外援對性別平等的影響：以政變以後的宏都拉斯為例，2009-2014 - 政大學術集成

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(1)INTERNATIONAL MASTER’S IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (IMPIS) NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY. | ! !. THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN AID ON GENDER EQUALITY: A CASE STUDY OF HONDURAS AFTER THE COUP, 2009-2014. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 2009-2014. 學. ! !. 政治大. sit. y. Nat. er. io. GRADUATE STUDENT: MARYORIET NICOLE ROSALES SALGADO. al. n. iv n C ADVISOR: PROFESSOR CHANG h e n g cWEN-YANG hi U. ! !. ! ! !. JUNE, 2015.

(2) ABSTRACT: Gender equality refers to justice in the distribution of opportunities, responsibilities, and reimbursements available to men and women. Gender equality embraces equal treatment of women and men in education, health and political opportunities, regarding access to resources and services within families, communities, and society at large. When women are empowered, development occurs, benefiting entire communities and nations. In the past decade, gender equality has become a central aspect in the execution of development projects around the globe. Countless efforts and strategies have been. 政治大 international organizations ́ interest and investment in affirming women’s equal 立 opportunities, there are still several women suffering from the consequences of. implemented in order to meet the needs of the world’s poorest women. Despite the. ‧ 國. 學. inequality, especially in developing countries. In Honduras women, specifically from poor and marginalized backgrounds, are exposed to relentless hardship and fewer. ‧. resources just for being born as women.. sit. y. Nat. This study seeks to analyze the impact foreign aid has on gender equality in Honduras after the coup d’etat in 2009, focusing on three specific variables education, measured by. io. al. er. primary and secondary enrollment rates, health, with a clear focus on maternal mortality. n. iv n C seats held by women in the national h parliament. i U this particular objective the e n g cTohachieve ratios and the impact of foreign aid on empowerment, measured by the proportion of. method of inquiry is primarily qualitative, based on documental analysis and continuous reliance on international reports and data. Key words: Gender Equality, Honduras, education, health, empowerment, foreign aid.. 1!.

(3) TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 8 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND .......................................................................................... 8 1.2 RESEARCH PURPOSE ................................................................................................ 17 1.3 RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................................... 19 1.4 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS .......................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 20 2.1 FOREIGN AID AND GENDER EQUALITY .................................................................... 20. 政治大 ........................................................................... 26. 2.2 GENDER EQUALITY IN LATIN-CENTRAL AMERICA................................................... 25. 立. 2.3 GENDER EQUALITY IN HONDURAS. 2.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................. 28. ‧ 國. 學. CHAPTER 3: CURRENT SITUATION OF GENDER EQUALITY IN HONDURAS.................................................................................................................... 29. ‧. 3.1 CURRENT SITUATION OF GENDER EQUALITY ON EDUCATION .................................. 29. y. Nat. 3.2 CURRENT SITUATION OF GENDER EQUALITY ON HEALTH ........................................ 34. sit. 3.3 CURRENT SITUATION OF GENDER EQUALITY ON EMPOWERMENT ............................ 39. n. al. er. io. 3.4 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 43. i n U. v. CHAPTER 4: THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN AID ON GENDER EQUALITY IN. Ch. engchi. HONDURAS.................................................................................................................... 45 4.1 THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN AID ON EDUCATION ......................................................... 45 4.2 THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN AID ON HEALTH ............................................................... 52 4.3 THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN AID ON EMPOWERMENT ................................................... 57 4.4 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 63 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................... 65 5.1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................... 65 5.2 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................... 69 5.3 FUTURE RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 72 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 73. 2!.

(4) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Page Proportion of seats held by women in single lower houses of national. 10. parliament, 2000 and 2014 (Percentage) Maternal Mortality Inter-Agency Group, Honduras 2013. 立. 38. 政治大. 學 ‧. ‧ 國 io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. 3.1. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 3!.

(5) LIST OF TABLES Table. Page. 1.1. Gender Inequality Index in Central America. 12. 1.2. Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) in. 13. Central America 1.3. GINI Index in Central America. 15. 1.4. Honduras GDP compared to Official Development Assistance and Net. 16. Official Aid received (current US$) 3.1. Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%) in Central America. 30. 3.2. Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%) in Central America. 31. 3.4. 41. 學. Central America 4.1. 35. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in. ‧ 國. 3.3. 政治大 Maternal Mortality Ratio in Central America. 立. The Impact of Net Official Development Assistance and Official Aid. 47. Aid Effectiveness on Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary. y. Nat. Female pupils at primary and secondary enrollments in public and. io. 4.3. sit. education (%). al. er. 4.2. ‧. received on Primary and Secondary Enrollment (%) in Honduras 48 49 53. 4.5. Aid Effectiveness on Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary. 54. n. 4.4. iv n C The Impact of Net Official Development Assistance U and Official Aid h i e h n c g received on the Maternal Mortality Ratio in Honduras private schools in Honduras. education (%) 4.6. The Impact of Net Official Development Assistance and Official Aid. 59. received on the Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in Honduras 4.7. Aid Effectiveness on the Proportion of seats held by women in national. 60. parliaments (%) in Central America. 4!.

(6) LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation. Meaning. CIDA. Canadian International Development Agency. GII. Gender Inequality Index. IMF. International Monetary Fund. LAC. Latin America and the Caribbean. MDGs. Millennium Development Goals. NGO. 立. OAS OECD. Pan American Health Organization United Nations Development Programme United Nations International Children's. y. Nat. sit. Emergency Fund). United States Agency for International Development.. n. al. er. io. USAID. ‧ 國. UNICEF. And Development. ‧. UNDP. Organization of Economic Cooperation. 學. PAHO. organization 政治Non-governmental 大 Organization of American States. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 5!.

(7) Acknowledgements: This work could not have been possible without Taiwan ICDF, who granted me with a generous scholarship to pursue my masters and gave me the opportunity to further investigate the developmental problems in my home country. Every result described in this thesis was accomplished as a result of the experiences and concise guidance I received from my advisor, Professor Wen-Yang Chang. It is through his unremitting supervision and care for performance that I am able to finish this work. To the rest of my committee members, thank you for your experienced remarks that have profoundly. 政治大. improved my research and have made me grow academically.. 立. I would like to thank the IMPIS faculty and my classmates for their support and diverse. ‧ 國. 學. opinions that have marked and inspired me. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my family who supported me during my time here, specially my mother and uncles who are my proudest supporters and critics, you have guided me until this. ‧. very day, I will be forever in debt for your unconditional love.. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 6!.

(8) To: my mother, Who didn’t allow gender prejudices to limit her work ethics and performance either as a mother or as an active member of the labor and academic force. Growing up in your guidance was the best education and drive I could have ever asked for. You have inspired me for a lifetime.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 7!.

(9) CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Background Gender equality is a multidimensional term embracing economic, cultural and social characteristics. It refers to the view that men and women should receive equal treatments and opportunities, embracing aspects for women’s daily life, including freedom, dignity, and the simple ability to make their own decisions. Its importance has been universally stated by several international organizations such as United Nations through publications such as The Economic Crisis and Gender Equality (UN Women Policy Division, 2014). 政治大. The World Bank Group stated its significance in Voice and Agency: Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity (World Bank, 2012); Organization of Economic. 立. Cooperation and Development (OECD) in their publication Closing the Gender Gap. ‧ 國. 學. (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, 2012)and the International Monetary fund supported it in their publication Women, Work and the Economy;. ‧. Macroeconomic gains from Gender Equality (International Monetary Fund, 2013) amongst others, under the belief that empowered women contribute to the health and. y. Nat. productivity of whole families and communities. The significance of gender equality is. sit. also underscored by its inclusion as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. al. n. the other seven goals.. er. io. (World Bank, 2013) it is acknowledged as being a key to poverty reduction and achieving. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. According to the World Bank, resources in the hands of women boost household expenditure in areas that benefit children, thus future generations. Giving resources to women, in particular, poor women, promotes large development advantages. Increasing women’s opportunities in public works, agriculture, finance, and all sectors of society that accelerate economic growth. (World Bank Group, 2014) Although several development programs and agencies list gender equity as one of their priorities and objectives such as United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in official documents like Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy. 8!.

(10) (USAID, 2012). The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) states it in Gender Equality, Policy and Tools (CIDA, 2010) and United Nations Development. Programme (UNDP) in their Gender Equality Strategy 2014 – 2017 (UNDP, 2014); women and girls still bear enormous hardship in developing countries due to cultural, political, legal, and sociological conditions. With high numbers of gender-aid entering the developing countries every year this paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the actual impact this aid has on gender equality in Honduras. Women represent a disproportionate population of poor in the world. This ongoing. 政治大. phenomenon is specifically significant defined as feminization of poverty in the late 1970’s, where poverty rapidly became a female problem. Currently, since the late 1990’s. 立. women represent a 70% of the world’s poor. (Chant, 2006). ‧ 國. 學. When gender equality is not reached it is not only the poverty cycle that strengthens but also socio-economic growth is stumbled. Women tend to be more illiterate than men.. ‧. Women account for two thirds of the world’s 774 million adult illiterates. (United Nations Statistics Division, 2010) A number that remains unchanged over the past two. y. Nat. sit. decades. Changing this could translate into positive consequences that affect entire. al. er. io. communities. Education, income and empowerment of women all contribute to improved. n. maternal health and better opportunities for future generations. (Mason, 2005). Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Women also tend to have less employment opportunities and are often segregated from policymaking where positions in government are left for men. Women continue to be underrepresented in national parliaments; where on average only 22 percent of seats are occupied by women (Women in National Parliaments, 2015). 9!.

(11) FIGURE 1.1: Proportion of seats held by women in single lower houses of national parliament, 2000 and 2014 (Percentage). Oceania 4 3. Eastern+Asia 20 21. Western+Asia 4 12. Sub+Sahara+Africa 13 23. Souther+Asia 7 16. Northern+Africa 3 24. 立. Latin+America+and+the+Caribbean+ 15 26. ‧ 國. 學. South<Eastern+Asia 12 18. 政治大. n. al. Ch. y. sit. io. Web link:. World 14 22. er. Nat. Developing+Regions 12 21. Developed+Regions 16 25. ‧. Caucasus+and+Central+Asia 7 19. i n U. v. (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2014%20MDG%20report/MDG%202014%20English%20web.pdf). engchi. The statistics below show the proportion of seats held by women in single or lower houses of national parliaments in various regions across the world in 2000 (upper strip) and 2014 (lower strip). In 2014, the average share of women in parliament worldwide stood at 22 percent, up from 14 percent in 2000. According to The Millennium Development Goals Report, women’s access to parliament is significantly low worldwide. Most developed regions show significant gains compared to those from developing regions. (The Millennium Goals Report, 2014). 10!.

(12) Greater gender equality in the political and employment sphere might unravel stronger investment in development cooperation and higher economic growth for developing countries. In Europe, higher representation of women as development ministers suggest that when in charge, women tend to be particularly concerned with poverty reduction and investing in human capacity. (Mason, 2005) Poverty accelerates diseases, exposing women to inadequate sanitation, unpurified water and overall unhealthy environments. Women, specifically in an economically disadvantaged status, lack access to affordable medicine and have fewer resources to approach basic maternity and reliable health care services. According to the United. 治政大 is 1 in 4,000, versus 1 in 51 The lifetime risk of maternal death in industrialized countries 立 in countries classified as ‘least developed’ (UNICEF Data, 2013). Suggesting an Nations inter-agency in 2013, women accounted for 210 deaths per 100,000 live births.. ‧ 國. 學. enormous gap between experiences that women in industrialized countries face and experiences women living in developing countries encounter. Poor women endure much. ‧. more critical hardship when accessing basic needs.. y. Nat. The overwhelming majority of unequal statistics for women occur in less developed and. sit. developing regions. In Honduras, for example, both poverty and inequality have become. al. er. io. the center and main problems for society. With 66.2 percent of the population living in. n. iv n C significantly higher poverty levels remain women and the indigenous and Afroh e namongst gchi U. poverty, and 45.3 percent in extreme poverty, (National Institute of Statistics, 2010). descendent population (Social Institutions and Gender Index, 2012). The human development in Honduras is also attributable to systemic inequality between men and women with a gender inequality index (GII) 1 value of 0.482 (United Nations Development Programme Reports, 2013). In a context of unequal distribution of wealth, opportunities and scarce resources, complemented by weak institutions, women from poor and marginalized backgrounds have a harder time participating in income generating practices and in most cases can’t benefit from international development !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!The GII is an index for measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 by the United Nations Development Project. It yields insights in gender gaps in major areas of human development and measures gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development: reproductive health, empowerment and economic status. (United Nations Development Programme Reports, 2013). 11!.

(13) initiatives. Among more than 150 countries, including all Central American2 countries, Honduras ranks 99 in the GII index. In Table 1 we can observe Honduras has higher inequality rates among most Central American countries; El Salvador ranks 85, Nicaragua ranks 90, Belize ranks 84 and far higher than Costa Rica with a 63 GII rank index. (United Nations Development Programme Reports, 2013). TABLE 1.1 Gender Inequality Index in Central America HDI. Country. rank. Gender. Gender. Matern. Adolesc. Share of. Population with. Inequal. Inequal. al. ent. seats in. at least some. ity. ity. Index. Index 立 Rank,. Value,. mortali 治 birth parliam 政大ent, ty rate, 2010/20. 2013. 2010. 15. 0.506. 107. 92. 78.5. 8.5. 0.344. 63. 40. 60.8. 38.6. 0.435. 84. 53. 71.4. 13.3. ‧ 國. 2013. 2013. Very high human. Rica Belize. io. 84. n. al. iv n C h 81 26.2 e n g c76.0 hi U. Medium human development 115. El. 0.441. 85. Salvador 125. Guatemal. 54.5. y. Costa. sit. 68. 63.5. er. Panama. Nat. 65. 2012. ‧. development. education, 25 +, female, 2005-. 學. ratio,. secondary. 35.2. 36.8. 0.523. 112. 120. 97.2. 13.3. 21.9. a 129. Honduras. 0.482. 99. 100. 84.0. 19.5. 28.0. 132. Nicaragua. 0.458. 90. 95. 100.8. 40.2. 30.8. *Source: Table extracted from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Reports 2013. (United Nations Development Programme Reports, 2013) Web Link (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-4-gender-inequality-index). !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. It is considered a subcontinent, consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.. 12!.

(14) Out of all Central American countries, Honduras has the highest proportion of its population below the poverty line with nearly three-quarters of its population poor and over two thirds of those people living in extreme poverty in 2004. This is over 300 percent of the poverty rate in Costa Rica, with just over 20 percent of the population in Costa Rica living below the poverty line in the same period. (Hammill, 2007). In Table 1.2, we can observe that since 2009, with the most recent available data, Honduras shows the highest poverty rates in all Central American countries, higher than Costa Rica since the year of the coup. TABLE 1.2: Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) in Central America. 立. 2011. 2012. 2013. 33.4. 29.8. 27.6. 26.5. 25.8. 21.3. 21.6. 20.6. ND. ND. ND. ND. 53.7. Guatemala. ND. El Salvador. 37.8. Nicaragua. 42.5. a l36.5 C ND h. Honduras. 58.8. 60.0. y. ND. io. Belize. sit. Nat. ND. ND. n. er. ‧ 國. Costa Rica. 2010. ‧. Panama. 2009. 學. Country. 政治大. 40.6. e n gNDc h i. 34.5 iv n U ND. 61.9. 66.5. 20.7 ND ND 29.6 ND 64.5. ND: No Available Data *Source; World Bank Data Group 2013 (World Bank Open Data, 2013) Web Link (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC). 13!.

(15) Poverty in Honduras is concentrated in the rural hillsides, where the disparity is even more noticeable. The income of households headed by women is about 30 percent less than that of households headed by men. (Rural Poverty, 2011) Gender inequality in the country is exemplified by the fact that women earn less and also have less power in economic and social spheres, therefore women do not participate in private and public decision-making. Violence has also escalated, directly affecting women; Honduras has the highest femicide rate in Central America, which from 2011- 2012 rose by 30%. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , 2011) Unfortunately the situation has not alleviated, within a global economic crisis a coup. 治政 removed from his position as president for alleged crimes大 by the nation’s army. In 立 violation of the Honduran Constitution Zelaya’s removal was internationally denounced d’état3 brought additional unease to the country. In June 28, 2009, Manuel Zelaya was. ‧ 國. 學. as a coup d’état. Poverty and extreme poverty rates decreased by 7.7 and 20.9 percent respectively during the Zelaya’s administration and from 2010-2012, the poverty rate (Johnston and Lefebvre, 2013). Nat. y. ‧. increased by 13.2 percent while the extreme poverty rate increased by 26.3 percent.. sit. The national governmental institutions became increasingly polarized in the foregoing. al. er. io. months as a result of Zelaya's intention to hold a nonbinding referendum and eventually. n. iv n C replace the detached president with the h ePresident i U Roberto Micheletti. This n g cofhCongress, amend the constitution. The Honduran National Congress then adopted a resolution to. political crisis left future political leaders with various challenges, including considerable domestic political division, a lack of international recognition, and a vacillating economy (Cassel, 2009). The coup d’état was condemned by The United Nations General Assembly, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), triggering the suspension of Honduras from participation in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3!Coup d'état is a common phenomenon of the contemporary world that refers to the forceful seizure of state. government. It is known as an overthrow or alteration of an existing government, usually instigated by a small group of the existing state establishment to depose the established government and replace it with a new ruling body. (Wells, 1974). 14!.

(16) the OAS. Zelaya’s removal lead to a series of diplomatic and economic sanctions against the country’s government and although the international community pushed for a negotiated agreement to end the crisis, such instability encouraged indicators in Honduras to continue dropping. From 2006-2008 average annual GDP growth was 5.7 percent. In 2009 Honduras’ GDP, as with most countries in Central America, contracted. From 2010-2013, average annual growth has been only 3.5 percent. Economic inequality, which decreased for four consecutive years starting in 2006, began trending upward in 2010. (Johnston & Lefebvre, 2013) Honduras now has the most unequal distribution of income in Latin America. In 2011, the GINI index4 reported Honduras at a value of 57.4 of unequal distribution of income and consumption, the highest numbers reported in Central America.. 立. 政治大 2011. 52.0. 51.9. 51.8. 48.1. 48.6. ND. ND. ND. 52.4. 51.0. El Salvador. 45.9. Nicaragua. 45.7. Honduras. 51.6. 48.6. al. sit. ND. 51.9. er. Guatemala. n. ND. io. Belize. 2012. y. Nat. Costa Rica. 2010. ‧. Panama. 2009. 學. Country. ‧ 國. TABLE 1.3: GINI Index in Central America. 42.4 n C h44.5 U i e ND n g c h ND 53.4. 57.4. iv. ND ND 41.8 ND ND. ND: No Available Data *Source: Table extracted from the latest update of GINI Table, World Bank Group 2013 (World Bank, 2013). Web Link (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI). !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. 4 The GINI index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. (World Bank Group Data Bank, 2013). 15!.

(17) The unequal distribution of resources and increased poverty, unemployment and violence is specifically targeting the female population, who encounter more difficulties in crisis, widening the gap amongst women and men. In a country highly dependent of foreign aid where policies have been directed to primarily help women and with the pressure of an international cooperation system enabling and promoting women’s empowerment, why does inequality persist in Honduras? Just in 2012, the country received USD 585,600,000 in net official development assistance, which represents a 3 percent of the total GDP that year. (World Bank Open Data, 2013), correspondingly aligned with the objectives of poverty reduction. 政治大. and the promotion of gender equality.. 立. TABLE 1.4: Honduras GDP compared to Official Development Assistance and Net. 2012. %. 14,587,485,644.4. 456,050,000. 3%. 15,839,344,592. 631,050,000. 4%. v ni. 4%. 620,400,000. 4%. e n g c h i U571,530,000. 3%. 17,710,325,578.4. Ch. sit. er. al. y. 564,330,000. n. 2011. GDP. 13,789,720,387.4. io. 2010. Net ODA/OA (current US$). ‧. 2009. GDP (current US$). Nat. 2008. ‧ 國. Year. 學. Official Aid received (current US$). 18,564,264,544.5. *Source; World Bank Data Group 2013 (World Bank Open Data, 2013). With high numbers of money aid entering the country every year this paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the actual impact this aid has on gender equality in the country. The study focuses on the years after the 2009 coup d’état, which as we can see on the Table above, Honduras was condemned by the international community, where The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank paused lending to the country. Despite this pause the percentage foreign aid represents on the countries’ GDP reached 3 percent in the last couple of years.. 16!.

(18) Countless efforts and strategies keep being implemented in order to meet the needs of the poorest Honduran women but despite the international organizations’ interest and investment in affirming gender equity the numbers still remain unmet. This study seeks to analyze if foreign aid increases gender equality and how foreign aid really alleviates inequality at the country level. To achieve this particular objective we need to take into consideration both qualitative and quantitative inquiry methods.. 1.2 Research Purpose ! This study seeks to analyze the relationship between foreign aid and gender equality,. 治政 mainly focusing on Honduras after the 2009 coup d’état, 大 with the purpose of highlighting 立cooperation funds have on gender equality. the actual impact international ‧ 國. 學. Gender inequalities in education, society, health and work force can have a devastating impact in contemporary states, directly affecting economic and human development. ‧. growth. Gender equality is profoundly related to sustainable development and has been. y. Nat. reported to be a successful key for improvement, although its substance has been defined. n. al. er. io. aid, the numbers for achieving gender equality remains unmet.. sit. by foreign aid initiatives in developing countries, that are highly dependent on foreign. Ch. i n U. v. The main objective of this study is to understand the impact foreign aid has on gender. engchi. equality in Honduras, a society in which women and men do not enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations. The existing gender gap is reflected on the slow socio- economic advancement of the country. Honduras is behind the average for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in most areas. In 2009, the average developing country in LAC had a literacy rate slightly above 91 percent, however, in Honduras, the literacy rate is slightly below 85 percent. (Lomot, 2013). According to Lomot’s study on Gender Discrimination, Honduras has had a consistent lower rate of women in the labor force than the rest of LAC countries since 1990. Female unemployment rate in 2013 was estimated to be 6.1 % compared to 5.0 Guatemala, 4.2 El Salvador, 5.1 in Panama, (World Bank Open Data, 2013). Although employment opportunities exist in urbanized. 17!.

(19) areas, the job market is limited when living in the rural areas, where the traditional gender roles make it extremely hard to be a woman, and job markets become nonexistent. (Rowlands, 1997). In terms of health, maternal mortality rates reports indicate that the maternal mortality rate in Honduras is one of the highest in Latin America with 120 deaths per 100,000 live births — compared to 36 per 100,000 in Uruguay, 38 in Costa Rica, 69 El Salvador, 85 Panama and 100 in Nicaragua reported on 2013. (World Bank Open Data, 2013) The subject matter has become such a prevalent factor that the key to understanding its implementation success, or lack of it, can be the answer to restore fairness in the country.. 治政大of narrowing down the impact access to economic and social resources. The importance 立 foreign initiatives have in gender equality can help alleviate further gender-related Where gender inequality exists, it is women who are excluded from decision-making and. ‧ 國. 學. challenges, specifically in developing regions like Honduras, were gender imposed roles often exclude women from trainings, development projects and overall growth. ‧. opportunities. Gender discrimination is the focus of this generation and countries like Honduras are facing dramatic problems such as poverty, maternal mortality, and political. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. misrepresentation due to the fact that women are often overlooked.. iv n C dimensions: 1. Education: measuredh by the amount of women e n g c h i U that enroll in primary and secondary levels of education. 2. Health care: measured by the ratio of maternal mortality n. This research analysis focuses on the increase of gender equity in three important. 3. Empowerment: measured by the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. When studying gender equality, education, health and political participation are variables that not only stand out in previous studies but in in daily life conditions, they are the most important when relating women and development. It is through education that women gain independence and freedom in the developing world, spurring into other opportunities such as employment and political participation. Additionally, it is when women are empowered that health access and standards are the first to increase and improve.. 18!.

(20) 1.3 Research Methods. ! The research method is primarily qualitative, focusing on the specific case study of Honduras after 2009, by analyzing several sources, academic, empirical and quantitative data through a documental analysis and continuous reliance on reports prepared by United Nations Development Programme, World Blank, World Economic Forum, United States Agency of International Development, United Nations Statistic Department and other International Organizations reports complimented by scholarly works, that provide specific academic guidance.. 治政大 1.4 Research Limitations 立 ‧ 國. 學. The Research quality is heavily dependent on secondary recollected data and universally stated measures and indexes, specifically by international organizations such as The World Bank Group and United Nations Development reports. The individual skills of the. ‧. researcher could be easily influenced by these sources. A greater depth of information. y. Nat. may have been obtained by conducting specific focus groups, including discussion that. sit. could consider cultural and social impact foreign aid has on the country. This method. n. al. er. io. could have added important qualitative data and greater insight on the opinions and. v. thoughts of women who have participated in development projects funded by various. Ch international cooperation agencies.. engchi. i n U. 19!.

(21) CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Foreign Aid and Gender Equality ! In the last two decades foreign aid and development assistance have rapidly shifted into a mutual agreement among countries, prioritizing human development indicators. The movement has evolved from a basic transaction of large amounts of money from country to country into a strategic and specialized cooperation. Though insisting pressure and past failures have dramatically changed development assistance over the years, the controversies about its effectiveness continue.. 政治大. Aid effectiveness is an on-going debate with several mixed combinations of perspectives; some researchers suggest that aid has been effective in stimulating certain stages of. 立. development. There is existing evidence on the positive outcomes aid has had on. ‧ 國. 學. achieving and spreading democracy and even economic growth (Finkel et al. 2007). Other scholars like Dalgaard, Hansen and Tar re-examine the effectiveness of foreign aid theoretically and empirically, concluding in a central message of how aid can play a. ‧. conductive role in reaching growth. Their results reflect that aid can be helpful on. y. Nat. productivity, although it cannot be used as the single solution for poverty reduction, but. al. er. io. sit. as a helpful tool to achieve progress and growth. (Dalgaard, Hansen, and Tar, 2004). n. In previous years, several scholars took the responsibility to further investigate important. Ch. i n U. v. variables that make aid effective. In 2000, Svensson researched about the responsibility. engchi. of recipient countries and how other institutions in the domestic scene can provide a better result and make aid successful. He suggests that when introducing a third party in the relationship between donor and recipients, developing governments will have an incentive to actually achieve international goals, highlighting that domestic actors like NGO’s and community groups can provide positive outcomes in developing countries. (Svensson, 2000). Easterly also researched upon the consideration of other variables to achieve aideffectiveness. He suggests that when recipient countries already have good policies, that. 20!.

(22) include transparent trade and monetary policies, aid has a greater effect than when recipient countries have poor policies, strengthening the belief that foreign aid can create positive outcomes, but it will definitely vary from country to country. (Easterly, 2007) Daalgard stated that aid is a positive incentive to achieve growth. Although the author was clear in pointing out that aid provides positive outcomes only when there is responsibility for the recipient government and a constant interaction relationship is introduced, than aid can be promising. (Dalgaard C.J., 2007) Further empirical literature illustrates that foreign aid exhibits no effect on growth or any. 政治大. other indicators of poverty. An important economist expresses his critiques stating that aid has only contributed to enlarge government bureaucracies and enriched the elite in. 立. poor countries, not contributing and even harming growth in recipient countries. Bauer. ‧ 國. 學. persistently condemned foreign aid, defining the process as a transfer of resources from one country to another. He stated that aid is not only failing to alleviate poverty but it is actually responsible for hurting economic development. (Bauer, 2000).. ‧. Like Daalgard, other scholar’s evidence supports the view that the impact of aid depends. y. Nat. sit. on the quality of state institutions and policies. The effect of aid on growth is conditional. al. er. io. on the recipient’s institutions and policies; unfortunately developing countries have weak. n. and corruptible policies, making foreign aid useless. “Aid has no positive effect in any. Ch. i n U. v. institutional environment: it is always money down the rat hole.” (Burnside and Dollar, 2004,6). engchi. 21!.

(23) Usually the governments in highly vulnerable countries receive aid but have no incentive or the proper knowledge to decrease poverty rates. The aid agencies themselves operate within a difficult environment and often are not provided with the proper motivation to achieve the desired results. Developing countries are always willing to accept money, as grants or as loans, but there is pint-sized evidence on how it is spent or little has been done to assess them. (Easterly, 2007) According to Peter Boone, aid has no relevant impact on human development indexes. The evidences reflected on his work suggest that particular programs can be effective but long-term aid programs have had little impact over the years, without being able to. 治政大proven to be unable to raise sustainable projects. Reflecting on his work, foreign aid has 立 growth rates in poor countries. (Boone, 1995) manage or change governments or even provide them with incentives to carry out. ‧ 國. 學. The literature on the connections between aid and economic growth vary substantially, but one thing is sure; Foreign aid tendencies have rapidly changed into more gender equal. ‧. objectives. There is now more attention from the international community regarding. y. Nat. challenges that women face, specifically when it comes to unequal opportunities to. sit. access resources and positions of power in the political scene. (Hellsten, 2013) But. al. er. io. despite the world’s newly acquired devotion to gender equality, few has been done in. n. iv n C achieving equality for women in theh developing world. It e n g c h i Uis surprising that so few studies terms of showcasing the effectiveness foreign aid and development assistance have on. of social matter have incorporated gender into models of development. The exclusion of subjects of gender equity has a negative impact in the academic world, making it more difficult to specify the importance of sustainable and gender relevant measures, leaving incomplete and misleading models as a result. (Orloff, 1993) . Gender equality has been overlooked at its fullest due to its qualitative complexity. Unfortunately, gender equity and the complex movement behind the meaning cannot be restrained in numbers or indexes.. 22!.

(24) The idea that foreign aid has impact in gender equality is a challenging matter to respond for a number of reasons, including the time frame over which gender impacts can be expected to occur and taking into consideration the multidimensional characteristics gender entails. In 2000, Tarp suggested that the effectiveness of gender-aid is conditional to the way interventions are structured. He stated that aid could potentially obstruct gender equality if it is delivered in a way that promotes existing inequalities in the recipient country. How much impact can there be if money for gender equality is been sent and directed though agencies that do not include women or understand the importance of their role? The. 治政 responsibility is placed on recipients and little attention is大 directed to structures within 立 donor interventions. (Tarp, 2000) existing deficiency relies on the development assistance model in where little. ‧ 國. 學. The outcome on gender equality from aid interventions may also change depending on the cause that is being alleviated. Previous studies imply that aid is effective in reducing. ‧. maternal mortality as well as increasing literacy rates, no matter what the policies or. y. Nat. conditions are in recipient countries, but other aspects such as women’s political. sit. participation showcase mixed effects of indicators, proving initial conditions extremely. al. er. io. important to achieve desired outcomes. (Pickbourn and Ndikumana, 2013). n. iv n C Related studies show that reproductive transferred from industrialized h ehealth n gprogrammes chi U countries to the developing ones, have been instrumental when tackling issues such as obstructed labor, ruptured uterus or puerperal sepsis, although there has been little influence on maternal mortality ratios. The main reason maternal mortality interventions fail can be related to the fact that it is done without a clear vision of the political and social conditions in developing countries, were strategies, as efficient as they might seem in industrialized countries, need to be complemented with adequate knowledge in order to achieve true efficiency. (DeBrouwere and Tonglet, 1998). 23!.

(25) In terms of foreign aid and its impact on women’s education, girls and women still lag behind when compared to men in educational opportunities, although, studies suggest that differences between primary school enrollment rates for boys and girls have changed over time. Enrollment rates at all school levels have been rising in the developing world; which can be linked with international interventions. Unfortunately, a rise on enrollment does not necessarily translate into decreased gender disparities (Hill and King, 1997). Despite the increased ratio of enrolment for both boys and girls, the rates of girls remain much lower than those of boys. Overall, there exists a positive effect of development assistance on primary school enrolment, but it is important to acknowledge that universal primary education requires increased efficiency from both spending by donors and. 政治大 backgrounds do have an impact and where bad governance prevails, the impact of aid on 立 national governments. The partnet countries’ initial political and institutional enrolment can actually become negative. (Michaelowa, 2004). ‧ 國. 學. In the other hand, foreign aid on women’s political participation indicates a positive. ‧. correlation in some areas in the developing world. In the Middle East and North Africa, for example, foreign aid reflects an increased participation. Official development. sit. y. Nat. assistance to women’s equality organizations and institutions is effective in increasing women’s political empowerment. Evidence suggests that when aid is given to women’s. io. n. al. er. groups it has an impact in parliamentary seats, which are later, gained by women.. i n U. v. (Baliamoune-Lut, 2013) In Latin America, women have been severely under-represented. Ch. engchi. in office and women’s presence in political decision-making has never been the same as men’s. Although, the Latin American countries have adopted quota laws establishing minimum levels for women’s participation, the results vary depending on electoral rules, party submission and additional conditions in the different countries. Regrettably, public attitudes stemming from the culture that characterizes Latin America has left little women in power and in official commitments to women’s equality. There is little to no evidence about gains made from international interventions. (Htun, 2002) Some scholars propose that donor countries give more aid to partner countries that already have greater gender equity rates. However, when improvements are reflected in education and health, usually donors reduce aid. As opposed to improvements in women. 24!.

(26) in parliament where aid is usually increased. (Dreher, Gehring, & Klasen, 2013). As far as how aid is allocated, the results on the previous study also indicate that the type of policies within donor countries and political circumstances affect how aid is directed. Donor countries where female representation in parliament is high seem to be more sensitive to gender issues, therefore providing more tools to recipient countries in the subject matter.. 2.2 Gender Equality in Latin-Central America ! Unfortunately, the process used to assessing the different implications for women and men of any planned policy action is one of the hardest ambitions within the development. 政治大 donor countries. Recent studies of multilateral development organizations suggest that 立. structure. The overall gender mainstreaming strategy5 is significantly demanding for. “gender mainstreaming’s is compromised by the lack of resources, not only financial but. ‧ 國. 學. in the form of gender knowledge and expertise, reflecting the importance of gender equality specialists within development institutions. (True, 2010) It is not enough that. ‧. gender equity has been incorporated into international and national budgets; gender should be incorporated into all stages of project implementation, where women or men. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. construction.. sit. that are accountable for gender-equity knowledge become an active part of policy. i n U. v. There is significant amount of money directed to gender trainings and gender awareness. Ch. engchi. seminars but when it comes to the implementation of gender equality in actual practice, the initial theoretical goals are not transformed in power relations or inclusive approaches for women, failing to achieve what is really desired. (Weber, 2014). The often case is that the international organizations are good at targeting women instead of incorporating them into the implementation.. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5. Gender mainstreaming is a strategy emphasized in the Beijing Platform for Action and builds on years of previous experience in trying to bring gender perspectives to the center of attention in policies and programmes. (United Nations, 2002). !. 25!.

(27) When donor countries do tackle gender equality, they focus on promoting it through workshops or providing basic education to women and girls, in some cases money is offered to women to make female businesses like food sales instead of offering them the opportunity for financial access to agricultural supplies or other activities outside the already imposed gender roles. The donor countries are not empowering women with incorporating them into international budgets but when they include female roles in decision-making or incorporating gender equality in broader and more inclusive human rights and practice. (Baranyi and Powell, 2005) Constant and often dependent, developing countries in Latin and Central America,. 治政大 donors continue to a source of power, and despite commitments to gender equality, 立 impose their values through their aid, not necessarily addressing domestic needs. In Latin opportunely receive donor’s aids in a continuous matter. Regrettably, aid continues to be. ‧ 國. 學. America specifically, women have become the central form of social capital and the main source of aid money when it comes to receiving international funds for poverty relief programs aid often fails. (Molyneux, 2002). Nat. er. io. sit. 2.3 Gender Equality in Honduras. y. ‧. programs, but when translating that aid into actual incorporation of women into these. Honduras in particular has little experience from participation of civil society. n. al. i n U. v. organizations in foreign aid policy design and formation for development programs.. Ch. engchi. Although since the 1990’s, the country has received constant money for programs with the World Bank and the IMF, certainly few to no women have been in charge of such policy designs for these programs. Programs that both the World Bank and IMF have largely promoted as gender equal. An interesting example of the limited domestic power within development programs the country faces was brought up by the analysis of Dijkstra in his research in 2011 where using Honduras as one of his cases studies he examined that the Poverty Reduction Strategy approach demanded by the international system in order to qualify for concessionary IMF loans intended to include Honduran society in the process as a strategy to increase aid effectiveness. Unfortunately, the reality translated into a donor ownership of the strategies for poverty reduction were domestic. 26!.

(28) empowerment remained limited, and local political processes were not taken seriously by donors who also refused to better plans basis for aid delivery. (Dijkstra, 2011) As pointed out by Ferguson, International Organizations have made gender equality an essential component of any policy, programme or project in Honduras. She examined the country as a ‘pilot’ country for World Bank, specifically in development projects related to the tourism microenterprise. In this case she argues that ‘gender’ is only used as a synonym for women, further contributing to the disparity. Gender equality in reality is very ambiguously integrated into policy design, feeding the already conservative interpretations within the culture that exceedingly promotes men in power. The very. 治政大 around a very industry in Honduras, suggest a construction of gender awareness 立 conservative notions of gender roles where the country understood the significance of. specific subject to her approach on the development policies considered in the tourism. ‧ 國. 學. accepting “gender mainstreaming” to receive aid but not moving passed the actual meaning of equal participation for women and men. Her findings advocate a need to. ‧. continue to pay attention to the ways in which gender is constructed at all levels of the policy-making and implementation process in order to actually achieve gender-equal. sit. y. Nat. development interventions that could actually help struggling women. (Ferguson, 2010). al. er. io. Like tourism projects other development structures in Honduras are affected by this. n. iv n C incorporating women to receive equal health care and U hopportunities, e n g c h iemployment,. vague content and analysis of gender in documents and seminars, not successfully education. In order to achieve gender-oriented development goals, gender equality shall come from within, providing the tools and skills to properly insert women in program construction and practice. In addition to the aid allocation, qualitative aspects of aid are increasingly recognized to be important for effectively meeting recipient needs. Certainly, the new challenge relates to aid allocation and in particular what systems need to be in place to ensure outcomes of gender equality. Will women be included in budget allocation and policy design in order to achieve gender-aid effectiveness?. 27!.

(29) 2.4 Research Questions •. Does foreign aid impact gender equality on education?. •. Does foreign aid impact gender equality on health?. •. Does foreign aid impact gender equality on empowerment?. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 28!.

(30) CHAPTER 3: CURRENT SITUATION OF GENDER EQUALITY IN HONDURAS 3.1 Current situation of Gender Equality on Education Education for women and girls is an intrinsic right and a critical pedal for achieving gender equality. Several organizations like UNICEF in official documents such as the Investment Case for Education and Equity (UNICEF, 2015), The World Bank on Girls' Education in the 21st Century and Gender Equality, Empowerment, and Economic Growth (Tembon, and Fort, 2008), and the IMF’s global report called Make it right, Ending the Crisis in Girls Education (IMF, 2011), to mention some, have stated the. 政治大. importance of equal education for boys and girls under the belief that girls with access to. 立. education help break the poverty cycle. When girls grow to become educated women. ‧ 國. 學. they are less likely to die during childbirth, marry against their will and have more access to health care and employment opportunities. Educated women invest directly in nutrition, health, and education for their children. It is through education that women gain. ‧. their equitable place in society as well as their opportunities to contribute and improve it.. sit. y. Nat. (World Bank, 2014). er. io. Equal access to education for all children promotes basic human rights, creating effects on entire communities and significant influence in future generations. Education, when. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. studying gender equality, is fundamental to its understanding and it’s effective attainment.. engchi. Progress has been made worldwide where most low-income countries have made substantial growth in achieving gender parity in primary school enrollments. Inopportunely, in the last thirty years, Central American countries have not reached substantial achievements made by other Latin-American countries. The region has been severely impacted by political instability, cultural peculiarities, and widespread poverty, leaving it with a great disadvantage in the ability to progress towards more access and quality education for both boys and girls. (Navin, 2004) In Honduras, the education system is composed by five stages of formal education; pre. 29!.

(31) primary, primary, middle, secondary, and tertiary. Public education in Honduras is free for children ages 6 to 15 but it is only mandatory for children to attend at the primary level that ranges from ages 6-12. In order to better comprehend the status of education for women in Honduras we will examine the variables of both primary and secondary enrollment. In the country, both male and female primary and secondary enrolments are significantly high. According to the World’s Bank Data Base, Honduras has 100 in The Ratio of female to male primary enrollment, which is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary level in public and private schools. For every 100 boys there are 100 girls. 治政 Bank Group, 2013). The ratio of female to male primary 大 enrollment in Honduras is the 立 highest in all Central American countries since the year of the coup d’etat in 2009, until enrolled in primary education in the last three years of available information (World. ‧ 國. 學. most recent available data, 2012, with only Nicaragua with no available information for adequate comparison.. ‧. al. n. 97. 2011. 96. 97. sit. 2010. er. 2009. io. Panama. Nat. Country. y. TABLE 3.1: Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%) in Central America. v ni. 2012. 97. ND. C99h. Belize. 97. 97. Guatemala. 96. 96. 97. El Salvador. 97. 96. 96. 96. Nicaragua. ND. 98. ND. ND. Honduras. 100. 100. 100. 100. Costa Rica. 99 engchi U 97. 99 97 ND. ND: No Available Data *Source: Table extracted from the latest update of indicators of the World Bank Group 2013. (World Bank Open Data, 2013) Web Link: (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ENR.PRIM.FM.ZS). 30!.

(32) In terms of the ratio of female to male secondary enrollment, which represents the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools, Honduras also showcases the highest numbers within the Central American region since 2009 until the most available information in 2012. According to the World’s Bank Data Base, Honduras most recent ratio of female to male primary enrollment is 122, which is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools. For every 100 boys there are 122 girls enrolled in secondary education in the last two years of available information. TABLE 3.2: Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%) in Central America.. 108. Costa Rica. 106. 106. 105. Belize. 108. 109. 108. Guatemala. 93. 92. 91. El Salvador. 102. 101. 100. Nicaragua. ND. 110. ND. Honduras. ND. 105. y. ND. n. i n U. 122. engchi. 105. sit. io. ND: No Available Data. a l 123 Ch. 105. ‧. 107. 學. 108. Nat. Panama. 2012. er. 2009. ‧ 國. Country. 政治大 2011 立2010. v. 100 ND 122. Source: Table extracted from the latest update of indicators of the World Bank Group 2013. (World Bank Open Data, 2013) Web Link: (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ENR.SECO.FM.ZS). In Honduras, significant gains in expanding educational access where made all during the 1990s, with impressive results in the availability of primary education. The country projects an enhanced access to both primary and secondary levels of education for girls and boys. Clearly, there exists remarkable improvement in access to education and the conflicts concerning gender disparity shift to other variables such as quality and efficiency issues. (Bedi and Marshall, 2002). 31!.

(33) The Honduran government has comprehended that if gender inequality persists impediment for development is fostered, affirming that women and men’s participation in educational programs contributes directly to the society as a whole. Consequently, The Ministry of Education has promoted equal opportunities and created measures for the attainment of the strategic education objectives set out in the Platform for Action, including The Equal Opportunities for Women Act that was approved in 2000, and the National Policy for Women in 2002. (Bautista, 2004) This has definitely had a positive effect in terms of access to both primary and secondary enrollment and it has allowed an efficient relationship between public and private institutions supporting the rights of women in education.. 治政 Though great advancement in enrolment has been made, 大 previous studies suggest that 立 gender disparity is projected in other dimensions that include content and specifically ‧ 國. 學. academic achievement, which is low for women, due to repetition and school desertion rates. (Bedi and Marshall, 2002). In rural areas and the most vulnerable regions in the. ‧. country, children may access free education, but the same teacher is often in charge of grades 1 to 6th, leaving all children, ages 6-12, sharing a classroom and their time when. io. al. er. create unequal patterns of school attendance in the country.. sit. y. Nat. getting actual education. Factors besides the access to enroll are outcomes that appear to. n. iv n C remains inadequate and unequal dueh to the widespread poverty. e n g c h i U The results are. While enrollment continues upright, other studies indicate that education in Honduras anticipated in inefficient management and low coverage for the rural poor. These factors can have a significant impact on the prevalence of gender disparity. Other controversies dealing with the teaching profession, where wages schemes are high depending on political connections and performance is yet to be considered, also increase gender inequality, translating into incomplete opportunities for girls (Navin, 2004) Education can trigger the empowerment process by expanding women’s knowledge and their understanding but certain preconceived notions such as imposed gender knowledge, shaped by cultural idiosyncrasies can severely damage the process.. 32!.

(34) Attendance and quality appear to foster the empowerment process and are not traditionally present in Latin and Central American schools. In order to achieve actual women’s empowerment in education, programs should re-examine such quality and their content in order to assure its substance to be equal, rather than assuming that providing the existing education will foster the desired female empowerment. (Graham, 2008) Important gender theorists recognize that schools are strategic tools to foster gender equal relations; the educational system allows schools to be open for debates and the first places where new experiences regarding opposite genders are most likely to occur. (Connell, 1989) The power underlined in the school’s influence on the children to grow. 政治大. up with equal notions for both genders fosters a great importance in the content and quality of the educational material.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Investigations on gender and education in high income countries suggests that schools are proper sites to establish suitable gender concepts but if social and cultural norms foster behaviors that further enhance traditional roles for women and men, schools can actually. ‧. become the main impediment when reproducing gender equality. Much has to be made. y. Nat. regarding curriculum, quality and content, which include teacher trainings and. al. er. io. sit. professional development around gender issues. (Gilbert and Gilbert 1998). n. Ensuring equal access to education for all children and adolescents is an imperative. Ch. i n U. v. structural change, but as is the case of Honduras, a country that has facilitated educational. engchi. access in a successful matter over the years, a structural change is not enough to eradicate the unequal situation that characterizes the region.. 33!.

(35) 3.2 Current situation of Gender Equality on Health. ! Along with a sufficient and equal access to education, an adequate health status is optimal to achieve gender equality. Equal access and conditions to essential health services can assure women’s opportunities in the employment sector and their ability to restore their position in society. In Central and Latin America, women and girls play an important, largely unpaid, role in generating household income, their health plays an important role in achieving these expected roles and accomplishing the few work opportunities they can access.. 政治大. Many societies, mostly all highly developed countries, provide access to a broad range of public health and personal medical services. Health services may include sanitation,. 立. immunization, and reduction of the risk of transmission of HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and. ‧ 國. 學. disease treatment, to mention some. In terms of access to health women require additional services than those of men due to biological conditions. Besides the need to. ‧. acquire proper sanitation, immunization or HIV/Aids treatment women must be cared for in conditions of prenatal care, contraceptive prevalence and are often quantified for. y. Nat. fertility rates. Women worldwide, although in higher numbers in the developing world,. io. sit. are also exposed to maternal mortality. In order to further comprehend the current. al. er. situation of gender equality in Honduras in the area of health, we will focus on this. n. iv n C from complications during and after h pregnancy, i U the delivery of a child or e n g corhthroughout significant variable. Maternal Mortality is described as the chance of woman dying children (Abdoulaye, 2005). Pregnancy can lead to several consequences such as severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, and high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia), complications from delivery, unsafe abortion and blood clots/embolism, to mention some. (Say L et al., 2014.). 34!.

(36) Though global women are all exposed to this; maternal mortality continues to be a serious public health problem in the developing world. According to the UNICEF in 2013, women accounted for 210 deaths per 100,000 live births. The lifetime risk of maternal death in industrialized countries is 1 in 4,000, versus 1 in 51 in countries classified as ‘least developed’ (UNICEF Data, 2013). The prevalence of women dying during childbirth has become an inherent limitation for gender parity, specifically for women from poor backgrounds. In Honduras, according to the World Bank’s database, the maternal mortality ratio, which is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within. 治政大 after the coup d’etat 2013, which is the most and only recent available information 立 (World Bank, 2013). This makes Honduras the second highest country in Central. 42 days after pregnancy, is reported to be 120 per 100,000 live births in the years 2010 to. ‧ 國. 學. America where women die due to pregnancy related issues. The table below showcases Costa Rica, Panama and Belize with significantly less deaths per pregnancies and El. ‧. Salvador and Nicaragua with fewer women dying form life births and or complications afterwards, leaving only Guatemala as the highest number for maternal mortality in the. n. al. er. io. TABLE 3.3: Maternal Mortality Ratio in Central America.. sit. y. Nat. region.. i n U e n g c h i2013. Country. C 2010 h. Panama. 82. 85. Costa Rica. 33. 38. Belize. 60. 45. Guatemala. 140. 140. El Salvador. 71. 69. Nicaragua. 110. 100. Honduras. 120. 120. v. 35!.

(37) *Source: Table extracted from the latest update of indicators of the World Bank Group 2013. (World Bank Open Data, 2013) Web Link:( http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT). In the past, Honduras reported higher numbers of maternal deaths but due to several international interventions, the numbers have decreased over the past years. In 1999, for example, a maternal death review was conducted at two hospitals in Honduras: Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital (HMCR) and Escuela Francisco Morazán Hospital (HEFM), the largest public hospitals in the capital city, Tegucigalpa. Most rural areas do not have the conditions this hospitals offer so many rural habitants migrate in case of health emergencies or vulnerable conditions in order to be treated. Thirty-five maternal deaths. 政治大. were reported over a 30-month period at HMCR (estimated hospital maternal mortality ratio is 207 per 100,000 live births); 81 maternal deaths were reported during a 33-month. 立. period at HEFM (estimated hospital maternal mortality ratio is 262 per100, 000 live. ‧ 國. 學. births) (Gilson, 2000). The previous research suggests that most of these deaths were preventable and the larger proportion of those losses could have been stopped if political will and multidisciplinary projects of preventions were put into place. It was determined. ‧. that prevention and significant measures to reduce the problem were urgently required in. sit. y. Nat. the country.. al. er. io. Numerous and significant cases were brought upon the international community, and. n. specific focus to eradicate and reduce maternal mortality was set. Underscored under the. Ch. i n U. v. Eight Millennium Development goals (MDGS), several international agencies such as. engchi. UNICEF, The World Bank, USAID and World Health Organization have supported the initiative through the provision of financial and technical resources. In Honduras, there has been an implementation of projects in urban and rural communities, targeting the goal as well as the generation of clear policy alternatives to demonstrate to the national authorities the problem was manageable; all the efforts combined have brought wide attention to the issue, making maternal mortality a political priority in the country. (Shiffman, 2007) With the international support and pressure to meet the goals, government institutions incorporated a revision of the comprehensive care of women, which now includes a. 36!.

(38) gender emphasis as well as an updating of the rules on obstetrical and neonatal emergencies, and also have incorporated the formation of technical groups to encourage the initiative. There are 28 public hospitals in Honduras, which are now all participating in the maternal mortality reduction initiative and have incorporated not only measures to reduce maternal deaths but also incorporate care programs for both men and women about sexual and reproductive health awareness. Unfortunately, only 12 of the total hospitals have an active committee working to prevent deaths due to pregnancy, and only five certified hospitals are open 24 hours a day to deal with obstetrical emergencies. (Bautista, 2004). 治政大necessary change: Plan 2010 – 2014 which includes three areas for crucial and 立 “Accelerated increase in access to quality health services, Increased well-being and. After the coup, the alarming issue was also included in the Honduras’s National Health. ‧ 國. 學. health of the majority of the population through the reduction of maternal and child mortality and the modification of the structure, functioning and response of the current. ‧. health system.” The National Health Plan has incorporated as a priority goal the reduction of maternal mortality from 120 to 60 per 100,000 live births, under-five mortality from. sit. y. Nat. 30 to 19 per 1000. (The United States Global Health Initiative, 2012). al. er. io. In Table 6, we can observe an overall improvement in the country regarding maternal. n. iv n C observe that from 2009, the year of the economical instability affected the h ecoup, n galthough chi U mortality, since the year 1990 to the most recent collected data in 2013. We can also entire country, the numbers for maternal mortality continue dropping.. 37!.

(39) Figure 3.1: Maternal Mortality InterAgency Group, Honduras 2013. 立. 政治大. *Source: Table extracted from World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2013). ‧ 國. 學. The current national goal is reducing by half the maternal mortality ratio in Honduras and. ‧. it is projected that by 2015 the country will meet the goal of maternal mortality ratio to. sit. Nat. say 60 per 100,000 live births. (National Health Plan, 2010-2014). y. 77 per 100,000 live births as well as the goal set by the MDG’s of reducing the ratio to. al. er. io. However there still exist an enormous gap between rural and urban areas of the country. n. in what relates to the percentage of births that take place in a specialized location, with. Ch. i n U. v. expert people present, and under sanitary conditions. While, in 2001, the number of births. engchi. in a specialized location in urban areas was of 82.4% the number was only 37.5% in rural areas. (Bussolo and Medvedev, 2006) Historically, there has been a significant improvement in Honduras From the 1990’s were the maternal mortality ratio reached 207 per 100,000 live births to after the coup d’état were numbers seemed to reduce to an 120 per 100,000 live births. But there is still a long way to go in order to achieve international goals and reduce the maternal mortality ratio to 60 per 100,000. It is necessary, and almost critical, to meet the health goals in the country to provide adequate sanitary conditions and trained personnel to all women in Honduras, both rural and urban habitants.. 38!.

(40) 3.3 Current situation of Gender Equality on Empowerment. ! Along with adequate access to education and health services, an essential factor and almost side-to-side when studying Gender Equality is the term of Empowerment. Women need to be empowered in order to achieve genuine and equal opportunities in society. Before defining the current situation in Honduras it is important to define the concept of empowerment. The term comes from the very general concept of power and the basic idea of the expansion on people’s ability, in this case women’s ability, to make their own life choices in a context where those have been denied in the past. (Kabeer, 2001). Empowerment has also been referred to as the expansion of freedom of choice to take. 政治大. action in one’s own life (Narayan 2002).. 立. Based on the ideal that empowerment is the basic ability to make choices, an important. ‧ 國. 學. indicator to monitor such progress, and define the current situation of Honduras in terms of gender equality, is the evaluation of proportion of seats held by women in national. ‧. parliaments.. y. Nat. Women’s participation in parliaments is a significant aspect of women’s opportunities in. io. sit. political life, usually associated to women’s empowerment. Equal numbers of women. al. er. and men in lower chambers would suggest a 50 per cent in most indicators of. n. iv n C U into political agendas, parliament that could integrate new perspectives h e n g cand h iconcerns parliamentary seats which would encourage a higher manifestation of women in. priorities such as education, childcare and health, which are often promoted by women. Regrettably, women have not yet achieved equal representation in any country, not even in the most developed regions (Norris and Inglehart. 2001). Several scholars and experts on the field of both gender and politics noted that in the late 90s and beginning of the 2000s there was a global progress towards the equal representation of men and women in decision-making, in al spheres. Unfortunately, despite the fact that women have achieved 30 percent representation or more in national parliaments in 19 different countries, the progress remains uneven and slow (United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, 2005).. 39!.

(41) Women continue to be underrepresented in national parliaments; where on average only 22 percent of seats are occupied by women. (Women in National Parliaments, 2015) The addition of women’s standpoints is not only a crucial step to achieve gender equality but it has been often related to democracy, which contributes to good governance. The historic lack of representation of women in politics, specifically in parliamentary representation, weakens democracies and justice overall. Limiting different experiences of men and women that could positively affect social, political and economic aspects of all societies. (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2005) Women’s participation in parliament has also become an international interest, often. 治政大 World Conference on Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Fourth 立 Women in Beijing (1995) put women's representation on the global agenda. However,. influencing several domestic purposes. The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all. ‧ 國. 學. like everything related to actual equality for women, governments who are pressured to address gender inequality in economic, social, and political spheres often fail to meet the. ‧. target.. y. Nat. Like in the rest of the world, women are under-represented in elected office in the Central. sit. American Region. In Honduras, women have had an influential role in cabinet, holding. al. er. io. 50 and 29 percent of ministerial posts in 2003 and 2002, respectively, typically in charge. n. iv n C environment, family, health and others h econsidered i U affairs. (Escobar-Lemmon n g c hwomen's. of portfolios associated with culturally imposed gender roles such as culture, education, and Taylor-Robinson, 2005) But as to be expected their position in parliament, Honduras and all The Central American region rank extremely low. In Table 3.4 we can observe the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women in Honduras and All Central America, according to the World Banks’ Database. As part of a global phenomenon, no countries in Central America meet adequate percentages or near half of seats to record equality.. 40!.

(42) In the past five years, Honduras showcases an increase in 2011 and an unchanging pattern with 20 percent in the years 2010 through 2014. In comparison to the region Honduras is lower than Costa Rica and Nicaragua by almost half after 2011 and higher than El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala and further ahead than Belize. TABLE 3.4: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in Central America Country. 2009. 2010. Panama. 9. 9. Costa Rica. 37. Belize. 0. 39 立 0. Guatemala. 12. 2011. 2012. 2013. 政9 治 9大 39 39. 9 39. 12. 13. 13. El Salvador 19. 19. 19. 26. 26. Nicaragua. 21. 21. 40. 40. 40. Honduras. 18. 18. 20. 20. 3 13. ‧ y. Nat. 20. sit. ‧ 國. 3. 學. 0. er. io. *Source: Table extracted from the latest update of indicators of the World Bank Group 2013. (World Bank Open Data, 2013) Web Link:(http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS). al. n. iv n C As half of the population, women inh Honduras are clearly e n g c h i Uentitled to half the seats in. parliament, but several limitations do not allow this to happen. Some studies suggest that political culture, or the environment in which parties operate can weaken or strengthen female involvement, influencing the severe female under representation in the national parliament. Variables such as patriarchal ideology or the degree of religious opposition to gender reforms, which are both present in the Honduran society, can impact political inequality. (Kabeer, 2010). 41!.