Step 1. Alignment with Partnership Agreements’ and Operational Programmes’ gender objectives and indicators

It is important to ensure that project applications under each fund specify how the project will address existing gender gaps, or women’s and men’s specific needs, in the intervention area. Managing authorities can support project applicants by:

  • providing information on gender goals and indicators defined in the PA and OPs;
  • providing other gender-related, context-specific information that is relevant to the calls for proposals;
  • providing information on how gender aspects should be included in the application, and how these will be evaluated;
  • ensuring that applicants have the information and capacity needed to undertake a gender analysis of the intervention area.

Step 1a. Conduct a gender analysis

The purpose of a gender analysis[1] is to identify inequalities and differences between women and men in all their diversity, as well as to establish the underlying reasons for these inequalities. To conduct a gender analysis, you should do the following:

Step 1b. Set gender-specific objectives and indicators

Based on the gender analysis, you will have a strong understanding of differences between women and men, their different needs and gendered patterns. Relate these identified differences and patterns to the objectives of the PA or OP, as well as national or subnational gender equality goals. How will these differences and patterns affect the possibility of achieving the fund’s objectives?

Using the findings of the gender analysis, make the project’s objectives and indicators gender specific. This means ensuring that the project’s objectives contribute to gender equality goals within the intervention area. As noted above, project objectives should be aligned with national and subnational gender goals.

  • Gender equality project objectives must be tailored to the area of intervention and formulated as objectives on gender equality-related performance, participation and impact. The key question to answer is: what contributions can, and should, the project make to promoting gender equality in the area of intervention?
  • Gender-sensitive project indicators[2] allow us to measure changes in relations between women and men, and in their statuses, needs or situations, in the context of the project or activity. As a measure of social change and the performance/effectiveness of projects, gender-sensitive indicators can be described in terms of:
    • the derived quality to be reached;
    • the quantity of something to be achieved;
    • the target group affected by, or that benefits from, the project;
    • the time frame envisaged for achieving the project objectives.