Gender Mainstreaming in Practice: A Toolkit

This toolkit provides a detailed algorithm for implementing a gender perspective in all phases of a development programme/project cycle - from planning to evaluation. Special attention is paid to: (i) baseline gender indicators that help monitor whether a project improves access to development resources for women and men equally, (ii) principles of civic participation, including women-run non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in project implementation, and (iii) active promotion of gender equality in information support of the project and communication with national counterparts. Though global in scope, it is extended as part of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kyrgyzstan's work to advance gender equality and empowerment of women as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Each section explores the intersections with gender and the particular issue. To illustrate these connections, text boxes are provided with specific examples. Other features include: lists that highlight possible interventions and entry points/points for discussion and/or response, recommendations, and indicators/tools/methodologies for measuring progress - often in participatory ways. The topics include:

• Poverty
• Labour
• Macroeconomics and Trade
• Private Sector Development
• Education
• Health
• Energy and Environment
• Governance and Participation
• Human Rights and Justice
• Science, Research and Information and Communication Technologies
• Crisis Prevention and Recovery
• HIV and AIDS

As an example of the kind of guidance provided in the toolkit, within the section exploring the topic "Science, Research and Information and Communication Technologies", possible interventions and entry points explored include:

• gender impact assessment of information and communication technology (ICT) policies;
• advancing policies that secure more equitable access;
• carrying out awareness campaigns that are aimed at demystifying new technologies for audiences who are reluctant to embrace them;
• promoting education and training opportunities that emphasise the practical application of ICT tools; and
• conducting more gender-aware research on the ICT sector, which could include production of more detailed quantitative data on numbers of men and women employed in different parts and at different levels of the industry as well as sociological surveys on men's experience working in this sector as compared to women's. "The results of this research should feed back into policies that help redress adverse gender effects."

Click here to download the 259-page resource in PDF format (English).
Click here to download the 298-page resource in PDF format (Russian).