Gender Mainstreaming and EQUAL

1
Gender Mainstreaming and EQUAL

• Kathleen Connolly
• NDP Gender Equality Unit
• Oct 2005

2
What is Gender Mainstreaming

• Incorporating the perspective of both women and
  men at all stages of the policy making process
• A strategy to achieve gender equality which
  builds on but goes beyond a womens only
  perspective
• Can use different approaches/tools
• Positive action is a complementary activity

3
Why

• Earlier efforts had failed to achieve de facto
  equality between women and men esp in development
  co-operation
• But builds on legislation positive action
• Gender gaps still in evidence in
• - the labour market
• - decision making
• - poverty

4
How

• Good example
• Seats in shops (for men), variable car sizes
• Planning bicycle lane in Sweden
• Bad example
• M1 Dublin to Belfast has no service stations
• Cardiovascular policy few women in trials and
  no gender analysis of results

5
NDP Requirements

• Gender Mainstreaming required for co-financed
  elements but extended to whole Plan on its
  adoption
• Project selection criteria, impact assessment,
  gender disaggregated indicators, gender balance
  on monitoring committees, evaluations
• One of four (later five) horizontal principles

6
Support strucutres

• NDP Gender Equaltiy Unit, D/JELR
• - Support, monitor and capacity build
• Gender Unit in D/Education and Science
• Gender representation on all MCs
• Childcare Measure
• Positive Action funding for Women
• NDP Co-ordinating Committee

7
Results

• Unit played an effective support role
• Up to MTR provided generic supports
• Since MTR one-to-one guidance
• MTR prioritised certain measures for gender so
  now narrower but deeper focus
• Priority measures education, training,
  micro-enterprise, Innovative Strategies, Youth
  Services, Childcare, Rural Development, housing

8
Gender and EQUAL

• A laboratory for developing mainstreaming
• Strong target group focus separate strand for
  gender, long learning
• Gender mainstreaming is a requirement
• What are your issues/questions?
• Any difference between gender outcomes in the
  gender strand as compared with others, barriers,
  the way forward?????

9
The future

• Unit is linked to the NDP 2000-6
• Working with the Equality Authority in relation
  to its final phase
• National Womens Strategy seeks to role out
  gender mainstreaming across Gov
• where from here for gender??? A cross cutting
  issue or still an issue in its own right
• Web site www.ndpgenderequality.ie