Gender mainstreaming is a vital strategy for promoting gender equality, which involves analysing and addressing the impact of policies and programs on different genders. It is particularly important for creating more democratic and prosperous communities at the local level. Gender mainstreaming is not a goal in itself, it is a tool we can use to work towards achieving gender equality.
By integrating gender perspectives into all aspects of local governance, including decision-making processes, planning, budgeting, and service delivery, gender mainstreaming ensures that the needs and priorities of all community members, regardless of their gender, are taken into account. This helps to build more inclusive and equitable communities by creating opportunities for all members to participate and contribute in local decision-making and development. By ensuring that women and other marginalised groups have a voice in decision-making bodies, gender mainstreaming helps to promote more diverse and inclusive perspectives. This, in turn, leads to more responsive policies and programs that are better suited to the needs of the entire community.
In the video, made by SALAR (Swedish Association for Local Authorities and Regions) you can see some Swedish examples of gender mainstreaming on the local level. For instance, how can snow removal be discriminating towards women – and what happens when you use gender mainstreaming as a tool to set things right? Watch the video to find out!
In this module, moving on from this introduction, we will look further into how local governments can move the gender equality work from separate projects into the everyday work. To make women and men, girls and boys visible by gendering management, gender-disaggregated statistics and gender equality analysis are central components that we will investigate closer now. Let’s get started!
If you are part of an ICLD municipal partnership, you should ideally conduct Module 3 with your partner during the project planning process regardless of your project’s topic. This module should help you complete Part 2 of ICLD’s Problem Oriented Project Planning workbook by providing you with inspiration for activities to be conducted as part of year 1’s action plan.