UN Policies and Actions in Ensuring Gender Mainstreaming

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UN Policies and Actions in Ensuring Gender
Mainstreaming

• International Conference on Humanitarian
  Assistance and Gender
• Oslo, Norway
• May 5th, 2008

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What is Gender Mainstreaming?

• It is a process that helps to ensure that
  everyone girls,boys, men and women are
  accounted for equally and equitably in all
  aspects concerning their lives

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Humanitarian and Emergency Situations

• Armed conflict
• Disaster
• Recovery
• Reconstruction

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What does GM have to do with Humanitarian Work?

• It ensures that no one is excluded, marginalized
  or discriminated against because of their sex in
• Protection measures (e.g. GBV)
• Services (e.g. education)
• Opportunities (e.g. loans and employment)
• Basic needs (food, water, sanitation, health,
  shelter, justice)

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What does GM have to do with Humanitarian Work?

• To prevent and relieve suffering of those
  affected by a humanitarian context
• Protect the rights and freedoms of women, girls,
  boys and men
• Promote equal opportunities and rights of all
  free from any discrimination based on sex and
  gender ascribed roles due to social norms

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How do Humanitarian Situations and Emergencies
Affect Gender?

• Armed conflict and other forms of crisis
  negatively affect gender imbalances that predate
  the humanitarian situation
• Conflict exaggerates and emphasizes gender
  stereotypical roles
• Gender-based violence and forced migration and
  displacement destabilize societies
• Laws and other public institutions as well as
  private social networks fail to protect in
  conflict
• Men and women are affected by the conflict
  differently

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When does gender equality need to be integrated
into institutional work?

• Gender equality should be taken into
  consideration at all programmatic levels
• Contingency planning including analysis and risk
  reduction
• Immediate onset response following crisis
  ensuring basic needs are met equitably
• Early recovery community participation,
  involvement of womens groups
• Reconstruction peace process, social
  reunification, retribution and preventing
  impunity
• Transition for economic development and equal
  opportunity

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Gender Mainstreaming Done Right

• Better meet needs and priorities of affected
  population in a targeted manner
• Ensures that all people affected by crisis are
  acknowledged
• Ensure everyones vulnerabilities are accounted
  for (very important for protection issues,
  especially GBV)
• Facilitates design of more appropriate response
  (i.e. more equitable)

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Interagency Standing Committee Policy Statement
on Gender

• The IASC is committed to achieving gender
  equality, ensuring human rights of women, girls,
  boys and men are equally promoted and protected
  in humanitarian action, and ensuring that women,
  girls, boys and men have equitable, safe access
  to services provided

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IASC Five-Way Strategy (2006)

• Set standards handbook on Gender in Humanitarian
  Situations
• Build Surge Standby Capacity
• Sex and Age Disaggregated Data for Analysis
  consultant work to then work with clusters on
  improving data quality and availability
• Capacity-Building Measures Distance Learning
  Module for field staff for UN, NGOs and other
  partners (Internet/CD Rom based)
• Building Partnerships Interaction

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UN Commitment to Gender Equality

• Work of GM began in 1995 following Beijing 4th
  International Conference on Women
• Gender Task Force converted to an IASC
  Sub-Working Group that includes UN, NGO and other
  individual organizations (OXFAM, CARE)
• UN Humanitarian Reform (Cluster Approach)
  recognizes gender as a cross-cutting issue
  (health, education, shelteretc.) with
  accountable cluster leads

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UN Commitment to Gender Equality

• Integration of gender in Humanitarian
  Coordinators system
• CERF (central emergency response fund) is a
  priority issue and critical requirement for
  funding
• Example Kenya CERF received funding for training
  and coordination of gender through Gender
  sub-working group and combatting GBV also funded
  as a result

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Role of NGOs

• Building partnerships with other UN and NGO
  actors in the humanitarian field
• Ensure actors understand the application of
  gender equality in humanitarian context (Ref
  IASC handbooks on Gender and GBV in Humanitarian
  Action)
• Mobilization of like-minded humanitarian actors

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Role of NGOs

• Ensure collaboration with other actors (Tell
  others what you are doing and work with them)
• Surge Standby Capacity Deployment of staff and
  experts to help apply Gender Equality action
  (e.g. GENCAP)
• Operational Action service provision (e.g.
  eduation projects from Norway Save the Children)
• Advocate keep gender equality as a right and
  protection from GBV and gender discrimination on
  the forefront
• Ensure Accountability of UN and other actors

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Examples

• Protection from Gender Based Violence
• Use GBV guidelines checklist
• Ensure confidentiality
• Protect survivors right to choice
• Provide choice of options for counseling,
  treatment and seeking justice
• Advocate to ensure there is no impunity for
  perpetrators

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Examples

• Provision of services
• Camp establishment toilets protected? In a safe
  area? Separate for girls/boys?
• Schooling girls are going as well as boys?
  Located in a safe place? Affordable to everyone?
• Health Affordable? Accounts for the special
  needs of women, particularly those of
  reproductive age?

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Examples

• Coordination
• Ensure codes of conduct for good gender practice
  are adhered to by all actors
• Data on age and sex dissaggregated basis
  available and used in analysis
• Coordinate with all partners for better targeted
  actions
• Get everyones opinion! Ensure that women, men,
  girls and boys participate

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Examples

• Capacity-building
• GenCap
• ProCap
• Use Cluster System to ensure integration of
  gender principles, tools and guidelines applied
• Example CD rom/Internet based module on gender
  in humanitarian action with certificate for
  preparation in the field (with American Council
  for Voluntary International Action Interaction)

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Resources

• IASC Policy Guidelines on Gender Equality in
  Humanitarian Situations (draft)
• IASC Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming in
  Humanitarian Situations
• IASC Handbook on Gender Based Violence in
  Humanitarian Situations

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Resources
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Thank you!