Report on ENRAP session on Nurturing a Gender Network in India (22nd Jan) IFAD India Gender Mainstreaming Workshop, Pune 21-23rd January 09 Introduction Since the beginning of their collaboration on ENRAP, IFAD and IDRC have been interested in using the ENRAP network to improve knowledge sharing on issues related to gender empowerment. During phase II some of the participating countries especially Pakistan discussed the issue every year at the annual sharing workshops organized by ENRAP. The Pakistan gender focal points were keen to network with others struggling with gender issues and requested support for practical help and an email list for regular sharing. ENRAP attempted to connect IFAD’s Gender Mainstreaming project for South Asia (www.gendermainstreamingasia.org) more strongly to help with this. ENRAP also supported this projects website to ensure that knowledge resources were available virtually. However, that beginning remained small and for lack of practical advice that project staff needed as well as project capacity, the network didn’t grow very much. In phase III ENRAP started reviewing its possible support to gender networking in the latter part of 2008. Information from IFAD regarding their newly designed support to the issue created opportunity. Asia division has been keen and supportive. To further assess the potential for nurturing a gender network, ENRAP participated in an ICIMOD workshop organized to share reports of gender assessments they had commissioned for IFAD’s projects in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. In addition, to explore connections between IFAD’s interests in creating a gender network with IDRC’s knowledge base and research on women’s rights and citizenship and gender mainstreaming, ENRAP also identified opportunities for IFAD projects and partners through inviting interested gender focal points, evaluators working with IFAD to IDRC’s workshop on Gender Knowledge Production in Kathmandu at the end of January 2009. In the light of the above activities, India workshop was timely and provided opportunity to dialogue on knowledge networking with key gender staff of IFAD projects. ENRAP’s presence at the workshop facilitated thinking on three key areas to begin the process of knowledge sharing: 1. What are the Challenges that Gender Focal points face in their work 2. What are their knowledge needs which can address their challenges 3. What are their recommendations to address these knowledge needs-what, who, when. Participants also heard about ENRAP and what it can offer this group in terms of knowledge sharing and networking. An open discussion was used to collect challenges from the participants. While the other two questions were explored in groups. When identifying knowledge needs, participants were divided in groups that reflected their responsibilities within the project, whether at project management level or district level or looking at national level concerns as this was likely to affect their needs. Following this, recommendations were discussed and presented by each project group. Many groups listed ENRAP support for networking and knowledge sharing activities such as experience sharing workshops, e-discussions, in addition they mentioned capacity development in terms of documentation of practices and platforms for dissemination. All the presentations are available on the ENRAP website:
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(http://www.enrap.org/index.php?module=pnKnwMang&func=displayResource&kid=620&c id=17). Common Challenges Faced The participants were quite active in expressing their challenges. These reflect challenges that relate to people’s attitude and understanding the concept of gender; the institutional constraints as well as the political and social environment; lack of available knowledge resources on practices and policies; and the nature of IFAD communities. This demonstrates the diverse nature of challenges embedded in both thought and practice that affect design and delivery of gender empowerment efforts. The challenges mentioned are grouped below: Remoteness, Illiteracy , Language diversity Lack of institutional support, Lack of Common Understanding, Rigid Mind-Set,Power relations, Weak gender advocacy Lack of technical know-how to address gender concerns. (gender tools and techniques), Lack of area specific gender studies/knowledge., Lack of simple materials/documentation, Lack of knowledge/access to good practices, Lack of gender specific evaluation and follow-up by donors needed, Issues related to Implementation and Evaluation of gender strategy/policy at project level, Performance measurement/criteria (quantitative) inadequate for gender. Tendency to use quantitative evaluation instead of process oriented time frames. Lack of Networking and Information Dissemination
Identifying Knowledge Needs Three groups comprising of IFAD project staff at 1) project management unit level, who often have gender mainstreaming as one component of their work, 2) gender focal points working at the district level with community groups and 3) national level field presence staff and government who are looking at policies, discussed and presented their knowledge needs to address the common challenges identified. Of course, not all of the challenges could be addressed through knowledge but some of the common knowledge needs cited are: Challenges Lack of user-friendly material on gender issues and lack of technical know-how Knowledge needs Documentation / Skill enhancement Sharing cross learning/networking E-discussion/common web portal Knowledge about audio visual aids Studies on specific themes such as drudgery reduction Training resources available-list Roster of resource persons Resources on tools and techniques and follow-up. Share Fair at different levels: national, project and district level Common guidelines/gender strategy documents Gender sensitization programs at all levels a common platform/website to share learnings and discuss problems
Lack of institutional support and power relationships Lack of Networking and Information
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Dissemination
online networking an discussions face-to-face networking at workshops Capacity building in documentation of good practices for dissemination Please see Annexure 1 for all group presentations. Addressing Knowledge Needs In their project groups, participants discussed what concrete steps can be taken to address their knowledge needs. Each group made recommendations and an action plan which identified, who can do what, what resources are needed and the timelines. These are annexed to this report in Annexure 2 Some of the common recommendations made by the project groups include: Strategic Information • Common guidelines or project policies • Formulation of project specific gender strategy and action plan Information on Resources: • Database of institutions (resource agencies and individuals) working in addressing gender issues • Training materials, modules, IEC materials etc, good practices Knowledge sharing and exchange • Periodic workshops (knowledge-share fair) or meetings or exposures on gender mainstreaming to share good practices • Continuous monitoring of progress on gender related planed activities • E-discussion and website • Exposure visits Capacity Building • Skills development in documentation techniques, using various gender analysis tools • Media advocacy, capturing and disseminating information (IEC material) using video. All project groups and the national level team are interested in continued sharing and learning through a network. Many projects were willing to share their experiences through electronic and face-to-face meetings. However, they expressed lack of knowledge including who to contact for what information, as impediments which a national level network could help address. Most projects have funds available to implement project specific training and documentation and need technical support for skills development in gender analysis tools and documentation techniques. They also see ENRAP as a platform for providing sharing opportunities and building skills which would allow them to share information. Collective Action Plan which emerged from discussions (reference to ENRAP): On the final day of the workshop, participants collectively planned what kind of activities could be undertaken and by whom to address some of the challenges discussed at the ENRAP session. The table below summarises these discussions. Participants recommended that ENRAP could support the ICP in disseminating documentation/material which is available on gender mainstreaming. ENRAP could also support online and face-to-face networking for sharing of information.
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Challenges Technical Capacity Skills: Gender organizational Development Material Creation
Activities Gender analysis training
Responsible Project staff ICO (gender mainstreaming, G and org devpt-PDs and GF) National IFAD ICO+ ENRAP+WOCAN State-Project and external consultants Project staff, ICO IFAD-ICO Checklist
Resources ICO and project
Time
Inventory of materials and project can demystify (local language) Engender project cycle Gender sensitive policies and good practices –HR policy consistent with govt Gathering Gender sensitive M&E indicators in M&E Plan (reported to ICU) Creating gender terms of reference for all staff Performance appraisal. Sex disaggregated data Report Gender to IFAD
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Project approach Organisational Culture Create Enabling Environment Social culture Accountability
Project staff Project staff and share within themselves.
project
IFAD Gender Framework-ICO suggest for reporting
Political Commitment Policies Advocacy (grassroots, projects, state level)
Leaders/PDs
Way Forward: During the course of discussions some issues emerged that may impinge on the success of creating a gender network in India : 1. Many people at the district level don’t have access to computers, internet, and personal emails. They often have to attend to multiple tasks so their participation in ediscussions may be limited.
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2. Many of the project level co-ordinators have additional responsibilities-this provides both opportunities in terms of gender being mainstreamed in other areas but also constraints in terms of time devoted to gender specific activities. 3. In many projects there is no specific gender co-ordinator at the PMU level so some times there is no adequate link up. 4. Project Directors are the key decision makers within projects and are government civil servants-they have authority and power to change organization policies and structures yet they were not present at the gender workshop. They also require gender sensitization since they are responsible for overall project delivery including gender. 5. ENRAP only has one and half years to assist in this process therefore the strength of the network would very much depend on how quickly can the ICP engage with ENRAP in the networking effort.. Despite these issues, there are clear opportunities for ENRAP to help create knowledge sharing mechanisms within the gender mainstreaming efforts of the ICP. These arise from the institutional support and interest of ICP and IFAD to have knowledge sharing and learning as a key element of their gender mainstreaming activities. Additionally, through this meeting a group of enthusiastic gender focal points have come together and their sustained interest can propel networking activities. Furthermore, IDRC has a rich resource and knowledge base to which this group can be linked for further sharing and learning. Given this, ENRAP will work with the ICP to plan and identify the next steps in strengthening this group through identifying knowledge sharing platforms and resources. Next Steps In light of the positive discussions and interest of participant to continue sharing their knowledge and experiences in gender mainstreaming, ENRAP intends to work with and support ICP in strengthening of a gender network for India. Learning from this experience would help expand it further in the region. Follow-up activities for these purposes include: 1. Include all focal points on the ENRAP gender mailing list and encourage them to use it. 2. Assess gender networking needs of the IFAD-India office that ENRAP could support. 3. Link them to the relevant resource persons and IDRC’s partners and knowledge. Given that ENRAP has only one and a half years left for project implementation, building a sustainable network amongst the group with key resource persons and the ICP as leading the network would be a sustainable strategy. As envisaged by Mattia Prayer Gellati a ‘self-help group’ of gender focal points can help each other in addressing common concerns.
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ANNEXURE 1: GROUP PRESENTATION ON KNOWLEDGE NEEDS Question for Discussion: What are the key knowledge needs to address challenges faced in gender mainstreaming & empowerment
Group 1 (PMU level) Challenges and Knowledge Needs Common Challenges Availability of simple material Language Access to good practice Level project policy Networking Information dissemination Lack of technical knowledge How to address gender concern Area specific gender Knowledge Lack of institutional support Lack of common understanding Rigid mind set Power Weak gender advocacy Lack of gender evaluation and follow up Process oriented time frame
Knowledge Needs Documentation / Skill enhancement Sharing cross learning E-discussion Knowledge about audio visual aids Common guidelines Knowledge about tools for gender advocacy at various levels Knowledge about Quantitative and qualitative indicator across the different programs component
Group 2 (District level) Knowledge Needs: Area specific study should be made available –historical social cultural and political background Status of target group at national and regional basis Gender framework and guideline be made available to all project Knowledge about gender website Experience and knowledge sharing Techniques of documentation, publication and reporting Gender Analysis tools Regular flow of information on govt programmes and schemes specially for women and vulnerable Exposure visit/ training and capacity building. Sensitization techniques for different level of stakeholders
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Drudgery reduction, Areas of drudgery Organization working for drudgery reduction. Tools developed for drudgery reduction Listing of institutes, resource persons, and consultancies for gender mainstreaming support. Development of IEC materials on gender3
Group 3: (National level) How to address common challenges through KM 1. Access to training resources Not knowing what to get from where Many resources are in soft copies; difficult to access in many places / districts due to limited internet access facilities. Lack of available hard copies for those who require in project level (as limited internet access) Many resource materials are too technical; require simplification and in local languages 2. Access to training network Not knowing whom to contact for training Maintaining the quality of trainers (based on project/programme requirements) Not having resources/fund for access to trainers 3. Have KM Share Fair Country level [India Country Programme] Cluster level [Women cluster, Tribal Cluster, Livelihoods Cluster] Project level [State wise / district wise/ Block wise/ community wise / geographical entity wise …….] 4. Create a roaster of gender strategy documents of various agencies in the website and/or make available the documents to all projects 5. Create a roaster of gender resource agencies / institutes / organizations (for trainings / consultancies …….) and make available to projects 6. E – Net working; E – Group discussion to promote gender focused professionals in the projects
Group Divisions: Group 1 (PMU level) Rajesh Subrata Pravanjan Roopa Dolfie Kusum Mahaendra Thamodaran Gyanendra Anjana
Group 2 (District Level) Abha Hema Sujan Puspha Sanjay Somnath Satish Parth
Group 3 (National Level) Sulochana Mattia Vincent Barun Judith Anina
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Pravin
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ANNEXURE 2: Activity Plan: ADDRESSING KNOWLEDGE NEEDS Questions for Discussion: 1. What needs to be done to address knowledge needs? Key recommendations 2. Improving gender-related knowledge sharing Are projects interested in sharing knowledge with each other? What kind of activities are needed for this? Who should take the lead in implementation at project & national levels? What kind of resources (funds & time) can projects & partners contribute?
Jharkhand and Chattisgarh Team 1. Recommendations Capacity building on gender analysis tool, methodologies and techniques Regular flow of information and correspondence on gender Appreciation and motivational input for knowledge for those who are working on gender Decentralization of power on gender planning and policy decision Workshop for technique of documentation, publication and reporting 2. Yes, interested to share our knowledge 3. Activities required for sharing 4. Activity Required
Activities Personnel access to email Guidelines from IFAD for networking Exposure and capacity building on gender workshop Updation of website Information center as CMRC at block level
Who P.D and IFAD IFAD, ENRAP IFAD, Training coordinator and gender specialist IFAD, Project, State government IFAD, Project and Government agencies
Funds / Time Not required/ Immediately Funds available Funds available / On going IFAD fund available / Immediately Funds required from IFAD, Project /
Tejaswini Madhya Pradesh Recommendations Area Specific Studies for identified the gender issues. Networking with other projects/Org./ NGOs/Experts Experience sharing – Success story/lesson learnt Training materials, guidelines related to gender Exposure visits in similar projects
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Yes ready to share our knowledge with other projects Upload documents, studies, and other print material regarding gender context. Exposure visits of successful project areas Convergence with other stakeholders for sharing experience Organization of Knowledge fair Projects and ICO can take lead for conducting. Print material/field visits/documents
Tejaswini Maharashtra Recommendations Information to be provided about existing resources, agencies, community innovations. Sharing of knowledge of the functioning of the Gender cross cutting group in any project which has been proved to be successful to understand the use of effective strategies, tasks, structure etc. Sharing of the Best Gender Policy Paper which has been proved to effective in execution too. Skills enhancement of the staff can be improved in Documentation, capturing information, presentation through training. Better understanding for how to make effective use of M/E tools for the assessment of gender related activities. Improving knowledge sharing: yes Good practices implemented by MAVIM in recruitment of field workers, sports competition for women, hemoglobin check up, various initiatives in motivation & retention of staff Skill enhancement in KM KM exhibitions Hand holding support to build the network within the project E discussions Help in developing web-site Support in developing low cost media for effective training and social awareness Media advocacy for enabling environment To outsource some of the task of KM, ENRAP may provide us with the list of competent consultants/Agencies. MAVIM can take up the responsibility at project level & ENRAP at national level Training of KM personal –resource support from ENRAP ( Training of at least 34 staff) OTELP Team Recommendations Formulation of project specific gender strategy and action plan Database of institutions (resource agencies/ individuals) working in addressing gender issues
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Formulation and adoption of training materials, modules, IEC materials etc. for continuous capacity building on gender. Periodic workshop/ meeting/ exposures on gender mainstreaming. Continuous monitoring of progress on gender related planed activities
Improving knowledge sharing Yes Gender focal point at Project Level and ICO/ ENRAP at National level Activities and Resources Activities Formulation of gender strategy Formulation of action plan Cross visit to different programme areas Documentation of good practices Sharing & Networking of lessons learnt Concurrent capacity building on gender for the project stakeholders Systematization of gender related issues Resources/ Fund Project Project Project/ ICO Project Project/ ICO/ ENRAP Project Project/ ENRAP/ ICO Time Done 2months Ongoing Ongoing Ongoing Ongoing 3 months
ULIPH, MLIPH & TN Team Knowledge Needs Documentation / Skill enhancement Sharing / cross learning E-discussion Common guidelines Knowledge about tools for gender advocacy at various levels Improving Knowledge Sharing Yes E-mail, Training, Experience sharing workshop a) National Level ICP – IFAD, ENRAP b) Project Level Project Director, Gender focal points Project has fund for addressing this. National level-ICP & GOVT Team. Are projects interested in sharing knowledge with each other? Yes, but for what purpose? To inform and educate policy makers; To inform policy makers on the current status of project implementation, but also current status of policies/schemes on gender
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To document the achievements of the project To suggest mid term modifications in project implementation Highlight best practices of project for replication by others To bring all project implementers in a common platform for uniformity of understanding and application as well as learning from each other Draw attention of project management on critical issues To improve the designs of future projects based on lessons learned
What kind of activities are needed for this? Collect and collate information from various sources Upload in interactive website; IFAD website Disseminate hard copies Network with nodal departments dealing with women to understand new initiatives Periodic information and dissemination workshop (project / state /national / regional level) E discussion Net working with line departments Net working with other donor agencies / grant funds recipients Exchange visits between projects Research studies on gender related issues (eg. Gender and microfinance; gender and NRM; etc.) Training/capacity building for documentation techniques and use of tools. Resource mobilization (financial) to carry out the above activities, if ENRAP funding is insufficient. Who should take the lead in implementation of these at project and national levels? Project Management in the state level ICO at national level in coordination with ENRAP Ministry of Women & Child Development at national level in consultation with ICO and ENRAP What kinds of resources (funds & time) can projects and partners contribute? Ministry of Women and Child Development has a number of women related schemes that can be accessed by the project (including partner NGOs). [more list available with MWCD] Financing available under our projects, ENRAP, IFAD, etc. Human resources at ICO, ENRAP, projects, IFAD HQ, etc.
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