Putting women and gender in the frame - A consideration of gender in the Global Report on Human Settlement Planning Sustainable Cities 2009

This paper reviews, using documentary evidence, the way in which gender equality and women's empowerment was considered in the 2009 Global Report on Human Settlement (GRHS), Planning Sustainable Cities. Given the UN commitment to mainstreaming as a strategy and what we know about how planning impacts on women, expectations were high. The review concludes that gender failed to be effectively mainstreamed into the 2009 GRHS Planning Sustainable Cities. Since the decade of women in 1976-1985 it would seem that only limited progress has been made to improve the position of women relative to men when it comes to the pan global GRHS.