhuta tytöistä ja pojista, vaan että tavallaan. No, se ei oo siitä, no itse mä en välttämättä koe että se on, henkilökohtaisesti mä ajattelen että kuitenkin tyttö kuin tyttö ja pojat on poikia, että siinä ei liian pitkälle olis hyvä mennä.

(Interview 4)

The interviewee does not support fading gender categories but keeping them alive and apart.

Categories of girls and boys should not become too alike, and one should not go too far in presenting them similarly. Therefore, the expert perceives men and women as two different categories and different. The fourth interviewee criticizes mainstreaming and its characteristic to fade out gender directly, while two other experts emphasize the benefit of having both genders represented in decision making.

The seventh interviewee perceives that the results of development intervention will be better if equality is not considered only a matter of women already in planning, dichotomy refers to seeing men and women as different. Expert in the first interview notes that it was important that everyone has equal possibilities to participate in planning at work. As a difference to experts who demand to commit both genders in decision making, the first

informant does not define the gender of participants during the mission in Namibia. Despite that, the first interviewee mostly approaches gender from dichotomy, when project planning and implementation is in question. The fourth interviewee continues the comment by describing how they considered the Namibian context while putting mainstreaming in practice.

…But the fact that not while I was in Namibia, we did not carry so much of that message, because it is understood that Namibia has a much more traditional way of thinking and thinking like about women's gender roles. So, it's kind of unmannerly and rude to go out there strongly to convey a message that's kind of out of place in their culture

…Mutta se että ei sen aikana, kun mä olin Namibiassa, niin ei me hirveen paljon sitä viestiä kyllä, koska kun ymmärretään kyllä et Namibiassa on paljon perinteisempi ajattelumalli ja -tapa niinkun naisten sukupuolirooli -asioista. Niin se on tavallaan moukkamaista ja epäkohteliasta mennä voimakkaasti sinne välittämään sellasta viestiä, mikä tavallaan ei sovi sinne niiden kulttuuriin (Interview 4)

Mainstreaming in this study is merely discussed within development policies, but it is relevant to reflect it to Raevaara’s (2005, pp.44-45) research: In previous academic texts regarding equality policies in a cross-national context, it has been observed that countries’

ways to speak about gender might diverge and be very different. The fourth interviewee signifies that the Finnish way of mainstreaming and gender norms within it should not be taken to the Namibian context as such. The expert presents that it is not appropriate to

“Strongly carry a message” that do not fit so well into Namibian culture. This person acknowledges mainstreaming but did not implement it in her work. The first interviewee has a similar interpretation: mainstreaming was mainly part of discussions but was not considered in practice, although the informant in the first interview does not take a stand on how the Finnish model could be applied.

The second, third, fifth and seventh interviewees call for applying mainstreaming from the planning to implementation. According to them, it is supposed to be present in all processes of development intervention. They merely present an idea of how things should be done, instead of how they were done.

Mainstreaming, to me, means just that it is…that aspect is involved in all activities.

Valtavirtaistaminen tarkottaa mun mielestä just sitä, et se…Et se näkökulma on kaikessa toiminnassa mukana.

(Interview 5)

According to the fifth expert, gender mainstreaming is supposed to be included in all activities in development. In the Beijing conference in 1995, participating countries agreed to mainstream a gender perspective in all their actions. (United Nations and World Conference on Women, 1996). In the fifth interview, the meaning of mainstreaming to the interviewee is alike as the message across the Platform for Action. Also, an expert in the second interview defines mainstreaming similarly: the approach of girls and women should be included in all levels of decision making. Additionally, the expert presents it as a concern of the state of Finland. Experts refer to mainstreaming while describing how the position of women and girls is taken into account in development project planning by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The seventh informant expresses that everything, from the policymaking to the implementation, should be looked through “gender classes”. Gender classes refer to the handbook provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and is supposed to support the equality work of ministries (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2013). Furthermore, when the third informant describes the establishment of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication in Namibia with Finnish support, the importance of including mainstreaming and gender approach into all activities is emphasized.

Mainstreaming is described as an approach that points out how gender equality should be promoted (Stocchetti and Kandolin, 2018, p.17). In interviews, experts were asked how they would define mainstreaming and did they receive instructions regarding it in their work.

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland’s evaluation (Fortheringham, Hara and Hänninen, 2017, p.16), the staff is supposed to be trained and provided with knowledge on gender-related issues and integrating gender in development work. Despite that, the informants four and six told that they did not receive strictly determined instructions on gender mainstreaming. They noticed rather general alignments in the work community and recommendations on how to include gender approach in work.