Gender responsive organizations
Annet Mulema, ILRI
ILRI/CGIAR and EIAR Partnering together—Experience Sharing
Workshop, EIAR, Addis Ababa, 7 August 2019

Objective
To increase participants’ knowledge of gender
responsive organizations in such a way that they are
able to understand gender dynamics in their own
organizations and design actions towards a more
gender responsive organization.

Learning questions
• What is a gender responsive organization and
how is it related to gender responsive programs?
• What actions can we take towards a more
gender responsive organization?
• What obstacles can be encountered and how to
deal with?

1. Why gender responsive organizations
• Diverse teams improve performance
• Right thing to do
• Is a logical part of gender mainstreaming
• Delivery of equitable outcomes

2. What is a gender responsive organization?
• No single or simple definition of a gender
responsive organization.
• “Gender at the workplace” - capacity to promote
a gender responsive workplace with equal
opportunities and benefits (outcomes) for
women and men.

What is a gender responsive organization…
Key parameters for this capacity are related to:
• Workplace policies, internal gender balance and
leadership, and staff’s knowledge, attitudes and
practices towards gender equality at the workplace
•These are strongly related to other parameters,
such as the organization’s mission and vision and
organizational commitment to gender equality.

3. Read ICAR case and answer the
questions:
• What was the situation at the starting point?
• What kind of actions were undertaken? With what
results?
• What were some obstacles and how were they dealt
with?
• What did you find most interesting/learning point
and why?

4. Elements of a gender responsive organization
• The vision or mission and mandate reflect a gender
perspective
• Infrastructure is in place (policies, regulations, procedures)
• Job descriptions include elements of gender expertise
• Management and board take responsibility for gender
• Space is provided to women and men to bring their views to
the fore

Elements of a gender responsive organization…
• Adequate infrastructure for female staff (e.g. in relation to
safe working environment, toilet facilities, transport
arrangement, working hours, breast feeding space, day care)
• There is support for teamwork of women and men, including
gender focal persons.
• Gender is mainstreamed in all programs and projects.
• No stereotyping and stigmatizing attitudes and behavior
• Monitor and report on progress

5. Strategizing
Organizations work by themselves on the following questions:
• How gender responsive is your organization/center?
• What are some current strengths and weaknesses?
• What kind of actions need to be taken?
• What opportunities are there that can be leveraged?
• What possible challenges need to be addressed?

This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
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