This paper addresses the concept of policy dialogue as it applies to issues of gender equity and participation. It discusses the basic elements of the concept, explores five models of policy dialogue as well as constraints to the institutionalisation of policy dialogue for gendered development. It argues that the constraints emanate from the hegemony of the neo-liberal discourse on development; the effect of globalisation on the balance of power among key institutions in international, national and local arenas; the rigidities within national bureaucratic cultures; and the unequal patterns of development as well as contradictions within gender constituencies.
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