Gender analyses

This page contains literature references and abstracts on the topic of gender analyses. Of every book, article and report the abstract is given. If a book, article or report publicly accessible on the internet I have provided a link to where it can be found. If there is no link it means that there is a paywall. Where there is a paywall I recommend to look up the article on researchgate.net, often the author can be approached there and one can request the full-text via a private message.

The literature references and abstracts below are in three groups: literature on gender audits; literature on gender budgeting and, literature on gender mainstreaming.

Introduction

Gender analyses are done to see if different projects, programs, budgets, polices etc. benefit men and women equally. Sometimes polices that might look like they are gender neutral turn out to be very detrimental to women. For instance, cutting budgets for elderly care will often affect women more than anyone else, as they are the ones performing the vast majority of unpaid care work in the world. Cutting budgets for elderly care thus increase the amount of unpaid work women have to do.

Gender audits of projects, programs and policies help us to see if they are beneficial or detrimental to men and women. Gender responsive budgeting makes sure that public policies are benefitting both men and women. Many organisations have integrated the concept of gender mainstreaming in order to prevent programs and policies that are detrimental to women. Gender mainstreaming is defined as the integration by default of a gender perspective into policies, regulatory measures and spending programs, with a view to promoting equality between women and men, and combating discrimination. Some of these gender mainstreaming approaches have been better implemented than others though.

Initial trainings on these topics can be found on-line on https://trainingcentre.unwomen.org/portal/

Below are some of the main texts on the topics.

The literature references below are gathered in three groups:

·       Gender audits

·       Gender budgeting

·       Gender mainstreaming

 

Gender analyses: Literature references

Literature on gender audits

Equity-focused, gender-responsive evidence: a blind spot in VNR reporting. Silke Hofer-​Olusanmokun, Tarisirai Zengeni, Florencia Tateossian, Svetlana Negroustoueva, Claudia Olavarría Manriquez, Kassem El-​Saddik (2018). IIED Briefing. http://pubs.iied.org/17497IIED/

In 2018, 46 countries expressed their commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by voluntarily presenting national reviews of their progress on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 2018 High-level Political Forum (HLPF). Analysis of these voluntary national reviews (VNRs) found that, although monitoring is strong, evaluation receives almost no attention. VNR reporting is not incorporating evaluative evidence, particularly equity-focused and gender-responsive evidence. Access to disaggregated data is a core challenge to tracking progress. Nevertheless, countries are actively looking for solutions, recognising that gender equality is an enabler and accelerator in achieving all the SDGs. Equity-focused, gender responsive implementation, assessment and evaluation of the 2030 Agenda offers an opportunity for transformative change to achieve gender equality and equity in the SDGs era and beyond.

The Egypt Economic cost of Gender-Based violence survey (ECGBVS). Wafaa Maged Ahmed (2015). https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/Finland_Oct2016/Documents/Egypt_ppt.pdf

The ECGBVS is the first nationally representative sample conducted in Egypt  to collect comprehensive information related to the various types and forms of violence experienced by women and girls, and estimate their economic costs.

What is gender audit. Swirski, B. (2002). https://www.internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/What-is-a-Gender-Audit.pdf

A “gender audit” is one aspect of what is referred to as “mainstreaming”- analysing mainstream public policy, including legislation, regulations, allocations, taxation and social projects, from the point of view of their effect on the status of women in a given society. Gender audits analyse the income and expenditures of the government from a gender perspective. The basic assumption of gender audits is that public policy impacts differently on men and women. The variance stems from the different roles of women and men in the family and from the lower economic status of women. The purpose of gender audits is to lead to changes in public policy that contribute to an increase in gender equality.

Gender. Analysis, assessment and audit. Manual & toolkit. (2012). ACDI VOCA. http://www.acdivoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ACDI-VOCA-Gender-Analysis-Manual.pdf

In most countries, communities and households, men and women perform different roles, have different responsibilities and different—often unequal—statuses. Frequently, women have less ownership and control over assets, reduced decision-making capacity and fewer educational and economic opportunities than men. Due to this, women and men have different experiences, knowledge, talents and needs. Development initiatives can affect male and female beneficiaries in vastly different ways because of these gender differences and inequalities. Without a deliberate consideration of gender dynamics, women often encounter obstacles to participating in, and benefiting from, development projects.  Understanding gender issues is therefore essential for effective development.  Gender analysis is a process of collecting and analysing sex-disaggregated information in order to understand gender differences. Gender analysis explores gender differences so policies, programs and projects can identify and meet the different needs of men and women. It also facilitates the strategic use of the distinct knowledge and skills women and men possess.

ILO participatory gender audit. A tool for organizational change. ILO. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—gender/documents/publication/wcms_101030.pdf

A participatory gender audit is a tool and a process based on a participatory methodology to promote organizational learning at the individual, work unit and organizational levels on how to practically and effectively mainstream gender. A gender audit is essentially a “social audit”, and belongs to the category of “quality audits”, which distinguishes it from traditional “financial audits”. It considers whether internal practices and related support systems for gender mainstreaming are effective and reinforce each other and whether they are being followed.  It establishes a baseline; identifies critical gaps and challenges; and recommends ways of addressing them, suggesting possible improvements and innovations. It also documents good practices towards the achievement of gender equality.

Gender audit tool and guidelines. (2015). Together for equality & respect. http://whe.org.au/tfer/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Gender-Audit-Tool-and-Guidelines1.pdf

A gender audit tool is a practical resource to guide organisations in identifying challenges and opportunities for increasing organisational equality, and to create gender action planning.  A gender audit will not only support the development of gender equity strategies to promote equality, but will also encourage the development of gender sensitivity throughout the workplace and organisational environment. This local gender audit guide has been designed to support the Together for Equality and Respect:  A Strategy to Prevent Violence against Women in Melbourne’s East 2013-2017 (TFER) and the regional objective which is to “At the conclusion of the Strategy there will be an increase the number of TFER organisations that have established systems to support gender equity”.

Literature on gender budgeting

Gender responsive budgeting: Analysis of budget programmes from gender perspective. UN Women, Sida, GRB project and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ukraine/11556.pdf

The purpose of this manual is to provide public officials working on gender budget analysis a simple tool on how to carry it out. While   Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) involves a full process from analysis of budget programmes from a gender perspective to integration of   gender perspectives throughout the budget process, this manual is focused on providing a guideline for carrying out the analysis which is a basis and starting point for further work to make policies and budgets more gender responsive.

Call circulars and gender budget statements in the Asia Pacific. UN Women. http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2016/05/budget-call-circulars-and-gender-budget-statements-in-the-asia-pacific

The terms of reference for the assignment note that more than 90 countries have engaged in gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) worldwide, of which more than a quarter are found in the Asia Pacific region. The source cited for this estimate in fact refers to both Asia-Pacific and Arab states. It lists the relevant countries as follows: Afghanistan, Bangladesh Cambodia, China, Egypt, Fiji, Indonesia, India, Jordan, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Vietnam and Yemen. The number for Asia Pacific is thus slightly less than 22 (quarter of 90) as this list includes several Arab states. However, the list excludes some further countries – Australia, Bhutan, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, South Korea and Timor Leste – that have done GRB work. The exclusion of these countries is, in part, explained by the fact that UN Women does not have a presence in all countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The review focuses on budget call circulars and gender budget statements. The terms of reference call for a “comprehensive review of the different ways in which governments have engendered the budget circulars/call circulars and the frameworks they have adopted for the gender budget statements.” The review was to do this, among others, by identifying what information is, and is not, provided in the different frameworks. To the extent possible, the review was to assess the extent to which the use of “engendered” call circulars and gender budget statements has contributed to improved gender equality outcomes.

Virtually all countries should have a budget call circular or equivalent document that instructs government agencies how to submit their annual budget bids. However, not all call…

Budgeting for Women’s Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW. Diane Elson. UNIFEM. https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/MonitoringGovernmentBudgetsComplianceCEDAW_eng.pdf

Until recently the domains of human rights and government budgets have been treated separately, with separate sets of actors (both state and non-state) dealing with each, each with their different forms of expertise and practice. That is now changing. There is growing collaboration between civil society groups working on budget analysis and those working on human rights. Those concerned with the rights of the child have begun to examine government budgets. Some of those involved in Gender Budget Initiatives (GBIs) have framed their work in the context of women’s social and economic rights. This report builds on the efforts cited above to develop some ideas that may be useful in monitoring the compliance of government budgets with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (for the text of this Convention, see Appendix 1). This report covers four dimensions of government budgets: expenditure; revenue; macroeconomics of the budget and budget decision-making processes. This report does not aim to provide separate guidelines for each article of CEDAW. Rather, it discusses the broad implications of the obligation on States Parties to CEDAW and other international human rights treaties to ensure that there is no de facto discrimination, as well as no de jure discrimination; and to ensure the full development and advancement of women, so that they enjoy ‘human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men’ (Article 3).The report aims to clarify: how gender budget analysis can help in monitoring compliance with CEDAW; how CEDAW can help to set criteria for what constitutes gender equality in budgetary matters and provide guidance for GBIs.

Gender & taxation. Why care about taxation and gender equality? GTZ. http://www.oecd.org/dac/gender-development/44896295.pdf

For quite some time gender equality and taxation have been key topics in the development policy debate on public finance, financing for development and as well in the debate on the responsibility of the government towards its citizens. It is widely recognized that developing countries must raise adequate revenue from taxes in order to ensure sustainable financing of their poverty reduction and growth strategies. Moreover, relying on taxation for financing government expenditures can have a governance dividend by fostering domestic account ability between government and citizens.

Gender budgeting. Council of Europe (2005). https://www.mpsv.cz/files/clanky/12462/GenderBudgeting-report2005_En.pdf

The Council of Europe has a crucial role to play in promoting gender equality in its member states, for example by defining common principles and standards to promote the full participation of women and men in society. Even if women have obtained de jure equality and equal status with men in the majority of European countries, they are still discriminated against in many areas. Legislation to combat discrimination and promote equal treatment has been passed and gender equality policy machineries have been set up to monitor the situation. But gender inequalities continue to influence all walks of life and it is becoming increasingly clear that new approaches, new strategies and new methods are needed to reach the goal of gender equality. Gender main-streaming is one of these strategies.

Gender budgeting: practical implementation. Handbook. Sheila Quinn (2009). Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/1680599885

The focus of this publication is to act as a guide to the practice of gender budgeting. It is not a first-step book. There are many publications which articulate the ration-ale for, the background to and the history of gender budgeting and a sample of these are listed toward the end of the handbook under Resources, page 71.This handbook assumes an understanding of gender, of the objectives of a gender equality strategy, of the ways in which gender inequality is manifest, of the need for structural change in order to tackle unintentional gender bias, of the basics of gender mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender equality. Gender budgeting, as a tool of gender mainstreaming, cannot be implemented without a grasp of these fundamentals. It is the case that some gender budget pilot initiatives have brought about a new or deeper understanding of gender for those involved. Nevertheless, adopting a gender budgeting strategy requires prior experience in addressing gender equality. Gender budgeting is not, per se, a first-step tool.

Gender mainstreaming. An overview. United Nations, (2002). http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/e65237.pdf

Gender mainstreaming was established as a major global strategy for the promotion of gender equality in the Beijing Platform for Action from the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The ECOSOC agreed conclusions (1997/2) established some important overall principles for gender mainstreaming.  A letter from the Secretary-General to heads of all United Nations entities (13 October 1997) provided further concrete directives. The General Assembly twenty-third special session to follow up implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (June 2000) enhanced the mainstreaming mandate within the United Nations. More recently, the Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution (ECOSOC resolution2001/41) on gender mainstreaming (July 2001) which calls on the Economic and Social Council to ensure that gender perspectives are taken into account in all its work, including in the work of its functional commissions, and recommends a five-year review of the implementation of the ECOSOC agreed conclusions 1997/2.

Clear intergovernmental mandates for gender mainstreaming have been developed for all the major areas of the work of the United Nations, including disarmament, poverty reduction, macro-economics, health, education and trade. The Security Council resolution 1325, adopted in October 2000, outlines the importance of giving greater attention to gender perspectives in peace support operations. Specific mandates also exist for ensuring that gender perspectives are taken into account in the major planning processes and documents within the United Nations, the medium-term plans, program budgets and program assessments (for example, General Assembly resolution of December 1997 (A/Res/52/100).

The ECOSOC agreed conclusions 1997/2 defines gender mainstreaming as: “…the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or program, in all areas and at all 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 programs 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. ”Gender mainstreaming entails bringing the perceptions,  experience, knowledge and interests of women as well as men to bear on policy-making, planning and decision-making. Mainstreaming should situate gender equality issues at the center of analyses and policy decisions, medium-term plans, program budgets, and institutional structures and processes. This requires explicit, systematic attention to relevant gender perspectives in all areas of the work of the United Nations.

While mainstreaming is clearly essential for securing human rights and social justice for women as well as men, it also increasingly recognized that incorporating gender perspectives in different areas of development ensures the effective achievement of other social and economic goals. Mainstreaming can reveal a need for changes in goals, strategies and actions to ensure that both women and men can influence, participate in and benefit from development processes. This may lead to changes in organizations – structures, procedures and cultures – to create organizational environments which are conducive to the promotion of gender equality.

Gender responsive budgeting. Maja Bosnic (2015). GSDRC. https://gsdrc.org/professional-dev/gender-responsive-budgeting/

Gender responsive budgeting (GRB) brings together two issues that are not commonly associated with one another: gender equality and public financial management. GRB argues that gender equality principles should be incorporated into all stages of the budget process.

Gender responsive budgeting in practice: A training manual. UNFPA/UNIFEM. http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2010/1/gender-responsive-budgeting-in-practice-a-training-manual

This training manual was produced under a UNFPA/UNIFEM strategic partnership aimed at developing a coordinated approach for effective technical assistance to gender-responsive budgeting (GRB). It is intended to build capacity in the application of gender budget analysis. The manual seeks to build understanding of GRB as a tool for promoting gender equity, accountability to women’s rights, and efficiency and transparency in budget policies and processes.

The training manual adds value to the wealth of training resources on GRB, first, through a focus on the applicability of gender-responsive budgeting to reproductive health and, second, through a presentation of sector-specific examples and case studies dealing with maternal health, gender and HIV/AIDS, and violence against women.

Gender budgets make cents understanding gender responsive budgets. Debbie Budlender, Diane Elson, Guy Hewitt and Tanni Mukhopadhyay (2002). The Commonwealth Secretariat. https://www.internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/Gender-Budgets-Make-Cents-Understanding-Gender-Responsive-Budgets.pdf

The involvement of Commonwealth countries in gender responsive budgets is both long and substantial: it began with Australia in 1984 and spread to Canada and South Africa in1993 and 1994, respectively. The Commonwealth Secretariat’s program began in 1995 and since then nearly half of the forty known country initiatives on gender responsive budgets are in the Commonwealth. The issue has been discussed in-depth at the Fifth and Sixth Meetings of Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women’s Affairs and it was on the agenda of the September 2001 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting which, like a number of other international meetings, was cancelled following the tragic events in the USA. The Commonwealth’s involvement in gender responsive budgets takes its genesis from a number of discreet but interconnected factors: 1)The Commonwealth’s commitment to the fundamental principle of equality and non-discrimination, first affirmed in the 1971 Singapore Declaration and reaffirmed in the1991 Harare Declaration, which creates the need to develop public expenditure tracking systems to measure how consistent national decisions on resource allocation are with these and the other fundamental principles of the Commonwealth. 2) Reaffirmation of the commitment to gender equality by Heads of Government when they endorsed the Ottawa Declaration (on Women and Structural Adjustment) at Harare in 1991, the 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development and its 2000–2005 Update in 1999. 3. Exploitation of the Commonwealth’s comparative advantage in the area of encouraging governments to integrate gender concerns into economic policy dating from the report of the1989 Commonwealth Expert Group on Women and Structural Adjustment, Engendering Adjustment for the 1990s, a pioneering work that advocated incorporating gender concerns into a broad range of economic policy areas: public expenditure, taxation, credit policies, exchange rate policies, pricing policies, wage policies, trade liberalisation and privatisation.

Gender & mine action. How gender sensitive budgeting makes a difference. Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines. http://www.gmap.ch/uploads/media/GM_EN_budgeting.pdf

Due to budgets often being gender blind, they ignore the different effects of landmines on women, girls, boys and men and are thereby conducive   to implicit dimensions of discrimination against either sex. By detailing all costs and expenses in a sex and age disaggregated manner, budgets become a gender sensitive instrument clearly showing priorities and focus areas.

Engendering budgets. A practitioners’ guide to understanding and implementing gender-responsive budgets. Debbie Budlender and Guy Hewitt. Commonwealth Secretariat. https://www.internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Engendering_Budgets_final_doc.pdf

Heads of Government at Harare in 1991 declared gender equality to be a fundamental principle of the Commonwealth, and this was reaffirmed in the 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development and its Update. The Commonwealth is also committed to economic development and poverty reduction. Gender-responsive budgets (GRBs) can help governments uphold their commitments in all these areas and assist them in monitoring the implementation and gender impacts of policies and programs. In addition, GRBs improve governance through increasing accountability, participation and transparency. The idea of GRBs developed from the recognition that macroeconomic policies can narrow or widen gender gaps such as income, health, education and nutrition, and can make the living standards of different groups of women and men better or worse. The Commonwealth’s impetus towards encouraging member countries to integrate gender concerns into economic policy dates back to its pioneering work on women and structural adjustment in the late 1980s.The Commonwealth Secretariat first launched a Gender Budget Initiative in 1995 and piloted the work in several countries, including Barbados, Fiji, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Since then, it has worked to develop analytical tools and disseminate findings and recommendations from its experience. It is currently integrating GRB analysis into its gender mainstreaming program assistance to all member countries. The organisation is also undertaking work in the related areas of the informal economy, trade policy, public expenditure management and mainstreaming gender into ministries of finance.

How to do a gender-sensitive budget analysis: Contemporary research and practice. Budlender, D. and Sharp, R. (1998). AusAID and Commonwealth Secretariat. https://www.femtech.at/sites/default/files/How_to_do_a_gender-sensitive_budget_analysis.pdf

This document grew out of the experiences of developing gender-sensitive budgets in several countries.  Australia was the first country to develop agender-sensitive budget with the Federal government publishing in 1984 the first comprehensive audit of a government budget for its impact on women and girls. Women’s budget exercises were also undertaken by each of the Australian State and Territory governments at various times during the 1980s and 1990s.  In South Africa, parliamentarians, together with non-governmental organisations, started working on a gender-sensitive analysis of budgets in 1995. In 1997 the South   African   government, too, started   doing   a   gender-sensitive   budget analysis. Today many other countries have joined these two in undertaking these budget exercises.  Our data has been drawn from those countries which already have gender-sensitive budgets in place, or are in the process of initiating them.

Impact of gender-responsive budgeting. Combaz, E. (2013). GSDRC. https://gsdrc.org/docs/open/hdq977.pdf

Gender-responsive budgeting has been applied by a few dozen developing countries since the mid-1980s, though to very different extents and in diverse forms. What is the evidence on the impact of gender-responsive budgeting on gender outcomes and on resource distribution within government bodies? The question is difficult to answer, both due to a limited evidence base about impact and to the complexity in assessing and interpreting impact.

Nevertheless, some findings have emerged. Gender-responsive budgeting is generally seen as having had a mixed impact, with some positive outcomes and some cases where no impact is established (there is no evidence of any negative effects). There is no meta-review available, and evidence of impact is based on case studies. Positive outcomes include:

-Better dynamics for gender equality in budget processes.  Awareness, capacities and data related to gender equality have often been increased, and budget transparency, accountability and participation improved.

-Improved gender outcomes in budgets, policies and service delivery. This was achieved when gender-responsive budgeting was used in conjunction with other strategies, methods and tools for gender equality. Examples includes cross-sectoral budget changes and sectoral ones.

The literature identifies various factors that affect the impact of gender-responsive budgeting:

-Obstacles include:  the lack of sex-disaggregated data and of data on gender relations; limited capacity and resources for such a complex task; and gaps in action (e.g. on the revenue side) and sustainability.

-Enabling   factors include:   securing   sustained   support   for   gender-responsive   budgeting; engendering the entire budget process and economic policy; ensuring practical feasibility; building capacities; supporting women’s participation in planning and budgeting; and linking gender issues with other structural inequalities.

The EU Budget for Gender Equality. Study for the FEMM Committee, (2015). Directorate-General for Internal Policies, European Parliament. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/490708/IPOL_STU(2015)490708_EN.pdf

This study subjects the EU budget to a gender budgeting analysis revealing revenue and spending decisions’ impacts on gender equality. It covers the operational expenditure of six selected policy areas, in an attempt to pave the way for further, more comprehensive analysis.  The authors adopt the capability approach, based on a broad definition of human wellbeing, following bottom-up logic.  The analysis leads to the:

Many titles of the EU budget do not follow the EU’s high-level commitment to gender equality and gender mainstreaming;

The EU budget is not entirely transparent, since the amounts allocated to different policy objectives and actions are not always specified;

Finally, specific gender indicators and gender-disaggregated data are not systematically used in the monitoring and evaluation of different actions that are funded by the budget.

Manual for training on gender responsive budgeting. Schneider, K. (2006). GTZ. https://www.ndi.org/sites/default/files/Manual%20for%20Training%20on%20Gender%20Responsive%20Budgeting.pdf

The  manual  is  structured  like  a  modular  system:  The  trainer  can  choose  topics  and  exercises  according  to  the  target  group  and  the  length  of  the  training.  The  manual  consists of the following modules:

Module 1: Basic concepts: What does gender mean? – What is a budget?

Module 2: Gender responsive budgeting – An introduction

Module 3: Gender responsive budgeting initiatives – Good practices and lessons       learnt

Module 4: Different stakeholders and steps of implementation

Module 5: Sex-disaggregated statistics, time use data and gender indicators Module 6: Gender responsive budgeting tools – An overview

Module 7: Gender aware policy appraisal

Module 8: Sex-disaggregated public expenditure incidence analysis

Module 9: Gender aware beneficiary assessment

Module 10: Gender sensitive public expenditure tracking surveys

Module 11: Sex-disaggregated analysis of the impact of the budget on time use

Module 12: Engendering social accounting matrices

Module 13: Lobbying and advocacy strategies

Literature on gender mainstreaming

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/BDPfA%20E.pdf

The Beijing Declaration was a resolution adopted by the UN at the end of the Fourth World Conference on Women on 15 September 1995. The resolution adopted to promulgate a set of principles concerning the equality of men and women. These principles are used by many as a basis for gender mainstreaming.

The global development agenda: Tools for gender sensitive planning and implementation. Gender Campus. http://www.focusintl.com/GD124j-%20Gender%20Campus%20Module%206%20-%20Gender,%20development%20aid%20and%20decent%20work.pdf

Coherence between social and economic policies is a crucial element in ensuring that development frameworks are equitable and sustainable.    Productive and freely-chosen employment is closely interlinked with development, both as an objective to be pursued in its own right and as a means of reducing poverty. For this reason, full and productive employment and decent work for all has recently been included as a target to help pave the way towards the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1), the eradication of poverty. The ILO concept of Decent Work targets both the quantity and the quality of employment, and offers an integrated framework for action in which gender equality plays a crucial role: the differential roles, positions and contributions of women and men in the world of work still pose numerous challenges that need to be addressed at all levels and in all sectors of development planning. This   module addresses the inter-linkages between gender equality, decent   and productive employment, and aid effectiveness. It offers some examples of how the promotion of “Decent Work” in development planning offers opportunities and entry points for enhancing development effectiveness and advancing gender equality in the context of the new aid architecture.

Gender mainstreaming: practices and prospects. Mieke Verloo (1999). Council of Europe. https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/129450/129450.pdf

Since 1995, gender mainstreaming has been adopted more widely as a strategy for gender equality than before. In the process of increasing awareness of the importance of this strategy, a number of international actors have played a major role. It is quite evident that the role of the United Nations has been prominent, both as initiator and organiser of the World Conference on Women, and as a result also as distributor of the Platform for Action. The idea of gender mainstreaming, or as it is put most frequently in the Platform for Action “taking into account the impact on gender before decisions are taken” has been diffused widely.

Other important international actors in this field have been the European Union and the Council of Europe. The European Union has been quite active, both by starting a process of gender mainstreaming within the European Commission itself, and by diffusing information on a number of conferences and seminars (in Brussels, Bled, London). The Council of Europe took the important initiative in 1996 to form a Group of Specialists on Mainstreaming.  The report of this group was delivered in 1998, and it has been widely distributed and discussed since, most recently at a conference organised by the Council of Europe in September 1999 in Athens, where more gender mainstreaming projects were presented.

For the present report, as much material has been gathered as possible, yet it would be over ambitious to pretend to cover each and every initiative.  This report draws upon the experiences in various countries in Europe to highlight important opportunities and strengths, to point at some weaknesses and present some good practices.  The experiences described serve as examples that can guide further work, not as judgements of what has been done. When it comes to gender mainstreaming, everyone can learn, and a critical assessment is one of the first prerequisites for a better understanding and further development.

Monitoring gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development: opportunities and challenges. (2015) UN Women. http://www.arabstates.undp.org/content/dam/rbas/doc/Women’s%20Empowerment/IndicatorPaper-EN-FINAL.pdf

On 2 August 2015, the outcome document of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 was agreed by consensus by Member States. The outcome document will be presented to the Summit for adoption in September 2015. From a gender perspective, the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets address many concerns and therefore represent a significant step forward compared to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As a result of a wide-ranging consultation process with United Nations Member States, civil society and international

organizations, this position paper sets out UN Women’s suggestions for global indicators to effectively monitor how the SDGs are being implemented for women and girls.

Progress of the world’s women 2015-2016. Transforming economies, realizing rights. UN Women.  http://progress.unwomen.org/en/2015/pdf/UNW_progressreport.pdf

Twenty years after the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and at a time when the global community is defining the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the post-2015 era, the global consensus on the need to achieve gender equality seems stronger than ever

before.1 Empowering women and girls is among the goals aspired to by all, from grassroots organizations, trade unions and corporations, to Member States and intergovernmental bodies. But how far has this consensus been translated into tangible progress on the ground, and what more is needed to bridge the gaps between rhetoric and reality?

Drawing on promising experiences from around the world, this Report proposes a comprehensive agenda for key policy actors— including gender equality advocates, national governments and international agencies—to make human rights a lived reality for all women and girls.