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 Global Issues - Gender Equality - Policy - CIDA's Policy on Gender Equality
CIDA's Policy on Gender Equality
"Entering the 21st century, CIDA remains committed to creating, with our partners, a better world for all—a world where inequality on any grounds, be it gender, class, race or ethnicity, is finally overcome."
Catalogue No.: E94-227/1999
ISBN: 0-662-64144-2
Summary
1. Introduction
2. Rationale for Policy
3. Goal and Objectives
4. Principles
5. Linking Gender Equality with CIDA's Priorities
6. Gender Analysis as a Tool
7. Strategies and Activities to Support the Achievement of Gender Equality
8. Performance Assessment
Good Practices to Promote Gender Equality
Gender Analysis Guidelines
Chronology of CIDA's Commitment to Gender Equality
 Summary
A Vision for the 21st Century
Gender equality contributes substantially to improving the well-being of women, men, girls and boys in our partner countries, which is at the heart of CIDA's mission.
Although important progress has been made in recent years toward achieving gender equality, much remains to be done. Entering the 21st century, CIDA remains committed to creating, with our partners, a better world for all—a world where inequality on any grounds, be it gender, class, race or ethnicity, is finally overcome. CIDA's gender equality policy is one tool to make this vision a reality.
The Goal
To support the achievement of equality between women and men to ensure sustainable development.
The Objectives
To advance women's equal participation with men as decision-makers in shaping the sustainable development of their societies;To support women and girls in the realization of their full human rights; and
To reduce gender inequalities in access to and control over the resources and benefits of development.
Guiding Principles
Eight guiding principles:
Gender equality must be considered as an integral part of all CIDA policies, programs and projects;
Achieving gender equality requires the recognition that every policy, program and project affects women and men differently;
Achieving gender equality does not mean that women become the same as men;
Women's empowerment is central to achieving gender equality;
Promoting the equal participation of women as agents of change in economic, social and political processes is essential to achieving gender equality;
Gender equality can only be achieved through partnership between women and men;
Achieving gender equality will require specific measures designed to eliminate gender inequalities; and
CIDA policies, programs, and projects should contribute to gender equality.
Practical Tools
Sample results, strategies, activities and guidelines are included to support the implementation of the policy.
1. Introduction
Looking Back: A Pioneering Policy
Canada has played a leadership role in the pursuit of gender equality internationally. For more than two decades, CIDA has been working toward the full and equal involve-ment of all people, regardless of sex, in the sustainable development of their communities and societies.
Since producing its 1976 guidelines and releasing its innovative 1984 policy on Women in Development (WID), CIDA has worked consistently—both internally, and with our partners, other donors, and international institutions—to promote women's full participation as both agents and beneficiaries of development.
Recognising that gender is an important social division marked by inequality, CIDA's policy was revised in 1995 to emphasize the importance of gender equity and women's empowerment. CIDA's use of a gender equity approach aimed to ensure fairness in the way women and men are treated and involved the adoption of special measures to tackle gender inequalities and to increase women's autonomy. These special measures and the process of empowerment remain essential elements in remedying unbalanced power relationships between women and men. CIDA's 1995 policy on WID and Gender Equity has been widely used by partners in their policy dialogue work and as a model for the development of their own policies.
Why an Update at this Time?
In its 1995 foreign policy statement Canada in the World, the Government underlined its commitment to sustainable development and poverty reduction and identified the full participation of women as equal partners in the sustainable development of their societies as one of six programming priorities necessary to achieve these commitments. That same year, CIDA's new approach to performance review was tested on the implementation of CIDA's WID and Gender Equity Policy. The conclusions of the review, published in 1998, indicated the need for CIDA to demonstrate clear and sustainable results in promoting gender equality in line with CIDA's policy on results-based management.
On the international scene, important advances in the area of gender equality have been made at recent global gatherings - most notably the commitments to gender equality contained in the Beijing Platform for Action, the final document of the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women held in 1995. Donor commitments to gender equality have also been highlighted in Shaping the 21st Century: The Contribution of Development Co-operation and in the 1998 DAC Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Development Co-operation, both coming from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As a result of these and other factors, CIDA's Policy Committee recommended that the WID and Gender Equity Policy be updated.
What is New in this Policy Update?
This policy update is a product of many insights gained through experience and self-assessment. It builds on concepts that CIDA has long supported such as empowerment and women's participation as decision-makers. It also highlights a number of areas where our thinking has evolved and presents some practical guidance for staff and partners. Among the most important changes are:
A new vision: In the past, CIDA used the concept of gender equity in its programming. Gender equity strategies however, are used to eventually attain gender equality. Equity is the means, equality is the result. The gender equality policy now reflects this evolution in CIDA's vision.
A new goal and objectives: The goal of the policy focuses on the achievement of equality between women and men through our co-operation activities. Consensus now exists that sustainable development - especially poverty reduction - will not be achieved unless we eradicate inequalities between women and men.
A greater focus on the realization of the human rights of women and girls: This policy puts greater emphasis on the eradication of discrimination against women and girls as part of CIDA's concern for social justice and development effectiveness.
A principled approach: A series of principles supporting the goal and objectives lay out CIDA's assumptions for achieving gender equality.
An integration of the results-based approach: Experience has shown that we need to include explicit results that promote equality between women and men in order to attain CIDA's overall goals.
Making the links: The links between CIDA's overarching policy of poverty reduction and its programming priorities and gender equality are discussed, including sample results to guide the development of specific gender equality results in programs and projects.
Practical tools: Drawing on lessons learned, this policy offers sample results, strategies, activities and guidelines to support the achievement of gender equality.
A Vision for the 21st Century
Gender equality contributes substantially to improving the well-being of women, men, girls and boys in our partner countries, which is at the heart of CIDA's mission.
Although important progress has been made in recent years toward achieving gender equality, much remains to be done. Entering the 21st century, CIDA remains committed to creating, with our partners, a better world for all - a world where inequality on any grounds, be it gender, class, race or ethnicity, is finally overcome. CIDA's gender equality policy is one tool to make this vision a reality.
"A transformed partnership based on equality between women and men is a condition for people-centered sustainable development".
Mission Statement, Beijing Platform for Action,
Fourth United Nations World Conference on
Women, Beijing, 1995
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2. Rationale for CIDA’s Policy
Canada’s Commitments to Gender Equality
Canada is committed to supporting the achievement of gender equality at home and throughout the world.
The rights of women and girls are an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental free-doms. The Canadian Constitution, which includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees the right to equality in the law and equal benefit of the law without discrimination on a number of grounds including sex. Canada's Federal Plan for Gender Equality, approved by Cabinet in 1995, committed all federal departments to the promotion of gender equality in all areas, including international co-operation. Under this plan, federal departments are also required to implement gender analysis.
Canada has ratified all the major international human rights treaties including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Canada is also committed to international agreements such as the United Nations Declaration on Violence Against Women, and to the consensus reached at the various UN conferences such as the Cairo Conference on Population and Development, the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, and most recently the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women, in Beijing.
The advancement of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are matters of human rights and conditions for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a women's issue. They are the only way to build a sustain-able, just, and developed society. Empowerment of women and gender equality are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural, and environmental security among all peoples.
Beijing Platform for Action,
Fourth United Nations World Conference on
Women, Beijing, 1995, Paragraph 41
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The Beijing Platform For Action, the final document of the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women, represents the commitment of 189 nations to support women's empowerment, guarantee women's human rights, and achieve gender equality. National governments committed themselves to promoting gender equality in the formulation of all government policies and programs. They identified 12 common critical areas of concern for particular attention: poverty; education and training; health; violence against women; armed conflict; economy; power and decision-making; institutional mechanisms for gender equality; human rights; media; environment; and the girl child.
CIDA’s Commitment to Achieving Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction
Attention to gender equality is essential to sound development practice and at the heart of economic and social progress. Development results cannot be maximized and sustained without explicit attention to the different needs and interests of women and men. If the realities and voices of half of the population are not fully recognized, CIDA's objectives "to reduce poverty and to contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous world" (Canada in the World, Government Statement, February 1995, page 42) will not be met.
The goals of reducing poverty and of achieving gender equality are distinct but interrelated. Poverty reduction involves addressing the constraints that limit people's capability to avoid, or limit deprivation. Gender inequalities intensify poverty, perpetuate it from one generation to the next and weaken women's and girls' ability to overcome it. Inequalities prevent women and girls from taking up opportunities which will make them less vulnerable to poverty in situations of crisis. For poverty reduction to be achieved, the constraints that women and girls face must be eliminated. These constraints include lack of mobility, low self esteem, lack of access to and control over resources, lack of access to basic social services, to training and capacity development opportunities, to information and technology, as well as to decision-making in the state, the judiciary, development and private sector organizations, and in communities and households.
Poverty reduction means a sustained decrease in the number of poor and the extent of their deprivation. This requires that the root causes and structural factors of poverty be addressed. Reducing poverty places a focus on people's capabilities to avoid, or limit, their deprivation. Key aspects of this are: recognizing and developing the potential of the poor: increasing their productive capacity; and reducing barriers limiting their participation in society. Poverty reduction must focus on improving the social, economic and environmental conditions of the poor and their access to decision-making.
A poverty profile analyzes the root causes and contributing factors of poverty, and places poverty within the country's economic, institutional and social context. It summarizes information on the sources of income, consumption patterns, economic activities, access to services, and living conditions of the poor, and examines how poverty is correlated with gender, ethnic and other characteristics.
CIDA’s Policy on Poverty Reduction 1996
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3. Goal and Objectives
Goal
The goal of CIDA's gender equality policy is to support the achievement of equality between women and men to ensure sustainable development.
Objectives
The objectives of the policy are:
to advance women's equal participation with men as decision-makers in shaping the sustainable development of their societies;
to support women and girls in the realization of their full human rights; and
to reduce gender inequalities in access to and control over the resources and benefits of development.
Gender Equity and Gender Equality
Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, measures must often be available to compensate for historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality.
Gender equality means that women and men enjoy the same status. Gender equality means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and potential to contribute to national, political, economic, social and cultural development, and to benefit from the results.
Gender equality is therefore the equal valuing by society of both the similarities and differences between women and men, and the varying roles that they play.
Excerpts from: Gender-Based Analysis:
A guide for policy-making,
Status of Women Canada, 1996
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4. Principles
CIDA's policy on gender equality is rooted in the following principles:
- Gender equality must be considered as an integral part of all CIDA policies, programs and projects. In addition to being one of CIDA's six programming priorities, gender equality is also a cross-cutting goal. Addressing gender equality as a cross-cutting goal requires that women's views, interests and needs shape the development agenda as much as men's, and that the development agenda support progress toward more equal relations between women and men.
- Achieving gender equality requires the recognition that every policy, program and project affects women and men differently. Women and men have different perspectives, needs, interests, roles and resources - and those differences may also be reinforced by class, race, caste, ethnicity or age. Policies, programs and projects must address the differences in experiences and situations between and among women and men.
- Achieving gender equality does not mean that women become the same as men. Equality means that one's rights or opportunities do not depend on being male or female.
- Women's empowerment is central to achieving gender equality. Through empowerment, women become aware of unequal power relations, gain con-trol over their lives, and acquire a greater voice to overcome inequality in their home, workplace and community.
Empowerment
Empowerment is about people—both women and men—taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, gaining skills, building self-confidence, solving problems, and developing self-reliance. It is not only a collective, social and political process, but an individual one as well—and it is not only a process but an outcome too.
Outsiders cannot empower women: only women can empower themselves to make choices or to speak out on their own behalf. However, institutions, including international co-operation agencies, can support processes that increase women's self-confidence, develop their self-reliance, and help them set their own agendas.
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Promoting the equal participation of women as agents of change in economic, social and political processes is essential to achieving gender equality. Equal participation goes beyond numbers. It involves women's equal right to articulate their needs and interests, as well as their vision of society, and to shape the decisions that affect their lives, whatever cultural context they live in. Partnership with women's organizations and other groups working for gender equality is necessary to assist this process.
Gender equality can only be achieved through partnership between women and men. When choices for both women and men are enlarged, all society benefits. Gender equality is an issue that concerns both women and men, and achieving it will involve working with men to bring about changes in attitudes, behaviour, roles and responsibilities at home, in the workplace, in the community, and in national, donor and international institutions.
Achieving gender equality will require specific measures designed to eliminate gender inequalities. Given ingrained disparities, equal treatment of women and men is insufficient as a strategy for gender equality. Specific measures must be developed to address the policies, laws, procedures, norms, beliefs, practices and attitudes that maintain gender inequality. These gender equity measures, developed with stakeholders, should support women's capacity to make choices about their own lives.
CIDA policies, programs, and projects should contribute to gender equality. Gender equality results should be incorporated into all of CIDA's international co-operation initiatives although application will vary among branches, programs and projects.
5. Linking Gender Equality with CIDA’s Priorities
The following table outlines the links between CIDA's overarching policy of poverty reduction, its programming priorities, and gender equality (Definitions taken from Canada in the World, Government Statement, February 1995, page 42, CIDA's Policy on Poverty Reduction, 1996; Results-Based Management—Policy Statement, 1996). It also provides examples of results that can contribute to the achievement of gender equality.
Progress can be made by identifying results that advance women's equal participation with men as decision-makers in shaping the sustainable development of their societies, support women and girls in the realization of their full human rights and reduce gender inequalities in access to and control over the resources and benefits of development. Gender equality results should be clearly articulated in the design of all of CIDA's international co-operation initiatives.
Measuring progress on gender equality results requires the tracking of appropriate indicators to capture information on changes which contribute to the achievement of gender equality (This topic is treated more thoroughly in the CIDA documents Guide to Gender-sensitive Indicators and The Why and How of Gender-Sensitive Indicators - Project Level Handbook, 1997).
CIDA overarching policy and programming priorities | Links with gender equality | Examples of results that contribute to the achievement of gender equality |
| "Poverty Reduction: to promote policies that create an enabling environment for poverty reduction; support poverty-focused programs that improve income-generation opportunities, skills training and basic services; launch targeted interventions that directly empower vulnerable groups like women, children, minorities, the landless, the unemployed, and the displaced." | Compared to men, women generally have less access to and control over productive assets, employment and training opportunities, basic services, information, and decision-making mechanisms in the state, judiciary, private sector organizations, the community, and within the household. These gender inequalities contribute to and perpetuate poverty from one generation to the next. | Increased access to and control over productive assets (especially land, capital and credit), processing and marketing for women.
Increased access to and control over basic services (especially primary and reproductive health, child care, shelter and basic education for girls).
Increased skills training and capacity development opportunities, as well as on-the-job training and management opportunities for women.
Increased participation of women in decision-making in the state and the judiciary, as well as in private sector and civil society organizations, the community, and the household.
Strengthened capacity of partner institutions, governments and civil society organizations to promote, design and implement policies, programs and projects which reflect the needs, priorities and interests of both women and men, and support gender equality. |
| "Basic Human Needs: to support efforts to provide primary health care, basic education, family planning, nutrition, water and sanitation, and shelter." | Women and men have different needs arising from their socially constructed roles and responsibilities. Women tend to be responsible for meeting their own and their families' basic human needs. However, they face specific constraints in gaining access to services which meet their basic human needs, given their lack of access to and control and ownership over resources, and their lack of decision-making power. Girls, in particular, face constraints in terms of their opportunities and life choices.
These specific constraints must be taken into account in order to ensure that the basic human needs of the entire community are met, and that basic human needs programming contributes to poverty reduction | Increased decision-making power for women regarding expenditures in the household.
Increased sharing of household responsibilities between women and men.
Increased options for child-care.
Increased access to and control over primary health care services for women and girls.
Increased understanding of gender differences in determinants and consequences of diseases such as malaria, HIV, AIDS and respiratory diseases.
Increased access to a broad range of reproductive health care services for women and men.
Increased access to education programs for girls.
Elimination of gender stereotypes in school curricula.
Increased access to and control over decision-making by women in the design, management and maintenance of water and sanitation services. |
| "Infrastructure Services: to help developing countries deliver envi-ronmentally sound infrastructure services, with an emphasis on poorer groups, capacity-building, and the environment." | Experience has shown that women and men have different priorities and preferences in relation to tech-nology, and make different uses of (and have different access to and control over) infrastructure services based on their socially ascribed roles, responsibilities, privileges, and ownership over assets and financial resources.
By recognizing these differences, programs and projects will be able to provide appropriate and accessible infrastructure services that meet the water, energy, transport, communications and information needs of both women and men. | Improved access for women to safe and affordable public transport services and infrastructure.
Increased capacity of women and their organizations to influence decisions regarding the design of public services and infrastructure.
Increased employment of women (at all levels - from road construction worker to manager) in infrastructure services.
Increased capacity of institutions to design and implement infrastructure investments which respond to the needs and priorities of poor women.
Increased numbers of women employed in non-traditional occupations. |
| "Human Rights, Democratization and Good Governance: to increase respect for human rights, including children's rights; to promote democracy and better governance; and to strengthen both civil society and the security of the individual." | The human rights of women and girls are an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
By both promoting and supporting processes towards the eradication of all forms of discrimination on the grounds of sex, CIDA can help shape a new human rights practice that protects all human beings. | Greater numbers of civil society organizations advocating for women's and girls' rights.
Greater awareness by women and girls of their economic, social, civil, political, and cultural rights, and greater support for these rights by men and boys.
Increased capacity of institutions such as the judiciary and the police to implement policies and programs that address domestic violence.
Adoption and implementation of national policies and plans on gender equality. |
| "Private sector development: to promote sustained and equitable economic growth by supporting private sector development in developing countries." | Women and men face different social and economic constraints in responding to economic opportunities in the private sector. In general, these constraints relate to women having less education or appropriate training, less access to and control over collateral and capital and financial markets. Women also have greater household and childcare responsibilities. Taxation laws and regulations may include discriminatory provisions against women, while attitudes and beliefs may put up barriers to women's opportunities in the private sector.
By recognizing and addressing these 'inefficiencies' in the market and the social barriers to women's equal participation, CIDA will contribute to equitable and sustained economic growth. | Increased economic options for poor women.
Greater access to and control over credit, training and services for women entrepreneurs.
Increased capacity of partner organizations to address gender equality issues in trade policy and economic reform.
Elimination of taxation provisions that discriminate against women.
Elimination of discriminatory practices against female workers, especially in relation to established international and national labour codes (e.g. health and safety codes and regulations, right to organize, freedom from sexual harassment). |
| Environment: to help developing countries protect their environment and contribute to addressing global and regional environmental issues." | "Environmental conditions such as deforestation, soil degradation and watershed reduction affect women and men differently, given their different roles and relative decision-making power. As consumers, producers and users of natural resources for their livelihoods, caretakers of their families, and educators, women also play an integral role in promoting sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns and approaches to natural resource management.
CIDA's goal of environmental sustainability will be elusive unless the differential impact of environmental factors on women and men is addressed and women's contribution to environmental management is recognized and supported. | Increased recognition of women's knowledge of the natural environment and increased decision-making role for them in natural resource management - especially for indigenous women, whose particular knowledge of ecological linkages and fragile ecosystems is essential.
Increased participation of women and organizations advocating gender equality in the development of national strategies for sustainable development.
Increased capacity of ministries for the environment to design and implement environmental programs and projects which respond to the different needs, priorities and interests of women, particularly poor women.
Increased involvement of women and women's groups in the design and management of viable recycling activities. |
| "Women in Development: to support the full participation of women as equal partners in the sustainable development of their societies." | Support for the achievement of gender equality is carried out through integration efforts in all areas of programming (referred to in the past as WID-integrated) as well as through investments in initiatives whose principal objective is to support gender equality (referred to in the past as women or WID-specific).
While gender equality is a goal to be integrated into all areas of programming, programs and projects whose principal objective is to support the achievement of gender equality can complement and support broader efforts to integrate and promote gender equality. Examples include Gender Funds, direct institutional support to government ministries responsible for promoting gender equality, and support to advocacy organizations working for gender equality, or working with men to end violence against women. | Strengthened capacity of partner organizations, institutions, governments, private sector organizations and firms to promote, design and implement policies, programs and projects which reflect the needs, priorities and interests of both women and men, and support gender equality.
Increased recognition of violence against women as a social problem, and greater commitment from government, civil society and citizens to eliminate it.
Greater participation of women in political office and increased attention to women's needs, priorities and interests in political discourse.
Increased capacity of government agencies mandated to promote gender equality, women's organizations, and other organizations promoting gender equality, to monitor and influence government planning processes and public policy.
Increased capacity of governments and civil society to implement international commitments such as the Beijing Platform for Action.
Greater social, economic and political empowerment for women as measured through increased economic security, decision-making in the household, legal awareness, and collective action for self-determination. |
6. Gender Analysis as a tool
Gender analysis is an indispensable tool for both understanding the local context, and promoting gender equality.
CIDA defines knowledge of the local context as: "the recognition that development interventions operate within existing social, cultural, economic, environmental, institutional and political structures in any community, country or region. Further, few communities, countries or regions are homogeneous—formal and informal power structures within each reflect social, economic and political relationships among the people concerned as well as with the outside world. Simply put, knowledge of the local context is vital to understanding these relationships and their connection to the project in terms of needs, impact and results". (Effective Programming Technical Notes, Policy Branch, CIDA, 1997)
Gender analysis examines one of these relationships, that between women and men. It identifies the varied roles played by women and men, girls and boys in the household, community, workplace, political processes, and economy. These different roles usually result in women having less access than men to resources and decision-making processes, and less control over them.
Gender, Gender Roles and the Gender Division of Labour
Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and men. The concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviours of both women and men (femininity and masculinity). These roles and expectations are learned, changeable over time, and variable within and between cultures. Gender analysis has increasingly revealed how women's subordination is socially constructed, and therefore able to change, as opposed to being biologically predetermined and therefore static.
The gender division of labour refers to the different work that women and men generally do within the community or inside the home. Factors such as education, technology, economic change, and sudden crises like war and famine cause gender roles and the gender division of labour to change. By examining the gender division of labour it becomes evident that women's and men's tasks are interdependent, and that women generally carry the greater burden of unpaid work in the home and community.
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Gender analysis is an essential tool for understanding the local context. It is particularly useful in project design as it helps planners identify constraints and structure projects so that objectives can be met and measured. The use of gender analysis, throughout the project cycle, provides information on:
the differential perspectives, roles, needs, and interests of women and men in the project area, country, region, or institution, including the practical needs and strategic interests of women and men;
the relations between women and men pertaining to their access to, and control over resources, benefits and decision-making processes;
the potential differential impact of program or project interventions on women and men, girls and boys;
social and cultural constraints, opportunities, and entry points for reducing gender inequalities and promoting more equal relations between women and men;
the capacity of institutions to program for gender equality; and
the differences among women and men and the diversity of their circumstances, social relationships and consequent status (e.g. their class, race, caste, ethnicity, age, culture and abilities).
Practical Needs and Strategic Interests
Practical needs can be defined as immediate necessities (water, shelter, food, income and health care) within a specific context. Projects that address practical needs generally include responses to inadequate living conditions.
Strategic interests, on the other hand, refer to the relative status of women and men within society. These interests vary in each context and are related to roles and expectations, as well as to gender divisions of labour, resources and power. Strategic interests may include gaining legal rights, closing wage gaps, protection from domestic violence, increased decision-making, and women's control over their bodies.
To ensure sustainable benefits, both practical needs and strategic interests must be taken into account in the design of policies, programs and projects.
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Gender analysis provides information to determine the most effective strategies in a particular context and to identify results that support gender equality. For example, programs or projects may be identified whose principal objective will be to support gender equality, or entry points for the support of gender equality may be identified within programs or projects where gender equality is one of a number of objectives.
Gender analysis is required for all CIDA policies, programs and projects. Application of gender analysis will vary according to the nature and scope of initiatives.
Good Practices in Gender Analysis
Gender analysis is one of the "windows of opportunity" in a project or program cycle where the investment of resources (time, energy and funding) leads to gender equality results. Good gender analysis:
places people front and centre
requires skilled professionals
involves local expertise with a solid background in gender equity issues
involves significant numbers of women and/or key women members of partner organizations.
Source: WID&GE Performance Review:
Best Practices Study
CIDA, 1996 |
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7. Strategies and Activities to Support the Achievement of Gender Equality
CIDA supports people in partner countries through a variety of international co-operation initiatives.
The following describes strategies and activities that can support the achievement of gender equality in these initiatives.
a) Policy Dialogue
CIDA's activities are not limited to programs and projects. Through policy dialogue, CIDA and its partners exchange views and information and raise issues related to the policy environment in which they operate. Policy dialogue is an important way in which CIDA works with its partners to achieve gender equality results. It may be carried out at formal discussions such as consultative groups, or informally through regular contacts.
Promoting gender equality in policy dialogue means:
developing and maintaining knowledge of the nature and scope of gender inequality in the region, country, or sector, and of strategies to overcome it;
addressing gender equality in all policy dialogue with governments, institutions, and civil society partners, especially through the use of the Beijing Platform For Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as a basis for discussions;
sharing with partners good practices, project and program experiences, and lessons in promoting gender equality;
using policy dialogue activities to identify constraints, opportunities, and entry points for promoting gender equality; and
encouraging participatory approaches by involving women's organizations and gender equality advocates in the policy dialogue process.
b) Programming Frameworks
CIDA uses programming frameworks (PFs) to link its corporate programming priorities with its projects/ programs, and to define the basis of all Canadian international co-operation efforts in specific countries/regions, and with partner institutions. A PF is a key mechanism for ensuring that programming with a country, region, or institution will support gender equality. The PF process starts by identifying the development needs and opportunities within the country, region, or institution (which could include the critical areas of concern from the Beijing Platform For Action).
PFs should:
recognize gender equality as a cross-cutting issue, and integrate gender-analysis findings into the identification of programming areas, expected results and indicators;
include information disaggregated by sex on the country, region, or institution, as well as key results and lessons learned from past programming in support of gender equality;
be developed in a participatory fashion, including a wide range of female stakeholders at the governmental level and from civil society from the country, region, or institution;
consider Canada's capacity in gender equality (i.e., policy or program experience within Canada, gender equality resources) in the analysis of Canadian capacity and interests;
use the findings of the initial gender analysis to establish a baseline against which to analyze and measure actual gender equality results achieved over time; and
include assessment of progress on achieving gender equality results in the performance measurement framework.
c) Program Assistance
Program assistance, which is often used to support economic and sectoral reform in partner countries, has a broad impact on economic and social conditions and thus on the lives of women and men. Yet too often it has been undertaken with no reference to the differential roles, needs, and interests of women and men. Recent program experience and the development of methodologies to carry out gender-aware country economic analyses have demonstrated that it is possible to promote gender equality in program assistance initiatives and in the analysis of policy options for economic restructuring.
Including gender equality in program assistance initiatives involves:
actively promoting positive images of women and their needs, interests and views;
bringing together social scientists (including economists), government and civil society women's organizations, and gender equality advocates in the dialogue on program assistance initiatives, in order to design integrated approaches to economic and social reform that promote gender equality;
conducting gender analysis at the pre-design stage and reflecting its results, for example in the design of program assistance (this could include examination of the differential impact of macro-economic policies such as government budget allocation and interest rates on women and men at the national, community and household levels); and
supporting and designing economic assistance initiatives that respond to the needs and interests of poor women and men, in particular.
d) Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development
Institutional strengthening and capacity development initiatives can advance gender equality by:
promoting and supporting organizational change that contributes to gender equality;
actively promoting positive images of women and their needs, interests and views;
encouraging women's participation throughout the organization and developing strategies to increase their representation at decision-making levels;
supporting partners in developing their capacity to undertake gender analysis at the policy, program, and institutional levels, and to design and carry out programming that supports gender equality; and
providing assistance for developing capacity at the national and sectoral levels to collect and make available sex-disaggregated data.
e) Bilateral Projects and Programs
Bilateral projects and programs offer significant opportunities for support-ing gender equality.
This involves:
carrying out gender analysis and integrating the findings into project and program planning;
seeking participation in the project design process by local organizations and individuals with gender equality expertise;
assessing the potential impact of the project or program on gender equality, and ensuring that potential negative impacts on women and men are addressed;
identifying and using opportunities to reduce gender inequalities;
working to ensure the equal participation of women as decision-makers in all activities;
integrating gender equality into project results from the beginning, and developing gender-sensitive performance indicators at the output, outcome and impact levels;
specifying resources and results related to developing the capacity of government and civil society partners to implement programming that supports gender equality;
developing, as part of the project implementation plan, a strategy to integrate gender equality results, and allocating an adequate budget for its implementation;
developing a selection process that gives adequate weight to assessment of the capacity of implementors, consultants and executing agencies to address gender equality in the project's or program's specific tasks or focus;
creating contracts and terms of reference that include clearly defined roles and responsibilities, objectives and specific results relating to the promotion of gender equality; and
describing progress in the achievement of gender equality within performance measurement.
f) Multilateral Programs
Multilateral organizations such as international and regional financial institutions and United Nations agencies are important partners for CIDA, offering considerable opportunity to support gender equality.
CIDA can support gender equality in multilateral programs by:
working with multilateral partners to improve their institutional capacity to support gender equality, including ensuring an equitable representation of women at the decision-making level and the development of policies and procedures that promote gender equality where these do not exist;
ensuring that programming frameworks, assessments and evaluations of multilateral organizations systematically consider gender equality as a cross-cutting goal;
working with multilateral partners to ensure the use of gender analysis, the development of gender equality results in projects and programs, and the reporting of progress; and
supporting dialogue and co-ordination on gender equality with multilateral partners, especially in fields such as macro-economic policy reform and areas where CIDA and multilateral programs and projects could mutually reinforce each other's efforts.
g) Projects and Programs of Canadian Civil Society Partners
CIDA supports a broad range of Canadian civil society partners who design and carry out international co-operation activities with groups abroad. Many of these partners - non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, unions, co-operatives, professional associations, municipalities and private sector firms - have developed their own policies and procedures for addressing gender equality and have amassed considerable experience in the field. Other partners are relatively new to international co-operation and have a limited capacity to support gender equality.
CIDA can support gender equality through projects and programs of its civil society partners by:
encouraging the development of policies and procedures that promote gender equality where these do not exist;
requiring the use of gender analysis, the development of gender equality results in projects and programs, and the reporting of progress on results;
supporting partners in improving their institutional capacity to support gender equality, including promoting an equitable representation of women at the decision-making level; and
encouraging dialogue, between CIDA and civil society partners in Canada and in partner countries, on good practices to promote gender equality.
h) Humanitarian and Emergency Assistance and Peace-Building Activities
There is growing recognition that attention to gender equality is essential to meeting the basic needs of women and men in critical conditions.
This involves:
building a knowledge base of the gender-specific needs and interests of people in emergency situations (i.e. regarding security, food, shelter, health care, trauma support, etc.), and of those affected by demining and landmine victim assistance programs;
including institutional capacity on gender equality within the criteria for selecting organizations delivering humanitarian and emergency assistance, and peace-building activities; and including capacity development on gender equality within activities themselves;
including gender equality within programming frameworks, assessments, and evaluations of multilateral organizations; and
including discussion of gender equality results in policy dialogue with partners involved in the delivery of humanitarian and emergency assistance.
8. Performance Assessment
Corporate Level Results
The objectives of this Policy can be seen as corporate level results against which implementation of the gender equality policy can be measured. A performance measurement framework including indicators against which to assess the implementation of the gender equality policy will be developed by the Gender Equality Division, Policy Branch in collaboration with Performance Review Branch and other Branches. The framework will address issues such as:
the collection and analysis of data disaggregated by sex, as well as by age and socio-economic and ethnic groups;
analysis of information on constraints to the achievement of gender equality, and on progress in the reduction of gender inequalities and the promotion of gender equality;
quantitative and qualitative information and analysis;
non-project activities such as policy dialogue on gender equality;
CIDA's institutional capacity for delivering gender equality results; and
availability and use of resources, both financial and human, in support of gender equality.
Branch Level Results
Program Branches will be responsible for developing Branch level gender equality results statements for each of the gender equality policy objectives as well as for ensuring that results statements in all priority areas support these objectives. Gender equality results should be expressed, measured and reported upon for all CIDA supported initiatives. Program Branches will report on progress against gender equality results through normal performance assessment processes.
Accountability
Accountability for the implementation of this policy rests within each of CIDA's corporate and program branches, partners and executing agencies.
Performance review of the implementation of this policy is the responsibility of Performance Review Branch and will be carried out as part of the normal performance review cycle.
Good Practices to Promote Gender Equality
Two decades of experience within CIDA have taught us several lessons that are relevant to supporting gender equality throughout CIDA programming initiatives. Gender equality is more apt to be achieved if the following conditions exist:
At the Corporate Level
senior management is committed to gender equality;
there are sufficient resources and knowledgeable personnel, along with an enabling corporate environment to promote gender equality;
there are accountability frameworks which ensure that the gender equality policy is implemented;
qualified gender equality specialists (especially locally-based ones) are employed on a regular basis; and
gender equality is treated as an objective in and of itself.
In the Planning Process
gender equality is recognized as relevant to every aspect of international co-operation from macro-economic reform to infrastructure projects;
gender analysis is carried out at the earliest stages of the project or program cycle and the findings are integrated into project or program planning;
institutional weaknesses or cultural biases that could constrain the achievement of gender equality results are recognized in policy, program, or project design, and strategies are developed to address them;
means are identified to ensure there is broad participation of women and men as decision-makers in the planning process;
clear, measurable, and achievable gender equality results are developed in the earliest phases of the process;
gender-sensitive indicators, both qualitative and quantitative, are developed (this requires the collection of baseline data disaggregated by sex, as well as by age and socio-economic and ethnic groups);
a specific strategy and budget is provided to support the achievement of gender equality results;
partners and implementors are selected on the basis of their commitment and capacity to promote gender equality; and
gender equality specialists are involved from the start of the planning process.
During Implementation
gender equality specialists are part of project teams;
external support is sought from women's organizations, key female and male decision-makers, leaders and allies;
the objective of gender equality is not lost in rhetoric or in preoccupation with agency processes;
there is flexibility and openness to respond to new and innovative methods, and to opportunities for supporting gender equality that present themselves during implementation; and
there is broad participation of women in the implementation.
Performance Measurement
gender equality results are expressed, measured and reported on using qualitative and quantitative indicators;
data, disaggregated by sex, as well as by age and socio-economic and ethnic groups, is collected;
qualified gender equality specialists (especially locally-based ones) are involved in performance measurement;
information on progress in reducing gender inequalities is collected and analyzed as an integral part of performance measurement;
a long-term perspective is taken (i.e., social change takes time); and
participatory approaches are used, where women and men actively take part in the planning of performance measurement frameworks, in their implementation, and in the discussion of their findings.
Gender Analysis Guidelines
Gender analysis: What to ask
Who is the target (both direct and indirect) of the proposed policy, program or project? Who will benefit? Who will lose?
Have women been consulted on the 'problem' the intervention is to solve? How have they been involved in development of the 'solution'?
Does the intervention challenge the existing gender division of labour, tasks, responsibilities and opportunities?
What is the best way to build on (and strengthen) the government's commitment to the advancement of women?
What is the relationship between the intervention and other actions and organizations - national, regional or international?
Where do opportunities for change or entry points exist? And how can they best be used?
What specific ways can be proposed for encouraging and enabling women to participate in the policy/program/project, despite their traditionally more domestic location and subordinate position?
What is the long-term impact in regard to women's increased ability to take charge of their own lives, and to take collective action to solve problems?
Gender analysis: What to do
Gain an understanding of gender relations, the division of labour between men and women (who does what work), and who has access to, and control over, resources.
Include domestic (reproductive) and community work in the work profile. Recognize the ways women and men work and contribute to the economy, their family and society.
Use participatory processes and include a wide range of female and male stakeholders at the governmental level and from civil society - including women's organizations and gender equality experts.
Identify barriers to women's participation and productivity (social, economic, legal, political, cultural...).
Gain an understanding of women's practical needs and strategic interests, and identify opportunities to support both.
Consider the differential impact of the initiative on men and women, and identify consequences to be addressed.
Establish baseline data, ensure sex-disaggregated data, set measurable targets, and identify expected results and indicators.
Outline the expected risks (including backlash) and develop strategies to minimize these risks.
Chronology of CIDA’s Commitment to Gender Equality
| 1976: | CIDA adopted initial policy guidelines on Women in Development (WID) |
| 1984: | WID Directorate established and first CIDA WID Policy developed |
| 1986: | CIDA's five-year WID Plan of Action launched |
| 1993: | CIDA's WID Policy and activities evaluated |
| 1994: | WID and Gender Equity Division established in Policy Branch |
| 1995: | WID Policy update: WID and Gender Equity Policy |
| 1995: | Government of Canada Policy for CIDA on Human Rights, Democratization and Good Governance released; it recognizes the centrality of women's human rights |
| 1995: | Support for the full participation of women as equal partners in the sustainable development of their societies is identified as one of CIDA's six programming priorities in the Government's foreign policy statement, Canada in the World, Government Statement. |
| 1995: | CIDA performance review conducted focusing on the WID and Gender Equity Policy |
| 1995: | CIDA's Policy on Poverty Reduction released; it commits the Agency to address gender equality as part of poverty reduction |
| 1996: | CIDA's Strategy for Health released, emphasizing the importance of women's and girls' empowerment to improving their health |
| 1997: | CIDA's Basic Human Needs Policy launched, emphasizing the promotion of gender equality as a necessary strategy to meet the needs of women and their families |
| 1997: | CIDA's draft Strategy for Children released for consultation; it declares gender equality and women's empowerment essential for girls' and boys' well-being |
| 1997: | CIDA strategy Our Commitment to Sustainable Development released; it acknowledges that achievement of CIDA's sustainable development and poverty reduction mandate depends on support for the full participation of women, along with CIDA's five other programming priorities. |
PDF Format
CIDA's Policy on Gender Equality is also available in PDF format.
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