Gender mainstreaming is about inclusion: making sure that if a policy or service would be experienced differently by a woman or man, there is no negative impact on either gender. The goal of mainstreaming gender equality is the transformation of unequal social and institutional structures into equal and just structures for both men and women.
Mainstreaming is not about adding a ‘woman’s component’ or even a ‘gender equality component’ into an existing activity. It goes beyond increasing women’s participation; it means bringing the experience, knowledge, and interests of women and men to bear on policy making, management processes and on the delivery of services.
Responsibility for implementing the mainstreaming strategy is system-wide, and rests at the highest levels within agencies. Its principles include adequate accountability mechanisms for monitoring progress needing to be established; the initial identification of issues and problems across all area(s) of activity should mean that gender differences and disparities can be diagnosed; clear political will and allocation of adequate resources for mainstreaming, including additional financial and human resources if necessary, are important for translation of the concept into practice. (Source: Foreign and Commonwealth Office and International Labour Organisation).
This two-week programme provides a practical focus for developing and utilising appropriate tools and techniques to ensure the successful inclusion of gender mainstreaming strategy across a wide range of policy, programme and project initiatives.