Gender Integration and Women in Co-operative Development Country Study of Pakistan

Abstract

he concept of Women in Development (WID) has undergone substantial changes during the eighties. When the feminist movement was the subject of reassessment, many new WID approaches have emerged. Approach of gender planning has become popular at present with a broader concept of gender. This change is also due to the result of evaluation on the women's position in the society, after the UN Women's Decade. Many have felt that the approaches introduced during this period have also become obsolete or have not shown results as expected in the process of global socio-economic changes. Therefore, UN agencies as well as many international NGOs have revived their WID programmes, keeping gender issues in mind. As for the co-operative movement in the region, the same situation is visible. Many co-operative movements continue to adopt the WID strategies introduced in the seventies. Therefore, it has become vital to assess the current WID situation in co-operatives in terms of concepts, strategies and the cost benefits of the existing programmes. Any future planning of the WID programmes or gender planning mechanisms in cooperatives should be based on such an evaluation.