EN FRANCAIS

INTERVIEW BY BRANDON CURRIE, GV CONTENT EDITOR
Debra Simpson is a lawyer with a passion for international development, refugee policy and gender and development analysis. She began her international work in the area of gender analysis with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Kenya in the early ‘90s.  Throughout the decade she worked on various gender-related projects for the MCC in Kenya, India, Zambia, and El Salvador; she did policy analysis, carried out research projects, conducted gender trainings, and developed a gender analytical tool. Upon her return to Canada in the late ‘90s, she has continued to advocate for making gender analysis a cross-cutting theme in all areas of work and life.

Debra now works as a program manager for Heifer International.

In your experience, why is gender equality important to the development process?

I guess, at this point, it's a way of life; it's a way of seeing the world. I see it as a justice issue. Whenever we're talking about unequal situations of power, it becomes a justice issue. That's the primary reason why this is important. Secondly, gender perspective helps you become more mindful of the needs and interests of different members of the community. This helps us to be more knowledgeable about our context. And if we're more knowledgeable about our context, we're also going to be more effective in our intervention. I also think having a gender perspective or bringing a gender perspective to your work helps you identify the oppressed and the silent voices in those contexts. In this way, we participate in the recognition and restoration of the personal dignity of people in our sphere of influence.

So what are some lessons learned in your experience working with gender and governance?

Working internationally has been a really fascinating learning experience - there's incredible experience and wisdom in these places. We in the West often overlook or have never had the opportunity to discover this. There is so much to learn from other societies and culture. It's really important in cross-cultural settings that we show deep respect for the experiences and the cultures of others.

I've also been astonished by the honesty of people and their willingness to engage in difficult, sometimes tension-filled discussions. It's important that you create the right atmosphere to make it possible for people to talk about new or challenging ideas in a safe place.  If people are safe, the exchange of ideas is a really good learning experience for all involved.

Gender work across cultures has often been criticized for importing cultural values from the West. I really struggle with this critique because in my view, the presence of expatriates no matter the context, no matter the kind of work involved is not neutral. Every kind of presence has an impact. I discovered - and it wasn't a big surprise - that with respect to gender dynamics, there are more commonalities between our countries and cultures than we're often prepared to admit.

Do you have an appreciation for the role that Canada is playing in its international commitments to women's rights and gender equality?

Very generally, I would say that Canada's work in the area of international development has to be done through the lens of cross-cutting themes like gender and race. We often create separate departments, gender units, for example to focus on gender. While there are good reasons for bringing specific focus to a cross-cutting theme like gender, the unfortunate result is that we marginalize, or silo, this way of seeing the world instead of integrating it into all of our work. It's been an age-old debate.

I also think that Canada cannot be promoting this kind of work and approach without doing equality work in our own backyard. We often think of gender equality as a value that can be sacrificed in the face of other criteria. And we often let our concern for cultural sensitivity override our concern for human rights and justice issues. I think that continues to be a challenge.

But I want to identify one area in which Canada has been a leader. Canada's immigration and refugee board introduced guidelines to protect refugee women fleeing gender-based persecution. So women persecuted because of their gender can now be accepted as refugees here. Canada led the way on that. CIDA has also played an important role in making gender an important issue. By pushing organizations who have applied for funding to take gender dynamics into consideration in their projects, it has forced organizations to become aware of and to make efforts to address gender inequities. There is still a long way to go, though.

What's been your experience as an expat and as a woman working in the development? Has it given you a unique perspective on gender roles?

As a white woman with a good education and a decent income, I have lived a mostly privileged life compared to many women in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Having said that, though, I have certainly experienced barriers as a woman in society and in professional settings.  And I have done the analysis. So as a woman I bring an awareness to this work that helps build trust and affinity among those I have worked with in overseas contexts.

Gender and development work is difficult because it affects people at the personal level. Each of us, at some level, has experienced our gender in both negative and positive ways. This prepares people to a certain extent for the difficult conversations that arise when focusing on gender dynamics in development work.

As an expat woman, I could access conversations about gender with both women and men. So for example, as a woman I could go into the kitchen and sit with the women and listen to them talk about relationship dynamics between men and women. This is not a foreign topic! I would have access to these conversations as a woman. A male colleague would not. Now there's a gender issue... And as an expat woman, I could also speak with men about these issues. This kind power is not something I'm proud of but it's a reality.

What constructive roles can men play in gender development work?

First we called it women in development, then women and development, and now it's gender and development. No matter what terminology we use, most people will tell you that what we're talking about are women. It's a women's issue. And that's the same whether you're in a remote corner of Africa or Canada, or a well respected and experienced international organization in Asia or Canada - gender is almost always deemed a women's issue.

The concept of gender is about the power dynamics between men and women. It is absolutely about both men and women. I want to give you a quote from my colleague in India. Her name is Julie Chaudhuri. She works for MCC in India. She says, "Gender issues are about values. Values that uphold both sexes as equal and respect both as having their own strengths and weaknesses. These values generate processes which lead to the evolution, not the destruction, of the identity of each gender."

Very practically speaking, unless men are also involved, women's efforts to introduce change in their lives to address both their situation and position in society, will come up against a wall. The responsibility for positive change lies with both women and men. This will involve working with men to enhance their sense of capability and contribution because men, too, in many contexts experience disempowerment too. It should also involve working with men to explore their understanding of power, their identity as men and their concept of self-esteem. The challenge is to conceive ways of doing gender and development work in a manner that keeps work with women front and centre, considers the needs and interests of both women and men in all programs, and addresses the power relationships between men and women. A tall order but it can and should be done!