Gender Analysis

webadmin

Gender analysis offers a framework to systematically assess the impact of program and project activities on relations between women and men. What is considered is how the different roles and status of women and men within “the community, political sphere, workplace, and household (for example, roles in decision-making and different access to and control over resources and services)” (USAID, 2012) influence how a program or project is designed. Also considered, is how the intended outcomes of program and project activities affect women and men differently (USAID, 2012).

Because gender is a cross cutting issue that affects all project stakeholders and all aspects of a project activity including evaluation, it is important to include gender analysis during the planning process so that the evaluator and evaluation team can identify “key gender issues to build into program design and implementation” (USAID, 2012).

“The first step [in] a gender evaluation exercise is to probe for gender issues within the context of [a program or] project” (GEM). Since there are many aspects of a project cycle, [the evaluator or evaluation team] need to determine what part of the project cycle he or she wants to evaluate and consider the gender issues within that aspect of the project cycle (GEM). “This is essential because this exercise establishes the parameters in determining the objectives, questions, and indicators of the evaluation. (GEM)

“Gender indicators take into account that gender roles exist and point to changes in the status and roles of women and men over time. They help illustrate the ways a project affects gender roles and confirms or disregards gender discrimination. Gender indicators should be drawn from identifying gender issues within a specific context of a project or activity. Many indicators that look into gender such as measuring gender empowerment, human and development index, and gender development indices are useful tools in tracking gender equality/ equity. Many of these indicators are based on gender analytical models that have emanated from a feminist analysis of societies, relationships and development. On the other hand, a growing number of gender specialists believe that indicators by themselves are insufficient to reflect and express women’s experiences especially in areas such as women’s empowerment or participation. They argue that policy-makers need to pay more attention to women’s experiences towards which indicators can serve as pointers.etc….”

“Despite their differences, however, the key question that these models and indicators attempts to answer in measuring the impact of any initiative is: “Is it life-changing?”

In the end, what we really want to know is: Did it really change lives or are we back to the same situation? Is it reproducing inequality and inequity?” (GEM).

Resources

Guides

Websites

  • UN Women: This website is the home for United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and provides a variety of resources designed to support gender equality programs around the globe.

Examples

 

Sources

GEM. (n.d.). Gender Evaluation Methodology for ICTs and the Internet. Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Women’s Networking Support Program. Retrieved from http://www.apcwomen.org/gemkit/en/gem_tool/step2.htm

USAID. (2012, January 27). Gender analysis overview. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Retrieved fromhttp://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/wid/gender/gender_analysis.html

Source:
Gender Analysis (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://betterevaluation.org/en/themes/gender_analysis