This toolkit focuses on gender mainstreaming, which is a strategy for making the concerns of boys, girls, women, and men, and their experiences, an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and programs so that all intended beneficiaries can equitably benefit from the intervention. Stand-alone gender programming refers to programming that focuses specifically on gender inequalities or gender issues in order to achieve gender equality.” Stand-alone gender programming is complementary to gender mainstreaming, but is not the focus of this toolkit.
Following an introduction that includes key terms and outlines approaches for gender equality programming, best practices, and frequently asked questions, the resource explores the reasons why gender mainstreaming is critical. The next section explores who affects and is affected by gender. The heart of the resource explains how to mainstream gender equality; provides an introduction to and guidance in areas such as strategic planning, proposal design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and accountability and learning; tools for gender analysis (e.g., the gender inequality tree); and guidance for gender mainstreaming across thematic areas of focus, including child protection, child rights governance, education, health and nutrition, HIV and AIDS, and hunger reduction and livelihoods. A glossary of terms, appendix, and references conclude the toolkit.