CIDA's Gender Equality Action Plan (2010-2013)

Gender Equality and Development
Why an Action Plan?
Objectives
Actions and Implementing Steps
Abbreviations and Acronyms

The purpose of this Action Plan is to address the implementation gaps identified in the Evaluation of CIDA's Implementation of Its Policy on Gender Equality. The plan sets out actions and implementing steps for the period from 2010 to 2013. The aim is to better equip the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to plan, implement and report on gender equality (GE) results in its programming and gender equality dialogue with partners.

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Gender Equality and Development

Attention to gender equality issues has been proven to significantly reduce poverty and lead to more sustainable development. Greater gender equality multiplies development results and helps to ensure that results are sustained in the long term. Nevertheless gender inequality persists, frustrating poverty reduction efforts and impeding progress in developing countries.

Canada is strongly committed to gender equality as a human right domestically and internationally.

The Agency currently applies a two-pronged approach that helps to ensure results are achieved and maximized:

• explicitly integrating gender equality in all policies, programs and projects; and
• using programming that specifically targets the reduction of gender inequality.

In compliance with the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act, CIDA's commitment to equality between women and men as a crosscutting theme enables the Agency to demonstrate that its work contributes to poverty reduction, takes into account the perspectives of the poor and is consistent with human rights.

Strengthening aid effectiveness is also at the core of Canada's international efforts to reduce poverty and increase sustainable development, and has been identified as the Canadian government's top priority for development assistance. All of CIDA's programming is guided by the Agency's Aid Effectiveness Action Plan (2009-2012); this gives priority to focus, efficiency, accountability, predictability, alignment, inclusive partnerships and fragile states. Attention to gender equality forms an important part of this agenda.

Three thematic priorities have been established to guide CIDA's work going forward: increasing food security, securing the future of children and youth, and stimulating sustainable economic growth.

Canada supports equality between women and men and between girls and boys in each of our thematic priorities. For example, increasing the production of smallholder farmers, particularly women farmers, will be one of the key areas of work under our Food Security Strategy. Central components of the Children and Youth Strategy will be the promotion of maternal, newborn and child health, and the provision of education and skills to girls and boys so that they can both be productive members of society and engage meaningfully in their communities. The strategy will also have a special emphasis on girls in terms of their education, security and safety. Finally, with regard to stimulating sustainable economic growth, a major element of the strategy will be improving women's access to the benefits of economic growth through entrepreneurial training and financial services for the poor.

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Why an Action Plan?

The Evaluation of CIDA's Implementation of its Policy on Gender Equality was issued in April 2008, covering the period from 1999 to 2006. One of the key findings was that CIDA's 1999 Policy on Gender Equality is sound and remains relevant to effective development. However, implementation of the policy has been insufficient. The Management Response to the Evaluation recommendations was approved by the Evaluation Committee on November 3, 2008. The chief commitment was to develop a Corporate Gender Equality Action Plan.

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Objectives

This Action Plan translates CIDA's Policy on Gender Equality into concrete measures (see Appendix A - PDF, 526 KB, 4 pages). It does not replace the policy but rather focuses attention on the implementation gaps identified in the 2008 Evaluation.

The overall goal of the Action Plan is to strengthen CIDA's contribution to gender equality and women's empowerment in developing countries. By 2013, CIDA management and institutional systems will be strengthened to better manage, identify and assess gender equality results.

The objectives of the Action Plan are:

• Capacity: to strengthen CIDA's capacity to advance equality between women and men, and to work with partners for their effective delivery of gender equality results;
• Accountability: to strengthen CIDA's management and accountability systems for the achievement of gender equality results; and
• Engagement: to further increase CIDA's efforts to mobilize its partners to contribute to the achievement of gender equality results.

This Action Plan took effect in July 2010.

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Actions and Implementing Steps

The actions outlined in this Action Plan apply to all of CIDA's programs as well as to corporate and policy functions. For details of actions and implementing steps, see Appendix A (PDF, 526 KB, 4 pages).

All policy and programming branches are accountable for implementing the actions to which the Agency is committed and for reporting on gender equality results delivered.

An annual report that provides an overview of progress in implementing the Action Plan will be presented to the Policy and Performance Committee (PPC). The Human Development and Gender Equality Division of the Strategic Policy and Performance Branch (SPPB) will provide advice and support, and will act as the secretariat for the Action Plan. Its role will involve coordinating and analyzing the annual reports and assessing outcomes achieved.

Through the Action Plan, CIDA will achieve more consistent and substantive gender equality results in all programs and policies. All policy and programming branches are responsible for monitoring progress, which will be rolled up annually by the Strategic Policy and Performance Branch. This monitoring structure is meant to address a finding in the Evaluation about the need for more "distributed leadership." For details on responsibilities, see Appendix A (PDF, 526 KB, 4 pages).

Communication of GE results will be part of all existing reporting processes, such as the Departmental Performance Report, Country Report Cards, the Development for Results Report and CIDA's progress report on the Aid Effectiveness Action Plan. Results will be posted on CIDA's website.

CIDA continues to actively promote and lead discussions on GE results in policy networks and other forums, such as the Network on Gender Equality (GENDERNET), an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

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Abbreviations and Acronyms

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Alternate Formats

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CIDA's Gender Equality Action Plan (2010-2013) (PDF 851 MB, 16 pages)