Section 3: Mainstreaming gender equality through the African Peer
3.4 Gender mainstreaming: Implementing the national programmes
According to the general guidelines in the questionnaire, gender is meant to be a common theme weaving through all the sections of the African Peer Review Mechanism. Other cross-cutting issues that were identified as requiring systematic attention across all areas of the questionnaire included poverty eradication, decentralization, capacities to participate in the African Peer Review Mechanism, access to and dissemination of information, corruption, broad-based participation and sustainability in both financial and environmental senses. The mechanism recognises that these cross-cutting issues require an integrated and holistic approach from all sectors of society in the development process.
The African Peer Review Mechanism Guidelines enjoin91 States to design realistic National Programmes of Action that build on, incorporate and synergize with the relevant elements of existing programmes,
91 African Union and NEPAD (2003). “Guidelines for countries to prepare for and to participate in the African Peer Review Mechanism”.
Paragraph 18 (v).
policies and strategies that address the key African Peer Review Mechanism objectives, including gender-equity strategies. The participation of civil society, the private sector and other non-state entities is crucial in formulating strategies and programmes that reflect development priorities and strategies from an informed perspective.
Right from the earliest African Peer Review Mechanism reviews, the need was acknowledged to mainstream gender in the implementation of National Programmes of Action, as well as ensuring gender-sensitive approaches92. To date, the development of the National Programmes of Action has been opaque and controversial in some countries, where the National Programmes of Action are largely under the control of technical research institutions and technocrats, with civil society usually being granted access to drafts at the last minute93. This leaves little room for stakeholders to analyse or make inputs into the National Programmes of Action. However, in some instances, such as in South Africa, civil society exercised vigilance even within the short turnaround time to ensure that the National Programme of Action conformed to the recommendations in the country review report by applying pressure94 on the Government to comply with its commitments for a people-driven process. Civil-society organizations were able to make the link between gaps raised in the country self-assessment report and the country review report, providing invaluable oversight to the country review process.
Heightened vigilance is vital by all actors on the responsiveness of the National Programmes of Action to identified gender gaps in the country review report and country self-assessment report. With such a high non-response to recommendations evidenced in the first 17 countries, it is conceivable that numerous recommendations relating to gender would fall by the wayside as casualties of non-implementation as seen in Table 4. As observed by Longwe: “It is not uncommon for the transition from problem to goal to show a complete disappearance of a gender issue” in Africa’s development landscape95. Stakeholders can provide the country review teams with their views on the gender deficiencies of the National Programmes of Action with a view to influencing the teams to make recommendations on perceived weaknesses and remedial measures in order to improve the National Programmes of Action.
Table 5 below highlights the major elements of the National Programme of Action outlined by the APRM Guidelines and makes suggestions on entry points for gender-oriented strategies and focal areas.
92 Report of the Sixth Africa Governance Forum (AGF-VI) (2006). “Implementing APRM: Challenges and Opportunities”. page 30.
93 ECA (2012). “APRM and the quest for a developmental State: the role of civil-society organizations in implementing the National Pro-gramme of Action”. E/ECA/CGPP/3/3 2012.
94 Hutchings, N, M Dimba & A Tilley (2008). “Assessing South Africa’s APRM: An NGO perspective”. South African Institute for International Affairs. SAIIA Occasional Papers Series Number 3, page 8.
95 Longwe, Sara Hlupekile (2002). “NEPAD reluctance to address gender issues”. Available at http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/
apic-110402.html, accessed 3 February 2014
Table 5: Entry points to promote gender mainstreaming in the National Programme of Action (NPoA)
Elements of the NPOA Focal areas for gender mainstreaming Assessment of compliance with the
APRM objectives, standards, criteria and indicators, and discussion of major development and governance challenges facing the country.
• Assessment of the extent to which gender-related standards, codes and indicators have been adopted, adhered to and implemented
• Conducting gender-gap analyses and identification of constraints barring the attainment of de facto gender equality
Outline of the priorities for enhancing governance and socioeconomic development in the short, medium and long term.
• Identification of priorities as reflected in studies and national gender policies and action plans in order to reduce gender inequalities in the political and social economic arena
• Identification of good practices that can be up scaled in the short to medium and long term institutional reforms and other development strategies.
• Recommendations on the harmonization and rationalization of NPoA strategies and action areas with existing national and institutional gender strategies, action plans and policies/laws, including programmes
Clear, time-bound commitments on key governance and socioeconomic development priorities over the next three years, including the identification of key stakeholders for implementation, and the estimated budgetary implications and allocations.
• Analysis of NPoA gender initiatives
• Identification of stakeholders in the private, non-governmental and government sectors, including gender activists and stakeholders promoting gender
• Identification of earmarked funds for gender mainstreaming
• Identification of areas where CSOs can work with government in advocacy and service delivery within the NPoA
• Monitoring of gender budgeting frameworks and indicators Description of the national
consultations that have taken place during the self-assessment and developing the National Programme of Action
• Identification of gender-inclusive approaches and any deficits noted
• Information sharing with all stakeholders on how to improve the process
Outline the feedback mechanism established to keep local stakeholders involved in the process, including efforts to disseminate information in an easily accessible and understandable manner.
• National gender machinery to mobilise CSOs and share and disseminate information
• CSOs monitor national progress reports on implementation of NPoA
• CSOs to develop user-friendly information materials on the gender perspectives
Description of the capacity-building and resource- mobilization requirements for undertaking the Programme of Action.
Analysis and information-gathering by partnering with stakeholders and ministries, departments and agencies named in the NPoA
Mainstreaming gender in the budgeting frameworks Outline the implementation,
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the programmes of action.
Gender institutions isolate gender indicators for monitoring and share them with CSOs
Gender institutions and actors monitor and produce reports for dissemination to the public
Monitoring of gender commitments in the NPoA through annual progress reports on implementation of NPoA