Key questions to analyse and operationalise gender The following questions are key to the institutionalisation of gender. They concern all aspects of the Web. They allow us: To assess the degree of integration of gender into the sectors concerned of the organisation you work in, and in partner organisations; To orient future actions which aim to reinforce and consolidate the integration of gender. Start with the areas in which you are more directly involved, without forgetting that: To arrive at a gender diagnostic (analysis), it is useful to understand the situation with relation to gender for each area; To achieve operationalisation, the only aspects you can directly influence are those which are in your sphere of responsibility. Citizenship The experience of men and women and their interpretation of/reflections on reality This aspect mainly concerns the situation, the experience and the opinions of women and men in different groups in the context studied. What are the gender-roles of women and men (according to their age, ethnicity, religion, etc.) in the various groups of the population in question? To what extent do women and men have access to and control of appropriate resources to adequately fulfil these roles? What inequalities exist in this regard? What are the gender needs of women and men in these groups? What problems are specific to the various groups of women and men? What changes (positive or negative) have affected these roles in the past? What changes are currently taking place, for women and men? What changes are desired (or feared) by women and men? Pressure Groups This aspect focuses on the degree of organisation of civil society (different pressure groups such as NGOs, lobbies, consumer groups, associations etc.) in social and political movements, and its involvement in and impact on various spheres of the Web. Which pressure groups are mobilised to fight against inequalities (of gender and others) and/or solve problems of daily life (economic, political, social, environmental, etc.) which affect men and women at grassroots level? 1
How are these groups formed, how are they organised, who participates in them, who is in the decision-making roles? What are the relationships (consultation, accountability, transparency) between these groups and the grassroots? At what level do these groups work (local, regional, national, international etc.)? Are there relationships between the different levels? What are the problems and issues taken into consideration by these groups? How is the subject of gender dealt with? To what extent is the composition of these groups representative (qualitatively and quantitatively in terms of age groups, social classes, ethnicities and religions) of the women and men concerned by the actions? What place do grassroots women and men occupy in these groups? If the participation of women and men is unequal, what are the reasons (obstacles)? What are the consequences? Are changes taking place? Representative political structures This aspect focuses on two subjects, representativity and action of political structures. What are the political structures (elected) in place in the context, at different levels? To what extent is the composition of these groups representative (qualitatively and quantitatively in terms of age groups, social classes, ethnicities and religions) of the women and men concerned by the actions?* If the participation of women and men is unequal, what are the reasons (obstacles)? What are the consequences? Are changes taking place? To what extent does the participation of women and men in these structures affect their other roles (reproductive roles (RR), productive role (PR) and community management role (CMR)) and their status? To what extent do women and men have access to and control over the appropriate resources to participate in these political structures (e.g. Crèches to relieve the parents M/F? of the care of their children)? What are the relationships (consultation, accountability, transparency) between these structures and the pressure groups? The grassroots women and men? What are the problems and issues taken into consideration by these structures? How is the question of gender dealt with? To what extent are the practical and strategic gender needs of women and men satisfied in these political structures? 2
Politics Political commitment/will This element focuses on the political will in favour of the integration of gender in your organisation and in partner organisations. To what extent is there commitment within the various political structures (including on a national level) in favour of equality between women and men and/or for integration of gender into development policies and programmes? If there is, who demonstrates this commitment? Who is against it? What is the objective behind this commitment: is it explicit support in favour of the equality of women and men and the respect of the rights of women and men and/or support for the integration of gender to increase the efficiency of development programmes and policies? This commitment supports changes with relations to which gender-roles, which resources and which gender-needs of women and men? What types of action are supported? Policy and Planning This element focuses on the policy frameworks of your organisation and partner organisations. To what extent is gender integrated across the existing policy frameworks? Which roles, resources and gender needs of men and women are recognised and targeted in these policies? Which roles, resources and gender needs are ignored? What international agreements have been signed? What national legislation promotes or hinders equality? Is legislation in favour of equality applied? Is there is a specific WID/GAD policy? If yes, which roles, resources and gender needs are recognised and targeted? What roles, resources and gender needs are ignored? What is the policy approach: equality of women and men and respect for the rights of women and men and/or support for the integration of gender to increase the efficiency of development policies and programmes? Is there a strategy (with the resources allocated) to integrate gender into all policy frameworks? To what extent do women and men at the grassroots participate in the creation of these policies? What are the processes of consultation and restitution? How do the pressure groups and representative political structures reflect gender issues in these policies? 3
Organisation IMAS 2010 Gender and Development seminar Financial resources This element focuses on the financial resources available and used for gender in budgets at different levels What are the budgets used to fight against gender inequalities? Are they sectoral or specific? At what level do they operate? (Local, regional, national etc.)? Does the budgetary allocation reflect political will? And the policy frameworks? In sectoral budgets, what proportion of resources is set aside for integrating gender into policies, programmes and projects? What gender issues and problems are they allocated to? Which issues and problems do not receive enough resources? What proportion of the overall budget represents budgets specific to gender? What gender issues and problems are they allocated to? Which issues and problems do not receive enough resources? For sectoral and/or specific budgets, what mechanisms exist to guarantee a fair and appropriate distribution of resources for gender? How is budgetary allocation decided? What is the role of gender leaders in budgetary processes? Is the contribution of women and men to budgetary income (at different levels) broken down and recognised? Responsibility for the integration of gender This element focuses on the integration of responsibilities for gender in the national context, for your organisation and for partner organisations. Who is responsible for the integration of gender, at different levels? Are the roles and responsibilities of these persons/groups clear? Are they appropriate? Are they politically recognised and appreciated? Do the persons/groups responsible have appropriate means (access to and control of resources) to fulfil their role? Are they trained? Do they have access to the political domain (decision-making) to influence the laws, the gender frameworks or sectoral policies? Procedures 4
This element aims to verify the presence of gender issues in the current procedures of the organisations (e.g. Terms of Reference, outline of project proposals, indicators, etc.) Gender in procedures associated with programmes and projects What are principal procedures associated with the different stages of the programming cycle (e.g. Analysis frameworks, indicators, terms of reference etc.)? To what extent do these procedures take into consideration the different gender roles of women and men and the differences and inequalities in accessing and controlling resources for women and men? To what extent do they reflect the different gender needs of women and men? Who is involved in defining these procedures? What are the obstacles and the opportunities in integrating gender? Gender in procedures associated with internal equality between women and men Is there a reference framework for equality between women and men (recruitment, salaries, working conditions etc.) in the organisation or in partner organisations? Do current procedures encourage equality between women and men as employees (volunteer or paid)? If not, what are the consequences? Staff development This element concerns the actors (M and F) involved in the formulation and implementation of policies, programmes and projects. What is the level of gender training amongst persons and groups involved in the formulation of policies and programmes, and in their implementation? Overall, what measures are in place to develop capacities? What is involved in the formulation and implementation of these mechanisms? Are the resources allocated appropriate? Are gender issues integrated into the overall staff development system or are they dealt with separately? How? To what extent do capacity-building activities (in sectoral and/or gender specific domains) take into consideration the gender roles of women and men (places and times, tariffs)? Do participation conditions contribute to the exclusion of certain groups/persons? When gender is dealt with, what aspects (e.g. practical and strategic gender needs of women and men) are examined and how? What mechanisms allow the evaluation of the impact of training and other processes for capacity-building in gender issues? 5
Implementation Methodology This element focuses on the degree of inclusion of gender in the current methodologies applied to the formulation and the implementation, the monitoring and the evaluation of policies, programmes and projects. What are the main tools and methodological steps in the formulation and implementation of programmes and projects? To what extent do these methodologies reflect the sectoral and macro-economic political commitments to gender issues? Are gender roles, access to and control of resources, and the gender needs of women and men taken into consideration in these methodologies? If yes, with what effects? If not, why and with what effects? Who is involved in creating these methodologies? What are the obstacles and opportunities for including gender in this? Delivery of programmes and projects This element focuses on the degree to which the processes of formulation and implementation (including monitoring) of programmes and projects are gender-aware. What are the groups involved in the programme or project at the different stages of implementation? What is the quantitative and qualitative participation of women compared to men (taking into consideration age, religion, etc.)? To what extent are the gender roles of woman and man recognised in the formulation and implementation of programmes or projects? To what extent are the practical and strategic needs of women and men taken into consideration in each group? What practical and/or strategic gender needs of women and men in each group are taken into account? Do the gender issues dealt with by the programmes/projects reflect the practical or strategic gender interests fought for or demanded by the grassroots groups of women and men, the pressure groups and the representative political structures? Explain. 6
What are the effects (intentional or not, positive or negative) of the projects/programmes on the gender roles of women and men, their access to and control of resources and their gender needs? How are these impacts measured? How are they reflected in policies and organisations? Who influences the implementation of programmes and projects: the representative political structures, the pressure groups, the donors, the technicians or the grassroots? In the various groups, women or men? What are the perspectives for change which are favourable to gender? Research This element focuses on the extent to which gender is included in fundamental and/or applied research. What is the state of research on gender issues (what data is available)? On what subjects? Where are the gaps? To what extent do research initiatives use gender-aware methods (taking into consideration gender roles, access to and control of resources and gender needs of women and men)? Who influences the definition of main research subjects, research methodologies, the use of research? What are the perspectives for change favourable to gender? Theory-building This element focuses on the construction of theories and/or access to information on the theories on the relationships between gender and development. What are the major theories and fundamental ideas which influence the consideration of gender (positively or negatively) in your context? To what sources of information on the gender and development debate do persons/groups (at different levels) who work on this subject have access? Currently, what channels are used to spread this information? Are they appropriate? What are the perspectives for change favourable to gender? Reference: C. Levy, The Institutionalisation of Gender Policy and Planning: The Web of Institutionalisation, DPU Working Paper No 74, 1996 7