Gender and social inclusion
Gender inequality is one of the key factors hampering wealth creation, poverty reduction and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in many developing countries. While international policy has made some progress towards addressing gender inequality, it needs to be converted into concrete changes on the ground, especially at the local level.
The resources available on this page all address the capacities required at the local level to address gender inequalities effectively. Sub topics include:
Decentralization: Decentralization increases the power of local governments and, by extension, their capacity to boost gender equality. What can local actors do to ensure that local governments actually mobile their powers to promote gender equality?
Leadership and power: Addressing gender inequalities starts with leadership and political will. One way to mobilize political will for gender equality is to get as many women as possible in leadership positions. Another way is to enhance gender sensitivity among male leaders.
Generating and analysing evidence on gender inequality: Evidence of gender inequality is a powerful resource for generating gender sensitivity and essential for developing effective gender policies. Monitoring mechanisms and gender analytical tools are therefore core capacities that local governments need to acquire.
Featured Article
Gender in value chains training course
Dates: 11 - 22 February 2013
(Application deadline 10th December 2012)
Type of event: Training (please note that this is a paid course)
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Organization: Royal Tropical Institute (KIT)
More information:
http://genderinvaluechains.ning.com/events/kit-course-gender-in-value-chains-gvc
Professionals working in the field of sustainable agri-business development, be it from a private sector, support service or government perspective, are in need of a better understanding of how gender can be mainstreamed in value chain activities and partnerships. This participatory, experience based course offers you a framework that helps you plan and implement value chain interventions in such a way that women benefit more from value chains, while at the same time increasing business development opportunities within the chain as a whole.
More- Search Terms:
Recent Articles
Tapping the power of women's collective action in agricultural markets
06 June 2013
Development actors are increasingly prioritising ‘investing in women’ to ensure food security
and sustainability—as well as equity—in agricultural development. In this context, collective
action is a critical but poorly understood way for women small-scale farmers to strengthen their
engagement in agricultural markets.
Report of national stakeholder consultations on water in the post-2015 development agenda
23 May 2013
This report published by the Global Water Partnership (GWP) summarizes findings from 22
national consultations that it organized between February and May 2013. The consultations aimed to:
identify country needs; obtain a deeper qualitative understanding of national priorities; and
compliment the online global thematic consultation on water. The broad topics covered included
water resources and wastewater management, as well as quality and water supply, sanitation and
hygiene (WASH).
Engaging communities in identifying beneficiaries of pro-poor programmes
13 May 2013
One of the main challenges countries face in effectively targeting social safety net
programmes is correctly identifying the poorest households. This January 2013 Brief highlights a
study by MIT's Poverty Action Lab that compared community-based methods of selecting who qualifies
for a cash transfer programme with proxy means tests. The study found that while participatory
methods were less accurate overall, they greatly improved local satisfaction and better matched the
poor’s own concept of poverty.
Capacity development tools for community empowerment
09 May 2013
The US Office of Community Services partners with states, communities and agencies to eliminate causes of poverty, increase self-sufficiency of individuals and families and revitalize communities. As part of its support role, OCS offers access to a wide range of learning tools on its website. These range from how to analyze data and communicate results, design outcome-oriented projects, develop collaborative platforms and implement value-driven donor development.
MoreBuilding local capacity for ecosystem-based adaptation
08 May 2013
Many Strong Voices (MSV) is an initiative to reduce the vulnerability of coastal
communities to climate change. Based on case studies in Belize and Seychelles the project is
working to formalize a methodology that combines evidence-based, scientific data with community
knowledge and experiences.
Scaling up climate information services for smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia
24 April 2013
This
white
paper summarizes the lessons learnt from across cases, projects and research experiments in
effectively developing and providing climate information and advisory services for smallholder
farmers. The case studies were presented at an international workshop in Senegal in December 2012,
co-organized by CGIAR's Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
and its partners. The workshop discussions focused on two projects that are attempting to reaching
farmers at scale: Integrated Agrometeorological Advisory Services (IAAS) in India (which recently
announced in 2012 plans to scale up to 10-12 million farmers) and Mali’s Projet d’A ssistance
Agrometeorologique au Monde Rural (which has provided innovative services to farmers since
1982).
Other Topics
Essential Readings
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Rajesh Tandon (2010) "Voice, Values and Exclusion in CapacityDevelopment Processes: Experiences from India" in: Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 93-100
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Gender equality for smarter cities: Challenges and progress (UN-HABITAT 2010)
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Assessing gender responsive local capacity development in Indonesia
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Helen O'Connell (2010) Preserve status quo or promote gender equality? Capacity.org Issue 40 (August 2010)
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Gender mainstreaming in local governments: Best practices (UN Habitat 2008)
More Web Resources
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Gender and equity in rural societies (FAO web portal)
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Microfinance Gateway: An online resource for the global community dedicated to advancing financial services for the poor
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Pathways of women's empowerment (DFID research results)
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Designing and Managing Evaluations that Integrate Equity, Human Rights and Gender Equality (My M&E)
Featured Community
SEEP Community
SEEP is a global network of over 130 international practitioner organizations dedicated to
combating poverty through promoting inclusive markets and financial systems. Members are active in
170 countries and support nearly 90 million entrepreneurs and their families. The SEEP Community
connects microenterprise practitioners from around the world to develop practical guidance and
tools, build capacity, and help set standards to advance a common vision: a sustainable income in
every household.







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