Gender-responsive evaluation for a sustainable future for all

Gender inequality is not only a matter of unequal access to opportunities or resources (e.g. employment, income and finance, infrastructure, and services).

Gender inequality is rooted in deeply ingrained social norms and power structures that exert unjust dominance over women and nature.

This approach seeks to challenge and transform these norms and power structures that perpetuate gender and environmental injustices and destroy nature. It also focuses on shifting gender attitudes and beliefs, promoting more equitable, intersectional gender-just policies and practices, and ecological sustainability.

Gender analysis is essential for identifying the different impacts between and among women and men in all their diversity, considering their relative position in society and the distribution of resources, opportunities, constraints and power within a particular intervention.

An intersectional approach recognises that sex and gender intersect with other personal characteristics/identities, and that these intersections contribute to unique (sometimes multiple and intersecting) experiences of discrimination.

Sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics are key to providing an evidence base for making gender inequalities visible and for reporting on different gender and environmental impacts.

Gender statistics and indicators can support measuring changes in power dynamics and focusing on structural aspects, such as social norms and barriers.

Participatory methods are required in collecting data. These include consulting those impacted )directly or indirectly), by the intervention as well as gender equality stakeholders.

The use of participatory approaches and stakeholder consultation aligns with feminist principles of culturally contingent knowledge and valuing the perspectives of those affected.^[1]

An evaluation must be designed and carried out in a way that is culturally responsive to values and beliefs, many of which may be context specific.^[2]

A participatory approach also requires a proactive effort to identify, engage and consult those who may be typically excluded from the conversation, for example, women, in all their diversity, and specific groups traditionally excluded from decision-making spaces due to intersecting inequalities (e.g. migrant women and men), to ensure that their views are reflected in the policymaking process.

The use of transformative and empowerment approaches enables an evaluation to contribute to structural change in unequal gendered power relations.^[3] Overall, a participatory approach orientates the design of future interventions to respond to the needs of people.^[4]

To understand social change in evaluations, evaluators need to clearly understand the context, goals and objectives, intended and non-intended beneficiaries and the theory of change underlying the intervention. Ultimately, understanding the complexity of social change in evaluations requires evaluators to go beyond surface-level indicators of change, such as numbers and end results and delve deeper into the underlying processes and mechanisms that drive or hinder social change.

Gender-responsive evaluations recognise that achieving gender equality is a complex, non-linear process that is beyond the scope of any single intervention and is influenced by various contextual factors.^[5]

A mixed-methods approach is a well-established feature of evaluations.

From a gender perspective, a mixed-methods approach allows the evaluation to capture the complex situations in which interventions are implemented, the existence of facilitating and hindering factors (e.g. the availability of data, competences, resources), and medium- and long-term changes relating to gender equality that may be difficult to measure.^[6]

Gender-responsive evaluation ensures that an evaluation’s methodological approach can respond flexibly to challenges and is context-specific, avoiding a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model.

Within evaluation teams, there must be sufficient expertise in gender equality and gender mainstreaming so that the topics are comfortably covered.

Moreover, a gender-responsive evaluation should aim to ensure gender balance (at least 40% of each gender) among the evaluation team and avoid reproducing any inequalities the evaluation seeks to address.

To ensure that an evaluation is gender-responsive, user-friendly and gender-sensitive, the language used throughout the evaluation should be such that the evaluation is inclusive and accessible to all EU citizens and stakeholders.^[7]