Tool: Participatory Exercise in Gender Analysis: Understanding the Decision-making Process
The following tool is a participatory exercise that may be used when conducting gender analysis with the participation of client communities. It helps analyse gender differences in power and patterns of decision-making.
Purpose: To encourage and stimulate people to understand and evaluate the decision-making process and their participation in it.
Time: 1 to 1.5 hours
Audience: Primarily community members; also useful for trainers, project staff and field workers.
Materials needed:
- Five large cards (an outside official, a village official, a village or water committee, a community woman, and a community man).
- Twelve smaller cards depicting key decision points or factors within a water supply project, such as: site selection, construction, planning, design, fee collection maintenance, technology choices.
How to conduct the exercise:
[This activity can be made simple or complex depending on the purpose. For example, the activity can be stooped at step four.]
- Place the large cards on the ground, and explain that each represents a person or group that has influence on how projected decisions are made. The exercise can be simplified by reducing the number of decision-makers.
- Pass out to the participants the smaller cards of project decision points, and ask them to suggest what each card represents. Misconceptions should be clarified before proceeding
- Ask the participants to discuss who determined the decision at each of these points or on each of these issues. Initiate a free-flowing discussion about the decision-making process touching on key issues, such as:
- Is there a system in place for decision-making and who participates in it?
- Who makes the decision about undetaking repairs? Who determines the amount of monthly contributions?
- How were technology choices made?
- Who gets water first and who determines that?
- Who controls the valves that are used?
- Who is responsible for repairs, and are they paid for their services?
- How is conflict resolved?
- When consensus is reached, have the participants place the cards with the picture of the key decision-maker. If there is no consensus, note the differences and proceed with the process.
- If people are not satisfied with their role in decision-making, this becomes clear and the discussion can then focus on what changes the community would like to see. Gender differences also become clear and can be discussed.
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