Att._J.23_Mission_Order_205.01USAID_Gender_Equality_and_Female_Empowerment.pdf

Attachment 1: Definitions:

• Sex:

Refers to the biological traits with which a human being is born. Generally one is either male or female but some individuals are born with biological traits attributable to neither or both. Sex is our biology and is universal; everything else is gender.

• Gender Gender is an acquired identity based on social construct that refers to relations and roles associated with being male and female. It encompasses the economic, political, and socio-cultural attributes, barriers, and opportunities associated with being male or female. As a social construct and perception, gender varies across cultures, is dynamic and open to change over time. “Gender” is not interchangeable with “women” or “sex.”

• Gender Roles Learned behaviors in a given society/community, or other special group; activities, tasks and responsibilities that are perceived as male and female. Gender roles are affected by age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and by the geographical, economic and political environment. Changes in gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political circumstances, including development efforts.

• Female Empowerment When women and girls acquire the power to act freely, exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as full and equal members of society. While empowerment often comes from within, and individuals empower themselves, cultures, societies, and institutions create conditions that facilitate or undermine the possibilities for empowerment

• Gender Equality:

Concerns fundamental social transformation, working with men and boys, women and girls, to bring about changes in attitudes, behaviors, roles and responsibilities at home, in the workplace, and in the community. Genuine equality means expanding freedoms and improving overall quality of life so that equality is achieved without sacrificing gains for males or females

• 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 an equitable basis, or a “level playing field.” Equity leads to equality.

• Gender Analysis:

An analytic, social science tool that is used to identify, understand, and explain gaps between males and females that exist in households, communities, and countries, and the relevance of gender norms and power relations in a specific context. Such analysis typically involves examining differences in the status of women and men and their differential access to assets, resources, opportunities and services; the influence of gender roles and norms on the division of time between paid employment, unpaid work (including subsistence production and care for family members), and volunteer activities; the influence of gender roles and norms on leadership roles and decision-making; constraints, opportunities, and entry points for narrowing gender gaps and empowering females; and potential differential impacts of development policies and programs on males and females, including unintended or negative consequences.

• Gender assessment:

Involves carrying out a gender assessment of an organization’s programs and of the organization’s ability to monitor and respond to gender issues throughout the program cycle.

USAID Missions often carry out a gender assessment of their portfolio to determine whether Mission-supported programs and projects are effectively addressing gender issues

• Gender Integration:

Identifying, and then addressing, gender inequalities during strategy and project design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Since the roles and power relations between men and women affect how an activity is implemented, it is essential that project managers address these issues on an ongoing basis.

• Gender-Sensitive Indicators:

Point out to what extent and in what ways development programs and projects achieved results related to gender equality and whether/how reducing gaps between males/females and empowering women leads to better project/development outcomes.

• Sex-disaggregated data Sex-disaggregated data is calculated and reported separately into two or three different categories: male/female/third gender. Collecting sex-disaggregated data is essential, but not sufficient, since reporting on the number of men and women who participate in activities does not provide enough information on whether the conditions that restrict gender equality have changed or improved. Gender-sensitive data provides for better evaluation results, which in turn, feeds into enhanced project planning and design.

• Female Refers to females of all ages

• Women Refers to adult females

Attachment 2: F Standard Indicators for Gender

FACTS Info contains nine outcome and output indicators associated with gender equality, women’s empowerment, and Women, Peace, and Security. USAID/Afghanistan will report on indicators in bold.

Indicators marked with an asterisk* below are required as applicable to the Afghanistan Mission. In addition, other sex-disaggregated indicators associated with various program elements can be used to track progress toward gender equality in a specific sector.

Gender Equality GNDR – 1: Number of laws, policies, or procedures drafted, proposed or adopted to promote gender equality at the regional, national or local level.

* GNDR – 4: Proportion of target population reporting increased agreement with the concept that males and females should have equal access to social, economic, and political opportunities.

Women’s Empowerment

* GNDR – 2: Proportion of female participants in USG‐assisted programs designed to increased access to productive economic resources (assets, credit, income, or employment).

GNDR – 3: Proportion of females who report increased self‐efficacy at the conclusion of USG supported training/programming.

Gender-Based Violence GNDR – 5: Number of laws, policies or procedures drafted, proposed, or adopted with USG assistance designed to improve prevention of or response to sexual and gender based violence at the regional, national or local level.

* GNDR – 6: Number of people reached by a USG funded intervention providing GBV services (e.g., health, legal, psycho-social counseling, shelters, hotlines, other.)

GNDR – 7: Percentage of target population that views Gender‐Based Violence (GBV) as less acceptable after participating in or being exposed to USG programming.

Women, Peace, and Security (for additional standard WPS indicators, please visit the F website)

* 1.6-6 - Number of local women participating in a substantive role or position in a peacebuilding process supported with USG assistance

* 1.3.9 - Number of training and capacity building activities conducted with USG assistance that are designed to promote the participation of women or the integration of gender perspectives in security sector institutions or activities.

http://f.state.sbu/_layouts/WordViewer.aspx?id=/PPR2012/WPS%20Indicators.docx&Source=http%3A%2F%2Ff%2Estate%2Esbu%2FPages%2FPPR2012%2Easpx&DefaultItemOpen=1

Attachment 3: Gender Sub-Key Issues

The Department of State and USAID policy requires Washington and field-based Operating Units to report on gender equality and women’s empowerment in budgets and performance plans and reports. In Operational Plans (OPs) and Performance Plan and Reports (PPRs), the Gender Key Issue is comprised of four sub-key issues. All Operating Units (OUs) must attribute funding in each fiscal year to one of the four sub-key issues, as follows:

• Gender Equality/Women’s Empowerment (GE/WE) – (Primary) includes activities in which gender equality or women’s empowerment is an explicit, primary goal and fundamental in the design, results, and impact. If an activity passes the GE/WE-Primary screen, all funding for it should be attributed to this key issue. If all funding of an activity cannot be attributed to this Key Issue, then OUs should attribute the relevant portion as “secondary” (see next paragraph).

• Gender Equality/Women’s Empowerment (GE/WE) – (Secondary) encompasses activities in which gender equality or women’s empowerment, although important, are not among the principal reasons for undertaking the activity. Since in this case only part of an activity budget contributes to this Key Issue, the OU must use its best judgment to determine what portion of funding to attribute to this category.

• Gender-Based Violence (GBV) includes activities aimed at preventing and responding to GBV, which results in physical, sexual, and/or psychological harm to either women or men. For the purposes of attribution, GBV should be considered to be mutually exclusive from the GE/WE-Primary and GE/WE-Secondary Key Issues.

• The Women, Peace, and Security Key Issue include activities designed to:

o Promote women’s rights, participation, and leadership in formal and informal peace processes, peace building activities, conflict prevention, and security initiatives (e.g., peace negotiations, preventive diplomacy);

o Promote women’s participation and leadership in decision-making institutions and processes in societies emerging from crisis or conflict, or experiencing a political transition (e.g., elections, security sector reform, constitutional drafting, transitional justice);

o Protect women and girls, and men and boys, from violence, discrimination, exploitation, and abuse in crisis and conflict-affected environments, including sexual and gender-based violence and trafficking in persons;

o Promote women’s engagement and the integration of gender perspectives in conflict prevention and mitigation, early warning, preparedness, or response planning and activities;

o Address the distinct needs of women and girls, and men and boys, as part of relief and recovery efforts, including humanitarian assistance, reintegration, and early recovery programs; and o Promote women’s economic empowerment and access to education and health services in crisis and conflict-affected environments.

Does the PD appropriately address assumptions about gender-specific attitudes and behaviors through the project results

(outputs, outcomes, sub-purposes) rather than set aside in the LogFrame assumptions column?

If “no,” provide a brief explanation which will help document reasons for the cover note to justify why there are no gender issues relevant to the project’s design.

Are there evaluation question(s) regarding the effect of reducing gaps between males and females on project outcomes?

Does it include sampling strategies and methods for collecting information from males and females during the course of the project?

M&E Plan And

Learning Approach

Does it aim to collect sex-disaggregated information at the community (or relevant) level?

Does the Learning Plan describe a process to determine the need for further gender analysis if learning leads to substantial revision of the project or activity?

Does the M&E plan include plan include indicators to track changes in key gender gaps from baseline to endline?

Implementation

Plan

Has the technical team conducted a gender analysis?

Is the project gender analysis attached as an annex?

Does the project-level gender analysis identify the relevant gender gaps in the status and anticipated levels of participation of women and men that could hinder overall project outcomes; key gender inequalities or needs for female empowerment; any potential differential effects (positive or negative) on women and men?

Is the gender analysis based on both qualitative and quantitative data?

Project Description

(PD)

Does the PD include the relevant sex-disaggregated information at the community (or relevant) level?

Does the problem statement clearly state which gender gaps or marginalization the project intends to address?

Does the PD clearly reflect and incorporate the findings and conclusions of the project-level gender analysis?

Where provided, do activities, inputs and outputs appropriately aim at reducing the relevant gender gap(s)?

Does it include discussion of opportunities for increasing female leadership or otherwise empowering women in project implementation?

Does the project M&E plan include gender-sensitive indicators?

If the PAD is framed at a higher level with a broad gender analysis, does it include a plan to conduct supplementary gender analysis at activity level?

Is the gender analysis specific enough to provide insights about key gender gaps and needs for increased gender equality related to each of the components/implementing mechanisms that will eventually be implemented under the Project Appraisal

Document (PAD)?

Has the PAD used findings of gender analysis and referenced throughout the PAD or Action Memorandum and discussed specifically in the following areas:

o Problem statement o Activities/components o Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan, and o Personnel requirements

Attachment 4: Checklist for Gender Integration

Questions for PDO and Gender Backstops Yes/No

Gender Analysis

Attachment 5: Project Level Gender Analysis Guidance As USAID does not have a standard gender analysis framework, USAID/Afghanistan’s Gender Unit has developed this tool to help technical offices in conducting gender analysis at a project/activity level.

Technical offices are encouraged to commission topic- or sector-specific analyses and assessments to inform project design, including for instance, a youth analysis, or assessments for democracy, rights, governance or economic growth. Such analyses/assessments should apply the same principles of gender. Gender Unit will provide technical support and guidance for higher level/sector specific gender to technical offices when required.

What is Gender Analysis?

ADS 205 defines gender analysis as a social science tool used to identify, understand, and explain gaps between males and females that exist in households, communities, and countries.

It is also used to identify the relevance of gender norms and power relations in a specific context (e.g., country, geographic, cultural, institutional, economic, etc.) with the aim of redressing gender gaps, inequalities and inequities.

A good gender analysis should help the project/technical team in assessing and deepening understanding about the gaps between males and females, their participation in social and economic life and the differential impacts of laws, policies, programs and services on their lives.

Per ADS 205 requirements, gender analysis should examine the following areas:

• Differences in the status of women and men in targeted communities and their differential access to assets, resources, opportunities and services;

• Relevant gaps in the status and anticipated levels of participation of women and men (including age, ethnicity, disability, location, etc.) that could hinder overall project outcomes;

• Differences in the status of women and men (e.g., economic, political, etc.) that could be closed as a result of the project;

• The influence of gender roles and norms on the division of time between paid employment, unpaid work (including subsistence production and care for family members), and volunteer activities;

• The influence of gender roles and norms on leadership roles and decision-making as well as constraints, opportunities, and entry points for narrowing gender gaps and empowering females; and

• Possible differential effects the project might have on men and women, including unintended or negative consequences.

Key gender analysis steps:

Step 1: Data collection: a gender analysis should use both qualitative and quantitative data sources. For a project/activity level data collection, the design team should try to disaggregate relevant statistical data and other information by sex, where possible. This means that counting both males and female beneficiaries when gathering information for planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating development activities.

Search for and read recent gender assessment or sectorial gender analyses that USAID or other donors have conducted for similar projects/activities. Use findings and recommendations of previous reports to inform new project design.

For qualitative data collection, project teams should include key female stakeholders and women’s groups during consultation. Include gender experts at NGOs, donors, USAID, and other organizations in consultations to help outline key gender issues relevant to your project.

Use local female researchers and women’s groups to cross-check data for accuracy.

Step 2: Develop questions for gender analysis using the following five domains of gender:

1. Laws, Policies, Regulations, and Institutional Practices that influence the context in which men and women act and make decisions. This domain involves assessing how males and females are regarded and treated by laws including formal statutory laws, informal and customary legal systems, policies and regulations, formal and informal rules and procedures adopted by public institutions for making decisions and taking public action.

This domain encompasses legal documentation such as national identification cards, voter registration, and property titles. Under this domain, a gender analysis should analyze differences between male and female’s right to inheritance, employment and legal representation. Sample legal rights and status questions are:

a. Are women and men equally likely to be owners of property that can serve as collateral for a loan?

b. Do women and men have equal rights to inheritance – both by law and by custom?

c. Is the documentation process and requirement different for men and women to register for national identity cards and voter registration?

d. Does the legal or regulatory framework include special benefits or restrictions that target women or men?

e. Are males and females equally protected under intellectual property and patent laws?

2. Cultural Norms and Beliefs: Every society has cultural norms and beliefs (often expressed as gender stereotypes) about what are appropriate qualities, life goals, and aspirations for males and females. Gender norms and beliefs are influenced by perceptions of gender identity and are often buttressed by and embedded in laws, policies, and institutional practices. They influence how females and males behave in different domains and should be explicitly identified in the gender analysis at the country level and especially in project design because they affect potential participation of males and females in project activities. Sample cultural norms and beliefs questions include:

a. Do gender stereotypes in the geographic area of the planned project/activity help or hinder ability of male or female beneficiaries to participate?

b. Will gender awareness training be necessary to ensure that families and communities support female beneficiaries? Will similar training be necessary to ensure the same support for male beneficiaries?

c. Do men and women in the targeted community have unequal education or knowledge that can hinder their ability to benefit from our project/activities?

3. Gender Roles, Responsibilities, and Time Used: The most fundamental division of labor within all societies is between productive (market) economic activity and reproductive (non-market) activity. This is the central social structure that characterizes male and female activity. Gender analysis should examine what males and females do in these spheres, including roles, responsibilities, and time used during paid work, unpaid work (including in the home), and community service to get an accurate portrait of how people lead their lives and to anticipate potential constraints to participation in development projects.

a. Are proposed communication channels and awareness raising approaches equally available to, and used by, both men and women?

b. Are women and men likely to have equal access to, and equal participation in, available training sessions in conjunction with this project?

c. Does the project/activity design need specific activities to facilitate active participation of women and men?

4. Access to and Control over Assets and Resources: A key component of gender analysis is an examination of whether females and males own and/or have access and the capacity to use productive resources – assets (land, housing), income, social benefits (social insurance, pensions), public services (health, water), technology – and information necessary to be a fully active and productive participant in society. While gender gaps in access to resources can be identified at the country level, they are especially important at the project-level. Some sample questions for this domain include:

a. Who has access to and control over productive resources and assets such as land, forests, water supplies, equipment, labor, capital, credit and training?

b. Who benefits from income earned and spent?

c. Who gains formal or informal political power, prestige or status?

d. Do men and women in the targeted community have equal access to formal and information communication networks and information technology including social networking?

e. Will men and women have equal access to participation in the project or activity? Would unequal access interfere with the successful achievement of project goals?

5. Patterns of Power and Decision-making: This domain of gender analysis examines the ability of women and men to decide, influence, and exercise control over material, human, intellectual, and financial resources, in the family, community and country. It also includes the capacity to vote and run for office at all levels of government. Analyses should examine to what extent males and females are represented in senior level decision-making positions and exercise voice in decisions made by public, private, and civil society organizations. Sample questions for this domain includes:

a. Do women actively participate in formal and informal decision-making structures/bodies relevant to project design?

b. Do women and men hold equal number of decision making position in relevant public and private entities?

c. Do women hold the power to make economic decisions?

d. Do women have control over and benefit from the funds and assets they may accrue as a result of participating in our project?

Step 3: Understanding Gender Dynamics: use the data/information collected in previous steps to understand the differences in need, strengths, barriers and opportunities of males and females. At this point, you should be able to identify key constraints and barriers to equal participation of male and female beneficiaries for all components and key activities of the project/activity. Who benefits and participates, how and why/why not, also needs to be monitored closely during implementation

Step 4: Include strategy to promote gender equality in project design and implementation:

strategy and/or activities should be identified to overcome barriers to male and female participation. Design team should assess and identify constraints and barriers that can be realistically addressed by the project/activity. It also important to make sure that the project/activity design allocates adequate resources for gender strategy/activities.

Step 5: Develop gender sensitive indicators: Develop gender sensitive performance indicators to ensure the new project/activity can assess the impact of activities on males and females, and on changes in gender gaps.

Step 6: Incorporate gender analysis throughout the program cycle: Findings and recommendations of gender analysis should be used to inform the project design and ensure that it explicitly addresses any disparities and includes actions to reduce the inequalities that are revealed. Results from gender analysis may also lead to build in specific project components on empowering women and girls, if the analysis suggests that this is important for achieving the project’s purpose and related results.

GENDER EQUALITY

AND FEMALE

EMPOWERMENT

POLICY

USAID POLICY

MARCH 2012

“Achieving our objectives for global development will demand accelerated efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. Otherwise, peace and prosperity will have their own glass ceiling.”

Hillary Clinton

JANUARY 2012

USAID

GENDER EQUALITY AND

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT

POLICY

MARCH 2012

WASHINGTON, DC

i

Photo credits: Cover (clockwise from top left):West Bank and Gaza Mission:Technical,Vocational and Education Training

Program/USAID;The Hunger Project; Unilever Tea Tanzania, Limited (UTTL); page 5,The Hunger Project; page 18,West

Bank and Gaza Mission:Technical,Vocational and Education Training Program/USAID; page 20, Karen Homer/AWARD.

ii

USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message from the Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Executive Summary

1. Introduction

2. A Global Snapshot of Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in 2012

3. USAID’sVision and Goal

4. Outcomes

5. Operational Principles of the Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy

6. Organizational Roles and Responsibilities

7. Agency Requirements iii

USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Message from the Administrator

MESSAGE FROM THE

ADMINISTRATOR

I am pleased to share with you our newly updated policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment. Designed to enhance women’s empowerment and reduce gender gaps, the policy affirms the critical role women play in accelerating progress in development and advancing global prosperity and security. As Secretary Clinton has said,“Gender equality is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do.”

The policy comes at a critical time as global efforts to reduce gender gaps have met only partial success. Across every devel opment priority worldwide—from education to economic inclusion—gender inequality remains a significant challenge.

Building on the Agency’s decades of experience, the new policy provides guidance on pursuing more effective, evidencebased investments in gender equality and female empowerment and incorporating these efforts into our core development pro gramming. Ultimately, this integration is critical to achieving better results in development.

Under this policy, we place a strong emphasis on building high impact partnerships, harnessing the power of innovation and conducting rigorous program evaluation to deliver meaningful results. We will remain focused on protecting women and men from violence and abuse, as well as increasing the participation of women at all levels of decisionmaking, especially during peace processes and postconflict reconstruction. Finally, we must ensure that the composition of our own Agency reflects our principles, creating a work environment that empowers and rewards women and men fully and equitably.

Already, we have established a solid foundation to accelerate progress. We have strengthened requirements to ensure that every strategy and project is shaped by a gender analysis and establishes common indicators for judging our success. Driving this agenda forward, USAID’s Senior Coordinator for Gender

Equality and Women’s Empowerment is working closely with the Senior Gender Advisor in the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning, the reinvigorated Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and gender advisors in Washington and field missions.

We know that longterm, sustainable development will only be possible when women and men enjoy equal opportunity to rise to their potential. But today, women and girls continue to face disadvantages in every sector in which we work, and—in other cases—boys are falling behind. With this policy, we can ensure our values and commitments are reflected in durable, meaningful results for all. I look forward to working with all of you to ensure an enduring and substantial commitment to gen der equality and female empowerment.

Rajiv Shah March 2012 iv

USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Gender equality and female empowerment are core devel opment objectives, fundamental for the realization of human rights and key to effective and sustainable development out comes. No society can develop successfully without providing equitable opportunities, resources, and life prospects for males and females so that they can shape their own lives and contribute to their families and communities.

Although many gender gaps have narrowed over the past two decades, substantial inequalities remain across all sectors in which USAID works, particularly in lowincome and con flictaffected countries and among disadvantaged groups.

USAID has a long history of supporting programming to increase gender equality. Over the past two years alone, changes to the Automated Directives System (ADS), revised technical competencies required for Foreign Service back stops, new definitions of gender issues for budget attribution, new senior positions devoted exclusively to gender equality and female empowerment, and new common indicators to measure progress in this arena have strengthened the Agency’s ability to address key gender issues and track our progress in doing so. Still, an updated Agency policy on gen der equality and female empowerment is needed to reflect fundamental changes in the world and the evidence that has accumulated since the 1982 Policy Paper on Women in Development was issued. This new policy on Gender Equal ity and Female Empowerment builds on the Agency’s progress to date.

The goal of this policy is to improve the lives of citizens around the world by advancing equality between females and males, and empowering women and girls to participate fully in and benefit from the development of their societies. It will be addressed through integration of gender equality and female empowerment throughout the Agency’s Program Cycle and related processes: in strategic planning, project design and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

This integrated approach positions the Agency to address gender gaps and the constraints that hold women back.

Under this policy, USAID investments are aimed at three overarching outcomes. In strategic planning at the country or project level, these outcomes will be adapted and translated into specific results with associated targets and indicators.

These outcomes, which are especially important for people who are marginalized or excluded due to ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, lack of income, disability or other factors, reflect the gamut of activities that USAID undertakes across multiple sectors and fields:

■ Reduce gender disparities in access to, control over and benefit from resources, wealth, opportunities and serv ices economic, social, political, and cultural;

■ Reduce genderbased violence and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and communities; and

■ Increase capability of women and girls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decisionmaking in households, communities, and soci eties.

Seven guiding principles underpin this policy, reflecting key features of the USAID Policy Framework 20112015 and the parameters of the USAID Forward reform agenda:

■ Integrate gender equality and female empower ment into USAID’s work: This policy will be implemented by integrating approaches and actions to advance gender equality and female empowerment throughout the Agency’s Program Cycle. USAID will also make strategic investments to promote gender equality and female empowerment.

http://www.usaid.gov/policy/USAID_PolicyFramework.PDF

Executive Summary USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

■ Pursue an inclusive approach to foster equality:

This policy is inclusive of all women and men, girls and boys, regardless of age, sexual orientation, gender iden tity, disability status, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic area, migratory status, forced dis placement or HIV/AIDS status.

■ Build partnerships across a wide range of stake holders: USAID will partner with host governments, civil society, the private sector and other donors to ensure that our efforts are coordinated and non duplicative, build on the skills and initiatives of local actors, and reflect country priorities.

■ Harness science, technology, and innovation to reduce gender gaps and empower women and girls: USAID investments should make bold and imaginative use of new technologies to change dis criminatory social norms and stereotypes, and empower women and girls to wield greater influence in society.

■ Address the unique challenges in crisis and con flictaffected environments: USAID’s work in conflictaffected and fragile states should promote women’s participation in all efforts to prevent, resolve and rebuild following conflict; prevent and respond to sexual and gender based violence; and ensure that relief and recovery efforts address the different needs and priorities of women and men.

■ Serve as a thoughtleader and a learning community: The Agency will measure performance in closing key gender gaps and empowering women and girls, learn from successes and failures and dissemi nate best practices on gender integration throughout the Agency.

■ Hold ourselves accountable: Gender equality and female empowerment is a shared Agency responsibil ity and depends on the contribution and collective commitment of all staff, with particular emphasis on senior managers and Mission Directors.

This policy applies to all bureaus and missions and covers policy and programmatic operations in Washington and the field. The policy includes detailed descriptions of organiza tional roles and responsibilities to institutionalize the policy in missions, regional bureaus, pillar bureaus, the Office of Gen der Equality and Women’s Empowerment, the Office of Acquisition and Assistance, the Office of Human Resources, the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning, and the Office of the Administrator. The release of the policy will be fol lowed by Frequently Asked Questions and Implementation Guidance, including a timetable for phasing in the require ments over the next two years. Implementation of the policy will be evaluated in 2015.

Realization of this policy by all Agency staff and in all of the countries in which we work will help to bring to fruition USAID’s development vision of a world in which women and men, girls and boys enjoy economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights and are equally empowered to secure better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities.

USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Introduction

1 INTRODUCTION

Gender equality and female empowerment are now universally recognized as core development objectives, fundamental for the realization of human rights, and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes.1

No society can develop sustainably without increasing and transforming the distribution of opportunities, resources, and choices for males and females so that they have equal power to shape their own lives and contribute to their communi ties. A growing body of research demonstrates that societies with greater gender equality experience faster eco nomic growth, and benefit from greater agricultural productivity and improved food security. Empowering women to participate in and lead public and private institu tions makes these institutions more representative and effective. Increasing girls’ and women’s education and access to resources improves the health and education of the next generation. Women also play critical roles as effective peace advocates, community leaders, and champions of civil and human rights.

The 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), prepared jointly by the State Department and USAID, placed women at the center of U.S. diplomacy and development — not simply as beneficiaries, but also as agents of peace, reconciliation, development, growth, and sta bility. The first operational principle in the USAID Policy Framework 20112015 is “Promote Gender Equality and Female Empowerment.” This policy on Gender Equality and

BOX 1:

DEFINITIONS

Gender equality2 concerns women and men, and it involves working with men and boys, women and girls to bring about changes in attitudes, behaviors, roles and responsibilities at home, in the workplace, and in the community. Genuine equality means more than parity in numbers or laws on the books; it means expanding freedoms and improving overall quality of life so that equality is achieved without sacrificing gains for males or females.

Female empowerment3 is achieved when women and girls acquire the power to act freely, exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as full and equal members of society. While empowerment often comes from within, and individuals empower themselves, cultures, societies, and institutions create conditions that facilitate or undermine the possibilities for empowerment.

Gender integration involves identifying, and then addressing, gender inequalities during strategy and proj ect design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Since the roles and power relations between men and women affect how an activity is implemented, it is essential that project managers address these issues on an ongoing basis.

1These commitments have been codified in the Beijing Platform for Action signed in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, the Millennium Development Goals adopted by 189 governments in 2000, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (as well as subsequent related resolutions 1820, 1888, 1889, and 1960) and embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among myriad other international treaties and declarations.

2Sex is the classification of people as male or female. At birth, infants are assigned a sex based on a combination of bodily characteristics including: chromosomes, hormones, internal reproductive organs and gen italia. Gender is the sociallydefined set of roles, rights, responsibilities, entitlements, and obligations of females and males in societies.The social definitions of what it means to be female or male vary among cultures and change over time. Gender Identity is an individual’s internal, personal sense of being male or female. For transgender people, their birthassigned sex and their own internal sense of gender identity do not match.

3 This policy deliberately uses the term “female” empowerment, as opposed to women’s empowerment, to capture girls and adolescents.This differs from the organizational titles of USAID’s Office of Gender

Equality and Women’s Empowerment, some Position Descriptions and usage in other USAID program and budget documents.

Introduction USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

Female Empowerment seeks to codify and operationalize these principles across USAID policies and practices.

USAID’s Experience Addressing Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

While USAID has a long history of addressing women’s issues in development, accomplishments have been mixed and the intensity of the focus on gender issues has varied over time. In 1974, soon after passage of the 1973 Percy Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, USAID estab lished the Women in Development (WID) Office to assist USAID missions and regional bureaus in integrating women into their various development projects.4 A “Women in Development” Policy Paper was issued in 1982. It was sup plemented in 1996 by a Gender Plan of Action (GPA) that included requirements for gender integration in policy, per sonnel, procurement, performance monitoring, and evaluation. An evaluation of the Plan in 2000 by the Advi sory Committee onVoluntary Foreign Assistance (ACVFA) found a number of obstacles to effective institutionalization of the GPA, including large budget cuts coupled with expanding budget earmarks, disruptions caused by reorgani zation of U.S. foreign assistance agencies, low levels of consultation and communication about the Plan with Agency staff, and concern over proliferation of Agency priorities, among others.

Although few analyses have been carried out that allow for precise quantification of progress, one such analysis5 revealed modest increases in the extent to which gender issues were integrated into country strategies over the period 1996 2005 and into procurement solicitations from May 2006 to February 2007. A second analysis of procurements6 docu mented an improvement in the percentage of solicitations issued in 2010 that were scored as “moderate” to “thor ough” on gender integration, as compared to 2006/7, and a decrease in the percentage of solicitations over the same time period that received the lowest possible score (“minimal”).

Recently, greater progress has been made in integrating gen der issues into Agency strategies, programs and procedures.

In 2009, USAID revised its Automated Directives System (ADS), which contains Agency policy directives and manda tory procedures, to establish a more comprehensive approach to gender integration. Gender analysis is one of only two mandatory analysis requirements that are to be integrated in strategic planning, project design and approval, procurement processes, and measurement and evaluation. In 2011, the Agency reviewed and revised the technical compe tencies for different Foreign Service backstops to ensure that they reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will be needed by technical officers to effectively address gender issues in their work. The Agency also introduced new defini tions of gender issues for budget attributions in Operational Plans, along with a set of common indicators designed to

BOX 2:

FOSTERING

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

In 2011, USAID significantly expanded efforts to sup port women’s leadership in several fields. Anticipating release of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, USAID provided financial support to meet the training, transportation, and security needs of female negotiators, and allocated funds to support the inclusion of women in high level decision making processes, including formal peace negotiations, donor conferences, and transitional political processes. Complementary programs were created to cultivate women leaders in business, academia, and research; strengthen the skills of female legislators and legislative branch staff; foster women’s leadership within social protection; and elevate women’s leader ship in the small and mediumsized enterprise sector.

4The Percy Amendment, which is still in effect, requires U.S. bilateral assistance programs to enhance the integration of women into the national economies of developing countries, and instructs the

State Department to consider progress on women’s issues when making decisions about funding international organizations.

5DevTech, Measuring Gender Integration in USAID Planning and Procurement,” July 2007 (unpublished).

6DevTech, Measuring Gender Integration in USAID Solicitation Documents Issued in 2010, February 2011(unpublished).

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/email-files/US_National_Action_Plan_on_Women_Peace_and_Security.pdf http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/email-files/US_National_Action_Plan_on_Women_Peace_and_Security.pdf

USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Introduction assess progress toward increasing gender equality and female empowerment (see Box 6). The Office of the Administrator and the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) cre ated two senior positions devoted exclusively to gender equality and female empowerment; the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment was renamed and upgraded; and the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) created a Center of Excel lence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance with a particular focus on gender equality and women’s rights.

Finally, missions and offices began to scale up programs that work expand coverage and access to medical and psycho social care, legal assistance, and income generating activities for genderbased violence (GBV) survivors in the Demo cratic Republic of the Congo, and extend Safe Schools, an innovative program to reduce schoolrelated genderbased violence, to the Dominican Republic, Senegal, Yemen, and Tajikistan, among others.

For these efforts to be accelerated and sustained, USAID needs a coherent, relevant, and uptodate Agency policy on gender equality and female empowerment. The world has changed considerably since 1982, and the literature and field experience related to closing gender gaps has substantially expanded. This new policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment builds on this evidence base and the best practices of USAID and other donors, and provides an over arching framework for gender integration throughout all aspects of our work.

2 A GLOBAL SNAPSHOT OF

GENDER EQUALITY AND

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN 2012

A large body of evidence has established that gender inequality has costs for individuals and societies and these costs can multiply across generations.7 For instance, women’s economic depend ency on men reduces their ability to exercise safer sex options to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies and HIV infec tion.8 When women cannot participate in the labor force, are prevented by law or practice from entering certain occupations, or excluded from management positions, GDP growth can suffer by as much as two percent.9 Conversely, gender equality not only benefits individual males and females but whole sectors and societies. For instance, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent, which in turn could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent, up to 150 million people.10

Great strides have been made to reduce gender gaps and improve the status of women and girls over the past three decades. Yet, significant gender gaps remain across sectors in all countries around the world; they are often greater among the poor. Historically, gender inequalities have disadvantaged females, and while that remains the case in many domains, gen der norms and policies also negatively affect boys and men in specific regions and sectors.

Education Gender gaps in primary education have closed in the vast majority of developing countries since 2000. Progress has been particularly notable at the primary school level in the Arab

States, South and West Asia and subSaharan Africa – the regions with the largest gender gaps in 2000. Still, in 2012, South Asia and West Africa continue to have large gender gaps that disfavor girls in primary education. In Afghanistan, Chad, and the Central African Republic, for instance, fewer than 70 girls per 100 boys are enrolled in primary school. On the other hand, boys are less likely to complete primary education than girls in 24 countries, including Lesotho, Nicaragua, Suriname, Namibia, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.

Progress is less evident at the secondary level: gender parity has not improved in subSaharan Africa or in the Arab States. In contrast, in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe and Eurasia, girls have had higher attendance at sec ondary schools than boys since the mid1980s. In countries in other regions, such as subSaharan Africa and South Asia, girls are often more likely to drop out of secondary school even when they have completed primary education.11

Progress in school entry has not been accompanied by changes in other domains. Fields of study, for instance, still tend to be segregated by sex, with more males choosing or being encour aged to pursue higher status and better paid careers in science, technology, and engineering while females predominate in the lower paying education, health care and social service profes sions.

Mortality and Reproductive Health Over the past 30 years, huge strides have been made, particu larly in life expectancy, fertility, and mortality. However, gender inequality continues to have a negative impact on a range of

7TheWorld Bank, World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development, (Washington,DC: TheWorld Bank, 2011); online at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2012/Resources/7778105

1299699968583/77862101315936222006/CompleteReport.pdf.

8EllenWeiss,DanielWhelan, and Geeta Rao Gupta,“Gender, Sexuality and HIV:Making a Difference in the Lives ofYoungWomen in Developing Countries.” Sexual and RelationshipTherapy 15(3) (2000): 233245.

9TheWorld Bank. op cit.

10Hafez Ghanem, The State of Food and Agriculture 201011: Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development. (Rome:The Food and Agricultural Organization, 2011).

11UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011: The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education. (Paris: UNESCO, 2011).

A Global Snapshot of Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in 2012 USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment health issues. Genderrelated power imbalances contribute to excess female mortality across the life cycle: at birth, during infancy and early childhood, and throughout the reproductive years. Harmful gender norms affect men and boys by encourag ing risktaking and by limiting their healthseeking behavior. In Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in Eurasia, the life expectancy of men has been dramatically reduced by substance abuse and other risky behaviors.

Although the reproductive health of women and girls has improved over the past few decades, more than 127 million women in subSaharan Africa and South Central Asia in 2010 still have an unmet need for modern contraceptives (215 million across all developing countries). Taking into account projected population growth, this number will increase to 176 million in the next two decades if concerns about the availability of con traceptive methods are not addressed.12 Adolescent fertility rates also remain high; young women have higher unmet need for contraception and…