ABSTRACT
In the heterogeneous and noisy world of development, described in Part I of this volume, it may be that countries where aid works best are those that need it least, and in countries where aid is most needed, it is difficult to implement and show ‘success’. Gender is an area where achieving results from aid interventions is difficult, and when progress is made it is not easily measurable. However, gender and development, ‘an area of great need, but small progress’ (Longwe 1991), is a critical aspect of aid. It is often the very lack of ‘successful’ gender interventions that spur many mainstream policymakers and implementers to view gender relations as culture-specific or personal, and thus beyond the scope of foreign aid. Yet, it may be precisely these areas of inequality that are most in need of intervention.
