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Corporate-level Evaluation on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Preliminary Findings. 63 rd Session of the Evaluation Committee 15-16 July 2010. Background. IFAD adopted a Gender Plan of Action (2003-2006), approved by the Board in April 2003 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Corporate-level Evaluation on Gender Equality and Women’s
Empowerment
Preliminary Findings
63rd Session of the Evaluation Committee
15-16 July 2010
22
Background
IFAD adopted a Gender Plan of Action (2003-2006),
approved by the Board in April 2003
In July 2008, the Programme Management Department
issued a Framework for Gender Mainstreaming
In October 2009, IFAD received the Global MDG3
Champion Torch
This is the first corporate-level evaluation on gender by
the Office of Evaluation
Evaluation Objectives
What IFAD’s corporate strategy says about gender equality and
women’s empowerment (consistency, relevance) and how
effectively has it been reflected in country strategies and projects?
What results have actually been achieved on the ground in
promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment?
Generate a series of findings and recommendations for IFAD’s
future activities related to gender equality and women’s
empowerment
3
Process
Desk work including: (i) review of corporate strategy documents; (ii) meta-
evaluation of existing evaluative evidence; (ii) review of recently approved
COSOPs and projects; (iii) assessment of IFAD’s internal corporate
processes; and (iv) benchmarking exercise.
Five country visits to Bangladesh, Egypt, Guatemala, Mauritania and Zambia
Presentation of preliminary findings to Management and the Evaluation
Committee in July ’10
Preparation of draft final report
Stakeholders’ workshop, 27-28 Sep ’10 (first of its kind)
Evaluation Committee (26 November) and Executive Board (15-16
December) discussions
4
Preliminary Findings
Corporate strategy and its implementation
There is a general consensus among the Board, Senior Management and staff of the importance in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment for sustainable agriculture and rural development
IFAD’s corporate strategy on paper is broadly relevant and consistent
(dispersed among numerous documents + experience-based)
Is IFAD walking the talk? The translation of strategy into action has not been
entirely adequate (e.g., administrative budget allocation, HR capacity
building, monitoring & reporting, incentives, accountability, communication,
etc)
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Preliminary Findings
Corporate strategy and its implementation
Specific, earmarked investments favoring gender and women’s empowerment in operations is difficult to aggregate and not systematic across the portfolio
There does not appear to be a common understanding of:
(i) related terminology: gender equality, gender equity, gender
mainstreaming, women’s empowerment; and
(ii) causes and dynamics of the gender problematic, leading to a wide range
of solutions pursued
Preliminary Findings
Results from past operations and current portfolio
Overall, performance of past projects is only moderately satisfactory, but
highly variable across projects and countries, and not always context specific
Introduction of innovative solutions to gender in past operations was
moderately unsatisfactory. There are few examples of scaling up
Gender equality and women’s empowerment issues increasingly incorporated
in recent COSOPs and projects
7
Preliminary Findings
Corporate Processes
There is neither incentive for excellence in this area, nor consequence for staff who give low or no priority to the issue
Staff work planning and performance assessments is not results-oriented in
terms of gender achievements. Compliance culture predominant
Change in gender-balance in workforce is very slow, with the exception of
recent efforts at a very senior level. 6 of 23 mission members were women
(26%) in the 5 COSOPs reviewed in 2009, and only 2 gender experts. 24 of
124 mission members were women (19%) in 21 projects approved between
2003-2009, and only 6 gender experts. 8
Preliminary Findings
Corporate processes
Formal gender-friendly HR policies are in place, but organizational culture
does not encourage women or men who challenge traditional workplace
practices
IFAD’s results framework, strengthened quality enhancement and quality
assurance, shift to country presence and direct supervision are paying more
attention to gender equality and women’s empowerment
Learning and knowledge on gender is not pulled together, nor is progress
systematically monitored and reported9
10
Preliminary Findings
Corporate Processes
Funding for specific gender work (thematic studies, self assessments, HQ capacity
building, etc) has depended heavily on supplementary funds and TAGs
Gender desk in Policy and Technical Advisory division does not have earmarked
annual administrative budget to support work plan and corporate strategy
Corporate capacity through divisional Gender Focal Points is inadequate
Gender Thematic Group is mainly a platform for exchanging information, but has no
coherent annual work plan, targets, budget, etc.
Preliminary Conclusions
IFAD is in principle well positioned, because of its mandate and strategy to become a global
leader in this area for agriculture and rural development
The corporate strategy is largely relevant and consistent, but not adequately translated into
action
Performance in the past however has been only moderately satisfactory and variable, even
though more recent country strategies and operations show improvements
Investments in gender-related work both in IFAD-funded operations and at HQs is difficult to
track and unsystematic. Heavy reliance on supplementary funds and TAGs
Learning and accountability framework to promote gender equality and women’s
empowerment is inadequate. Compliance rather than results culture prevalent
11
Preliminary Recommendations
IFAD should develop a corporate gender policy to consolidate its strategy and approaches
Innovation and scaling up on gender should be an integral feature of COSOPs and
projects, as a means to achieve wider impact on rural poverty
Executive Board and Senior Management need to more actively monitor and report
progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment
Apply a results-oriented work planning and performance management system with
incentives and accountability, in order to shift from compliance to impact achievement
Invest specifically in knowledge management on gender, appoint a Champion in the Senior
Management on gender, and strengthen decentralized technical advice to operations
12