Gender Mainstreaming Tools

Questions and checklists

to use across the
programme management cycle

Compiled by Fiona Gell and Paresh Motla

Oxfam GB
November 2002
Contents

Introduction 3
1. Oxfam GBs aims on gender equality 4
2. Gender in the project/programme management cycle 6
- The cycle: key issues and more detailed guidance 7
- Appraisal and assessment using Traffic Light criteria 11
- Business, Programme and Project Planning 14
- Campaign planning 16
- Writing Policy Papers 18
- Impact Assessment 19
3. Issue-specific gender considerations 23
- Humanitarian work 24
- Livelihoods work 27

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 Introduction

This document has been written to facilitate the process of mainstreaming gender
across the programme management cycle. It is a compilation of checklists of key
issues and questions that should be addressed in all programme and campaign
work. It does not pretend to constitute a comprehensive guide to gender
mainstreaming, and only addresses briefly the institutional (as opposed to the
programme) issues that are critical to effective mainstreaming.

It begins by clarifying what Oxfam GB aims to achieve in terms of gender equality

with regard to its Gender Policy and Strategic Aim 5: the Right to Equity.

It then looks at gender in the programme management cycle. This includes:

- key issues to consider at each stage of the project management cycle
- the Traffic Lights gender criteria for appraising and supporting partners, and
for setting and monitoring project objectives
- criteria for assessing the quality of gender mainstreaming in business plans,
programme and project proposals
- steps to ensure that campaigns contribute to gender equality
- Mainstreaming gender in policy papers
- assessing impact on gender equality including indicators which can be used
across all of Oxfams strategic aims

More specific guidance is then given on mainstreaming gender in two of Oxfam

GBs strategic aims: humanitarian and livelihoods programmes. Hopefully similar
guidance can be developed later for the other strategic aims.

The tools have been developed by Oxfam GBs Policy, Humanitarian, Campaign
teams over the last 2 years, and are in various stages of field-testing with regional
programmes.

The tools are intended for use by project officers, programme managers,
campaigners and programme policy advisers, each of which may find different
checklists useful at different times. For example, managers may wish to use the
criteria for assessing the quality of gender mainstreaming when they are
authorising project funding or developing business plans. Whereas Project Officers
are more likely to use tools such as the traffic lights when carrying out
assessments, or the impact criteria during the annual impact reporting process.

These guidelines are in line with and support Oxfam GBs general guidance on
programme management, which can be found in the Programme Management
chapter of the Guide to Mandatory Procedures, 2002.

We hope that this can be the beginning of a rolling tool kit that can be added to
and improved over time so please send your comments and sugge stions for
improvements and additions to the Programme Help Desk. The tool kit will be
posted on the Oxfam GB intranet Gender and Diversity site with the intention of it
being periodically updated.

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 Part I

What does Oxfam aim to achieve

in terms of gender equality?

Oxfam GBs Gender Policy

In May 1993 Oxfams Trustees approved the gender policy. The key objective of the
policy was to ensure that Oxfams development and emergency programmes take
positive action to improve the lives of women and promote gender equality.

To this end Oxfam committed itself to:

promoting the full participation and empowerment of women in programmes
and ensuring that Oxfam's programme benefits men and women equally;
confronting the social and ideological barriers to women's participation and
encouraging initiatives to improve their status including basic rights;
promoting independent access for women to key resources (eg land,
employment), services and facilities;
recognising and helping women exercise their rights over their bodies and
protection from violence;

The policy specifies that the above objectives would be achieved by:
ensuring that all emergency and development responses incorporate a gender
perspective in assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation;
promoting women's access to basic needs, knowledge, education, new skills,
and actively encouraging their participation in decision-making;
supporting the development of women's self confidence; strengthening women's
organisations/groups, promoting dialogue, and networking;
including a gender perspective in all Oxfam's lobbying and communications
work;

Oxfam GBs Strategic Aim 5 - The Right to Equity: Gender and

Diversity

Within this aim, Strategic Change Objective 5.1. has been defined as Women and
men will enjoy equal rights.

This means that:

women and men will enjoy the same rights and entitlements, an equal say in
the development process, and the same level of dignity and respect
the capacities of women will be recognised as equal to that of men
women and men will have the same power to make choices and the same
opportunities to act on those choices

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What is Gender Mainstreaming?
It is a process of ensuring that all of our work, and the way we do it, contributes to
gender equality by transforming the balance of power between women and men.

The process involves:

recognising the links between gender inequality and poverty
assessing the different implications for women and men of our development,
humanitarian and advocacy work
devising strategies and systems to ensure that the different concerns,
experiences and capacities of women and men fundamentally shape the way we
plan, implement and evaluate all programme and advocacy work
ensuring that Oxfams internal practices are consistent with the above

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 Part II

Gender considerations at
each stage of the
Project and Programme
Management Cycle

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 The Project and Programme Management Cycle
Key Gender Issues1

1. Situation Analysis

2. Planning/Design
Identify the different perspectives of
women and men on poverty issues.
Examine gender roles and relations in Ensure objectives and strategies
terms of the distribution of power and address the gender issues identified in
resources, and how these are affected by the situation analysis. Ensure the
social factors such as age, disability, caste, representation and active
class and ethnic differences. Ensure data participation of women and men from
collected is disaggregated and analysed by diverse & marginalised groups in the
sex. Identify partners and allies who share planning process, and check that their
Oxfams gender concerns. gendered interests are reflected in
decisions made.

6.Evaluation 3. Appraisal

Evaluate the different impact

the project may have had on Identify whether the implementing
women and men, and on the organisation has gender sensitive
power relations between them. policies and practices eg staff
Ensure a gender balance of staff training, resources and leadership on
on evaluation team. Ensure that gender. Explore whether project
evaluating impact on gender activities are gender-sensitively
equality is include in evaluation planned eg does the project aim to
terms of reference. reduce discrimination against women
and will this be monitored?

5.Monitoring
4. Implementation

Identify gender-sensitive indicators Ensure appropriate participation of

eg changes in the balance of women both sexes in project implementation.
and mens access to resources and Ensure that participation of women
decision-making, incidence of does not merely increase their
gender-based violence, workload, but means their active
discriminatory attitudes against involvement in decision-making.
women, womens empowerment, and Ensure that men understand the
sensitisation of men to the need to reason for this and support it.
strengthen gender equality.

1
Adapted from Elsa Dawson, Gender and Impact Assessment, LINKS, 1999
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 The Project and Programme Management Cycle
..More detailed guidance on gender

Situation Analysis
What?
Does the poverty analysis include analysis of gender and power relations?
This should address:
- the links between poverty and gender inequality
- the barriers to womens development (eg unequal access to resources,
opportunities and decision-making fora)
- the status of women and their ability to exercise their human rights (with
reference to BPFA2, CEDAW3 and other human rights treaties)4
- the skills, capacities and aspirations of both women and men.
How?
- Disaggregate and analyse all data collected by sex
- Actively involve women, men, girls and boys from diverse social groups in the
analysis and identification of needs
- Identify existing sources of information and analysis eg womens groups, local
gender specialists, existing gender studies
- Ensure that TORs for commissioned research include the need for a gender
analysis, and that researchers have appropriate gender analysis skills

Planning/Design
What?
- Do project objectives reflect a gender analysis and state the changes sought in
terms of increased gender equality and womens empowerment?
- Are intended beneficiaries disaggregated by sex (women/girls and men/boys)?
- Do activity plans clarify how equal participation of male and female
beneficiaries will be ensured?
- Do budgets reflect gender-specific activities eg capacity-building on gender,
women-targeted projects, initiatives to engage men in gender equality work?
- Has the projects potential impact on gender equality been anticipated
including any negative impact such an increase in womens workload, or
preferential access to project resources or decision-making for men?
- Do monitoring indicators include those to measure changes in gender equality
and has baseline data been collected? (see section in this guide on gender in
impact assessment)

2
The Beijing Platform for Action, 1995
3
The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979
4
An example of using the BPFA and CEDAW to assess the status of girls education would be to assess the
extent to which a particular country matches up its commitments under CEDAW Articles 10 and 12 which
require, among other things, access to literacy programmes to reduce disparities in education, and access to the
same curricula for boys and girls; and to the BPFA objectives on Education & Training of Women and The
Girl Child which include equal access to education, eradicating illiteracy among women, improve womens
access to vocational training, and developing non-discriminatory education and training. For further guidance on
how to use human rights instruments see Womens Human Rights evaluation for the Oxfam GB Gender
Review, 2002.
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How?
- Ensure that both female and male staff members of the partner organisation
are able to actively influence the planning process.
- Actively involve female and male beneficiaries in the planning process, and
ensure that each of their gendered interests are reflected in decisions made.
- Ensure beneficiaries and partner organisations are aware of Oxfam GB aims on
challenging unequal power relations, especially gender inequality

Appraisal and Approval Process

- What is the capacity and potential of the partner organisation to mainstream
gender throughout its programmes and institutional practices? (See section in
this guide on Traffic Lights Partner Criteria)
- Will the project/programme contribute to Oxfam goals on gender equality? (See
Traffic Lights Project Criteria)

Implementation
- Are female beneficiaries and partner organisation staff as actively involved in
the management of the project as male counterparts?
- Do men understand why equal participation of women is important and
support the principle of gender-balanced decision-making?
- Do women and men (partner staff and beneficiaries) have equal access to
information, resources and opportunities to carry out their responsibilities?
- Do women and men receive equal pay for work of equal value?
- Does womens participation merely increase their workload or are they able to
actively influence decisions on management of the project?
- Is staff capacity on gender analysis and planning being strengthened?

Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment

What?
Is there a monitoring and evaluation system in place, which will enable staff to
identify positive and negative impact in terms of gender equality?

1. The programme. In assessing project impact, what changes have occurred in

the following programme areas?
- Women and mens equal participation in decision-making processes in private
and public spheres
- Women and mens equal access to and control over resources and access to
basic social services
- The incidence of women suffering gender-related violence
- Womens empowerment (confidence, self-esteem, capacity for leadership and
self-organisation)
- Gender stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes toward women and girls. This
includes changes in the understanding and commitment of men to supporting
womens empowerment (as measured by women and men separately)
If gender impact indicators were developed at the planning stage, these should be
used to assess progress. If not, refer to the suggested indicators in the section of
this guide on Impact Assessment.

2. The institution. What are the institutional factors in partner organisations and
Oxfam offices that are facilitating or hindering the successful mainstreaming of
gender in the project? For example:
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- Is there a gender balance of staff at all levels especially in management?
- Are gender-sensitive recruitment practices used?
- Do women and men have equal access to career development opportunities?
- Are there clear lines of accountability for achieving effective gender
mainstreaming and impact on gender equality?
- Is strong leadership and role modelling on gender mainstreaming being shown
by the management?
- Is programme data disaggregated by sex?
- Are resources allocated to gender equality work?
- Is there collaboration/communication with external groups working on gender,
especially womens groups?
- Is the working culture of the organisation conducive to the empowerment of
women or do discriminatory attitudes and practices exist?
- Do family-friendly policies exist eg flexible working hours, childcare?

How?
- Consult women and men separately as they will have different perceptions of
impact
- Ensure a gender balance of staff on monitoring and evaluation teams (Oxfam,
partner and beneficiaries) and that evaluators have adequate gender analysis
skills
- Ensure that assessment of impact on gender relations is a component of all
evaluation TORs

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 Traffic Lights
A method for assessing and supporting the gender awareness
of Oxfam GB offices, partners and programmes5

Traffic Lights are a set of criteria that can be used to assess, monitor and support
the progress being made by a partner organisation or an Oxfam office on gender
mainstreaming in any programme.

There are two sets of criteria:

a) For organisations (partners or Oxfam offices)
b) for projects/programmes.

Assessments using these criteria can be used during:

- project planning
- PASFs/PIPs approval and authorisation
- impact assessment

The point of this exercise is to help Oxfam decide what level of support the partner
or office needs in order to mainstream gender effectively in its programmes and in
its own institution. The assessment results should therefore be used to influence
both organisational development and programme development of partners and
offices.

The process should be used as an enabling tool and a means of stimulating

dialogue on gender rather than as a stick or sanction on funding.

These criteria are relevant to all programmes and partners that Oxfam GB works
with, not just those which focus primarily on the achievement of gender equality.

Context-dependence

1. It is difficult to formulate a set of criteria that are universally applicable. Some of

the criteria are therefore quite broad leaving flexibility for some adaptation to local
contexts. However, the basic set of criteria should broadly be maintained so as to
allow reasonable consistency across Oxfam GB.

2. There will be less opportunity for influencing some partners on gender than
others eg where funding is small or short-term, or where there is little or no choice
as to which partner to work with. It is up to each region to decide how
systematically they wish to apply the traffic lights system and where it would not
be appropriate or possible to apply.

5
These traffic light criteria are a re-formulation of those developed by NOVIB.
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 Partner/Oxfam Office Criteria
These criteria help to a) identify which partners to work with b) assess the
progress of partners and Oxfam offices on gender mainstreaming over time.

Partners or offices are rated green (genderresponsive), yellow (gender-aware) or

red (gender unaware) depending on the level of progress on gender against 8
criteria. The partner or office must be supported, through capacity building, to
move from red to yellow to green as their understanding, skills and commitment to
gender equality are strengthened. To facilitate this process the criteria are divided
into 3 phases, which are likely to represent the progressive development of a
partner or office. The phases also recognise that some partners will have greater
capacity than others to work on these issues.

Phase 1

- Gender-disaggregated baseline, monitoring, evaluation and impact information is

collected, analysed and used to inform programme development

- Female and male beneficiaries participate equally in decision-making in planning,

implementation and evaluation of projects, and their voices are reflected in the way
programme decisions are made.

- Staff and volunteers have a sufficient level of understanding and skill to enable a
basic gender analysis and gender-aware approach to be carried out.

Phase 2

- A rights-based gender analysis that demonstrates the links between poverty,

discrimination against women and gender inequality is developed, and this
analysis is reflected in the organisations policy and programme

- There is a balance of women and men in senior and middle management, or the
organisation is actively seeking to redress an imbalance in order to more equitably
reflect its beneficiary population. Women and men understand the need for
gender-balanced decision-making and are able to ensure that decisions taken
reflect their different interests.

Phase 3

- A significant number of male staff members and beneficiaries are actively

engaged in work to strengthen gender equality

- The organisation actively exchanges knowledge and information, collaborates

with others to extend and share its learning on gender issues, and uses this
learning to shape its programme

- The organisation challenges gender stereotyped beliefs and discriminatory

attitudes towards women both in its internal practices and externally

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Partner/Oxfam office ratings

6-8 criteria met = GREEN = gender responsive

3-5 criteria met = YELLOW = gender aware
0-2 criteria met = RED = gender unaware

Even if a criterion is not yet fully met, the key thing is to assess whether the
partner or office is aware of the problem or discriminatory practice, is willing to
address it, and has the potential to do so.

Project Criteria

These 6 criteria help to set project objectives and assess impact.

Women and men participate in decision-making in private and public more

equally

Women have more equal access to and control over economic and natural
resources, and basic social services

Fewer women suffer gender-related violence, and women have increased control
over their own bodies (eg reproductive decisions)

Gender stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes towards women and girls are
challenged and changed

Womens organisations are established, strengthened or collaborated with

Women are empowered to act as agents of change through increased self-

confidence, leadership skills, and capacity to organize

Minimum number of criteria to be met = 2

Objective setting: The aim should be to ensure that the project has objectives on
strengthening gender equality that addresses at least 2 of the criteria. If this is not
the case, support should be given to rethink and reformulate the objectives. If the
partner, office or beneficiaries are not willing or able to adapt the project
accordingly, funding for the project should be seriously reconsidered.

Impact assessment: if impact assessment shows that less than 2 criteria are
being addressed or that progress is being made on less than 2 criteria, support
should be given to identify the barriers to gender equality and redesign project
objectives and strategies. If no progress has been made after a designated period of
time Oxfam should review whether to continue supporting the project.

Assessing the quality of gender mainstreaming in

Business Plans and Programme/Project Proposals
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The following provides guidance for managers on how to assess the quality of
gender mainstreaming in planning documents that they have been asked to
approve. Depending on their assessment managers need to decide whether to
approve the plan/proposal, or whether any action needs to be taken to strengthen
gender mainstreaming before doing so.

Key Questions

Is there a rights-based gender analysis that demonstrates the links between

poverty, discrimination against women and gender inequality?
Is this gender analysis translated into concrete programme objectives to
strengthen womens rights and gender equality?
Are mechanisms proposed for monitoring and evaluating progress on gender
equality?
Are there goals and strategies for working toward gender equality in
organizational development (eg leadership, learning and development,
knowledge management, programme management, resource allocation)?

Rating the quality of gender mainstreaming

4 levels of gender mainstreaming in planning documents have been defined to help

managers assess progress over time and thus identify support needs.

Level A
Gender not mentioned at all, or mentioned superficially eg response will
be gender-sensitive, but no analysis or content, which differentiated
according to gender.

Level B
Very basic gender analysis which focuses on women's roles and
responsibilities in isolation, rather than on men and women's different roles
and responsibilities or on gendered power relations.
Tends to look at the impact of a situation on women rather than women's
role as active agents of change.
Beneficiaries are described by sex, and some sex-disaggregated contextual
data is provided
Objectives do not significantly address gender inequality

Level C
Moderate gender analysis which addresses women's empowerment but
stops short of analysing the balance of power between women and men, and
mens role in addressing gender inequality.
Addresses issues such as gendered roles and responsibilities, access to and
control of resources and services, women's control over their bodies,
protection from violence, women's participation, decision-making and
leadership
Gender-specific changes in policy, practice, ideas and beliefs are given
which address the above issues

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 Approaches proposed are gender sensitive e.g. selection of partners
according to gender sensitivity; working with and strengthening women's
organizations

Level D
Strong gender analysis, which addresses gendered power relations and the
link between poverty and gender inequality. Considers the socially
constructed gender roles of women and men in specific contexts, how these
roles are crosscut by other forms of social identity (disability, age, ethnicity,
caste etc) and how they are perpetuated by different institutions (household,
community, market, state). Uses a human rights framework to challenge
gender inequality in relation to specific rights such as land or inheritance,
relating them to the provisions set out in human rights treaties (most
importantly CEDAW6) and the objectives of the BPFA7
Gender-specific changes in policy, practice, ideas and beliefs are given
which reflect the above analysis, and are linked to external targets on
womens rights such as the BPFA, CEDAW and other human rights treaties.
Approaches proposed are innovative eg finding new ways to challenge
gender stereotyped attitudes, linking micro-level work on gender
discrimination to macro level policy work, promoting institutional change on
gender inequity, working with men on gender equality
Plans made for gender-sensitive monitoring, evaluation and impact, with
gendered indicators provided
Plans made for addressing gender issues in organisational development of
both Oxfam and partners

6
Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, 1979
7
Beijing Platform for Action, 4th World Conference on Women, 1995. See footnote 4 for an example of how to
use CEDAW and BPFA to assess the status of women and shape project objectives
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 Guidelines on Campaigns and Gender Equality8
Aims

Our campaigns will be effective in improving gender equality and will employ
gender equality to support the achievement of our broad campaign goals.
We will create a constructive and creative environment where campaign staff
promote gender equality as an integral and priority issue for poverty and
suffering.
We will support and champion best practice and successes on promoting
gender equality in our campaigns and learn from our mistakes.

Checklist for Specific Areas of Campaigns

Choice of Campaigns
Have you made an assessment of how well particular campaigns or wedge
issues lend themselves to the promotion and achievement of gender equality?
Does the contribution to gender equality of each issue feature as a criterion in
the final choice of campaign?
Research
Does the research strategy identify how gender and social relations analysis will
be integrated, and how sex-disaggregated data will be collected?
Have you completed a gender and social relations analysis of the campaign
theme as part of the initial research, and held a brainstorm with the campaign
team to ensure the research results inform the design of the campaign early
on?
Policy Objectives
Does the campaign have clear policy change objectives relating to gender
equality, and an assessment of how the campaign will contribute to their
achievement?
Media
Does our media strategy explicitly seek to profile gender in our messages,
images, celebrities and activities as a means of communicating the campaigns
concerns, and the importance of gender equality?
Popular Campaigning
Do our popular campaign plans seek to profile gender in our broad messages,
images, celebrities and activities as a means of communicating the campaigns
concerns, and the importance of gender equality?
Lobby
Do our lobby plans, materials and policy recommendations profile gender
equality where this will strengthen our influence on our targets in the
achievement of the campaigns goals, including gender equality?

8
Checklist compiled by Oxfam GB Campaign Team, May 2002
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Allies
Does our strategy on allies reflect the profiling of gender equality in the
campaign?

Monitoring and Evaluation

Will our plans for M&E provide us with learning on campaigning on gender
equality?
Do we have information on how colleagues in other offices within Oxfam have
tackled the issue of gender equality in campaign work?
Are we using examples of good practice on gender equality in campaign work
for marketing, advocacy and general reporting purposes?

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 Mainstreaming Gender in Policy Papers9

The following are some practical suggestions for ways to integrate a gender
analysis within Oxfams policy work and the writing of policy papers.

1. Think about gender issues from the very beginning of any policy work, at the
planning and research stage. All Oxfams research should be informed by an
analysis of gender and wider social relations.

2. Consider the way in which different groups in society are affected by the
policies or issues addressed in your paper. Public policies, and the policy
prescriptions Oxfam recommends, are not neutral in terms of their impact on
women and men.

3. Try as far as possible to use facts and statistics, which are disaggregated by
sex.

4. Think about the signals you send if gender issues are always last on a list, or
last in a sentence, because this may reinforce perceptions that they are an add-
on, or an after-thought, or less important than those which have gone before.

5. Be careful about the language used. A farmer is not necessarily he. If using
generic terms (such as small producers, migrants), do you have information
about whether these people are women or men, and about the gender issues
involved? If there is no information to identify people as primarily women or
primarily men, then it is good to say so.

6. Carry out a quick word search through your document using gender or
women, and consider the results.

9
From Oxfam GB Policy Papers Information Pack Annex 5: Editorial Standards for authors/editors of policy
papers
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 Assessing Impact on Gender Equality10
These guidelines can be used during the Annual Impact Reporting Process, for on-
going monitoring work, or for detailed project evaluations.

Section 1 suggests indicators, which can be used to assess whether a project or

programme has achieved change in terms of gender equality. Sections 2-5 explains
how these can be used as part of Oxfams Annual Impact Reporting process.

For further guidance on how to use these indicators (eg working with beneficiaries
to define indicators) see Detailed Guide for Assessing Impact on Gender Equity in
the AIR Resources Pack 2001/2.

1. Dimensions and indicators of change

There are five broad dimensions in which change can potentially occur as gender
equality is strengthened. For each of these dimensions possible indicators are
suggested. Indicators are ideally defined at the start of a project, preferably with
the participation of beneficiaries, according to the local culture and context.

i) Have women and men achieved more equal participation in decision-

making in public and private spheres?
Indicators
Where women have less negotiating power than men in economic decisions (eg
use of resources, money, time) and other family decisions (eg number of
children to bear, type of contraception, childrens education) at household level,
is this strengthened?
Do women enjoy greater participation in the political processes of the
community in situations where they were previously disenfranchised?
Has the influence of women on decision-making in the project increased in
relation to that of their male counterparts?

ii) Do women and men have more equal access to and control over
economic and natural resources and basic social services?
Indicators
Where women have less access to and control over natural and economic
resources (land, household finances, equipment, other assets) than men, has
this increased?
Do women have greater access to paid work and achieve equal pay for equal
work with men (wage differentials decrease)?
Do women share the workload more equally with men and have more time for
themselves?

10
From Guide for Assessing Impact on Gender Equity for AIR 2001-2 available from the
Programme Help Desk.
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 Do women and girls have access to health services on an equal basis with men
and boys, and according to their gender-specific needs (eg reproductive health)?
Do girls enjoy equal access to schools with boys? Has the school environment
becomes safer for girls and the curriculum less gender stereotyped?

iii) Do fewer women suffer gender-related violence?

Has the project led to a decrease in violence against women, or has it caused or
exacerbated violence, or the fear of violence?
Has the number of women suffering personal incidents or threats of violence in
the community or household been affected?

iv) Have gender stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes towards women

and girls been challenged and changed?
Indicators
Do men and women better understand how unequal power relations between
them discriminate against women and keep them in poverty?
Is womens unpaid and caring work better valued? Have changes in the
traditional gender division of labour occurred with men taking on more
household and caring work?
Is greater value is attached to girls education?
Where violence against women is the accepted norm, is this increasingly
rejected by the public, especially by men themselves?
Are more men taking action to challenge discrimination against women?

v) Womens empowerment.
The process of womens empowerment means that women acquire the power to
think and act freely, exercise choice, and fulfil their potential as full and equal
members of society. It emphasises the notions of women as active agents of
change and of womens agency ie womens ability to define their own goals and
act upon them. Indicators
Has womens self-esteem and self-confidence to influence social processes
increased?
Are women able to exercise their capacity for leadership?
Are women increasingly organising to strengthen their voice and influence?

2. Gender Mainstreaming in the 5 impact criteria in the

Annual Impact Reports (AIR)

In the Annual Impact Reporting process there are 5 impact criteria. Criteria 3 is
about progress towards enhanced gender equality: the indicators above can be
used to make this assessment. In addition, gender needs to be addressed for the
other impact criteria listed below. For each criterion consider the perspectives of
both women/girls and men/boys, how any changes have affected gender relations
and consider the questions listed below. Refer also to the indicators given above.

Note:
You will need to assess which of the impacts you identify can be attributed to
Oxfams intervention and which are attributable to external factors.

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 It is also important to identify negative impact ie where a project has increased
discrimination against women or worsened gender relations. This is important
so that steps can be taken to reverse the situation.

Criteria 1: Impact on the lives of poor women, men, girls and boys
How did the impact described differently affect women/girls and men/boys?
What was the impact of the project on gender relations?
Refer to the gender indicators above on decision-making (i), resources (ii), violence
(iii) and empowerment (v).

Criteria 2: Changes in policies, practices, ideas and beliefs

How did changes in policies and practices differently affect women/girls &
men/boys?
Were there changes in ideas and beliefs toward women and men?
Refer especially to the indicators on gender stereotypes and discriminatory
attitudes (iv).

Criteria 3: Progress towards enhanced gender equality

To what extent have women and men achieved more equal participation in
decision-making processes in public and private spheres?
To what extent have women and men achieved more equal access to and
control over economic and natural resources and basic social services?
To what extent are women suffering less gender-related violence?
To what extent have gender stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes towards
women and girls been challenged and changed?
To what extent have women been empowered to think and act freely, exercise
choice and fulfil their potential?
Refer to all indicators above.

Criteria 4: Beneficiary involvement in the project

To what extent were women and men involved in management of the project in
terms of: how many women/men, which women/men and their influence on
decision-making? Consider the indicators on participation (i) and womens
empowerment (v).

Criteria 5: The likely sustainability of the changes

How did the nature of womens participation and the achievements on gender
equity affect the sustainability of the whole project?
How sustainable will any changes in gender relations be?

Cost effectiveness
Did investments of resources in gender equality through improving gender
analysis or ensuring womens participation a) increase overall project impact by
harnessing the skills and capacities of women b) contribute to more equal
gender relations?
Where no investment was made what was the cost in terms of decreased
impact?

3. Overall assessment of project impact on gender equality

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When you have completed assessing the project achievements against the
indicators consider whether you rate the project objectives and/or achievements
as:
Gender unaware ie failed to distinguish between women and mens interests,
reinforced existing gender relations, and did not support women active
participation?
Gender aware ie used a knowledge of gender differences to target/meet the
practical needs of both women and men, but did not attempt to change existing
gender relations?
Gender responsive ie transformed the existing distribution of resources,
responsibilities and power and thus led to a more equal relationship between
women and men?

4. How did the process of gender mainstreaming affect the

impact?
Then consider whether steps taken to integrate a gender perspective were effective
or not by asking the following questions:

Did the initial analysis identify gender inequality as an issue? Was gender
sufficiently addressed in the TOR for advocacy/campaign research?
Was this analysis translated into goals on gender for programme and campaign
work?
Did media and communication work reflect these goals on gender equity?
If objectives on gender equality were set, how well did the impact respond to
these objectives?
What strategies were put in place to ensure that gender was integrated
throughout the process of assessment, planning, implementation and
monitoring?
What insights about gender inequalities emerged during project
implementation and how did the project respond to these?
What institutional factors within Oxfam/partner helped or hindered this
process (eg staff gender expertise, capacity-building, systems, management
support, accountability)?

5. Future plans
Finally consider what will you do differently from now on to strengthen the way
gender equality is addressed in:
Project management (assessment, partner appraisal, planning, implementation,
monitoring, evaluation)?
Institutional development of Oxfam/partner (eg gender staff balance, leadership,
recruitment, resources, budgets, lines of accountability, communications, net-
working, culture and attitudes)?

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 Part III

Issue-specific Gender
Considerations

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 Humanitarian Work
The following indicators were developed to guide gender-aware humanitarian
response and protection work throughout the programme management cycle. A
fuller discussion of the standards from which these indicators are drawn, their
rationale and more detailed indicators can be found in Gender Standards for
Humanitarian Response, Version 1, August 200111. The standards are currently
being piloted in various regional programmes.

1. Indicators for Gender-Aware Response

Assessment
Proportional representation of women and men on the team; including
someone experienced in gender.
Data is collected from women by women, given adequate time and space.
Vulnerable groups are identified, consulted, included in the program.
Data is disaggregated by sex, age, family composition, other relevant factors.
Know how the crisis has affected men and women differently (employment,
workloads, house-work, mobility, childcare, social networks, resources,
fears, pressures, decision-making, etc)
Baseline data is established to measure impacts and changes.

Analysis
Resources are dedicated to addressing inequalities for girls and women.
Impact indicators reflecting needs, interests and priorities, are developed by
affected women and men.
Planning options for access and control of resources, responsibility roles,
and strategies for fairness are developed by affect women.
Changes in men's and women's roles and work created by the crisis are
identified, both positive & negative.
Knowledge and beliefs of local women and men about gender inequity,
causes, consequences, and remedies are recognized and considered in
formulating baseline measures.

Implementation
Objectives for technical and social programs are set together.
Technical & social interventions start together, proceed together (~ not at
the same pace)
Opportunities for technical interventions to address male-female
inequalities are found.
Accurate information about programs is accessible to men and women.

This document was compiled for Oxfam GB by Deborah Clifton and is available from the
11

Humanitarian Department. Contact Rosemarie McNairn, Gender and Representation

Adviser, Humanitarian Department, for more information.

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 Women beneficiaries manage programs within their traditional domains of
activity.
Advocacy activities promote womens rights and equality between women
and men.
Equal and/or proportional representation of women & men in decision-
making are promoted.
Strategies for improving fairness between girls and boys, women and men
are in place.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Proportional participation and benefits to girls and boys, women and men
are measured.
Success of the program in meeting needs of girls and boys, women and men
is monitored.
Effect of program on reducing/changing stereotypes of girls & boys, women
& men is monitored.
Improvement in conditions and status of girls and women is monitored.
Men's & women's workloads, control of and access to goods & services, is
monitored for comparison with baseline data.
Changes in womens' ability to influence decisions and control resources are
monitored.
Budget distribution; use and net benefits to different segments of the
community is monitored and reported.
Staff and partners are held accountable for setting and achieving objectives
relating to gender equity.

Participation and Control

Programs are clearly based on results and findings of consultations with
affected women and men.
Beneficiary management of, participation in and access to services is
proportionally representative according to population profile (i.e. sex, age,
ethnicity, etc.).
Communication strategies developed at local level ensure equal
participation of girls, boys, women & men.
Concrete measures are implemented to reduce womens workloads, enabling
their participation in management and decision-making.
Concrete measures are implemented, to support mens increased domestic
activity, enabling womens participation in management and decision-
making.
Local women's organizations encourage community participation,
participate in program promotion, planning, and ongoing management.
Female beneficiaries and women's organizations manage distribution
whenever possible.
Local women's associations and the Women's Ministry of the host
government are involved and strengthened.
Strategies promote the participation of girls and boys, women and men in
programming into recovery and post-emergency stages.
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2. Indicators for Protection
Integration
Violence against women is assessed, monitored and documented through
the program cycle.
Assessments consider how shifting gender roles have made women more
vulnerable to sexual exploitation, domestic violence and rape.
Assessment examines the vulnerability of men and women to abduction and
forced recruitment for military or prostitution purposes.

Awareness and training

UNHCR guidelines to counter sexual violence are widely disseminated, and
followed.
All staff and field partners know how to refer women and men seeking
assistance or redress for human rights violations, including spousal
violence.
All staff know how to refer women and men seeking support, counselling,
medical or contraceptive care for survivors of rape and sexual violence.
Staff recognize that fear of harassment and rape forces women into forming
alliances with soldiers and other men.
Aid workers are aware of the extent to which crimes of violence including
rape have increased during the crisis.
Aid workers do not use prostitutes or engage in any form of bartered sex.

Implementation
Affected women, girls, men and boys identify protection problems and
develop response strategies in all program areas.
Specific steps are taken to ensure and increase personal safety and security
of women, girls, boys and men.
Information about resources to meet needs created by violence (e.g.
counselling, legal, medical and material support available) is widely
disseminated.
Protection interventions and services to meet needs created by violence are
based on and make use of local skills and resources.
Accommodation, transportation and security are sufficient to enable women
workers to do their jobs as safely as possible.

Reporting
All forms of human rights violations are monitored, reported, and referred
according to policy set out in Oxfams Emergency Response Manual
Offences by officials, including humanitarian personnel and peacekeeping
forces are reported according to Oxfam policy.

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 Livelihoods Work12
In order to ensure that all livelihoods work contributes to increased gender
equality, the following issues/processes should be addressed progressively.

1. At a minimum. Identify women and mens different needs.

Standard: Does the project collect and monitor sex-disaggregated
information about male and female beneficiaries, including the different
livelihoods needs of women and men?
Example: In the Peruvian mountains the food security of some communities
is dependent on llama-breeding, which is controlled by men, and guinea-pig
breeding and vegetable gardening, which is controlled by women. Llamas
provide the community with a long-term food bank; guinea-pigs and
vegetables meet their short-term nutritional needs. Projects should support
both women and men with their different contributions to the livelihood
security of the household.

2. A common starting point: Women as beneficiaries

Standard: Partner organisations usually begin thinking about gender in
livelihoods by addressing non-economic barriers to womens livelihoods such
as literacy, health, self-confidence, participation in committees and personal
safety. If women are targeted in this way, does the project raise mens
awareness about why women are being targeted, and if appropriate run
parallel projects for men themselves?
Example: A womens committee of a small-scale producers association and
a credit and literacy/numeracy initiative for women which are intended to
increase womens organisation, skills and self-confidence.

3. Better practice: Womens access to and control over resources

Standard: Does the project aim to increase womens access to and control
over resources (land, tools, technology, animals, seed, savings and credit,
household income), and thereby address womens economic roles and
practices?
Example: A committee of female small-scale producers which advocates for
training, equipment, and increasing their own control over productive land,
so that they can improve their practices and stock for raising small animals.

4. Even better: The gendered economic roles of women and men

Standard: Does the project analyse and challenge womens and mens
gendered roles and practices in the economy including:
- the value that is given to caring and unpaid work (mainly done by women)?
- the relative negotiating power of women and men in economic decisions
(over resources, time, money etc)?
The project should:

12
Contact Thalia Kidder and Antonio Hill, Programme Policy Team, for more information
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- analyse and challenge the ideas, beliefs and practices surrounding these
issues
- work with men as well as women to tackle these issues

Examples:
- A programme that helps the farmers association membership (women and
men) analyse and change the gendered division of agricultural production eg
some women beginning to raise cash crops or large animals; men promoting
and tending backyard vegetable gardens (food security).
- Village committees begin to recognise and redress the burden of womens
unpaid domestic labour by making community investments which reflect the
need for infrastructure and equipment to support womens unpaid work eg
corn-grinding mills, water stand pipes

5. More advanced: Gender equity in control in markets

Standard: Does the project attempt to change gender inequalities in
marketing chains and markets?
Examples:
In some parts of West Africa men control the marketing of poultry and
fresh fruits (mangos). Although women produce and pick mangos, men
transport them. In effect, men have captured the most lucrative points in
the value chain between production and consumer.
Solutions to such inequities might be for women to have more access to
and control over the means of transportation for trading eg able to travel
on buses or own trucks; women have access to credit that goes beyond
working capital for petty trading eg for productive assets (trucks, stalls)
or the processing of goods; women have the same access to
infrastructure in markets as men (lockable stalls, access to water, better
lighting); women move beyond perishable low-profit, low-volume items
and challenge the sex-segregation of trading activities.

6. Very advanced: The gendered impact of national economic policy

Standard: Does the project identify gender biases in existing national or
regional economic policies and practices, and identify policy changes that
would lead to increased gender equality?
Example: National labour laws which give less protection and rights to
temporary, part-time and home-workers (mostly women) than permanent
full-time workers (more men).

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