Page iv iv. The main points raised in this paper are basic enough to apply broadly in most countries. But country circumstances vary, and development of practical country-specific plans usually requires a careful look at who the women are, what work they do, what constraints they face, and why. This process will suggest probable benefits from improving opportunitics, particularly for poorer women, and practical approaches for doing so.

# Als2seing the Situation and Moving Ahead Onerationally

v. Getting started. Some idea of the specific situation of women in the country concerned (and the underlying explanations) needs to be developed by gathering some basic gender-disaggregate **d** ata, reviewing the literature, and assessing program and project experience. In general, censuses, education and labor force data, and other readily available information can provide a clear enough overall picture, particularly when more detailed sample surveys and research on specific aspects of women's situation in the country or region can also be ;drawn upon. (Program and project reports tend to provide little gender-disaggregated information, but people involved with programs and projects can often give a reasonably detailed picture.) In short, do not wait for detailed statistical surveys or extensive further research before beginning to move along some of the fairly obvious lines outlined under the seven key points. The level of analysis tyoically employed in Bank sector work -- when it includes some gender-disaggregate **d** ata -- will usually suffite to clarify the role of women and identify (at least in rough terms) Dractical ways to improve women's o0oortunities, Of course, major operational efforts will profit from better analysis in this as in other fields -- but the basic point is to avoid letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. We know enough now to accomplish a good deal.

vi. Be selective. It is not necessary to wait until the capacity or the commitment exists to 'do everything' -- beginning to address two or three related issues or sectors is often a useful way to start. It demonstrates the feasibility, acceptability, and benefits for development of efforts to include women. It also often builds the interest and confidence needed to initiate further efforts. It is often quite possible, for example, to make productive inputs and information more readily available to women farmers and entrepreneurs, to expand or improve education at the later primary and secondary levels, and to strengthen local maternal health and family planning services -- at modest cost but with considerable impact.

# Three Primary Propositions

vii. Women already contribute far more economically than is usually recognized. FAO estimates that women account for over half the food produced in the developing world (for home use and increasingly for market). Food security, especially for the poor, depends heavily on the work of women. Women carry the main responsibility for child care and household chores, which would otherwise have to be paid for. Women constitute one-fourth of the developing world's industrial labor force and work in a number of emerging services and labor-intensive industries. But women's contribution is underestimated partly