- Gender mainstreaming
- Concepts and definitions
- Secretary-General's reports
on gender mainstreaming - Intergovernmental mandates
on gender mainstreaming - Roles and responsibilities
for gender mainstreaming - Competence development tools
to support gender mainstreaming - Monitoring and evaluation
- Good practice examples
- Milestones in implementing
gender mainstreaming
Concepts and definitions
Development of an adequate understanding of mainstreaming requires clarity on the related concepts of gender and equality.
Equality between women and men (gender equality): refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development.
Gender: refers to the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men and girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/ time-specific and changeable. Gender determines what is expected, allowed and valued in a women or a man in a given context. In most societies there are differences and inequalities between women and men in responsibilities assigned, activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, as well as decision-making opportunities. Gender is part of the broader socio-cultural context. Other important criteria for socio-cultural analysis include class, race, poverty level, ethnic group and age.
A number of fact sheets on the underlying concepts have been developed by OSAGI.
An overview of gender mainstreaming has been developed which outlines the lessons learned from implementation of the strategy and provides some guidance on approaches and methods in different areas of the work of the United Nations.
