Trainings on Equity- focused & Gender-Responsive Evaluation: what have we learned & how can we improve?

[Rituu B Nanda]

We, in the EvalGender+ management group, are reaching out  to understand what has worked in trainings on Equity focused and Gender Responsive (EFGR) Evaluations. This information would help to design and deliver effective trainings and ensure application and use of obtained skills and knowledge.  We invite your experiences, lessons learned and recommendations on the following questions:

1. What kinds of trainings/courses have you attended or conducted on Equity focused and Gender Responsive Evaluation?
2. What are the 2-3 'take aways' from the course/training that you were able to apply to your work?
3. What  elements helped in application/use of training (method, duration, materials, etc)? 
4. What would you suggest to ensure use of knowledge/skills obtained in trainings on  EFGR evaluations?

We plan to compile the inputs and prepare a list of recommendations to those who contract, deliver or use trainings. Please respond by 29th Nov 2017.

[Yakub]

Hey

Just joined i need to learn more and i see it very applicable to my situation. More so as my team and i manage refugees in my country Uganda. I would love to be part of the trainings

Regards

[Laura Gagliardone]

Dear Rituu, I am writing to provide my inputs and let you know some of the trainings on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment I have attended. The following have been organized by EmpowerWomen.org, a KM platform facilitated by UN Women and supported by the Government of Canada. Here the list:

Webinar: Taking the WEPs Gender Gap Analysis Tool - 06 September 2017

https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/community/events-opportunities/2017...

Webinar: #BreakTheGlass campaign - 26 July 2017

https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/community/events-opportunities/2017...

Webinar: Career Success Utilizing the New Emerging Fashion Psychology Field - 24 May 2017

https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/community/events-opportunities/2017...

Webinar Series: The Roadmap to Success - 01 April 2017 - 17 May 2017

https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/community/events-opportunities/2017...

Hope this is useful.

Warmly, Laura Gagliardone

[Rituu B Nanda]

Dear Laura, many thanks. Ddi you attend or conduct any of these trainings? If yes, what went well ? and what can we do differently? Would you know the trainers?  Warm greetings

[Laura Gagliardone]

Dear Rituu, you are making me do a quick impact assessment :-).

Below, please find some insights for your consideration:

1. RELEVANCE [Rating: 5/5]

1.1. I have attended all the trainings listed above and they have been very relevant to the overall goal: raising awareness and sharing good practices regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment

1.2. The recordings posted on the EmpowerWomen.org website can be used as resources to educate the global community and as advocacy materials to encourage action on Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda

1.3. For more information, you can reach out to Ms. Diana Rusu, Community and Knowledge Management, UN Women/EmpowerWomen.org ([e-mail], NYC).

2. EFFECTIVENESS [Rating: 4/5]

2.1. In general, the trainings have been effective in increasing awareness of gender equality related issues and sharing good practices

2.2. The courses have covered several industries and their approach to Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda. This has been very useful in transferring knowledge and skills from industry to industry. For example: I have been impressed by a presentation on the importance of sports to build women’s self-confidence and encourage fair and positive competition. The lessons learned in sports can be used at work later

2.3. The courses have allowed participants to interact with presenters, address concerns and/or questions, and get answers. They have provided informational materials and tools to conduct gender assessments and analysis.

3. EFFICIENCY [Rating: 5/5]

3.1. The trainings have been free, easy to access, and clear

3.2. The organizer, Ms. Diana Rusu, has always been ready to assist and follow up on concerns and questions.

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

a) In my opinion, generally speaking, all trainings/courses as well as programs/projects addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment related issues are targeting more women than men. If we lose men in this process, we fail in ensuring gender equality as it is not a woman’s issue but a social/economic/political principle which, if appropriately tackled, can improve the global community

b) In all trainings, I have observed a good participation of women but a lack of men’s presence and this is a weakness. Men do not often participate to such types of trainings so we miss their questions, perspectives, and insights. So I suggest focusing on this issue for future initiatives. Working on women’s empowerment and rights does not mean creating differences but bridges

c) I suggest creating a group to continue the discussion after the trainings to ensure a sustainable impact at local and global level

d) I suggest facilitating connections among people who work on similar topics following the example of EVALSDGs network under the leadership of Ms. Ada Ocampo, Senior Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF. She is doing an outstanding work to bring and keep members together.

There is more to do and it is my hope that women can learn how to team-up and collaborate for reciprocal benefits. Also, I am convinced that men have to be included in all gender equality activities or the global community cannot meet Goal 5. This is not aimed to create a stronger, women’s community worldwide, but improve women-men relationships ensuring equal opportunities and overcoming old fashion stereotypes/mentalities.

Hope this helps :-)

Warmly, Laura Gagliardone

[Jacinta Asio]

Trainings/courses attended or conducted on Equity focused and Gender Responsive Evaluation

• Gender responsive Monitoring and evaluation;
• Gender Statistics for Producer- User Dissemination.

 'Take aways' from the course/training that were able to apply to your work

• Evaluation and stakeholder mapping for the lands, housing and Urban development sector;
• How to set clear targets and indicators so as to track progress. 
  

Elements helped in application/use of training (method, duration, materials, etc)? 

• Mode of delivery  was through facilitator presentation and assignments done in group work;
• Course materials were elaborate. The course content was delivered in an accurate manner;
• Time duration. For the course trainings that lasted 2 to 3 days, the course content was delivered in a rush manner while the ones that lasted for 1 week to 2 weeks were efficient and effective in terms of content delivery.

Suggestions to ensure use of knowledge/skills obtained in trainings on  EFGR evaluations

• Ensure that the participants of the workshop have a project of what they will implement on completion of the course.... A participant has to come up with a concept note and after implementation of the project -participants will visit the project or share country experiences for improvement

[Rituu B Nanda]

Thanks Jacinta for your elaborate response. Why do you think there still is resistance to gender and equity lens in evaluation? 

[Alexandra Foust]

1) As a public school teacher in a suburb of Minneapolis, I participated in professional development for equity based on the Courageous Conversations paradigm.  This was not about evaluation, but it could be applied to work in the social sciences more broadly.

2)  The training helps participants understand from which quadrant of the 'compass' they approach issues of everyday racism or bias.  This helped me reflect on my own practice as well as develop more compassion for colleagues who might approach it differently.  This training is similar to the idea we learn in introductory anthropology: etic/emic perspective and the importance of knowing one's own perspective and bias as a researcher/practitioner.

3) The compass with examples of each quadrant (eg: https://www.pps.net/Page/2313); case studies.

4) Immediately apply with case studies in order to make it tangible and practical.  Also, establish relationships and group norms so that people feel comfortable sharing in a meaningful, genuine way (this can be an uncomfortable topic that works best when people feel safe enough to get vulnerable).

[John Ssendagire]

The training I attended in March 2017 was on "Opportunities and Challenges for Inclusion of Youth (both female and males) in District Development Programs". 

Takeaways were: The self-esteem of rural youths was low and needed t  to include scenarios that would elevate them. Similarly, both male and female youths lacked a clear understanding of their roles in the development programs of their districts, and some wondered if they really had to be involved -taking it to be only the role of adults in their communities to get involved.

Elements that helped in application/use of the training (methods, duration, materials etc)

Different youths were allowed to present-the facilitator made it participatory with his guidance. Thus making the sessions participatory made youths feel valued as opposed to a one-show off facilitation.

The duration of the sessions were two days; which gave an opportunity to exhaust all the course materials and gave a platform to youths to the network (all from Nakaseke, Nakasongola and Luweero districts).

The second day had more turn up of youths since the one who attended the first day invited fellow youths to come.

Suggestions to ensure use of knowledge/skills obtained in the training EFGR

Ensure concerned participants identify areas they can practically apply the skills while still in the training; where need be, let them constitute a team/committee that will monitor this and give feedback to the trainer or training team.

Youth participants understood areas and aspects that relate to gender inclusion in their day to day interactions with the district staff which would enhance their full participation. However, the training needed to be carried out more in other districts in Uganda, not only necessarily in Nakaseke, Nakasongola and Luweero districts so that a larger impact is realized.

[Rituu B Nanda]

Lotta Nycander, Sweden

I have not participated in any such training but thought you might be interested in an evaluation I did for Unicef in Malaysia a couple of years ago focused specifically on unicef’s approach to Equity.

It was apparently Unicefs first equity-focused evaluation. Here is the link to my report:

https://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/index_82675.html

[Rituu B Nanda]

Minal Mehta, India

1) trainings

a .Training by WHO given for adolescent health project evaluation in jharkhand 

b. evaluation of  gender based programming study  in Asia commissioned by PHFI I  was one of the investigator 

2)take away 

learnt analysis using  gender lens in evaluation

case study and observation were two methods used by me

3) elements that helped in application 

_analysis using gender lens 

_develop strong observation skills as first step to scientific research and evaluation 

4) suggestion 

_positive attitude as investigator helps

_qualitative research methods to be integral to any EFGRE

[Hugues Juillerat]

Dear all,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the insights.

As a Managing Director of TRAASS International (https://www.traass.org), an organisation specialising in providing training for specialists in M&E, I would like to share the following based on the students' post-training feedback:

 - Many of our students have EFGR evaluation background. The course titles are the Effective and Creative Evaluation Report Writing (https://www.traass.org/course-details-report-writing) and Cutting-Edge M&E: A Guide for Practitioners (https://www.traass.org/course-details-cutting-edge-m-e).

- The course on Report Writing provides practical recommendations on how to structure the report, design and promote it. The "Cutting-Edge" course provides an action plan to help students improve their evaluation practice with a view to promoting early participation and the engagement of key stakeholders. We have a great feedback from students that action plan type of material helped them in terms of application to their work.

- Video lectures and Guidelines seem to be the most highly-regarded learning materials. Do and Dont's list format, which we use in the Managing the Politics of Evaluation course (https://www.traass.org/managing-politics-of-evaluation) to illustrate the practical recommendations is also very helpful.

- To ensure use of obtained skills the courses should provide a well-structured learning material with a focus on the development of the practical skills. It means that there should be a plenty of examples, case studies, etc to illustrate the learning points. The personalised trainer support on demand was also found very valuable by our students. We advocate e-learning format due to its flexibility in terms of learning pace and location of the students. 

Hope it helps.

Warm regards,

Hugues

________________________

Hugues Juillerat, MPH

Managing Director

 

TRAASS International

Online Courses for Specialists in M&E

www.traass.org

 

Skype: hugues-juillerat

Email: [e-mail]

[Rituu B Nanda]

Juliette Seibold, United Kingdom

What kinds of trainings/courses have you attended or conducted on Equity focused and Gender Responsive Evaluation? IPE Global conducted a training on mainstreaming gender equality into all elements of the project cycle, including monitoring and evaluation for the Joint UN Programme on Local Governance in Somalia this year – 2017. It was a one day training for project field staff.  What are the 2-3 'take aways' from the course/training that you were able to applyto your work? While all attendees found the one day orientation useful – it was far too short to provide the knowledge, skills and expertise that staff really need in this area.  One huge hurdle is that many of the staff were men and they don’t necessarily believe in gender equality and they challenge the notion.  Teaching them to see with new eyes and believe and champion a rights based agenda in relation to equality –but also equity takes time.  In Somalia – a key issue in relation to equity relates to minority clans – and again changing the way the status quo think and act takes time –more than is currently being allocated.  A key area where progress was made was in emphasizing the need for sex disaggregated data – and the analysis of it.  But again – without follow-up it’s likely that the collection of such data will fall off the agenda.  What elements helped in application/use of training (method, duration, materials, etc)?  Providing clear insights to local project staff on the international community’s commitments and the Somalia government’s commitments to gender equality and social inclusion.  Making the link between their job and the need to honour these commitments.   Making the link between gender equality and prosperity:  i.e., those countries that have greater prosperity score higher on gender equality and inclusion. Linking training on gender and social inclusion to the actual jobs people do.  One way to do this is to conduct an online survey of participants before the training is designed to find out what they do and what they think they need to know.  In terms of methods:  a mix of participatory exercises and knowledge dissemination.  If people can bring work that they have to do – then it’s also useful to mentor them on how to bring in a gender perspective.  What would you suggest to ensure use of knowledge/skills obtained in trainings on EFGR evaluations?  While everyone should have a background training in gender and social inclusion – you should always include a specialist on the team.  By specialist I mean someone who has a post graduate qualification in gender and development or has had extensive training in this issue.  All evaluations should be screened to see if they deal with this issue.  One of the problems I see is that it’s often added as a ‘last thought chapter’ instead of integrated throughout the evaluation.    If you would like to discuss further – please do not hesitate to contact me:    Best regards Juliette   To control which emails you receive on Gender and Evaluation, click here