Gender markers and indicators: Which indicators can be applied to NIPN platforms? How to measure the implementation of gender approaches?

Over the years, different ‘gender markers’ have been developed at planning level and well as to track and report on allocations and expenditures for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls (GEEW). Some markers focus on criteria such as ‘age’ or ‘ethnicity’. Donors and international organisations (IASC, EU/ECHO, etc) have developed their own tools to monitor actions. All of these assess the extent to which gender equality is targeted by a project/programme, but do not evaluate the quality of such actions, meaning that a higher score does not signify better quality gender mainstreaming.

The following steps should be taken to define and better frame the use of gender markers and indicators in NIPN programmes.

1. Gender analysis should be conducted to inform the design of the project, ideally at proposal stage, to identify socially assigned gender roles (i.e., nurses are women, doctors are men), different needs and constrains, power inequalities and level of access to assistance or tools, among other context-specific issues. The analysis might include not only data-related issues but gender-related issues in the NIPN platform (e.g., team composition in different bodies, ease for women to access positions of responsibility, cultural issues that may affect gender inequalities, etc).

The analysis should also assess the potential negative effects of integration of Gender responsive actions and GTA, especially in contexts where access of women into traditional male-roles or in relevant society-roles is stigmatised or discriminated due to particular country or cultural issues.

2. Identification of indicators/markers appropriate to the country-specific platforms. Integrating gender in country programming is essential for government assistance to be more effective, to better respond to specific needs and target actions targeting the most vulnerable.

Data collection and analysis conducted with a gender perspective can shape decisions on actions and target groups by providing evidence for policy decisions. Gender perspective can also be included in NIPN question development, as well as in the evaluation of data quality.

NIPN teams should consider the following prior to the selection of indicators:

• Data and indicators should be disaggregated by sex and age when relevant and possible.

• Gender inequalities must be reported and monitored throughout the implementation.

• Questions to discuss with partners regarding data collected at the local or national level: Who traditionally controls household resources in the country? Does gender impact the access to resources? If so, in what way? How do emergencies/crises typically affect different genders and their roles? Do coping mechanisms to crises vary depending on gender? What specific nutrition needs are there based on gender (i.e., during pregnancies, men vs women handling heavy tasks, etc.)?

• When using or designing a survey: Who is answering the questions? To whom are the surveyors addressing their questions? Are the surveyors addressing to different household members depending on the type of question?

3. Identification of selected (and measurable) indicators to evaluate progress towards gender equality objectives.

It is recommended that the NIPN IPs will take over the responsibility for applying and following the indicators with the support of C4N-NIPN Global Coordination.

The NIPN team should consider its overall capacity to apply the marker correctly, and request support if needed. C4N-NIPN Global Coordination will establish an internal quality control mechanism to guarantee the accuracy of the application, facilitating a M&E system complementing the marker.

⁹ Those that are using mixed, inclusive, respectful and participatory approaches, methods and tools that capture gender equality issues.