SEDI/CIM Combine Efforts to Address Gender Gap
![OAS Member States discuss the Post-2015 Development Agenda](http://www.oas.org/en/sedi/nl/1014/2.jpg)
Although
Latin America and the Caribbean have substantively advanced in the
adoption of laws and regulations for gender equality and
non-discrimination against women, women continue to face significant
barriers to exercise their rights. There is still much work to be
done. Mainstreaming a gender equality and women’s rights-based
approach in the design and implementation of public policies and
programs represent an effective strategy to address these
challenges. Thus, the Inter-American Social Protection Network
(IASPN) and the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) of the OAS,
developed a Participatory Gender Assessment (PGA) methodology that
was implemented between April and September 2014 in Uruguay,
Guatemala and Paraguay.
Incorporating a gender perspective in social protection initiatives
has proven to have a positive impact on development and poverty
reduction strategies. For example, according to the OECD, “social
transfers in the hands of women improve children’s health,
nutritional status and school attendance, and can be an effective
way of reducing hunger and intergenerational poverty”. By
identifying the influence of gender and gender roles in practice,
policies and programs can be adjusted to maximize their potential,
avoid barriers, discrimination, disproportionate workload on women,
and, at worst, program failure.
The OAS-designed Participatory Gender Assessment (PGA) is based on a
series of successful Gender Audits developed by the OAS
Inter-American Network for Labor Administration (RIAL) and the
International Labor Organization with Ministries of Labor in the
region. It also builds on participatory strategic planning
methodologies generated under previous OAS-CIM projects. The IASPN
built on the Organization’s lessons learned and experience, adapting
the methodology to fulfill the particular needs of Social
Development Ministries, incorporating National Machineries for the
Advancement of Women in the process
to facilitate an
inter-sectorial discussion and assessment, and most of all, the
capacity to replicate the experience in other sectors.
![OAS IASPN gender specialists Lylian Mires and Beatriz Cueto guide a PGA team through the participatory process.](2.1.png)
The
PGA is a process that begins by building local capacity. A team of
ministry volunteers in each country are first trained in the
methodology, and then they work with IASPN gender experts in leading
their colleagues in dialogue, reflection, and the development of
proposed action plan to improve gender equity for the organization
and its activities. The assessment relies on both subjective
data—including self-assessment and interviews with staff and the
management team—as well as the objective data gathered from a review
of the organization’s internal and public documents.
In the three participating countries, a total of 440 social
development and gender professionals implemented the PGA
methodology, with the support of 27 newly-trained colleagues. The
highly interactive, participatory process produced a strong sense of
ownership among the team and a solid action plan based on real
circumstances and needs.
![Members of the PGA team in Paraguay brainstorm during a group activity. Everyone’s ideas added value to the discussion.](2.2.png)
In
Guatemala, the PGA led to the strengthening of the Gender Unit
within the Ministry of Social Development, which had only been created a
week prior to the PGA, through the designation of an actual physical
space as well as a budget. In Paraguay, the facilitators referred to
what occurred as a “snowball effect”. “Even when only twenty staff
attended one of the PGA workshops”, they explained, “soon enough the
entire agency was talking about gender!” Weeks after completing the
workshop, the government of Paraguay requested additional technical
assistance from the OAS to undertake a Participatory Gender
Assessment in two other public institutions.
While there is no single approach to mainstreaming gender, what is
critical is that it be incorporated into the daily work of the
organization that is implementing it, and that there is local buy-in and capacity to continue
to facilitate the process. For these reasons, the PGA approach and
the resulting action plans have a greater likelihood for
sustainability. The OAS-IASPN/CIM team will continue to support
participating governments as they follow-through on the plan’s
activities for enhancing gender mainstreaming in the region.
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