ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the effectiveness of National women's machineries (NWMs), examining their record of promoting women's interests in five countries: Bangladesh, Chile, Jamaica, Morocco and Vietnam. These countries are each at different stages of integrating gender into development processes. In only two of the case countries — Chile and to a lesser extent, Jamaica — did a national concern with Women in Development/Gender and De-velopment (WID/GAD) and the establishment of government machinery emerge in direct response to pressure from the women's movement. Chile and Bangladesh have experimented with designating WID Focal Point officers in other ministries. National development plans and budgets are important public statements expressing politically chosen priorities for change and progress, and are based on a macroeconomic framework designed to create the conditions under which this national vision can be realized. Integrating gender into this process requires both political and economic ground-work by WID/GAD policy advocates.
