A process of market-oriented economic reform aimed at restoring a sustainable balance of payments, reducing inflation, and creating the conditions for sustainable growth in per capita income. Structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) have usually been undertaken in response to a balance of payments crisis in developing countries. Gender impact assessment in the design and implementation of SAPs enables the identification of gender dimensions that affect the implementation process, or gender differentials in the burden of adjustment. This tool has been used by several development agencies in industrialised countries to review their aid to adjustment programmes.