Analysing the role of women in Burundian society through the Social Norms perspective

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1 Analysing the role of women in Burundian society through the Social Norms perspective Introduction Pedro J. Guerra, Child Protection Specialist, Unicef Burundi Burundi Poverty, land scarcity and violence Burundi is a small landlocked country situated in the Great Lakes region with a population of 8.05 million, more than half of which (52%) are children under 18 (Census 2008). 90% of the population lives in rural areas. The country is among the poorest in the world and ranks 185 out of 187 on the 2011 Human Development Index. In recent times, chronic high food and fuel prices have hit the country hard and reduced economic opportunities. 81% of the population currently lives with less than $1.25 per day, making poverty a major challenge to the development of the country. GDP growth was estimated at 4.1% in 2011 (World Bank), but the country remains severely dependent on external aid: in 2011, approximately 63% of the national budget was funded by external aid (IMF 2012). In addition to the issue of poverty, as a fragile state in a post-conflict context, Burundi also faces the challenge of the reintegration of returnees. Over 35,000 Former Burundian Refugees arrived in 2012 from Tanzania, the majority of which (57%) were children. The returnee situation compounds existing challenges, placing additional pressure on land and services such as education and social protection, which are already under considerable strain due to the extremely high demographic growth rate and population density. In this context, hunger and malnutrition are critical issues in Burundi. The 2012 Global Hunger Index indicates that Burundi, despite being potentially self-sufficient in food, has the highest level of hunger of the 79 countries it lists. Although progress has been made over the last 5 years in reducing acute malnutrition and the rate of underweight, the prevalence of stunting continues to surpass the critical threshold and stands among the highest in the world (58%), a rate that Burundi shares with Yemen and Timor-Leste and which is second only to Afghanistan (SOWC 2012). Significant disparities in stunting rates persist between regions and between households from different wealth

2 quintiles. Poor hygiene, feeding and sanitation practices; short intervals between pregnancies; and childhood diseases all contribute to this worrying situation. Identification The gender analysis of Burundi raises three key issues. Firstly, gender is a human rights issue in the sense that it is a social justice issue. Solving the issue of inequalities and equity between men and women is administering justice for both sexes. Secondly, it is a development issue. That derives from the general principle according to which there cannot be sustainable development if needs, interests, concerns and experiences of men and women are not taken into account in any development process. Thirdly, gender is a poverty issue: Women are generally the majority of poor people because of the position their gender assigns to them. Given that women represent 52% of the Burundian population, it would not be realistic to plan for national development without giving all due attention to the needs and interests of Burundian women. Culture Just as in many other countries, the Burundian woman status depends on the society s patriarchal organization, setting the schema, which confines the young girl in domestic sphere while the young boy is encouraged to occupy in the public sphere. The transformation of such a society into a gender-sensitive one is a whole process. The traditional conflict resolution institution, «Ubushingantahe», which used to exclude women, has started changing by open doors for women. A study conducted by FAWE 1 to identify cultural values that would contribute to gender promotion raised some negative values that would hinder a gender-sensitive development. Those positive values are already a starting point that would facilitate quick change of gender-insensitive behaviors and practices once they are disseminated. Although women in general are open to discuss about their role (script) in society, and recognize the fact of their discrimination, there is a strong oppose of men to discuss about changes. The main social expectation for women in Burundi is to marry young and to deliver as many babies as possible (average of 6 children per woman), both EE and NE. Women follow these expectations, but the society also expects them to follow. An unmarried woman or a woman without children is regarded as outsiders of the community and the group sets pressure on them to fulfil their role as women. Although many women express their concern about marrying their daughters young, the social norm sets a value for women depending on how many children they can bear, and they are required to start right after puberty. Even though most of the population are in the rural areas, in the main cities (especially in the capital) some 1 Forum for African Women Educationalist

3 women are starting to change their behaviour (custom), and prioritize university over marriage. This is creating a new empirical expectation on younger women in the city. But the normative expectation continues as explained above. The difference in Normative Expectation between men and women are conditioned to men s NE, as explained by the patriarchal organization of communities and families. Legal Norms Although some steps have been achieved by the Government of Burundi towards a gendersensitive culture, obstacles are still persistent. The latter can be observed in some cultural practices that make the Burundian woman pigeon-holed in social life. That can also be found in some legal instruments, such as the law on nationality that does not allow the woman married to a foreigner to give her nationality to her child or husband; successions, matrimonial regimes and donations are still ruled by the customs which discriminate against women; the labor code which should be revised to be in harmony with the CEDAW; the taxation law which taxes the married woman as a person without any dependent, and the penal code in adultery-related matters. Women and poverty The crisis has aggravated the socio-economic situation of women. On top of lack of production means (credits, land, etc) and skills facing women due to patriarchy that gives more powers to men than women, a significant number of women found themselves in living conditions are more severe to them than men. Women, especially widows and young girls are easy preys of perpetrators of different forms of violence including sexual violence, domestic violence, economic violence and many others. This situation exacerbates women s poverty, which requires interventions beyond their capacity. Rationale: Why women, why economic development, why gender equality? Why Women? UNICEF is guided by the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in its continuing efforts to influence public policies in ways that prioritize children's needs, develop and assist programmes benefiting children, and stimulate public dialogue that may benefit children. UNICEF Burundi is supporting a women oriented project in the most vulnerable areas of the country. The objective is to invest in women to have an impact on children. This experience

4 called Nawe Nuze (meaning you are also welcome) is a tontine 2 in the sense of a common saving-microcredit scheme. Each member of the group contributes to the tontine, and they have the right to ask for a credit not bigger than three times the money they have contributed to the tontine. This microcredit will be reimbursed including the interest rate. By the end of the year all the member of the tontine will receive their share of the total profit of the interests generated by the microcredits. Most of the members of the Nawe Nuze groups are women (+90%), receiving technical support and training from the NGOs partnering with UNICEF. While measuring the impact of the project, there was an indirect result not included in the baseline of the project: Empowerment of women in the community and in their households. As explained in the introduction, the legal norms discriminate women in Burundi, leaving to custom and to traditional mechanisms the possibility to decide in rights equity for men and women. This case study was born out of the observation of women s situation in the Burundian society regarding social, political and economic standards. The main aspect that brought the attention to these issues is inheritance, and women s lack of right to it. Women depend on their husband to make their live, they will move to their home and work their land. This traditional setting was meant to avoid the issues link to land scarcity 3. But what happens when a woman meant to be a wife or a mother never marries, or her husband dies. In the case of the second she would only one option: to have already a son, who will become the head of the family and the rightful heir of the family lands. If the woman doesn t have at least one son, or only have daughters, she won t have any right, and the Social Norm dictates that she would have to leave her house and lands, or she would face her husband s family attempts to get the land back, including murdering of the woman. Many cases are reported or women fleeing to avoid confrontation with the family of the husband (EE Women get killed or chased away of their homes when widowed, NE I am not supposed to keep my husband s house or land when he passes away). The social norm of inheritance for married women in Burundi. Gender equality The double dividend Unicef s definition of Gender equality: to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social and economic development of their communities According to the Ministry of Justice over 80% of the cases in court are related to land.

5 Gender equality produces the double dividend of benefiting both women and children and is pivotal to the health and development of families, communities and nations, according to The State of the World s Children According to the report, women s influence in key decisions improves the lives of women and has a positive effect on child well-being and development. As a collateral effect of this project, women appeared to be empowered when making decisions in the community and in their households. Steps to be taken in Burundi to reach gender equality The following diagram shows briefly the step to be taken to achieve a minimum degree of gender equality in Burundi. The really important question is how many degrees or intermediary steps are needed to make these changes. If as explained above, the situation of women is related to different social norms, based on customary laws, endorsed by legal norms, it is possible to address a social norm identified and just try to use the mechanisms and techniques available? or there should be a roadmap with the milestones needed to make it possible? Women in Burundi today Education Access to market in equal conditons Political Social Economical Community Development Gender Equity Women's Rights Social Norm As shown in the chart below inheritance for women is not allowed, and this responds to a social norm, defined by the empirical expectations (other women don t inherit), normative expectations (women think nobody expects the to inherit), legal norms (the constitution refers to the customary law, which doesn t allow women to inherit), the patriarchal culture of Burundi (where men define the power relations and women are place in a second level with almost no access to power), and the stakeholders (as explained by the patriarchal power division, women are not involved in discussion, or empowered to express their opinion, making the issue of inheritance a male issue). And there are very strict sanctions in place to avoid women from inherit, from public reprimands to violence and even being killed, making usual for women to flee from their homes when they widow to avoid being punished. 4

6 Stakeholders - Reference group (men in the ocmmunity) Empirical expectation Women do not inherit in Burundi Legal Norm Constitution - Customary Law Social expectation Culture Changes in Burundi As stated above, the project Nawe Nuze has focused on providing women an opportunity to develop their businesses (Access to market). As a result of this approach women have improved the economic situation, having a direct impact on their children lives. But also, women are feeling empowered to talk to men, and to give their opinions in public spaces which is not the social expectation for women. The aces to the market, not as a worker but as a successful micro-entrepreneur id giving women the confidence to talk, but also men are accepting this change of expectation. When talking about gender equality and having women fulfilling all their rights at once, we are going to have the all the social norms oppose this change. As the example given in the case study, women are not accessing to inheritance because men refuse it completely. The reason for this opposition is based on the land scarcity of the country and the need to keep family lands inside the family, which links to the patriarchal structure of the society and the dependence of women on their husbands or male relatives. The project of law to give women the right to inherit has been in discussions for over 10 years. The Government doesn t fell that the law will be accepted because the legal norm is still too far away from the Social Norm making the harmonization between them impossible at this stage. The main reason for this failure is the top-down approach. Government is trying to change a norm that the people don t feel the need to be changed, and that the main stakeholders don t accept because is contrary to their interest. Stakeholders are men, who will be negatively

7 impacted by this new law. The motivation of the Government is an international community s demand, but not an internal demand. The change observed thanks to the Nawe Nuze approach was that women participating in the project were feeling secure to speak up and to participate in public discussion as equals with men. When interviewed these women proclaim that now they could express their opinion at home when making decisions about what to do with the money since they felt they were contributing actively to the household income. They could even make decisions on their own without consulting their husbands. But what about their reference group, their husbands and the men of the community in general. According to them, there is nothing wrong with women starting their business; they can see it as an asset for them. The only condition they express is that women should take care of their duties first and then use their time for these new investments. To sum up, women get empowered after getting a certain economic independence, and men accept it for the benefits it brings also to them, but only if their wives fulfil their script. The current approach is to change the law and then adapt the social norms and expectations of the community to adapt them. The question is how much rejection is it done to the new rule because of the imposition feeling on the stakeholders, mainly those affected by the new rule. In our drive for results we are driving too fast and too far, and using the recurring topic: The forest is not letting us see the trees. The objective of this paper is to propose investing time in the identification, having the community to diagnostic themselves and to realize what changes can bring improvement to their lives. And use the know-how from the development community to support their changes. Listening to the identification we will be able to provide a sustainable and permanent change in social norms. How to bring changes to the social norms defining the role of women in Burundi s society Changing the approach to the current change drivers in Burundi can bring a more sustainable impact. A long-term approach will take a longer process to achieve the results expected. For UNICEF and all the other development agents the ownership of the projects and changes proposed to the target population does not take into consideration the participation of the beneficiaries in the preliminary stages of the programme development.

8 The credibility and trust of the proposed change is at stake, if not taken into account the cultural sensitivity and traditions. In the case of this case study, many attempts have been done to change the social norm not taking into account their needs and interest. The change has been always rejected, because they have never felt the need for a change. The NGOs and other international organizations need to let the people be the drivers of theirs changes from the beginning and cater a package of proven solutions. It can t be expected to jump over of years of small changes in western countries and experiment with one-step changes in developing countries. The proposed solution by the international organizations has to be harmonized with the problem identification and solution diagnostic done by the community. Conclusions This paper proposes to revise the chain of results to pay more attention to all the steps in the proposed change and especially to the defining factors of these steps. The following practices have the potential to make a gender-sensitive transformation in the long-term. Community based identification and diagnosis of the issues affecting the community. This will be the first step to analyse which issues are having a negative impact, on the well-being of children and the community in general. This analysis will be used to be the ToR for a social norms analysis to determine if the practices leading to this situation are social norms or other kind of norm, and will be helpful to address them in a perspective of social change. The entry of women in the Ubushingantahe institution traditionally reserved for men. The Ubushingantahe institution used to play a very significant role in conflict resolution. Only men known to be people of integrity were chosen to be members of that institution. The institution traditionally served as justice courts. Today with the election of women in that institution, Burundi has proven acknowledgment of women s right to publicly participate in conflict resolution; The participation of women as members of the traditional mechanism of discussion and conflict resolution will be a first step in many social changes involving women. The women s participation in decision-making in the National Assembly and Senate (30%) contributed to the awareness of women about their role in Burundian leadership; Education for all programme have helped girls to achieve primary education, although the challenge is to avoid the huge drop-out rate in secondary schools. Also the quality of primary school is making a low impact in girls lives.

9 Economic empowerment of women has shown results at the household levels, but also and the individual level of women acceptance as decision-makers in the community and in the household. These experiences have shown that women are changing their empirical expectations and the normative expectations in the economy field that are allowing them to participate on the decision make in the community and in the household, based on their contribution to the family and community development. According to the social norm change theory, the objective is to bring social norms and legal norms close enough to be recognize by the majority of the community or reference group to be able to harmonize them and make a change. As expressed throughout the paper, international organizations, such as Unicef, are not investing enough time in supporting the participation of the beneficiaries in the identification of their own problems, neglecting the identification of the social norms behind the negative practices. This approach has been proven to be un-effective, looking for quick wins in a short-term impact but with limited results in the long term, and not making the change of role in the beneficiaries to become leaders of their own development. No matter how many law, social policies, and action plans are approved in any given field of action, if the norms ruling the behaviour are not addressed these laws and policies will be uneffective, not recognized and will not bring any impact on the long term. The example of women gaining participation through economic empowerment expresses the idea of how small changes can bring us closer to a result in a medium-long term, while a frontal approach insensitive to the interest of the community and stakeholders, can bring us to our planned outputs, but not having the expected outcomes from our programmes. A culture change in the development world (including donors) to invest on beneficiaries participation will be key to make long-term sustainable social norms changes and to really align with the Paris Declaration principles 5 : 1. Ownership: Developing countries set their own strategies for poverty reduction, improve their institutions and tackle corruption. 2. Alignment: Donor countries align behind these objectives and use local systems. 3. Harmonisation: Donor countries coordinate, simplify procedures and share information to avoid duplication. 5 The Paris Declaration (2005) lays out a practical, action-oriented roadmap to improve the quality of aid and its impact on development.

10 4. Results: Developing countries and donors shift focus to development results and results get measured. 5. Mutual accountability: Donors and partners are accountable for development results. The first two principles of the Paris Declaration set the approach that donors and also development organisation need to take to promote the change, in social norms, policies, etc. In the proposed case of Burundi, applying those principles, investing time on promote participation on the diagnostic of the issues to be addressed, and a social norms evaluation of the behaviours linked to the problems identified will be key to make sure that the steps needed to reach gender equality are taken, and that the community is really involved and ready for the change. Support women to be able to join their references groups in their own communities by their own personal and economic development, making the changes understandable to men allowing their participation in a non-aggressive approach (not imposing a change), and following the procedures set by the local culture and using their communication mechanisms could bring a long term sustainable change.