Posted Date: May 20, 1997
PVOs Move Forward with Gender Integration in the Field
July 28, 1997
PVOs Move Forward with Gender Integration in the Field
Representatives of 20 InterAction member agencies came together in late June to confront a shared challenge: how to integrate a gender perspective into overseas programs. The workshop, Gender Integration in Field Programs: Practical Strategies and Tools for Sectoral Approaches, was convened by InterAction's Commission on the Advancement of Women (CAW) as part of its follow-up activities to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It was hosted by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), an InterAction member. A panel on strategies for integrating gender into all aspects of programming opened the workshop. This was followed by "sectoral working groups" where expert resource persons discussed issues and shared tools in the areas of natural resources management, education, health and agriculture/rural development. Participants left the workshop with a deeper understanding of specific methods which can be adapted to their respective organizations and programs. The panel presentations included case studies of InterAction member agency programs and an overview of guidelines developed by Plan International, the international organization of which Childreach is a part. Charlotte Johnson-Welch and Ellen Weiss of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), spoke about two programs documented in the recent ICRW-InterAction publication, Taking Women into Account: Lessons Learned from NGO Project Experiences. "Making Oilseed Presses Work for Women" was implemented by Appropriate Technology International in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and "Including Women in Natural Resource Management" was CARE/Guatemala's women in development initiative. Both projects identified some key "lessons learned" for effectively integrating gender into programs, including: the importance of addressing women's economic roles and needs; the need for project staff to be trained in gender-related issues; and the recognition that "WID" components can have an important demonstration effect and serve as a training ground for staff, but will remain marginal unless clear plans for integration exist. Based on the cases, Johnson-Welch identified five "components of mainstreaming," in terms of examining women's and men's roles, responsibilities, and benefits: 1) Genesis of the idea: who identifies the project need?; 2) Rules: how do things get done?; 3) Activities: what is done and who does it?; 4) Resources: what is used and produced?; and 5) People: who is in or out? who are the decision-makers and the "grunts?" Delores McLaughlin of Plan International, expanded on the concept of "mainstreaming" in her presentation on Plan's new guidelines for Integrating the Gender Equity Principle into the Program Cycle. The guidelines were developed over several years through a consultative process with Plan staff around the world. They include four phases of programming Ä preparation and entry phase, planning phase, implementation phase, and monitoring and evaluation phase Ä and list key questions to consider for each phase. For instance, in the planning phase, the guidelines ask questions such as: "Are girls and boys, women's and men's needs and priorities recognized? Is training for village committees in planning gender aware? Are women as well as men getting equal access to training? Are monitoring and evaluation indicators gender disaggregated?" Workshop participants indicated that the guidelines are particularly relevant and useful for their own work. After the panelists' overview of gender integration issues and strategies, participants divided into four sectoral working groups to examine specific tools to use in their programs. Discussion in each group was lively and intense. The natural resources management group, coordinated by forestry and environmental specialist Gwen Thomas, examined "gender resource mapping" and other tools for analyzing activities, resources and benefits. In the agriculture/rural development group, Hillary Feldstein of ICRW and CGIAR (the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), shared various grids and charts for tracking resources for farm production access and control and led a rich discussion on the dynamics of promoting gender integration in this field. In education, Chloe O'Gara of AED noted the gains that have been made in girls' primary school enrollment but emphasized that the quality of girls' education continues to be lacking. She shared a manual, Beyond Enrollment: A Handbook for Improving Girls' Experiences in Primary Classrooms, which includes practical ideas related to curriculum, instruction and guidance, language and speech, management of time and space, and issues of sexuality. The health group, led by Johnson-Welch and Weiss, considered gender issues in population, AIDS prevention and nutrition programs. In the case of health, participants focused on the inclusion of men as a critical gender issue. InterAction member representatives who attended the workshop expressed strong interest in an ongoing series of workshops, each focusing in-depth on a different sectoral area. The CAW is planning activities for the fall to respond to these needs. For more information on materials cited in the article or on up-coming events, contact CAW Director Suzanne Kindervatter at 202/667-8227, ext. 135 or e-mail: skindervatter@interaction.org .
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