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Economic Commission for Africa

African Centre for Gender and Development

GUIDELINES FOR GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN THE ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

(ECA)

By: Rose Aderolili Seniui Suiinl Affaiis Office*

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Introduction

It has become apparent that women focused activities alone will not achieve the goal of gender equality and women's empowerment. The shift from a Women in Development (WID) approach to Gender in Development (GAD) approach has forced development agencies to examine not only the kinds of programmes and projects they carry out, but also what they can do to make development process as a whole more responsive to gender based concerns.

In order to increase gender equity, many organizations have begun to mainstream gender issues.

Gender mainstreaming is the integration of gender equitable practices into all organizational policies and operational procedures, including the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development initiatives. Mainstreaming emphasizes systematic, internal changes in organizations and the use of human resources management practices that promote equitable employment and a safe, comfortable working environment for female and male staff.

Within the United Nations, all agencies have been instructed by the General Assembly to mainstream gender perspectives into all areas of operations. In 1996, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) adopted the goal of gender equality as a development objective and gender mainstreaming as one of the primary areas in the new Strategic Directions for ECA. The gender policy statement of 1996 guides the work of the ECA's Divisions and it's offices in the sub- regions. The responsibility for ensuring that gender is integrated into the programmes of Divisions rests with the Divisional Heads and SRO Directors, who are the gender focal points.

The Africa Center for Gender and Development and external gender experts provide technical backstopping wherever it is needed.

Although gender mainstreaming in its broadest sense appears straight forward, many experiences have shown that in practice it can be a complex exercise. This is partly the reason why many organizations have failed to gender mainstream their programmes and projects. Within the ECA, a need was identified for clear guidelines on how mainstreaming should be carried out in major areas of work and outputs. This guideline, then, is an attempt to:

• Present to Divisional Heads and programme staff the key mainstreaming components, approaches and strategies;

• Create a tool that can be used to assess or design gender-mainstreaming initiatives.

• Highlight the major gender issues to be mainstreamed into ECA's outputs and areas of work.

The guideline begins with an overview of the context in which ECA carries out gender

mainstreaming. This is followed by a review of the gender mainstreaming and related concepts.

The next chapters present guidelines on mainstreaming gender issues in ECA's major activities:

policy analysis, research, data collection, servicing conferences and intergovernmental meetings,

and the ECA's flagship publications - with an example of how to gender mainstream the

Economic Report for Africa. This is followed by an application of the gender mainstreaming approach to ECA's work on governance, sustainable development, trade and regional integration,

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information for development and HIV/AIDS. The major developmental issues of concern to gender in each of these areas are highlighted.

Experience has shown that unless gender is mainstreamed in all areas of the Commission, the goal of gender equality will not be achieved both within the Commission and in the member States, therefore, the next section describes and presents checklists for gender mainstreaming in the institutional and operational areas of the Commission including: ECA's vision and mission;

gender policies and strategies; organizational structure; accountability for gender mainstreaming;

communication channels; institutional learning capacity; allocation of financial resources, human resource management; programme design and planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

This guideline draws heavily from many articles, books, and manuals (especially those acknowledged in the bibliography at the end of this manual) about gender mainstreaming, and therefore, does not claim to be either the only blueprint for gender mainstreaming, or an original document. Issues to be gender mainstreamed may vary with circumstances, but the guideline provides basic principles and practices that can be applied in most areas of the Commission's work.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

INTRODUCTION 1

ACRONYMS 5

1. GENDER MAINSTREAMING CONTEXT IN ECA

1.1 United Nations Resolution on Gender Mainstreaming 6

1.2 ECA's Gender Policy and Mandate 6

1.3 The Goal of Gender Mainstreaming in ECA 8

1.4 Gender Mainstreaming as a strategy for Achieving Gender Equity 10 1.5 Building ECA's Capacity for Gender Mainstreaming 10 2. PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDELINE AND HOW TO USE IT

2.1 Purpose of the Guideline 13

2.2 How to Use the Guideline 14

3. THEORETICAL REVIEW OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING

3.1 Definition of Gender Mainstreaming 15

3.2 Why is Gender Mainstreaming New? 16

3.3 The Importance of Gender Mainstreaming in Development

of ECA and Member States 16

3.4 Prerequisites for Successful Gender Mainstreaming 18 3.5 Constraints to Effective Gender Mainstreaming Within the UN System... 21 3.6 Dealing With Challenges to Gender Mainstreaming 21 3.7 The ABC of Gender Mainstreaming - General Approach 24 4. GENDER MAINSTREAMING ECA'S MAJOR ACTIVITIES

4.1 Policy Analysis, Advocay and Development 26

4.2 Research 27

4.3 Technical Assistance 30

4.4 Servicing Meetings of Intergovernmental Bodies 31

4.5 Data Collection, Analysis and Dissemination 32

4.6 Gender Mainstreaming Conference Themes 33

5. GENDER MAINSTREAMING PROGRAMMATIC AREAS

5.1 Tracking Poverty in major outputs - Economic Report for Africa 35

5.2 The Work on Governance 36

5.3 Information Technology for Development 39

5.4 Trade, Investment and Regional Integration 40

5.5 Sustainable Development 44

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5.6 Health Economics: HIV/AIDS and other Diseases 47 6. CHECKLISTS FOR GENDER MAINSRTEAMING IN MANAGERIAL

AND INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES AND PRACTICES

6.1 Vision and Mission 49

6.2 Gender Policies and Strategies 50

6.3 ECA's Organizational Structure 53

6.4 Accountability 53

6.4.1 Leadership by Senior Management 53

6.4.2 Accountability Structures 53

6.4.3 Organizational Diversity 54

6.4.4 Checklists for Assessing Accountability 54

6.5 Communication Channels 54

6.5.1 Questions About Communication Channels in ECA 55

6.6 Institutional Learning Capacity 55

6.6.1 Assessing Institutional Learning Capacity 56

6.7 Allocation of Financial Resources 56

6.7.1 Assessing the Allocation of Financial Resources 57

6.8 Human Resources Management 57

6.8.1 Assessing Human Resources Management 58

7. OPERATIONAL GENDER MAINSTREAMING COMPONENTS

7.1 Programme/project Design and Planning 59

7.1.1 Assessing Project Design and Planning 60

7.2 Implementation 60

7.2.1 Assessing Implementation 61

7.3 Monitoring and Evaluation 62

7.3.1 Assessing Monitoring and Evaluation 62

7.4 Gender Awareness and Implementation Capacity 63

7.4.1 Assessing Gender Awareness and Implementation Capacity 64

8. CONCLUSION 65

ANNEX 1: GLOSSARY OF GENDER RELATED TERMINOLOGIES 67

ANNEX 2: GENDER ANALYSIS MODELS 70

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 71

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ACRONYMS

CEDPA Center for Development and Population Activities DAC Development Assistance Committee

ECOSOC Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

FAO Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations FWCW Fourth World Conference on Women

GAD Gender and Development

ILO International Labor Organization

UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women

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1. GENDER MAINSTREAMING CONTEXT IN ECA 1.1 United Nations Resolutions on Gender Mainstreaming

"Within their existing mandates and activities, the regional commissions should mainstream women's issues and gender perspectives and should also consider the establishment of mechanisms and processes to ensure the implementation and monitoring of both the Platform for Action and regional platforms and action"

(Beijing Platform for Action, FWCW 1995)

The United Nations has held a series of World Conferences on Women (from Mexico in 1975 to Beijing - 1995) all aimed at promoting the advancement of women and gender equality. These conferences built consensus on issues, constraints, the strategies and actions to be taken at local, national, regional and international levels. The Global (Beijing) and the African Regional (Dakar) Platforms for Action provide a basis for mainstreaming gender in all development policies, programmes, structures and processes. The Beijing Platform for Action established gender mainstreaming as a global strategy for the promotion of gender equality.

In 1997, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution on gender mainstreaming which calls on ECOSOC to ensure that gender perspectives are taken into account in all its work, including in the work of its functional commissions, and recommended a five year review of the implementation of the ECOSOC agreed conclusions. The ECOSOC agreed conclusions (1997/2) established some important overall principles for gender mainstreaming.

Shortly thereafter, the UN General Assembly affirmed ECOSOC Resolution and asked the Secretary General to work with the Security Council to enhance coordination of gender issues and mainstream gender perspectives throughout the UN. The Secretary General's letter of 13 October 1997 to all United Nations entities provided further concrete directives. In addition to the ECOSOC Resolution, UN policy underscores the importance of incorporating gender analysis into all aspects of UN programming, personnel, recruitment and management areas.

The General Assembly's twenty-third special session to follow up implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (June 2000) re-emphasized and enhanced the mainstreaming mandate within the United Nations.

There are clear intergovernmental mandates for gender mainstreaming in all major areas of work of the UN, including poverty reduction, disarmament, macroeconomics, health, education and trade. Specific mandates also exist for ensuring that gender perspectives are taken into account in the major planning processes and documents within the UN, the medium term plans, programme budgets and programme assessment (e.g. General Assembly resolution of December

1997(A/Res/52/100)

These are the standards promoting gender mainstreaming (GM) within the UN system:

• Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995)

• 1991 Report of the Economic and Social Council dealing with gender mainstreaming (A/53/3)

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• 1998 Supplement to the Report of ECOSOC dealing with gender mainstreaming (E/1998/53, 54, 55)

• Reports by the Secretary General in 1998 (A/53/376), 1999 (E/CN.6/1999/5)

• Special measures for the advancement of women (ST/A1/412 now ST/AI/1999/9)

• Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

• UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Throughout the UN system, there is significant increase in the understanding and commitment to gender mainstreaming. Policies on gender equality and strategies for implementing gender mainstreaming have been developed; research on gender perspectives in different areas and the sex-desegregation of data has increased; considerable knowledge of the gender perspectives in different areas of the UN has been documented; and important institutional measures have been adopted to increase the awareness, knowledge, and capacity of professional staff for implementing gender mainstreaming, including training programmes and gender focal points.

However, major constraints still remain. These include: conceptual confusion, inadequate understanding of the linkages between gender perspectives and different areas of the work of the UN and gaps in capacity to address gender perspectives once identified. The lack of understanding of "how" gender perspectives can be identified and addressed remains one of the most serious constraints. This guideline has been developed with the specific purpose of providing support with gender mainstreaming in ECA.

1.2 ECA's Gender Policy and Mandate

Like in other United Nations entities, gender mainstreaming at ECA is being undertaken in line with policy mandates of the United Nations (especially ESOSOC Agreed Conclusions of 1997), ECA's mandate and the ACGD mandate.

The work of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is based upon programme 14, Economic and Social Development - of the United Nations. The overall objective of the programme is to foster economic and social development, with particular focus on poverty reduction. Specifically, the programme is geared towards assisting member States in formulating and implementing policies and programmes that will accelerate and sustain growth for poverty reduction in line with the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The ECA focuses attention on implementing eight interdependent and complementary subprogrammes, which broadly reflect the priorities and challenges confronting member States.

As a regional institution, which also operates at the sub-regional level, ECA is in a position to establish and to affirm comparative advantage in promoting the development of African perspectives on mainstreaming gender in economic and social development. The capacity building process under way at ECA since late 1997 has initiated the development of an analytical framework for gender mainstreaming which is custom built around ACGD and ECA's strategic agenda. It represents a new generation of gender analysis frameworks, an African-grown and state of the art development of gender perspectives in African economic and social development.

As an institutional response to the Beijing and Dakar mandates and commitments to mainstream gender, ECA has adopted the goal of gender equality as a development objective and to

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mainstream gender in all programmes. The gender policy statement of 1996 underlies the message that "African women's economic and social advancement is a crucial precondition for the development of Africa". In effect, this policy and strategy commits ECA to achieve identifiable and measurable gender equitable outcomes and impacts. Each division and ECA's Sub-regional Offices (SROs) are responsible and accountable for gender mainstreaming in all areas of work.

Although gender development is a crosscutting issue, it is believed that since gender is such an essential component of development, it should be given special emphasis in the work of the ECA. Accordingly, ECA, through the African Center for Gender and Development, carries out the task of promoting gender equality as a step towards addressing poverty problem in Africa by assisting member States in mainstreaming gender concerns into their development policies and programmes, to achieve the goal of gender equality set by various regional and global conferences on women. The ACGD, as a sub-programmes fosters gender and development in Africa. One of the tools being used is the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI), which will provide the tool for measuring progress towards achieving the gender equality goals.

Within the Commission, ACGD provides technical support for each Division and the SROs to have capacity for gender-responsive work outputs. It is also responsible for capacity building in gender mainstreaming through the creation of appropriate competencies by all staff - women and men, and by advocating for conducive institutional structures, systems and practices.

ECA has strengthened and actualized its policy on gender and taken several institutional steps to address the issues of advancement of women and to mainstream gender in all its programmes.

These include:

• Resource and programmatic support to ACGD;

• Establishment of focal points in all the Divisions and in all the five SROs;

• Promotion of a number of women to senior positions, including Dl level;

• Bringing women perspectives into major for a such as the ADF and the Conference of

Ministers.

While the strategic directions, the gender policy statement and the strengthening of ACGD signify a high-level commitment to incorporating a gender perspective in all ECA work, it is well acknowledged that there is need for institution-wide sensitization, awareness creation and capacity building within ECA to actualize and operationalise the new concepts of gender equality, and especially gender mainstreaming.

There is still a great need to promote and build capacity of staff in these seven specific basic elements for institionalizing gender concerns into programmes of work:

• Awareness of the importance of gender issues for development outcomes;

• Commitment to addressing gender concerns in ECA's activities;

• Capacity for formulation of gender-focused questions;

• Capacity for carrying out gender and social analysis;

• Capacity for applying the findings of gender and social analysis to ECA's portfolio;

• Capacity for systematic monitoring and evaluation of gender specific program impact;

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• Systematic reporting of gender-relevant lessons learned, and subsequent program adaptation.

There is also a need for clear guidelines on how to practically mainstream gender in ECA's work

programmes and management practices.

The policy directions of ECA, its statement on gender and the subjects selected as critical for Africa's development provide a rich and dynamic backdrop for gender mainstreaming within ECA's work. ECA is in a unique position to mainstream gender in the most critical issues for Africa's development at all levels and points of contact with member States. However, if the capacity of ECA itself is not built to a level where it is at the cutting edge of conceptualization, knowledge and skills in gender mainstreaming, ECA cannot help build the capacity for gender mainstreaming in member States. ECA should also teach by example of good practices in gender mainstreaming within the Commission itself. It is therefore, important for staff at ECA to have a minimum knowledge and competence to be able to mainstream gender in their work - even though only a few are gender experts.

The "PATRIARCHAL COOKING POT"

Sarah Longwe (1995) describes how gender issues are often treated in policies of most

organizations:

Sarah Longwe has coined the analogy of the "patriarchal cooking pot" to describe the way organizations deal with gender issues. "A development agency is a complex cooking pot, on which the lid normally remains closed. The pot is filled with male bias, implicit in the agency's values, ideology, development approach, organizational systems and procedures. This is the pot into which gender policies are thrown. It is a strange patriarchal pot of much input and no output. Officially, the policy exists and the pot does not. But soon the policy has evaporated, and what remains is the same pot."

Sarah Longwe: 'The Evaporation of Policies for Women's Advancement" in "A Commitment to the World's Women" UNIFEM. 1995

1.3 The goal of gender mainstreaming in ECA

The major goal of gender mainstreaming is that of gender equality. Gender equality is a goal that has been accepted by governments and international organizations. It is enshrined in international agreements and commitments. Achieving equality between men and women will require changes at many levels, including changes in relationships and attitudes, changes in institutions, and legal frameworks, changes in economic institutions, and changes in political

decision-making structures.

Within the ECA, the goal of gender mainstreaming is to carry out gender mainstreaming as a standard tool in the shaping and development of ECA's policy in order to include the gender perspective in the entire process of policy development. This aim will be achieved by sensitizing

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stakeholders in ECA, strengthening the role of focal gender points, and by institutional development. This is a long-term goal, which cannot be attained, in a short period of time.

1.4 Gender mainstreaming as a strategy for achieving the goal of gender equality in ECA and in member States

Policy provides the overall framework. It states the commitment made by the organization. A strategy states how the organization will implement policy. There are a number of strategies for promoting gender equality including gender empowerment and gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming is the major strategy adopted by the ECA to promote gender equality within both the Commission and the member States. ECA recognizes that women's empowerment alone is, in practice, not sufficient as a strategy to achieve gender equality. ECA's gender mainstreaming strategy is therefore an outline of how it will implement its commitment to gender equality as a development goal and gender mainstreaming as a means to contribute to progress towards gender equality. A gender mainstreaming strategy is a framework that organizes information, policy commitments, activities and resources in a systematic way. It is intended to guide action to achieve defined outcomes or results

This strategy should be implemented within an enabling environment to efficiently support efforts to empower women and to achieve gender equality and equity. ECA, therefore, is advocating the incorporation of gender perspective in policies, programmes and in organizational practices. It also undertakes basic and continuing analysis of the impacts and opportunities that programmes and policies have on gender as a way of making gender concerns central to policy formulation, legislation, resource allocations, and planning and monitoring of programmes.

In implementing gender mainstreaming as one of the strategies for achieving this goal, ECA is also improving knowledge base on African women's issues through training, research and raising awareness of policy, and dissemination of information within Member states. It has facilitated the creation of offices and branches of government that advance the role and status of women in Africa. It has worked closely with these offices to strengthen the efforts of member States in implementing and monitoring recommendations of international conferences on women. Additionally, ECA works in collaboration with the African Union in the areas of, inter alia, gender mainstreaming.

Within the ECA, the ACGD is responsible for promoting gender mainstreaming in the work of the Commission. It has responsibility to ensure that gender - one of the crosscutting issues that define the new ECA, is fully integrated into all aspects of the Commission's work. ACGD initiated a custom-designed approach to capacity building, commended by the UN Secretariat as unique among regional institutions. This approach is process driven, participatory, hands-on, focuses upon results-based delivery of work outputs, and takes into account development outcome and is impact focused.

The strategy adopted include the appointment of gender focal points and a gender coordinator in each of the Divisions at ECA headquarters, and in ECA's offices in the sub regions, and the training of all ECA professional staff members in the basic principles of a gendered analysis, while supporting them in developing indicators and tools that can be used to monitor the incorporation of gender in their programmes

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The problem, however, is that these focal points have not been very active. There is now a need to revive these structures. The appointment of focal points should target capable and high ranking officers - women and/or men who can influence activities or policies of their various divisions. There is also an Inter-Divisional Committee within ECA. Unfortunately this Committee has not functioned for a very long time. There is an urgent need to revive the Committee. The Committee among other things should review reports on the implementation of gender integration within divisions; support focal points within divisions; be proactive in taking measures to overcome barriers to gender integration. A number of workshops for senior managers and gender focal points in the Commission have been held, but follow-up are

necessary.

An assessment of implementation of gender mainstreaming in ECA in 1998 commended ECA for its vision and approach for capacity building in gender mainstreaming. However, it is believed that ECA did lose the lead in gender mainstreaming in Africa through lack of internal support and capacity. ECA should reclaim that leading position by putting more emphasis on the transformation of the "mainstream" by ensuring that the perspectives of both men and women inform design, implementation, and outcomes of population policies and programmes. It has to lead by example to member States and other stakeholders. To be able to accomplish this, ECA has to build its capacity for gender mainstreaming.

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1.5 Building ECA's Capacity for Gender Mainstreaming

Capacity -building is a fundamental issue for both UN entities and their collaborating partners (other institutions, NGOs, and Governments). In order for ECA to pursue the mainstreaming strategy in its own work and to encourage others to work in a complementary fashion, ECA must build its own capacity. This has proven to be a long-term process that requires explicit ongoing attention, resources and political will.

To assess ECA's current capacity for gender mainstreaming, it is helpful to examine the components of capacity outlined below:

o Understanding and commitment

Clarity about the goal of equality between women and men among professionals, particularly at the senior decision-making level, and commitment to pursuing this goal at both institutional and

individual level.

o Analytic and planning skills

The skills needed to identify and respond to issues of equality between women and men relevant to the Commission's mandate.

o Structures and mechanisms

Structures and mechanisms, which facilitate ensuring that the concerns of both women and men and equality issues are raised within planning and decision-making, enable inter-sectoral linkages to be made; and hold staff and managers accountable.

o Catalytic presence

A unit with responsibility for advocating on gender equality issues and gender mainstreaming can play a crucial role, provided the mandate is to focus on strategic issues and act as a catalyst (rather than holding the responsibility for overall gender mainstreaming).

o Participatory mechanisms

Means by which consultation is ensured so that women as well as men, and gender equality advocates, can participate in decision-making and influence policy and programme formulation

and evaluation.

o Information, data and research

The availability of necessary inputs, such as research on gender differences and inequalities and adequate sex-disaggregated data, for both policy and programme formulation.

Experience elsewhere has shown that capacity to work on gender equality issues does not materialize "automatically". Rather an institution or organization must develop a plan or

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programme that sets realistic targets, specifies accountability and mobilizes the appropriate

levels of support.

2. Purpose of this Guideline and How to use it 2.1 Purpose of the guideline

Experience has shown that gender mainstreaming is often difficult to implement in specific circumstances. This partly explains why gender mainstreaming in the work of the Commission, including into its major outputs - is not widely practiced. It is therefore critical that a comprehensive and concise guideline be produced that contains broad guides and checklists for gender mainstreaming in the major areas of ECA's work. This will facilitate gender mainstreaming into the daily work of staff at ECA.

The purpose of the manual - which draws heavily from several gender mainstreaming guidelines, is to familiarize ECA staff with gender concepts and terminology, as well as to assist and enable programme managers and officers to mainstream gender into programmes on one hand (through the use of comprehensive checklists contained in the manual), and for all Secretariat personnel to develop a culture of gender sensitivity in the daily activities of the Commission on the other. The present manual will also serve as a source of background information and reference material on gender mainstreaming matters.

This guideline is similar to many gender mainstreaming manuals developed by various organizations and governments including: UNDP, ILO, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Union, the Australian and New Zealand Governments, and many others and therefore, does not claim to be original or exhaustive. All these organizations have got extensive and successful experiences in gender mainstreaming. Drawing, as it does, on the richness and fullness that cannot be found in any guideline of a single source. All staff at the ECA can use the guideline because it contains information relevant to all staff either in connection with their work or with personal relationships at the work place.

This guideline attempts to provide assistance in creating greater understanding of the mainstreaming approach and its practical implications, and identifies entry points for moving the analysis further in various concrete contexts within the ECA.

It contains guides for gender mainstreaming in ECA's major programmes of work, its flagship publications, servicing of conferences, and technical assistance. It also contains checklists for gender mainstreaming in the broad areas of programme planning, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It covers checklists relating to managerial practices within the Commission including: ECA's mission and vision; ECA's organizational structure;

accountability for gender mainstreaming; communication channels and dialogue relating to gender development within the Commission; institutional learning capacity; allocation of resources for gender development within the ECA; human resource management; and operations gender mainstreaming components. For each of these issues, the manual presents a set of questions that must be bone in mind when gender mainstreaming.

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Specifically, a guideline on gender mainstreaming in the ECA is necessary to achieve the

following goals:

• Policy makers who are not experts in gender issues, but who nonetheless are charged with day-to-day responsibility of gender mainstreaming, according to organization mandates. This document is meant to guide these professionals in their work.

• For Programme Managers and directors to integrate gender dimensions in on-going work.

Checklists for gender mainstreaming as well as the annotated bibliography may provide directions for incorporating gender considerations in programme/project monitoring and evaluation

• Staff may wish to become acquainted with basic gender issues, concepts and tools. Staff can use it as a guide for gender mainstreaming in project and programme management.

This manual provides basic background information on gender mainstreaming and other related gender terms.

• It provides checklists for gender mainstreaming in all areas of organizational operations, as well as on selected themes that reflect the most pressing needs in Africa's development (e.g. policy analysis, trade and gender; ICT for development, and sustainable development).

• Gender focal- points and gender experts may find this guideline useful as a quick and succinct reference in their work, or when training other staff members.

• Non-government organizations and advocacy groups can use it as an example of mainstreaming gender into broad areas of policy and to monitor and support the actions of the Commission. It will show case how seriously ECA takes gender mainstreaming as a strategy for achieving gender equality.

• Other interested parties who may have access to this guideline can gain an appreciation for how gender mainstreaming works in practice.

• Supervisors of policy makers and project staff can gain a better understanding of the ways in which gender mainstreaming will affect the work plans of their staff, and can subsequently incorporate gender mainstreaming into their performance appraisal systems, while also allocating adequate budget resources.

Although the manual is intended for users in many areas, it must be borne in mind that there is no set formula or blueprint that can be applied in every context. However, what is common to mainstreaming in all sectors or development issues is that a concern for gender equality is brought into the 'mainstream" ofactivities rather than dealt with as an add-on.

2.2 How to Use the Guideline

This guideline is divided into six chapters.

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Chapter three, which follows the first two on introduction and the purpose of the guideline - provides general theoretical background information on the concept of gender mainstreaming.

The rationale for this section is that most staff is not familiar with the concept of gender

mainstreaming and gender terminologies. It is therefore, necessary to address the "issue" of

gender mainstreaming before engaging in its application.

It provides the user of the guideline with preliminary background knowledge that must be mastered in order for the exercise of mainstreaming to be done more easily. It defines gender mainstreaming; discusses why it is a "new" concept; why gender mainstreaming is important;

pre-conditions for successful gender mainstreaming; lessons learned; problems with gender mainstreaming; and gender mainstreaming and organizational development.

Chapter four provides practical guidance in gender mainstreaming in ECA's major programmatic areas and outputs - the flagship publications. Since these publications are meant for dissemination to member States as part of policy advocacy, it is expected that the member States will also benefit from integration of gender issues into these outputs. This is an example of gender mainstreaming through policy advocacy. The major areas covered are economic policy analysis, trade and development, ICT for development, sustainable development, gender development, technical assistance, servicing of major conferences, intergovernmental meetings, and the flagship publications such as: the Economic Report for Africa (ERA), the African Women's Report (AWR), Africa Governance Report (AGR), Assessment of Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA), Africa Water Development Report (AWDR), Report on Sustainable Development in Africa. These highlight the main gender issues in each area, the main arguments for gender mainstreaming in this area, as well as possible entry points for action.

Chapter 5 provides checklists for mainstreaming gender perspectives into ECA's managerial processes. Conclusions are made in Chapter 6.

The last two sections of the document contain annexes for those who wish to have more information on concepts, tools and strategies for gender mainstreaming. Annex 1 provides basic definitions of certain gender related "buzz words" such as gender equality, gender perspectives etc. Annex 2 contains tools for gender analysis including the Harvard model.

3. Theoretical Aspects of Gender Mainstreaming 3.1 Definition of Gender Mainstreaming

At the UN Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, a gender equality declaration and action programme was adopted. In the Beijing Document, gender mainstreaming was highlighted as a strategy and since then has become an internationally established concept.

It is a strategy that the UN, regional communities and governments are trying to realize. But what is gender mainstreaming?

An authoritative definition of gender mainstreaming has been provided in the ECOSOC agreed

conclusions 1997/2:

Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all

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levels. It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and

programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit

equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.

The concept of gender mainstreaming involves decision-making in all areas of the organization or society being marked by an active concern for gender equality. Since everyday decisions, the allocation of resources and the setting up of standards all affect gender equality, the gender perspective must be an integral part of day-to-day activities. Strategies have to be developed which avoid the tendency for gender equality to be left on the sidelines or merely given the same emphasis as other political issues and activities. Gender mainstreaming helps to achieve established gender equality goals.

3.2 Why is gender mainstreaming new?

Gender mainstreaming makes a gender dimension explicit in all policy sectors. Gender equality is no longer viewed as a "separate question", but becomes a concern for all policies and programmes. Furthermore, a gender mainstreaming approach does not look at women in isolation, but looks at men and women - both as actors in the development process, and as its

beneficiaries.

Significantly, gender mainstreaming differs from "women in development" (WID) approach in that it takes as its starting point a thorough and rigorous analysis of the development situation, rather than a priori assumptions about women's roles and problems. Experience has shown that gender issues differ by country, region and concrete situation. At the same time, experience has also shown that rigorous, gender-sensitive analysis invariably reveals gender-differentiated needs and priorities, as well as gender inequalities in terms of opportunities and outcomes. Gender mainstreaming seeks to redress these problems.

Given the above, it is clear that a "gender mainstreaming" approach does not necessarily make the need for specific policies, programmes or projects on gender equality obsolete. The level of

intervention (from basic "gender sensitivity" to comprehensive, targeted gender programmes)

will depend upon the specific needs and priorities revealed by a gender-sensitive situation

assessment.

Finally, as a comprehensive strategy, gender mainstreaming should also address the environment (office, corporate) in which policies and programmes are developed and implemented. Thus a strategy to integrate gender concerns into programming must be accompanied by a strategy to ensure that the working environment is gender-sensitive, guaranteeing equal opportunities and treatment to both men and women. Sufficient technical capacity and human resources to successfully implement gender mainstreaming must also be ensured.

3.3 The Importance of Gender Mainstreaming to ECA's and Africa's Development

One crucial aspect of gender mainstreaming involves developing arguments for gender equality.

Because experience has shown that decision makers are sometimes reluctant to devote scarce

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resources to gender equality activities, decision-makers, especially those who control budgets)

need to be convinced that their investment in gender equality will pay off. This section highlights concretely and precisely, why gender matters. It highlights what development problems gender equality contributes to solving, and what specific benefits a gender-aware perspective will bring to the Commission and to its member States.

What is the value added of gender mainstreaming?

Arguments for adopting a gendered approach and for promoting gender equality at all levels of the commission's work can be put into four categories:

Justice and equality

Credibility and Accountability

• Efficiency and Sustainability (the macro dimension)

Chain Reaction

Justice and Equality Arguments: These stress the value of democratic principles and basic human rights, which demand gender equality. Justice arguments can be used to argue for equal representation and participation of both genders in various contexts, premised on the basic notion of their shared human rights. As part of the UN which upholds the rights of all peoples including women, the ECA is obliged to fulfill these commitments, and also because many basic democratic principles articulated in many UN declarations reflect most member States' own

constitutions.

Credibility and Accountability Arguments: Credibility arguments ask decision makers to stock-take gender development status. Women and men each make up half of the population, any data, policy or recommendation that does not recognize and address both genders equally will be ultimately flawed, and will thus have no credibility. These arguments are useful for justifying gender impact assessments (studies that examine how men and women are, will be or have been differently affected by actions or situational factors), or calling for more gender balance in

decision-making processes.

Efficiency and Sustainability Arguments: Increased attention to gender equality issues will improve the lives of individual men and women. In a democratic society based on principles of social justice, each individual member has the right to the best quality of life possible. Gender mainstreaming initiatives seek to further this objective.

Chain Reaction Arguments: All the above arguments are strengthened when the links between them are highlighted. Gender equality can in fact produce a "chain reaction" of benefits, just as the effects of gender inequality can be passed on from individuals to families and communities.

The "chain reaction" argument highlights how sound the investment in gender equality actually is; it will bring not only short-term, localized benefits, but also medium and long-term benefits that will ripple through society strengthening the nation as a whole.

At the same time, mainstreaming should also remain aware of the "chain reactions" that might produce negative gender equality effects if not anticipated and dealt with in an integrated manner. To avoid a negative chain reaction, mainstreaming must proceed in a strategic and

holistic manner.

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3.4 Prerequisites for Successful Gender Mainstreaming

Experience has shown that any organization or government which decides to attain the goal of gender equality using not just 'traditional" policies, but also the gender mainstreaming strategy must meet certain criteria on which the prospects of success depend. Programmes and projects affect women and men differently. Therefore, in gender mainstreaming, certain key elements must be addressed in order to integrate gender perspectives effectively - irrespective of the area that is being gender mainstreamed.

Experiences with gender mainstreaming within the UN system show that the most important prerequisites for gender mainstreaming are:

Gender-specific policy statement

This is important as it should provide the framework for implementation, coordination and monitoring to ensure that gender issues are successfully and effectively addressed in the work of the Commission and that theses are carried out in the most effective and sustainable way. This could lead to institutional policy and operational changes that would make gender responsiveness a routine part of the Commission.

• Expressed political will (political consensus for implementation of the strategy)

• Increased gender sensitivity within the ECA

There is a need to enhance knowledge about gender equality. To meet the demand of incorporating a gender equality perspective into everyday work, all staff have to be informed about gender equality issues. Programmes in gender equality should be run foras many staff as possible within the Commission. Such training could also be included in technical assistance given to governments. Prior to programme planning, an important strategy for all those involved in programme planning, including policy makers, planners, programme officers, etc, is increased gender awareness and sensitivity.

Gender sensitization seminars and workshops help to increase the visibility of women and to establish them as a productive group that need mainstreaming.

• Gender planning workshops for Divisional Heads, gender-training seminars for programme officers, and separate gender training sessions for other staff.

• Disaggregated data - all official statistics are to be broken down by gender. Having access to fundamental data on the situation for men and women is one of the conditions of successful gender mainstreaming. Some governments now have an act of parliament, which requires all official individual-based statistics to be broken down by gender unless there are specific reasons not to do so.

• Equal access to resources and opportunities

• Development indicators on progress made in gender equality

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• The appointment or inclusion of consultants who have the capacity for gender planning and analysis as members of programming missions, project formulation teams as well as monitoring and evaluation missions.

• The integration of gender objectives in terms of reference of various programming and

formulation missions.

Use of gender inclusive language

• Equal and equitable participation of men and women in all Commission activities.

Gender accounting.

• Support structures (institutional framework):

Women's unit/division

■ Women in Development Focal Points/units

Inter-divisional Committee

• Research in gender studies and awareness of the gender equality issues

• Knowledge of the operation of the organization's administrative machinery

Adequate financial and human resources

• Participation of women in all levels of the organizations work.

Experience at the FAO has shown that gender mainstreaming succeeds when gender- mainstreaming policies ensure!, inter alia:

• Linkage with the overall programme planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting and evaluation in ECA, such as the medium-term and biennial programming processes;

• Development of verifiable gender-sensitive indicators for monitoring, evaluation and reporting progress;

• Clear articulation of shared monitoring responsibilities among programme managers;

• Regular reporting on progress in gender mainstreaming in ECA's reports implementation and evaluation reports such as the Report on the Annual work of the Commission, Gender Development Report, etc.

• Development of a simple coding and monitoring system for gender mainstreaming within the results-based programme model;

• Clear separation of gender mainstreaming in ECA's technical work and the issue of gender balance in staffing.

UNFPA points out to the following as necessary for effective gender mainstreaming within a UN

agency:

• Commitment of the leadership to gender equality and equity is necessary in setting minimum standards and ensuring that those standards are maintained

• An explicit unambiguous policy with clear organizational goals which sets out priority areas of concern is critical

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• Earmarked funds are essential, but ensuring that gender concerns are addressed in all

programme sectors is just as important

• A clear organizational structure or structures, staffed appropriately, to champion gender

issues is essential

• Gender issues should be raised and addressed at the earliest stage in every undertaking, otherwise it becomes difficult to address them sufficiently later

• Creating mechanisms for accountability that can be used to assess attention to gender issues at different levels and in different contexts distributes responsibility for gender mainstreaming more widely and thus ensures more can be done

• Developing competencies for addressing gender issues among a broader group is vital

• It is essential to adopt and change strategies in addressing gender issues because of the increasing complexity and linkages of gender discrimination with other forms of discrimination and to take into account emerging issues

• External allies are important because they serve both as a barometer as well as a catalyst.

The box below is an example of preconditions for the success of Gender focal points at the UN.

Gender Focal Points at the UN: Creative, Dedicated, Marginalized

Although gender focal points have made tremendous contributions to gender mainstreaming and women's equality, they have done so "despite of rather than "because of the support of their respective institutions. Lack of seniority, resources, and management commitment, as well as the multiple tasks assigned to them, hamstring their efforts system-wide. More specifically:

• The role of gender focal points should be that of facilitator, catalyst and adviser.

• Responsibility and accountability for gender mainstreaming rests with senior managers.

They must have the commitment and competencies to lead.

• Responsibilities for gender training of staff, and recruitment to achieve an organization's gender balance goals must be located and institutionalized in the personnel, training of human resources units or divisions, not with gender focal points.

• Gender focal points and gender advisers often occupy junior levels. Consequently, the majority of gender advisers and gender focal points do not have access to decision-

making processes.

• Appointing more men as gender focal points should ensure diversity.

• United Nations entities should strengthen the gender networks in the field and pool their

resources.

• The earmarking of budgetary provisions for both women and gender activities has proven useful.

• Gender mainstreaming does not preclude or substitute for women-specific intervention and policies.

Source: UNDP: Transforming the Mainstream, p.7.2000.

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3.5 Constraints to Effective Gender Mainstreaming within the UN system

Although gender mainstreaming is now widely practiced within the UN system, a number of

persistent constraints remain that need to be addressed.

Practical experiences within the UN system have shown that gender mainstreaming usually fails

because of the following reasons:

• Lack of consultation with all divisions that failed to ensure ownership of gender plans

within the organization.

• Lack of training to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of progress in gender

mainstreaming

• Lack of gender analysis skills among technical staff, as well as the lack of understanding among many managers of the key concepts and principles of results-based programming and the purpose of indicators in that context - which obstructs effective mainstreaming

• Lack of Gender and Development Plan of Action.

• Lack of clear strategies for promoting gender equality - empowering and mainstreaming.

Furthermore, experience has shown that most policy-makers and implementers believe that gender mainstreaming is a very complex exercise. This should not be necessarily so if there are checklists to guide the person. For most part, practical gender mainstreaming is about running through a checklist of questions to ensure one has not overlooked anything. It is about asking the right questions so that one can see where limited resources should best be diverted. Gender mainstreaming is a necessary process for achieving gender equality in the most effective and efficient manner.

3.6 Dealing with Challenges to Gender Mainstreaming

Gender-sensitive organizational practice cannot be guaranteed by institutional policy commitments alone. Macdonald et al (1997: p.23) comments that "there will inevitably be psychological resistance to change in fundamental attitudes. Resistance is natural and is to be expected" Frequently, gender equity becomes increasingly less visible in the process of specifying project/programme objectives, anticipated results, implementation strategies and evaluation. Broad commitments to improving women's position are often reduced to an under- resourced women's component emphasizing the number of women in project/programme activities. Longwe (in Macdonald et al, 1997, p.76) calls this process "policy evaporation".

According to Longwe, these are the signs of policy evaporation:

• Verbal defense: denying that the problem exists; blaming the victim; pretending the policy has no power for change.

• Diversionary action: giving lip service to the problem, but doing nothing; commissioning unnecessary research; shelving the research which already exists.

• Ineffectual organizational change: setting up a separate women's division outside key decision-making structures; giving the post to a person with no power or influence to

change things; tokenism.

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• Mystification: claiming that gender issues are too complicated and difficult to address and that a more sophisticated change strategy is needed.

• Cultural resistance: claiming that gender mainstreaming is a foreign, feminist, counter

productive concept.

She attributes gender policy evaporation to a number of factors:

• On an individual level, resistance can arise from:

o lack of understanding about the intent of mainstreaming initiatives o potential loss of power or privilege

o bad experiences in the past

o lack of reward or recognition for effort and output o lack of certainty about future outcomes

o poor self-concept or lack of confidence in one's own capacity.

• At the institutional level, the Development Assistance Committee (1998, p. 53-55) and Hadjipateras (1997) believe that gender policy evaporation is exacerbated when:

1. There is lack of consensus about policy directions.

• Economic and social analyses are given more priority than social and cultural factors.

• Pre-determined project goals and inputs, short project timeframes and a focus on quantitative project outputs conflict with project level empowerment needs.

• Donors, implementing partners and beneficiaries are not working together towards the same goals and outcomes. This is most likely to happen when gender equity objectives are not clearly stated in all official documents such as partner selection criteria, contracts, and terms of reference.

2. Gender-sensitive indicators are not clearly defined or monitored.

• No system for recording intended outcomes and actual impact is in place.

Equity is defined only as equal numbers of men and women.

• There is no support for the development of qualitative indicators. The organization is not accountable for broader qualitative outcomes.

3. There are few gender advocates at the organizational or beneficiary level.

• Organizations are often reluctant to address issues not raised by partners - particularly if the organization values responsiveness and local leadership. However, this undervalues both the organization's commitment to gender equity and the partner's potential for

capacity building.

• Organizational culture is not supportive of individual staff who wishes to take action.

4. There is confusion about roles, responsibility and procedures

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Management demand for gender analysis, information and updates are not consistent, or management signals that these activities are not priorities.

Operational processes for gender mainstreaming (guidelines, checklists, etc.) are separate, processes attached, rather than integrated into other program/project documents.

Lack of organizational memory about what works and why there is a lack of continuity.

This can also occur when consultants are used to provide advice around policy development, undertake project gender analysis, devise gender strategies, etc.

Inadequate resources are allocated to gender mainstreaming.

Insufficient human and financial resources are allocated or they are used ineffectively.

There are multiple demands on staff time and skill. The complexity of work is compounded by an increasing number of themes and concerns which need to be taken

into account.

Women are under-represented at the beneficiary and organizational level.

If staff are primarily women, there are likely to be limits to the extent the organization reaches poor women or is willing to address gender based power issues. Although men can work effectively with women, gender balance within an organization usually influences rules and culture in such a way that practice becomes more gender-sensitive.

Training is inadequate or ineffective.

No follow-up or guided supervision is provided to help staff consolidate their learning and apply tools.

High staff turnover makes it difficult to provide training on a systematic basis.

Ready-made tools alone are not enough to address complex issues surrounding gender equality. The organization must also be willing to examine the local; regional and national context for development and organizational approaches and biases.

Macdonald et al (1997, p.23) emphasize that in confronting individual and organizational resistance to gender mainstreaming, "dialogue and negotiation rather than confrontation"

must be used.

People generally need to know how gender mainstreaming will affect them and their work.

How self -interest is affected and who else will support them in this effort.

Change agents should use terms and language that people understand and link gender concepts with commonly accepted values and approaches. For example, a participatory action-learning approach can defuse dependency on experts and deepen personal understanding.

Acknowledging and exploring people's doubts and concerns may open up avenues for further communication.

Finally, change agents need to have realistic expectations about what is possible within a given timeframe and context.

Anticipating and planning resistance, setbacks and delays increases the probability of eventual success.

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3.7 The ABC of gender mainstreaming - general approach

Although the specific questions and approach to gender mainstreaming will differ with the subject under discussion and the mandate of the institution, several starting points can be identified. The first steps in the mainstreaming strategy are the assessment of how and why gender differences and inequalities are relevant to the subject under discussion, identifying where there are opportunities to narrow these inequalities and deciding on the approach to be

taken.

It is important to:

• Ask questions about the responsibilities, activities, interests and priorities of women and men, and how their experience of problems may differ in the context of the institution.

• Obtain data or information to allow the experiences and situation of both men and women to be analyzed. For example, the number of men and women who occupy senior positions within the Commission.

• Seek the inputs and views of women as well as men about decisions that will affect the way they live. The Open Space (December 2002) is an excellent example.

• Ensure that activities where women are numerically dominant receive attention.

• Avoid assuming that all women and men share the same needs and perspectives.

• Analyze the problem or issues and proposed policy options for implications from a gender perspective and seek to identify means of formulating directions that support an equitable distribution of benefits and opportunities.

• Secure enough resources for the gender mainstreaming exercise. To introduce and implement any political strategy, it is necessary to have adequate personnel and financial

resources.

Gender mainstreaming, by definition, involves integrating a gender perspective and gender analysis in all stages of designing, implementing and evaluating projects, policies, budgets and programmes. In this document, we provide practical guidelines and advice for translating this theory of gender mainstreaming into practice.

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An example of key elements of gender mainstreaming in national budgets.

Some Key Elements of Gender Budgeting Gender-sensitive budgets:

• Are not about separate budgets for men and women

• Focus on mainstreaming gender issues into all national policies, plans and programmes as opposed to focusing on women as a unique category of "special interest" group

• Are about addressing poverty to ensure that government resources are used to meet the needs of the poorest women and men, boys and girls.

• Are about taking government's commitments to gender equality in treaties, conventions and declarations and translating them into budgetary commitments.

A gender sensitive budget asks a simple question:

• Whether women's and men's needs, interests and priorities are included?

A gender-sensitive budget appreciates the different needs, privileges, rights and obligations that women and men, girls and boys have in society. It recognizes the different contributions of women and men, girls and boys in production of goods, services and human labor in mobilizing and distributing resources. A gender-sensitive budget is a tool of analysis in which the government budget is disaggregated and the effectives of expenditure and revenue policies on different groups of citizens, and especially poor women and girls, are analyzed.

Source: Rusimbi, Budlender, et al., 2000

4. Gender mainstreaming in ECA's output

The ECA's mandate is to support the economic and social development of its 53 member States, foster regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development. It reports to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The work of the Commission is organized around six major themes carried out by six substantive divisions: Development Policy and management; Economic and social policy; Gender and Development; Information for Development; Sustainable Development; and Trade and Regional Integration.

ECA's offices in the five sub regions contribute a sub regional perspective to the work programme and support outreach. The Office of Policy and Programme Coordination provide oversight and ensures synergies within divisions. Human Resource Management and Finance, and conference services - provide administrative support. The Office of the Executive Secretary provide overall strategic directions and leads implementation of the Commission's partnership.

This structure provides many opportunities for gender mainstreaming into the six thematic areas outlined above, all of which are crucial to promoting economic and social (including gender

development) in member states.

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4.1 Gender mainstreaming policy analysis and development (1)

Policy analysis and advocacy is one of the major activities of the ECA. This activity provides an excellent opportunity for gender mainstreaming within the Commission. Gender mainstreaming in policy analysis and development draws attention to the impact of policy on people and explores how this impact could vary for women and men, given gender differences and inequalities. A gender perspective contributes to a more informed view of policy options and impacts. It could also help decision-makers to assess the potential to narrow gender gaps.

The mainstreaming strategy seeks to ensure that gender considerations are routinely included in the assessment of policy issues, options, and impacts, along with other considerations such as socio-economic dimensions. It also routinely seeks gender equality as one of the policy outcomes, along with growth, efficiency, poverty reduction, and sustainability. This requires the inclusion of gender perspectives at several points in the policy process.

The following steps should be taken in engendering policy analysis and policy making:

• Integrate gender perspectives into formulation of policy issue/question to be addressed.

o Define the issue in a way that it can provide scope to examine gender issues. If the issue is defined too narrowly, the potential for considering gender issues may be reduced.

• Take gender perspectives into account when defining information needs to assess policy

options.

o Use data which is disaggregated by sex in order to analyze trends and issues

o Determine how the information on both women's and men's situations will be incorporated in the decision-making process

o Ask different kinds of questions and look for information that helps to reformulate or refocus the policy discussion.

• The assessment of the implications of different options by gender is a third important point.

o Bear in mind the fact that various options can have different costs and benefits for women and men and different consequences for gender relations and gender equality, o Identify the consequences for gender equality as a matter of routine so that they are

evident in the decision-making process.

• Selecting participants who will be consulted and how on matters such as the formulation of issues, the definition of information needs, and assessment of options.

o Seek meaningful input from both men and women

• The formulation of recommendations for policy choices should reflect the information and analyses on gender equality issues resulting from the previous steps.

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These steps are illustrated in the box below taken from UN documents:

INCORPORATING GENDER PERSPECTIVES IN POLICY ANALYSIS

The formulation of a national water strategy can be taken as an example. At one level, the strategy is about water resources - how water is collected, used, protected, monitored, and contaminated, and how to ensure future supply. At another level it is about the users - their specific uses, their rights and access to and control over water resources and their involvement in decision-making. A gender perspective raises

questions about:

• Whether or not women's and men's uses (for both domestic and economic use) and priorities for water are different. It is important that there is analysis of sex - disaggregated data on uses, access to water, priorities, etc. (which may require steps to ensure that such data is regularly collected and analyzed). It is also critical to ensure a consultation process that seeks the inputs of women as well as men in identifying uses and priorities;

• Whether or not various policy options will affect women and men differently - for example, how would different approaches to water pricing affect poor women in comparison with poor men? What options would have the most equitable distribution of costs and access? (UNDP, 2000)

In an area involving choices in fiscal policy, a gender perspective would lead to questions about the gender equality implications of aspects of fiscal policy such as:

• Choices of revenue-raising methods - Methods such as use fees and consumption taxes can have different implications for men and women.

• Structure of taxation - Various policy choices relating to individual orfamily income tax structures, income brackets, payroll taxes, and balance between income, consumption and production taxes can all have gender dimensions.

• Budget allocations for social infrastructure and programmes - Choices about investments in health care (preventativefcurative? Urban/rural? Training of professionals? Salaries?), education (primary or secondary system? Investment in curriculum reform to eliminate gender stereotypes? Investment in teacher training?) And social insurance (who is covered? What benefits are offered?) Can have different benefits and costs for women, girls, boys and men.

Source: IDRC "Gender and Biodiversity Research Guidelines" 2002

4.2 Gender Mainstreaming Research in ECA

Research is another major activity carried out by most professionals within the Commission. In order to mainstream gender into research, gender issues should be incorporated into planning the overall research agenda as well as in formulating specific projects:

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• The research agenda is important because choices made at this stage shape the

opportunities available at the implementation stage

• Ask the question: does the overall research agenda respond to issues concerning and/or

raised by both women and men?

• What questions are worth investigating? Is there attention to priorities of both women and

men, the work that they do, and their needs and interests?

• Do men and women benefit equally from research investment?

• Such questions may raise new issues about the focus and impacts of broad choices about

research priorities.

To mainstream gender perspectives in the area of research, questions such as those suggested

below should be asked at the key stages in the planning process (EDRC, 2000). More specific

questions about approach and methodologies will of course depend on the discipline and the

subject under consideration (2).

• Defining the research area: Consider the purpose and scope of the project; see whether these can be formulated to reflect the perspectives and priorities of both men and women on the issue under investigation.

o How is the research area relevant to men and women (what are the differences and

similarities)?

o Have both men and women been involved in the definition and design?

• Assessing the methodology: Choose methodologies that will ensure that gender differences and inequalities are documented and explored.

o Are gender differences reflected in the conceptual frameworks, objectives, methodology, expected outputs an anticipated impact of the research?

o How can attention to the different situations of men and women be incorporated into these aspects of the research design?

o How will the design and implementation of the research address factors that often produce unequal opportunities for women and men?

• Selecting researchers: Choose researchers who can incorporate gender perspectives into their research.

o Do they have the relevant expertise to understand the gender dimensions of their research?

o Are they familiar with the relevant literature and can they ensure that appropriate methodology is used?

o Can they integrate gender perspectives throughout their research?

• Disseminating and applying research results: Ensure that research findings on gender issues are disseminated and brought into policy discussions.

o Will gender-specific findings and recommendations on narrowing gender gaps, including at policy level, be identified?

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