Do aid agencies make a difference to gender inequalities?

Gender inequalities persist throughout the world, and despite significant efforts to mainstream gender concerns into international development cooperation, the results remain meagre. On that background, one may wonder whether aid agencies make any difference in this field. Numerous studies have explained the limited results by referring to patriarchal structures and neoliberalism.

In a book chapter, Lars Engberg-Pedersen argues that the organizational origin, the pressures and priorities, and the specific normative environment of aid agencies strongly influence how they engage with global norms on gender equality. However, he notes that aid agencies cannot avoid addressing gender issues.

The chapter is part of a new book on international development cooperation emphasizing the role of power and politics in explaining foreign aid. Its particular contribution is to bridge foreign policy and domestic politics explanations and to explore this relationship across numerous traditional and emerging donors as well as in analyses of particular issues in foreign aid.