Rural livelihoods and gender Asia - Pacifi c Human Development

policy and consulting work are on gender and governance, feminist movements, politics of service delivery. Abstract This paper is primarily a literature review, which focuses on: a) the gendered aspects, dimensions and gender impact of rural livelihoods in the Asia-Pacific region; and b) how these aspects and dimensions are (or not) changing; and c) the impacts of these changes. It has the following objectives. First, it highlights the existing and emerging trends in the area of gender and rural livelihoods in the Asia-Pacific region. Second, it analyzes how the existing literature links different concepts such as gender equality, sustainable livelihood and human development. Third, it identifies the good practices and policies that work for promoting gender equality in rural livelihoods and proposes some policy recommendations. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations, including UNDP, or the UN Member States. This paper was commissioned by the Human Development Report Unit as a technical background paper to inform the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report, " Power, Voice and Rights ". The data may differ from that finally presented in Asia-Pacific Human Development Report. Readers may contact the author directly for any clarifications, queries on data, inferences, and conclusions or to engage in discussion. This paper has not been copyedited.