Gender and Development Glossary

The Inter Press Service (IPS) Gender and Development Glossary is available in a 3rd edition updated by IPS Asia-Pacific for the IPS news network, building on the work and content of the previous editions of the publication and using financing from the Dutch Ministry’s MDG-3 Fund: Investing in Equality. This edition updates the terms covered in the glossary chapter as well as in the other sections, and adds discussion of gender, development, and media issues and debates that have emerged in the last decade. It is produced in order for journalists to accurately utilise terms about gender and gender and development, which are often defined differently from one socio-cultural context to another.

This booklet aims to provide journalists with definitions and context for key terms that are commonly used in discussions about gender issues and the status and advancement of women. By providing general definitions along with contextual information and examples, its goal is to suggest the diversity and complexity of the concepts. In addition to the glossary itself, it includes a list of selected gender-biased terms and non-biased alternatives. It also lists some gender-blind words, as well as questions that reporters and editors might ask to uncover gender information when preparing stories. There is also a bibliography and a list of gender-focused IPS publications.

The third edition of the glossary builds on the original, published in 1997 and revised in 2000.