Building Organizational Capacity for Gender Sensitive Development

The CAW’s Gender Audit
The Gender Audit Facilitator’s Training Course
Gender Audit Introductory Workshop
Innovative Practices
Evaluation and Impact Study
Information Clearinghouse & “Peer Learning”
CEO Involvement

Gender equality is fundamental to development effectiveness. The recent World Bank Policy Research Report, Engendering Development—Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice (2001), demonstrates how gender equality contributes to both economic growth and poverty reduction. Investments in female education and health tend to increase family incomes, because educated, healthy women are more able to engage in productive activities, find formal sector employment, and earn higher incomes than their counterparts who are uneducated or suffer from poor nutrition and health. In addition, educated women give greater emphasis to the schooling and health of their children, thus improving the productivity of the next generation.

While the international development community generally recognizes the relationship between gender equality and development effectiveness, most development assistance organizations, whether governmental or non-governmental, have not yet institutionalized approaches for addressing gender issues in their work. The CAW responds to this challenge amongst PVOs and NGOs, organizations that collectively implement about 40% of US government funded development assistance as well as administer over $3 billion in assistance from private sources and in-kind contributions.

The CAW aims to institutionalize or mainstream gender equality throughout the work of PVOs and NGOs rather than in only a particular program, an approach that potentially can affect all of an organization’s activities at the field level. The CAW targets the very way PVOs and NGOs do their work and seeks to enhance the effectiveness of their field programs by reducing gender inequalities and promoting women’s and girls’ full participation throughout their operations.

The CAW’s Gender Audit

The CAW’s Gender Audit, an organizational self-assessment and gender action planning process, is the methodology being utilized for improving PVO and NGO institutional competency.

The Gender Audit was developed over the past five years by the CAW to enable organizations to systematically take stock of and address the status of gender equality in all aspects of their operations and work. The purpose of the Gender Audit is to identify areas of strength and achievement, innovative policies and practices, as well as continuing challenges as a foundation for gender action planning.

The CAW’s methodology helps guide organizations in selecting the most appropriate combination of activities, tools and approaches for promoting gender mainstreaming in each particular organization. The comprehensive process brings together staff at all levels to reflect on organizational performance and to determine ways to broaden impact and affect change in the field. Through the assessment and planning process, organizations recognize their own potential and are able to make informed decisions for themselves about how best to address the challenges they face.

The Gender Audit Facilitator's Training Course (GAFTC)

In response to the increasing interest in the Audit from InterAction members and other organizations, the CAW developed a course to enable organizations to carry out the Audit on their own. The five day Gender Audit Facilitator’s Training Course is designed to strengthen the competency and skills of organizational representatives so that they can facilitate their respective organizations’ gender mainstreaming efforts. The course is grounded in adult learning methodologies, utilizing multimedia presentations and hands on exercises based on real experiences in organizational gender mainstreaming.

Gender Audit Facilitator’s Guide

As a means to make the Gender Audit methodology available to organizations that do not attend a training course, the CAW has developed the Gender Audit Facilitator’s Guide. The multimedia CD includes all the information and materials needed for an organization to carry out the Gender Audit process on its own. Features include: a cutting edge analytical framework, examples from a real development organization, effective Gender Audit facilitation skills, video and audio presentations, and ready to use templates for all phases of the Gender Audit process.

Gender Audit Introductory Workshop

The CAW offers a one-day workshop to introduce the basics of the Gender Audit and highlight its impact in the field through the CAW's 2005 publication, Revealing the Power of Gender Mainstreaming: Enhancing Development Effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations in Africa.   At the workshop, participants learn the steps for implementing the Audit, discuss ways to use the Audit and the Gender Audit CD-Rom Facilitator's Guide CD-Rom in their organization, explore examples from organizations that have used the tool, and receive the Gender Audit Handbook and CD-Rom.  The workshop has been offered in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Sign up for a one-day workshop today!

Innovative Practices

Documentation of best practices is an important means of developing a supportive organizational culture as well as enhancing technical capacity. Such documentation is a resource for programmers who are looking for concrete examples of how to move ahead, and it demonstrates to skeptics that gender mainstreaming is possible in the cultures of developing countries.

Gender Mainstreaming in Action: Successful Innovations from Asia and the Pacific is a collection of 18 case stories highlighting innovative practices promoting gender equity in Asia and the Pacific. Cast in simple language and illustration, this collection of best practices features practical experiences in gender mainstreaming at the grassroots, program, and institutional levels. Each case story provides concise lessons and recommendations. This publication was developed and produced in partnership with the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), an InterAction member agency based in the Philippines.

This is a companion volume to the 2001 publication, Stories of Equitable Development: Innovative Practices from Africa, developed in partnership with the Gender Development Institute in Ghana. Stories of Equitable Development: Innovative Practices from Africa is a collection of nine case stories describing unique and innovative strategies development organizations working in Africa have used to integrate gender equity in their programs and organizational structures. The cases in this collection focus on the what and how of the strategies, discuss lessons learned, and give advice for those seeking to adapt these approaches in their organization's own work.

Evaluation and Impact Study

In an initial review of the literature related to gender mainstreaming and development effectiveness, the CAW discovered that there is only limited and mainly anecdotal data available on this connection. Empirical data exists on why gender needs to be taken into account, but little is available on the impact in the field when an organization actually adopts more gender equitable approaches. This is in part because gender mainstreaming, as a systematic approach, is fairly new. It takes organizations a number of years to develop and implement gender mainstreaming strategies, and then takes some time for impact to be realized in the field. In addition, the connection between any form of organizational change and improved performance in the field is complex and a methodological challenge to track.

The CAW addressed this gap in the existing research by conducting an impact assessment in several African countries. The major focus of the CAWs monitoring and evaluation study was to track the extent to which PVOs and NGOs institutionalize gender equitable approaches in their work. The study examined the connection between change at the organizational level and improved performance in the field.

Revealing the Power of Gender Mainstreaming: Enhancing Development Effectiveness of Non-governmental Organizations in Africa, published in 2005, highlights the links between gender equality and poverty alleviation at the community level  and examines the how-tos and the impact of innovative gender mainstreaming strategies of five NGOs in four African countries: Ghana-World Vision, Kenya-Catholic Relief Services and Lutheran World Relief, Niger-CARE, and Zambia-Heifer International. Nearly 900 women, men, and youth from 16 rural communities were interviewed and talked about the impact and positive changes that gender mainstreaming brought to their lives, families, and communities.

A multitude of economic and social benefits for households and communities emerged, including greater agricultural yield, improved sanitation, improved health and nutrition, and expanded primary school enrollment, especially for girls. Men moved from initial resistance to active support; women and men divided household and farm work more equitably; an attitude of harmony and cooperation spread through households and communities; traditional practices such as early marriage for girls and female genital mutilation (FGM) declined in some communities; and women gained inheritance and property ownership rights. This seminal study, which shows how gender mainstreaming can be "a driving force for development," should be an invaluable resource for other development organizations on the journey toward equitable development.

Information Clearinghouse & "Peer Learning" through Online Communities
The CAW resource collection includes sectoral studies, training manuals, and samples of gender integration tools from NGOs in the US and overseas. To foster peer learning amongst members, the CAW brokers information sharing and connects members through InterAction’s CAW Committee Spaces. The CAW also provides a monthly E-newsletter.

CEO Involvement
Commitment from senior management is essential for a successful gender integration initiative and therefore a prerequisite for CAW assistance. At the annual InterAction Forum, the CAW provides opportunities for CEOs and senior managers to learn from one another as well as from leaders from academia, government, and the private sector. The Annual Leet Award is also given to a member organization(s) to recognize progress and leadership in promoting gender equity.