Monthly Corner
Claudy Vouhé shared GRB in local authorities (French)
Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) shows that the development of a budget and budgetary choices are powerful levers in terms of gender equality. We share our lessons learned in the field: a 5-step method, concrete examples (culture, sport, subsidies, public procurement, etc.) and keys to success. An operational work to objectify the impact of public policies and budgets and make RHL accessible.
Anuradha Kapoor Shared Swayam Recent Published Study
This exploratory study foregrounds the largely invisible issue of natal family violence (NFV) in India, exploring its forms, prevalence, and deep, long-term impacts on women's lives. It challenges the myth of the natal home as a safe space and centres survivor voices and lived experiences. The findings expose systemic silences and institutional barriers to justice. It offers vital insights for policy reform, feminist praxis, and deeper societal reflection.
Research Workshop on School Violence Prevention and Response - BLOG POST
Blog post summarizing key findings from each presentation and highlighting the outstanding research of all participants
Tara Prasad Gnyawali - Narrative
My flashback to working with wildlife-affected communities living in a biological transboundary corridor in Bardiya, Nepal, where I spent my golden 15 years. This story reflects changes that demonstrate how a community's tolerance extends to coexistence, and that is only due to the well-integrated planning of Ecotourism opportunities for the community.
Mehreen Farooq - BLOG
Events
Vacancies
- We’re Hiring: National Evaluation Consultant – Bangladesh
UN Women is recruiting a National Evaluation Consultant (Bangladesh) to support the interim evaluation of the Joint Regional EmPower Programme (Phase II).
This is a great opportunity to work closely with the Evaluation Team Leader and contribute to generating credible, gender-responsive evidence that informs decision-making and strengthens programme impact.
📍 Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh (home-based with travel to project locations)
📅 Apply by: 24 February 2026, 5:00 PM
🔗 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gar4ciRr
If you are passionate about feminist evaluation, gender equality, and rigorous evidence that drives change (or know someone who is) please apply or share within your networks.
- Seeking Senior Analyst - IPE Global
About the job
IPE Global Ltd. is a multi-disciplinary development sector consulting firm offering a range of integrated, innovative and high-quality services across several sectors and practices. We offer end-to-end consulting and project implementation services in the areas of Social and Economic Empowerment, Education and Skill Development, Public Health, Nutrition, WASH, Urban and Infrastructure Development, Private Sector Development, among others.
Over the last 26 years, IPE Global has successfully implemented over 1,200 projects in more than 100 countries. The group is headquartered in New Delhi, India with five international offices in United Kingdom, Kenya, Ethiopia, Philippines and Bangladesh. We partner with multilateral, bilateral, governments, corporates and not-for-profit entities in anchoring development agenda for sustained and equitable growth. We strive to create an enabling environment for path-breaking social and policy reforms that contribute to sustainable development.
Role Overview
IPE Global is seeking a motivated Senior Analyst – Low Carbon Pathways to strengthen and grow its Climate Change and Sustainability practice. The role will contribute to business development, program management, research, and technical delivery across climate mitigation, carbon markets, and energy transition. This position provides exceptional exposure to global climate policy, finance, and technology, working with a team of high-performing professionals and in collaboration with donors, foundations, research institutions, and public agencies.
Are gender-sensitive evaluations and feminist evaluations different?
In evaluation conferences, at times I hear "I do feminist evaluations, and not gender evaluations". Feminist evaluation places issues of power at the center of defining scope of evaluation, evaluation process and, how findings are used. They look at intersections between gender and identities, and examine how the project/programme change social structures. Gender evaluations do not deal with issues of power and structures"
Having been taught about gender relations through reading "Preliminary notes on Women's Subordination" (Ann Whitehead, 1978) as my bible, which emerged from collective reflection of women activists from different parts of the world on women's subordination it has been ingrained into me that gender relations are power relations which interlock with race, caste, class, ethnicity, religious identity etc to keep women in a subordinate position. Naila Kabeer through her book Reversed Realities (1994) added that these power relations are shaped by the institution of household, community, market and state. Murthy and Rao (1997) added inter-state institutions to this list. The focus is on both so called "traditional" barriers to women's emancipation as well those imposed by "neo-liberal" policies. When those of us who work with this paradigm on gender and social relations facilitate evaluations we are aware of how power gets contested at each stage of evaluation, and also try to capture marginalised women's perception of what extent power relations in different institutions are changing to the advantage of women and marginalised groups.
Yes the term gender aware* evaluations since the 1990s has been used in other ways too. The term gender-aware has been used to mean (adapting Kabeer, 1994):
1. Gender-neutral evaluations: Such evaluations examine how far the project/programme has used the traditional roles of women and men for the success of project objective (e.g increasing child health, improving agricultural productivity). Women in such evaluations are asked evaluate soft aspects while financial viability, project management etc are allocated to a male facilitator. An example of a gender neutral evaluation is an assessment of an educational intervention on breast pump use to improve health of infants in special care nursery in Kenya (Friend and Chertok, 2009)
2. Gender-specific evaluations: Such evaluations examine how far the project/programme has contributed to meeting women's sex/gender specific needs. (e.g. improving maternal health, seed preservation). Like in the case of gender-neutral evaluations, women in such evaluations are asked evaluate soft aspects while technical viability, financial viability, project management etc are allocated to a male facilitator. An example of gender-specific evaluation is the assessment of Green Path Campaign an information-education-communication (IEC) campaign to promote use of contraception in Armenia particularly targeting women. Women used abortion as contraception, affecting their health. 1088 married women were surveyed to assess changes in knowledge, attitude and practice
3. Gender-redistributive/transformative evaluation: Such evaluations examine how far the project/programme has contributed to changing power relations within institutions based on gender and other identities (e.g. strengthening women's asset base, decision making in institutions). Women in such evaluations are often the team leaders, and include facilitator from marginalised groups in the team. Like in the case of feminist evaluations, issues of power are placed at the center both on the ground, within the evaluation team, between the evaluation team and implementing agency and implementing agency and donor. Mixed methods are used for such evaluations. An example is the assessment of UNDP supported South Asia Poverty Alleviation Project which sought to assess impact of the project on poverty reduction and (dalit, single) women's empowerment in Andhra Pradesh, India. The project had component on social mobilisation (including dalit, disabled, single women federation), value chain development, micro-finance and capacity building. The evaluation was led by a woman who trained project staff in gender/socially sensitive mixed methods exploring changes in social relations and institutions. The findings were validated with project team, and the authorship rested with all (Murthy, Raju and Kamath et al, 2005)
To conclude gender-redistributive evaluations and socialist feminist evaluations are similar, while gender-neutral and gender-specific evaluations are not.
*Some evaluations are gender-blind that is they do not refer to women or men or changing relations between them . For example, the goal of the Monitoring and Evaluation Program (MEP) in Pakistan as defined in the TOR is to assess whether USAID resources are well-spent and achieving desired results and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the administration of programs, regardless of the implementation mechanism (See MSI, 2014).
Reference
Kabeer, N, 1994, Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought, Verso, UK
Management Systems International, 2014, Call for Application: Team Leader/Evaluator, Interim Performance Evaluation, Power Distribution Program - MSI - Pakistan http://www.comminit.com/global/content/team-leaderevaluator-interim... Last accessed August 22, 2014
Murthy, R.K, and N Rao, 1997, Addressing Poverty: Indian NGOs and Their Capacity Enhancement in the 1990s. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Murthy, R., Raju, K., & Kamath, A et al. (2005). Towards women's empowerment and poverty reduction: Lessons from the Andhra Pradesh South Asia poverty alleviation programme. In N. Burra, J. Deshmukh-Ranadive, & R. Murthy (Eds.), Micro-credit, poverty and empowerment: Linking the triad. (pp. 61-116). New Delhi: SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd.
Thompson, M. E., & Harutyunyan, T. L. (2006). Contraceptive pra...
Whitehead, A. (1979) Some preliminary notes on the subordination of women. Institute of Development Studies Bulletin, No. 10: (3).
Add a Comment
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Comment by Ranjani K.Murthy on August 29, 2014 at 15:00
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Thanks Donna so much for your comments. I straddle between using the term gender-redistributive evaluations and socialist feminist evaluations depending on the context. The former with development agencies and the latter with feminist groups! Your thinking influences me a lot! Best Ranjani
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Comment by Donna Podems on August 29, 2014 at 13:09 -
Thanks for a very interesting paper that encourages a theoretical debate, provides an important way to encourage discussion, and ultimately get people to apply, feminist or gender approaches. When I read the literature, there is a pure distinction--and many gender approaches, as noted in this article, are heavily influenced by feminist perspectives. I sort of see it as there is black (Feminist, but the colours are just to make a point!) and gender (white) and then all these shades of grey where they draw from each other. Understanding the core differences helps a practitioner to decide how, if, and when to use what elements, to develop a strong evaluation approach. Ranjani, thanks for your wonderful, insightful thoughts on this.
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Thanks Shraddha - i tend to agree with you. Just like amongst feminists there are liberal, socialist, marxist, eco and other feminists, so too there are amongst those who work on gender. Thanks. We need to sift the wheat from the chaff in both cases Ranjani
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Comment by Shraddha Chigateri on August 22, 2014 at 10:04
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Thanks for this Ranjani- this nuances the debates on gender vs/and feminist evaluations. I too, like you, feel that gender is about power relations in the feminist conception of it, but understand critiques from feminists such as Donna Podems that the wide-spread use of gender has emptied it of its connection with power. By nuancing conceptions of gender, as you have, I think we are better able to tell when gender is used to analyse power relations, and when it is not.
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