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Integrating Gender Throughout a Project's Lifecycle

Date of Design
2013
Designer
Land O’Lakes Inc. International Development
Contact Institution
Giselle Aris: GDAris@landolakes.com
Pathway Component
Agricultural Income
Food Production
Women’s Empowerment

CONTENT SUMMARY

Brief Description: This document serves as guidance on how development practitioners can integrate gender into proposal development and project implementation. It is not a tool, but instead references a variety of tools that can be used at different stages of a project. 

Uses: This document is intended to provide guidance on how to use a gender lens in program design, implementation, and evaluation. It also references numerous external resources that can bolster the guidance provided in the document. It is primarily intended for early recovery and development contexts, not humanitarian settings (i.e., conflict zones).   

Tool Components: The document is split into three main chapters: 

  • Chapter 1: Proposal Development: Points to Consider
  • Chapter 2: Integrate Gender into Project Design, Approaches, and Activities
  • Chapter 3: Capacitate, Capture, and Communicate

OPERATIONS

Number of Staff Required: No additional staff are required for this process as the document provides practical guidance for staff already involved in program design and implementation. 

Time: The document supports use of a gender lens throughout the project cycle; time required is directly aligned with project length. 

Cost of Assessment: It is essential that adequate resources be allocated for gender-related components of a proposal budget. Examples of such components are a gender analysis, gender sensitization trainings, and inclusion of a gender specialist on staff. 

Training: The document recommends that all project/field staff undergo gender training, ideally in the first few months of start-up. Depending on staff needs and project resources, this training can be facilitated by a local gender consultant or in-house gender expert. 

Geographic Targeting: Will be defined by specific project objectives.

Type of Data Collection: Data must be reviewed and collected to understand gender constraints and technical approaches to address these constraints. A variety of secondary data can be used for this purpose. Additionally, project data should be sex-disaggregated to provide a sense of key differences in resource access, decision- making power, daily responsibilities, skills, and educational opportunities for men and women. The data should be used for gender analysis to inform project design and implementation. 

Data sources may include internal organizational documents, publications produced by other nongovernmental organizations, women-focused private-sector groups, universities, research institutions, and government publications. 

Degree of Technical Difficulty: The depth of gender analysis and the degree to which the project design incorporates a gender lens will determine the technical difficulty. The document offers a number of approaches and techniques; a project designer or manager will be able to specify which elements will be incorporated.

Complements other Resources: The document makes specific reference to a variety of other documents and resources that can help to strengthen a gender analysis and approach.