Blog Series: Getting started on gender+ and intersectionality in project design, Part 2
Part 2: A Review of common practices and tools
by Patrick Regan and Raphaela Van Oers
As our blog post last week suggested, integrating a gender and intersectional perspective into project design is crucial to ensure that your organization is considering the gendered impacts of a given project or program, and avoiding replicating systems of oppression. Doing this is easier said than done, so we have collated a brief review of existing resources and materials to help identify some good practices in putting this into practice.
A number of guides and resources exist to support organizations working on these issues, including some that are tailored for different human rights sectors and programs, such as the security and justice sector, adaptation-relevant interventions, and policymaking. This review examines a diverse selection of methodologies and theories, and identifies the commonly recommended steps to support gender mainstreaming. Check out the resources list for examples and links to some of the different tools and frameworks we thought were most useful.
We identified a lot of resources on gender mainstreaming, however, while these resources provide useful and important starting points, we think that most of them do not adequately recognize gender diversity beyond men and women or intersectionality. Expanding some of the practices identified for gender mainstreaming, but applying these with a gender+ lens (check out previous blog for definitions) could be an effective way to better consider gender diversity beyond the binary, and factor in other types of identity which might intersect with gender. Our recommendation is to use these tools and resources in a creative way that suits your specific audiences and communities.
Read through this blog for an introduction to the existing resources and common practices, and then check back next week for our own detailed step by step guide on how to start integrating gender+ and intersectionality in project design.
Stages in Gender Mainstreaming for Project Design
1. Start with a gender analysis
A gender analysis helps provide the knowledge we need to addressing gender inequalities and integrating a gender perspective into project design. The purpose of a gender analysis is:
o To obtain a more nuanced understanding of the gender differences and inequalities in a given community, region, organization, or state.
o To ensure that a proposed project or programme does not exacerbate the existing gender inequalities and injustices.
A gender analysis recognizes that women, men, and gender-diverse people have different experiences, knowledge, and needs. The analysis is focused on identifying the existing gender roles, power dynamics, access to resources, needs and priorities; and generally involves conducting a literature review and collecting both quantitative and qualitative data.
The existing literature identifies a few different frameworks that can be used to structure a gender analysis. These include:
o The Harvard Analytical Framework, also called the Gender Roles Framework, focuses on identifying the differences between how men and women participate in the economy.
o The Moser Framework is based around the concepts of gender roles and gender needs, and identifies different approaches to planning interventions.
o The Levy Conceptual Framework consists of thirteen inter-connected elements needed for the inclusion of gender equality in policy and planning.
o The Gender Analysis Matrix Framework encourages a bottom-up approach to identify the gender differences relating to labour, time, resources, and sociocultural factors.[1]
2. Design and adapt projects based on findings from the gender analysis
The findings from the gender analysis can then be used to shape the project design, and determine whether the project should be adapted or modified. This might be the case if:
o The project outcomes will be affected by the gender norms, roles, inequalities identified in the gender analysis
o The project needs to address any of the issues or inequalities identified in the gender analysis
o The project could better meet the needs of those most marginalised
o The project will exacerbate the gender inequalities identified in the gender analysis
There are two tools from the existing literature that could provide additional guidance to integrating the gender analysis findings into the project:
o The Gender Action Plan (GAP) is a tool that maps the objectives, outcomes, and indicators for specific gender-related activities[2]
o A Gender-responsive Theory of Change provides an opportunity to assess how the findings from the gender analysis will influence the outcomes of a project[3]
3. Check the project budget
In order to effectively integrate gender and intersectionality into a given project, the project’s budget needs to account for initiatives or activities that promote gender equality, or address some of the issues identified in the gender analysis. This includes ensuring that the budget accounts for any accessibility or reasonable accommodation needed. You might also need to consider budgeting for the time needed to conduct your gender analysis, and potentially for paying experts or community groups to take part in research activities in order for you to conduct the analysis.
4. Check the gender-responsiveness of the project
The existing literature includes a number of tools to help you check and assess the gender-responsiveness of a given project or programme. These tools include:
· The Gender Equality Continuum, also known as the Gender Results Effectiveness Scale, is a tool used to categorize a project as gender blind (no prior consideration of gender-related project outcomes) or gender aware (deliberate consideration of gender-related project outcomes). If a project is gender aware, it can be further categorized as gender exploitative (taking advantage of existing inequalities and stereotypes), gender accommodating (adjusting to or compensating for gender differences and inequalities) or gender transformative (deliberate attempt to change existing gender inequalities).[4]
· The Gender Marker is a grading scale used to track the extent to which a project addresses gender equality. The scale ranges from projects not expected to contribute to gender equality, to those making a marginal contribution, a significant contribution, and finally projects with the principal objective of advancing gender equality.[5]
· The Checklist for Gender Mainstreaming in Project/Programmes provides support for integrating gender into a project design. The checklist covers a number of factors, including the location and duration of the project, staffing, the project budget, and the project’s logical framework.[6]
5. Plan to monitor and evaluate the project with a gender perspective
Monitoring and evaluating the project with a gender perspective ensures that the project continues to consider gender and intersectionality, and that any negative impacts that might arise are immediately identified and can be appropriately managed.
· The existing literature suggests to:
o Incorporate gender-sensitive indicators in monitoring framework
o Evaluate the project with focus on gender-related outcomes
o Review and adjust the gender-related activities, gender analysis, and theory of change (if applicable) based on feedback and data from the monitoring[7]
Resources list
How to do a gender analysis
Ann-Murray Brown, “Gender Analysis in Project Design”
EIGE, “Gender Mainstreaming: Gender analysis”
Switchboard, “Improving Gender Equality through Basic Gender Analysis”
How to integrate gender in project design
Cities Alliance, “Gender Mainstreaming in Projects”
DCAF, “Integrating Gender in Project Design and Monitoring for the Security and Justice Sector”
FAO, “Gender Analysis, Gender Mainstreaming and the Project Cycle”
How to integrate intersectionality in project design
CRIAW/ICREF, “Gender Equality and Intersectional Analysis Toolkit”
UN Women, “Intersectionality Resource Guide and Toolkit”
Example of gender mainstreaming in an organization
Check back next week to find out more about our own step by step guide for integrating gender+ and intersectionality in project design
[1] For more information about each of the frameworks, see EIGE, “Gender Mainstreaming: Gender analysis,” https://eige.europa.eu/publications-resources/publications/gender-mainstreaming-gender-analysis?language_content_entity=en.
[2] For more information, see Cities Alliance, “Gender Mainstreaming in Projects,” https://www.citiesalliance.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/200221%20Cities%20Alliance%20gender%20mainstreaming%20in%20projects%20handout%20(1).pdf.
[3] For more information, see DCAF, “Integrating Gender in Project Design and Monitoring for the Security and Justice Sector,” https://www.dcaf.ch/sites/default/files/publications/documents/GSToolkit_Tool-15%20EN%20FINAL_0.pdf.
[4] For more information, see UNDP, “The Gender Results Effectiveness Scale,” https://erc.undp.org/pdf/GRES_English.pdf.
[5] For more information, see Cities Alliance, “Gender Mainstreaming in Projects,” https://www.citiesalliance.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/200221%20Cities%20Alliance%20gender%20mainstreaming%20in%20projects%20handout%20(1).pdf.
[6] For more information, see UNODC, “Checklist for Gender Mainstreaming in Project/Programmes,” https://www.unodc.org/documents/Gender/Gender_Mainstreaming_Checklist_2021.pdf.
[7] For more guidance on developing a project monitoring framework, see DCAF, “Integrating Gender in Project Design and Monitoring for the Security and Justice Sector,” https://www.dcaf.ch/sites/default/files/publications/documents/GSToolkit_Tool-15%20EN%20FINAL_0.pdf.