 |
| |
| Fast Facts: |
| • Project
Document |
| Location: |
National |
| Duration: |
March
2006-September 2007 (Operationally
Closed) |
| Focus
area: |
Achieving
the MDGs and reducing Human Poverty |
| Donors: |
UNDP
Gender Thematic Trust Fund (GTTF) |
| Total
budget: |
US$
50,000 |
| Partners: |
UNDP
Arab States Sub-Regional Resource
Facilities,
UNDP Regional Policy Adviser on
Gender
|
| Delivery
for 2007:
|
US
$ 30,928.26 |
| Contact
person in UNDP: |
Fatima
El-Sheikh, Senior Programme Officer
Fatima.elsheikh@undp.org |
|
Background
In 1997, the United Nations Economic
and Social Council defined gender mainstreaming
as “the process of assessing the
implications for women and men of any
planned action, including legislation,
policies or programmes, in any area
and at all levels. It is a strategy
for making the concerns and experiences
of women, as well as of men, an integral
part of the design, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of policies
and programmes in all political, economic
and societal spheres, so that women
and men benefit equally, and inequality
is not perpetuated.
With a total population of approximately
37 million in Sudan, women account
for nearly 50% of the population.
Despite their active role in society,
their socio-economic situation is
still precarious. For decades they
have remained marginalized both economically
and socially, and sidelined in the
political sphere. A large number of
women have little access to health
and education, and limited access
to various resources. Women’s
health is often threatened by harmful
traditional practices, such as female
genital mutilation, and yet their
limited participation in the decision-making
mechanisms deprives them from voicing
their concerns. Combined with two
decades of conflict, that have consumed
much of the country’s resources,
these factors have played a major
role in slowing down the process of
empowering women.
In the past decade, UNDP has put
in place a number of policies and
strategies to mainstream gender throughout
its programmatic activities. In an
attempt to reach women in all aspects
of society and from wide ranging dimensions,
UNDP began the Gender Mainstreaming
Initiative, with the support of the
UNDP Gender Thematic Trust Fund, in
early 2007.
Objectives
In aspiring to achieve the gender mainstreaming
goal, the UNDP Sudan country office
is committed to identifying and implementing
a sound gender strategy that aims to
empower women, so as to bring gender
equality and development to the Sudanese
society.
The project’s specific objectives
are:
• Institutionalize gender mainstreaming
in the country office through the
development of a gender mainstreaming
strategy.
• Strengthen the capacity of
UNDP staff in addressing gender issues
through basic and periodic training
courses.
• Clarify and reaffirm UNDP’s
mandate, policies and commitment to
the promotion of gender equality.
• Integrate a gender perspective
into all polices and programmes across
each core priority of UNDP to ensure
that men and women fully participate
in and benefit from the development
outcome.
Snapshots of the project's major achievements
• Developed a UNDP Gender Mainstreaming
Forward-looking Strategy 2007-2011.
The Strategy was developed based on
UNDP’s international gender policy,
a gender lens review of documents and
interviews and consultations, which
were carried out by a consultant in
the UNDP CO. The Strategy was founded
on UNDP’s gender policy that is
based on a two –pronged approach
to achieving gender equality. The aim
of the Strategy is to sustain the efforts
to reach the United Nations Development
Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The first
phase (2007-2008) will be followed by
a mid-term review and the feedback received
will enhance the implementation of the
Strategy up to 2011.
Future
Priorities
• Invest dedicated resources in
specific interventions that empower
women, reduce their vulnerability, build
their leadership, provide them with
access to resources, and protect their
human rights.
• The Gender Mainstreaming Strategy
will strengthen the capacity of the
UNDP CO to address Sudan’s critical
gender issues: the feminization of poverty;
HIV/AIDS; the vulnerability of women
and girls to crises and internal conflicts
and violation of their rights; their
exclusion from decision-making; and
their lack of access to resources and
energy sources. These are core UNDP
priorities, and each has a gender dimension
that UNDP needs to address.
• To improve the internal capacities
of UNDP Country Office staff, it is
important to provide gender analysis
training, building on the workshop on
“gender mainstreaming in UNDP
work” that was organized in Khartoum
in March 2004.
• Enhance the capacity of staff
to apply gender analysis techniques
in the pre-planning stages of policy
advisory services, knowledge products,
and services that promote gender equality
and women’s empowerment.
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