Gender equality – whose agenda? Observations from Cameroon

Disrupting the Saviour Politics in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Global South: Grassroots Women Creating Gender Norms in Nepal and Sri Lanka

“…This shows how grassroots women (such as the Dalit women, women ex-combatants, war widows and single women) have been excluded from mainstream politics. This corroborates Orock’s (2007, p. 94) study in Cameroon, who writes that ‘middle-class or white-collar women in the urban sector have gained more from the gender-equality project than have their rural and grassroots sisters. This is because the campaign for gender equality is most effective among the increasingly gender-sensitive institutions and bureaucracies in the public and private sectors.’…”

“…What takes shape is a WPS agenda that misses grassroots women’s issues (Martín de Almagro, 2018). Orock’s (2007, p. 93) study in Cameroon suggests how mainstream priorities of gender equality typically advance only the rights of privileged women: Gender equality is increasingly politicised as a springboard for a few elite women to move up the hierarchy and enhance their professional qualifications. In other words, they [privileged women] are using the formal commitment to gender equality as a means of maximising their own opportunities.…”

“…This included the 5-year strategic plan of the National Women 's Commission (2009's Commission ( -2014 to advance equality and end discrimination against women in Nepal. Similarly, other measures included the Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment) Act, 2009, the National Women's Commission Act, 2007, Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2007, the Gender Equality Act, 2006(Bhattacharya & Burns, 2019, the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act 2015 and the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Right Act 2018, among others (MWCSC, 2020).…”