MCC examines gender issues in overseas work

Mennonite Central Committee is in the midst of a three-year effort to analyze how gender issues affect its overseas programming. "We are trying to discover how MCC's work impacts women and men differently," explains Gwen Groff of the MCC Peace Office.

The study grows out of MCC's 75 years of experience, which have shown how challenging it can be to plan appropriate programs that meet the needs of the whole community. If, for example, MCC appoints a male community health promoter, women (who, in many cultures are the ones who care for the sick) may be reluctant to consult him.

Geoff and Deb Simpson, MCC Peace Office workers based in Switzerland, are working to produce a set of questions that MCC workers can ask themselves as they consider ideas for new programs. Theses questions might include, "What is the nature of men's and women's participation in the activities with which MCC is involved in the community?"

"Gender roles are different in every culture, so as North Americans we can't assume we know what our impact will be unless we ask questions that help us understand the gender roles in any particular culture," says Groff. "Men's and women's roles are always interdependent, so we can't just work with women or just with men. We have to work in consultation with both."

In July, Groff and Simpson travelled to El Salvador for the first of three country studies. Next month they will visit Zambia. A trip to India is planned for 1997. These country visits are providing opportunities to develop and test the proposed questions in three different geographic regions.

MCC's set of gender questions is scheduled to be completed in 1997, in time to be incorporated into MCC's 1997-98 program planning.

Deb Simpson of Toronto, Ont., is a member of Toronto United Mennonite Church.

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