October 2010

CLUSTER GUIDANCE NOTE FOR GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION

PROJECTS FINANCED BY THE POOLED FUND

EXAMPLES OF OPERATIONAL STANDARDS

Having for objective to strengthen gender mainstreaming in the projects it funds, the Pooled Fund (PF) has asked all clusters to develop guidelines to be observed by all project designers.

Each cluster has defined minimum standards on gender equality which are both operational for and specific to the area and context of intervention.

These guidelines cover the following issues:

○Analysis of the different needs of women, girls, boys and men;

○Community consultation;

○Equal access to aid;

○Representation and participation of both women and men in the decision-making process;

○Equal opportunities and responsibilities;

○Response to specific needs;

○Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and from sexual violence;

○Collection of sex-disaggregated data

○Team mixing

○ Sensitization of humanitarian actors on the importance of taking gender into account in their intervention

Examples of operational standards for the mainstreaming of gender in humanitarian action:

v  Analysis of the different needs of women, girls, boys and men:

WASH: Analyze and take into consideration the division of tasks and the different needs of women, girls, boys and men when providing water, as well as care and hygiene services.

Nutrition: Analyze the nutritional vulnerability particularly affecting boys. Take corrective measures accordingly.

Shelter: Analyze task division between women and men for the construction of shelters in the area. Take specific measures in order to provide construction assistance to female headed households.

Food Security: Specify how the choice of in kind assistance and technical support to be provided are based on a sound understanding of the gendered division of labor and of the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of women and men.

v  Community consultation:

Health: Systematically consult with women in order to identify with them the opening hours and days most convenient for them.

WASH: Give priority to consultation with women and girls at all project stages, particularly on issues such as the location and design of water points, showers and toilets in order to reduce waiting time for them, as well as their risk of becoming a target of violence.

v  Equal access to aid:

Non Food Items (NFI): Identify women as aid recipients to ensure that all female spouses in polygamous households are included.

Education: Encourage equal education for all by sensitizing local communities and by taking into account specific obstacles to education for girls and boys.

v  Representation and participation of both women and men in the decision-making process:

WASH: Encourage an equal representation of women and men in decision-making bodies and in trainings so that both groups have an equal mastery of existing facilities.

Food Security: Promote female leaders among farmers groups

v  Equal opportunities and responsibilities:

Protection: Engage boys and men as allies in the prevention of sexual violence.

Health: Strengthen the systematic engagement of men in reproductive health programmes and services.

Nutrition: Ensure that fathers and mothers are equally targeted by food education activities. The engagement of fathers in taking care of malnutrition cases needs to be encouraged.

Education: Boys and girls are responsible for cleaning their own toilets, classrooms and recreational spaces.

Logistics: For road rehabilitation projects using high intensity labor, ensure that women represent at least 25% of the laborers. Provide an equal salary to women and men.

v  Response to specific needs:

Shelter: Indicate how land and housing access issues will be taken into consideration, with a specific attention to the situation of daughters and widows

NFI: Respond to specific needs of girls and women aged 13 to 45 when distributing personal hygiene kits.

Education: Sensitize fathers and mothers to the importance of continuing education for teenage girls after primary school and to issues such as early pregnancy and marriage.

v  Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and from sexual violence:

WASH: Separate shower and toilet blocks according to sex by means of a pictogram, and keep a ratio of 6 doors for women compared to 4 for men. Doors must be lockable from the inside.

NFI: Establish complaint mechanisms for security and abuse incidents. Post visuals to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse on registration and distribution sites.

v  Collection of sex-disaggregated data:

Nutrition: Disaggregate by sex the number of aid beneficiaries, recruited community mediators and care personnel with access to training.

Protection: Disaggregate by sex data on human rights violations, as well as targeted beneficiaries of protection programmes.

v  Team mixing:

Nutrition: Ensure that care teams and community mediators consist of an equal number of women and men.

v  Sensitization of humanitarian actors on the importance of taking gender into account in their intervention

Logistics: Humanitarian air companies will provide on board a set of documentation on gender equality in humanitarian action