Assessing and Targeting Gender Equality
STORY
Assessing the level of gender mainstreaming accomplished by an organization both internally and in its programmatic work can be ambiguous, with many aspects often overlooked or unmonitored due to the difficulty in doing so.
Particularly in an organizational context, it can be difficult to measure levels of worker empowerment, feelings of agency, and sentiments of support. One organization which participated in our interview process found that a systematic approach to the assessment of gender mainstreaming was crucial to their success. ADB’s approach includes a four-tiered system first established in 1998 and honed for continued use since that time. The system allows them to measure, count, and report reliably on gender equality issues by integrating them into project design.
Gender mainstreaming has become a central cross-cutting theme in the organization’s operations as well as in their project evaluation. This was particularly important due to the rising importance of funding development sectors which are typically male-dominated and more difficult to mainstream gender outcomes into. The use of a well-designed evaluation system which can be applied across projects was critical in this process and the longevity of the assessment tool itself.
You can find more information about our curated list of assessments with the following solution sets:
