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Review of OCHA’s Gender Equality Policy

Authored by: Evaluation and Guidance Section

Categories: Humanitarian Emergencies
Sub-Categories: International Agreements
Region: No Region
Year: 2010
Citation: Evaluation and Guidance Section, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Review of OCHA's Gender Equality Policy. New York: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2010.

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Executive Summary

The creation of OCHA’s Gender Equality Policy in 2005 and of a dedicated Senior Gender Specialist position in 2006 have been important steps towards gender mainstreaming in OCHA. Moreover, the role of interagency tools such as the IASC Gender E- Learning, Gender Markers, the GenCap programme and leadership in advocacy is proving invaluable to reach established gender objectives. GenCaps have been an important asset to support and provide technical guidance, and when placed with OCHA they have strengthened OCHA’s ability to provide effective coordination on gender. To further implement the GEP, the review recommends the provision of additional resources. While this is a challenge in a time of budget and financial constraints, other recommendations put forth focus on strengthening gender mainstreaming within OCHA through strengthening of existing systems, while limiting the amount of supplementary human and financial resources. Recommendation 2, for example, suggests areas to consider in the forthcoming revision of the Gender Equality Policy. Four other recommendations are related to the provision of training on gender, while another three make reference to the integration of gender into OCHA’s strategic plans and processes, including senior performance measurement and staff performance indicators. Finally, another recommendation suggests ensuring that gender is regularly incorporated into the SMT agenda.