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Mission Statement:
To promote positive change through training of Peace Corps staff and volunteers to integrate a gender-sensitive approach to all
development work.
Our Goals:
- To train trainees, volunteers, and staff on GAD principles
- To offer continued support, resources, and training to volunteers throughout their year service, through PST, IST,
and All-Vol sessions
- To publish "GADFLY" newsletter to keep Peace Corps Vanuatu abreast of current events, resources, and to provide
practical tools
- To carry out special GAD initiatives throughout the year
History of (WID) GAD:
- WID (Women In Development) approaches emerged as a way of
addressing the needs and concerns of women. The first UN World Conference on Women was held
in 1975. Separate WID projects began to be established by Peace Corps.
- The Percy Amendment specifically changed the Peace Corps Act of 1961 to promote women's participation in their countries
economics. This led to mainstreaming gender throughout the Peace Corps operations.
- GAD emerged as an approach that takes into account relationships between men and women of
different backgrounds in order to increase the sustainability of development efforts. In 1999 the WID Office was changed to
WID/GAD, reflecting this evolution.
- To carry out special GAD initiatives throughout the year
"Gender
equality is more than just a goal in itself. It is a
precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing
poverty, promote sustainable development, and building
good governance"
- Kafi Anna, Ghana
What is Gender?
Gender encompasses the culturally determined roles, rights, expectations of behavior, dress, etc...
of men and women of different socioeconomic, racial, religious and other backgrounds.
"Gender" and "Sex" are often confused. Though these terms may be used by individuals or organizations
in different ways, gender and sex do not mean the same thing in a development context.
Sex is the biological aspect of being a male or female child, youth or adult.
| Sex Is: | Gender Is: |
- Biologically Determined
- Universal
- Unchanging
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- Socially Constructed
- Learned
- Dynamic (Change over time)
- Multi-faceted - they differ within and between cultures
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Why Does Gender Matter?
Gender influences who participates in, who benefits from any development plan or activity. Some factors that
influence participation and benefits from development are:
Time - Women generally have less free time
Division of Labor - Housework, Gardening childrearing, food preparation
Access to Resources & Information - Women not included in meeting
Power Relations - Women not included in decision making
Gender Needs - Decisions are made from male perspective and therefore
may not address needs of women
Levels of Power
Power Over - Assumes there is a limited quantity of power; if one has it,
another doesn't, and if someone gains power, someone else loses it.
* What Volunteers often notice in gender
relations
Power To - Empowerment where an individual controls a situation to his or her benefit.
* Where Volunteers can have an impact
Power With - Collective group power with energy greater than individuals' power combined.
* Where Volunteers can have an impact
Power Within - Individual self-acceptance and self-respect, which extends to respect
for others as equals.
* Ideally, where Volunteers can support role models
Gender issues can affect al areas of your volunteer experience. You must cope with the issues
on a personal level but perhaps more importantly you must also consider gender in relationship
to the development we are working towards as Peace Corps Volunteers
"I didn't even realize that my female counterpart felt
left out when didn't ask her to go to a meeting with me until she approached my wife and told her.
My counterpart is very reserved, but I expected that she would approach me, because that is what
I would expect from an American co-worker. I learnt that I have to make more effort and encourage open
communication."
-
Charlie, PCV
Special Points of Interest
- GAD Vanuatu Committee is made up of one staff member and volunteers from each
training group
- GAD committees around the world are comprised of a
diverse group of volunteers
men, women, 55+, fresh out of college, and different sectors
- How can you contact GAD?
- Email us: vanuatu.gad@gmail.com
- Put a request in the GAD mailbox located in the John Roberts Resource Center
- Talk with one of the friendly GAD committee Members or Terekea Kaltabang
- First Female Construction Teacher in Vanuatu
- Download the flyer in Adobe PDF
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