Gender Training for Development Policy Implementers

8/7/2019 Gender Training for Development Policy Implementers

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G ender Training forDevelopment Policy

Implementers

Only a Partial Solution

Fenella Porter and Ines Smyth

An Oxfam Working Paper


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First published by Oxfam GB 1998

Reprinted 1998,1999

Oxfam GB 1998

ISBN 0 85598 398 1

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Contents

Preface 4

Introduction 5

Part oneGen der training in conte xt 71.1 The trainees 71.2 T he trainers 91.3 Approaches to train ing 101.4 Pedagogy and frameworks 131.5 Tr ain ing materials,

docum entation and institutional learning 141.6 Resistance to gen der training 16

Part twoInsti tut ionalising g ender training 182.1 Needs assessments and institutional analysis 182.2 Equal oppo rtunities 192.3 Im pac t assessment and evaluation 212.4 Follow-up 23

Co nclus ions and recomm endations 26

Annexe oneList of peo ple interviewed 28

Annexe twoList of questio ns asked 29

Annexe three

Summary of com monly used frameworks 30

Notes 31

Bibliography 36


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Preface

This paper was commissioned by the Depart-ment for International Development(DFID) inthe UK. Like many other development organi-sations, DFID is concerned to build the capacityof its staff to analyse and address genderinequalities in all their work, throughout theorganisation. Capacity building will often takethe form of 'gender training',1 and focuses onstaff working at the implementation level:

.. training will increasin gly be tailored to specificgroups and situations. A ... priority will be to avoid, the'evaporation' of gender concerns during projectimplementation. By 2 000, we plan to have developed,a. cadre of project managers, TCOs and consultantscapable an d effectively moving towards gender equalityin collaboration with local partners in the field.'One Year on from Beijing', ODA, Septem ber 1996

Th e 'evaporation of gender concerns' is aphenomenon whereby projects which may havebeen planned to address gender inequalities failto do so. Th ere a re many varied and complexreasons for the 'evaporation' of gender concernsat the level of project implementation, and thusalso many different strategies to address this

phenomenon. One of these is gender training.Th e objective of this pap eris to explore the needsof development practitioners in carrying outwork that addresses gender inequalities at thelevel of project im pleme ntation, andto define therole that training can play in addressing the'evaporation' of gende rconcerns.By focusing ongen der training, the p ape r is necessarily limited,explorin g jus t one of the strategies being used toaddress gender concerns.

Much of the information needed for thispaper is undocumented.2 We used interviewswith trainers and members of organisations,based on a series of questions that attempted toget behind the usually factual reports of gender-training workshops and courses.A list of pe op leinterviewed is contained in Annexe One,3 andthe question s for the interviews are contained inAnnexe Tw o. Other information has come fromreports and evaluations of gender training, aswell as internal correspondence. For a broaderpicture, we have given examples of how gend ertraining is being used by different develop men torganisations, identifying problems or diffi-culties that are commonly ex perienced.4


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Introduction

Over the last two decades the failure ofdevelopment projectsto address gender inequal-ities has been recognised by many developmentorganisations, echoing Myra Buvinic's concernwith 'project misbehaviour' in the mid-1980s(Buvinic, 1984). Gender training has beenadopted as a major strategy to address thisfailure, particularly at the implementation levelof the development process, where gender

concerns have been seen to 'evaporate'.5

The argument of this paper is that gendertraining at the implementation level must befully informed by and relate to the specificcontext of implementers' lives and work.Contextual analysis of gender training at theimplem entation level addresses several im port-ant elemen ts of training, and these are exploredin detail in part one of this pap er. Fur ther mo re,the institutional structure within which gendertrainin g takes place has the potential to sup portor subvert the process of gender training, andgender training is only one of several com-ponents necessary to ensure that strategies toaddress gender concerns are institutionalisedthroughout the organisation. The importanceof the institutional context has seldom beenclearly recognised by development organisa-tions, and yet it is of crucial significance for thesuccess or failure of any training. In part two weidentify positive elements of gender trainingthat recognise and explore this significance.

The way in which implementers experiencegender relations and their ability to understandand bring about positive changes in genderrelations through their work are controlled notonly by the context in which they are working,bu t also by their hierarch ical position w ithin thiscontext. Their position in both local andorganisational contexts will in some respectscontrol their understanding of gender analysis,but even more, it dictates how much changethey are able to bring abo ut. This has im portan tand practical implications for gender training.It is in this light that elements of gen der trainingpractice can be examined in detail in order tosubject present processes to a fully contextual

analysis.

Gen der trainin g has had very positive results,with many development planners and projectofficers becoming comfortable with the termsand concepts of gender analysis, and significantimprovements in work to address genderinequalities. Developm ent organisations tend tosee gender analysis as a technical skill, with thesame status as other technical elements ofdevelopment work. To varying degrees organ-

isations also recognise that people come togender training with attitudes and beliefs thatare not strictly 'technical', so that training needsto be at the level of'per sonal awareness raising'.Training is seen as a tool with which to ensurethat staff are equipped with the skills, and theawareness, to carry out work that positivelyaddresses gender inequalities.

[Gender] training aims to increase knowledge, todevelop understanding, to change behaviour, an d tooffer new skills with which to do this.Bridget Walker: 1994: 149C

There is no doubt that professional skills areneeded to build the capacity of individuals andtheir organisations to bring about positivechanges in gender relations. However, there isalso a tendency, when g ende r trainin gis seen asa ma tter of'skills' acquisition, to reduce trainingto a single session, to 'give' people these skills.This does not take into account the need forgender training to be located in context and tobe par t of a larger process of change, that takesplace throughout the organisation and withinindividuals over tim e.

Many organisations carrying out gendertraining on a regularbasis, do not locate gend ertraining within any overall organisationalstrategy: they do not set out a long-termrationale for this training investment and how it'fits' with other organisational strategies to buildthe capacity of staff to implement work toaddress gender inequalities.

Despite this, implementers, in addition toexpressing a need for practical skills in genderanalysis and planning, often express this morefundam ental need to be par t of a larger processof change. For example, in the Kenya ODA


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Gender miming for development policy implemented

(now DFID) Technical Co-operation Officerstraining," participants expressed a need to learnmore about the context of DFID policy andpractice, as well as learning ab out the elementsof their work that can address gender inequal-ities. Similarly, the need expressed by Oxfamstaff attending the Ethiopia gender training in19938 was to raise their awareness of genderissues, particularly in the context of Oxfam andOxfam's gender policy.

Oxfam has an organisation-wide genderpolicy, which is a line-management responsi-bility. As a result of this, many Oxfam fieldoffices have engaged in discussion and consulta-tion on gender issues at the field level as part ofbroader processes of programme planning.This is designed to increase the capacity of fieldstaff to plan and implement work, but it is notnecessarily called 'training'.9 In DFID there hasbeen a noticeable change of attitude in theorganisation, with regar d to addressing genderinequalities. This has had a positive effect onthose in DFID who have 'picked up' theseconcerns.10

Participants at the Action Aid internationalworkshop" expressed the need to share exper-iences, especially between themselves as fieldofficers and representatives from the office inLondon. They hoped to develop an under-standing of gender relations and a coherentplan of action for both regional and countryoffices and the central office in the UK toaddre ss gend er inequalities in their work withinthe organisation as a whole:

This workshop is not happening in a vacuum , but isinstead one part of a process of change in our agencyand in our shared, framework of understanding forour programmes... I am in no doubt that we are in theprocess of transforming this agency. Nigel Twose12

In a DFID workshop on gend er training, thiswas summarised:

Training has to be part of a wider project ofinstitutional change from the outset, to be effective ...rue therefore need to find, further ways ofpromotinginstitutional change, in addition to trainingODA: 19961:t

From these examples itis clear that alongsideany strategy for gender training at theimplementation level lies an urgent need forinstitutional transformation. A process oftransformation relies on sustained institutionalcommitment and support, alongside gendertraining. These ensure the location of trainingwithin an organisational strategy of change,built on and supported by policy, proceduresand organisational culture (Goetz: 1995:2).

Key issues in gender training In recent years many develo pme nt

organisations have demonstrated acomm itment to trainin g their staff ongend er issues.

Train ees' ability to imp leme nt changedepe nds on the way in which theirunderstanding of gender relations is relatedto their con text, as well as the ir hierarchicalposition within their context.

Th e prima ry motivation of developm entorganisations is the recognition of continued'project misbehaviour', and the failure oftheir projects at the implem entation level toaddress gender inequalities. To counter this

perceived failure, gende r tra ining isgenerally seen by developmentorganisations as a matter of'skillacquisition'.

If gend er training is seen as only 'skillacquisition', there is a dan ger of institutingone-off trainings which do not take accountof context and the need for a larger processof change throu ghout the organisation.

Th e process of organisationaltransformation should take place alongsidegend er train ing, and should affectorganisational policy, pro ced ures , andculture. This kind of organisational processhas very practical implications for gendertraining.


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Part one: Training in context

Gender training at the implementation levelmust relate fully to the trainees' context. Thishas important and practical implications forseveral different elements of gender training.So that these can each be examined, we havesub-divided this section to look at the differentelements separately: trainees, trainers, approach,pedagogy and frameworks, documentation,and difficulties and resistance commonly

encountered in gender training.

1.1 The trainees

Implemented are actors in the local culture aswell as in the organisation they work withandare therefore locatedat the cross-section of boththe local and organisational contexts. In boththese contexts, implementers operate withinacomplex set of institutions, in which they areinvolved to varying degrees and with varyinginfluence, in both their personal and prof-essional capacities.M This is very significant bothfor their understanding of gender issues andtheir ability to address gender inequalities intheir work.

At present, implementation staff employedby DFID in the UK and, where possible,newcomers 'posted' to regional or countryoffices overseas, are given a one-day trainingcourse in gender planning, in London. OxfamGB includes gen der issuesin its 'Knowledge ofOxfam' induction course, which takes placeatOxfam's C entral Office. The reis also a manage-ment induction course, also held in Oxford,that usually includesa session on gender issues.There used to be a specific course on genderissues for all new employees of Oxfam, but thisis no longer provided.

Training for implem enters (the focusfor thispaper) is also often carried out in the field.Field-level training can be complicated by thediversity of experience within one particularorganisational group. That is, within oneproject, a grou p of implementers may shareanorganisational culture,but differ in every otherrespect. For example, there has been gender

training carried out in the field with DFJD staffwho are employed to implement particularprojects (Technical Co-operation Officers TCOs), their counterparts,and field managers.Examples of these are the March 1995 trainingfor TCOs and their counterparts in Kenya(Kanji: 1996), the courses heldin the Caribbeanin 1995 and 1996,15 and the course held inTanzania in 1994.10 In these training sessions,

staff are all associated with DFID projects,butthis is all they have in common. The groups areculturally mixed, and have varied levels ofconceptual understanding:

The participants were an interesting and challenginggroup to work with because of their heterogeneity interms of levels of gender awareness, sectoralexperience and personal backgrounds. The maindifficulty in having TCOs and, counterparts togetherwas that of getting theappropriate pace and. level ofinput and discussion. Although counterpartsparticipated well and freely in small groups, TCOs

dominated the plenary discussions. Hoxuever,theadvantages of having this mixed group w ere clearwhen participants came to analysing their ownprojects and fonnuUited strategies for action. Projectgroups were able to discuss and build consensusaround analysis and. strategies, whereas a workshopfor TCOs alone wouldimply a 'delivery' of knowledgean d strategies to their counterparts on return to theirprojects. The advantages of the mix are thereforegreater than the disadvantages. Kanji: 199417

For Oxfam implementation staff, gendertraining has taken place primarily in the field18

with fairly homogeneous groups of eitherOxfam staff or their counterparts.In 1995 and1996 Oxfam set up a series of initiativesto facil-itate training for field-level managers indifferent regions, often attached to regionalstrategic-planning sessions. One example wasthe gender-policy implementation workshopfor the Middle East managers, held in July1995. In South and East Asia regions, gendertraining has been a feature of a staff network:Action for Ge nde r Relations inAsia (AGRA-Eastand AGRA-South). AGRA-Easthas systematic-

ally carried out 'orientations to gender',


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Gender training for development policy implemented

immediately followed by thematically focusedgender training since the early 1990s. Theseworkshops take place every year.

[AGRA] wascreated by Oxfam project officers, and isdriven by project officers, and its focus is on project

officers and their managers - this is because projectofficers felt thatmanagers should be required to attendAGRA Eastto give gender issues the commitment theydeserve. Grady: 1996ly

Gender training for both Oxfam staff andtheir project partners took place in Chad,Octo ber 1996. Th is was ackn ow ledg ed to be thefirst t ime that Oxfam had organised a workshopfor both Oxfam staff and project partners inWest Africa, incorporating a mixed group ofpar t ic ipants :

While some of the problems [as mentioned, above] wereencountere d here, the advantages of a joint initiativewere also noted especially in terms of confrontingopenly the doubts and fears of counterparts.-0

In gen eral, gen der training for Oxfam staff inthe field has not been organised from OxfamCentral Office, but is organised and run byOxfam staff at the field level, sometimes withsupport from the centre or from local experts.The extent and type of gender-training initia-tives depend on the particular country orregional office.21 One of the characteristics ofthe training, therefore, is that the trainees tendto be homogeneous in terms of their locationwithin both local and org anisational contexts.

A similar situation exists in AC TION AID, asthe whole structure of the organisation isdecentralised, with regional offices and repres-entatives holding significant decision-makingpower. While some ACTIONAID offices havedone a lot of gender training, others have donenone. No central directive on training exists asyet, and it is up to the discretion and interest ofthe country director and the staff. However,

where training is taking place, it is generallywith a fairly hom ogeneo us g rou p.

Similarly, gender training for ACORDimplementation staff is very much focused atprog ram me level, and will involve all the projectstaff of a particular ACORD programme, basedtogeth er in a generally isolated field office. Theywill often be from the same region of thecoun try, or even the same com munity (which isoften the community within which ACORDbases its work). They are therefore a veryhomogeneous group, with strong links to each

other thr ough their work and their relationshipwith the local comm unity.23

For the Development Planning Unit (DPU)'-'11

training courses, held in London, a group oftrainees can include technical consultants,counterparts (generally from governmentministries or other national institution staff,

such as university department staff), andmanagement staff from the institutional headoffice or field offices. Groups are very mixed,but generally from certain bilateral develop-ment agencies (such as GTZ or SIDA). Thecourses use the extreme heterogeneity of theparticipants to bring out concepts of genderroles and identities as social constructions.Participants then re-contextualise their under-standing of gender issues in their own culturesas they work on practical application to 'live'projects.25

The complexity of implementers' contextsdoes not just d epen d on their location betweenthe local and organisational structures; anotherimportant factor concerns their hierarchicalposition. Trainees' hierarchical positioning inthe local cultural context and in the organisa-tional context is paramount in understandinghow they are able to accept gender issues, andvitally, how effectively they are able to use theconcepts in their work.

The position that implementers occupy inthe hierarchies of both the ir cultural and org an-

isational contexts affects not only their under-standin g of gend er, but also their influence andpower in addressing gender issues in theirwork.

The varying influence that different 'sites ofpower' within institutional landscapes have ondevelopment work helps to explain the'evaporation' of gender concerns at the implem -entation level. Caren Levy has developed a'web' to explain the links within organisations,and their influence on the cross-cutting issue ofgender inequalities:

Gender relations and their intersection with othersocial relations , are located at a variety of differentsites of power in any particular institutional contextand its organisational landscape ... the expression ofpower in each of these sites is understood not only asvisible products and. practices of organisations, butalso in the invisible values and motivations whichinfluence and shape these more tangible outputs oforganisations. Levy: 1996:426.

Thus the choice of t ra inees and the t ra iningthat is given needs to reflect both the limitations

and the opportuni t ies inherent in the t ra inees 'location and position within the institutional


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hierarchy of the local context and of theorganisation itself.

In recognition of the influence that theinstitutional hierarchyhas within developmentorganisations, it has already been identifiedwithin Oxfam that gender training for mana-gers in the field and at Oxfam Head Office isneeded if field staff are to be given adequatesupport in their attempts to address genderinequalities in their work. Similarly, withinDFID, there has also been a clear move toprioritise training in gender issues for seniormanagers, rather than only for developmentadvisors and technical staff, who are furtherdown in the hierarchy.

W ho and where are the trainees ? Imp leme nted areat the intersection of an

enormously complexset of social re lations,within which they oper ateand haveinfluence both as individualsand asdevelopment professionals.

Training in context must acknowledgeandaddress the hierarchical position of traineeswithin both their culturaland organisationalcontexts.

1.2 The trainersLocal trainers and co-trainers in field-levelgen der trainin g are already widely used to forma link with the local cultural context, withenormously positive effect, by all the organisa-tions examined in this pape r. T he choice of localco-trainers is often strategically based on theconceptual needs of the gro upto be trained. Forexample, several Kenya-based groups wereconsidered by Nazneen Kanji for the KenyaOD AT CO training of March 1995. Femnet waschosen to provide the co-trainer because theirprofessional approach would be accepted bythetrainees, and match the level of understandingof the g rou p to be trained.27

In many Oxfam offices, gender trainingiscarried out by local gend er trainers, sometimesalone and at other times in partnership withinternational trainers. In many field officesOxfam staff have themselves taken on th e role ofgender trainer with their local counterparts.

Th ere is also dem and for Oxford-based staff forbasic training , althou gh these will generallytryto use local co-trainers.

Training is not systematic or widespread inACTIONAID, but where it is taking place, itdraws on local trainers. In some offices, therehas been a recent emphasis on 'Training ofTrainers', to build a core group of stall'whoareconfident in taking forward the process withother staff, and with counterparts. Othertrain ing workshops are held with local trainers ina particular country or regional context (some-times using trainers from different countriesinthe region).28

Local trainers are a vital link with the localcontext, both in or derto relate concepts of gend erto it, and to build local capacity to support workthat addresses gender inequalities. Alongsidethis, the presen ce of a trainer or co-trainer fromthe central office of the organisationcan help toposition gender issuesas of integral concern inthe organisation. When local trainers worktogether with trainers from the central office ,this enables them to communicate to thetrainees concepts and experiences which areboth relevant to the context in which theimplementers live and work, and to thepriorities of the organisation.

It is important to note here that gendertrainers do not only represent a context, but

also a hierarchical position within that context.The age and the sex of the trainer or co-trainerwill, in many cases, dictate her or his positionwithin a hierarchy, and may influence theeffectiveness of the training. Many gender-training courses use male trainers wherepossible.The use of local male co-trainersin theODA Kenya training was considered anessential eleme nt in the success of the training.2U

Th e calibre of the trainersis a vital elem ent inthe success or otherwise of gender training.When presenting complex and difficultconcepts, trai ners ' skills mustbe of a very highstandard in order for the trainees to understandand feel comfortable using whatare sometimesvery new ideas and tools. Ther e are no formalprofessional standards or qualifications forgender trainers, and organisations employingoutside consultants have to rely on the' reputation' of a particular trainer. It is for thisreason that organisations often build up arelationship with two or three individualtrainers whom they knowand trust.

Gender trainers from the DFID central officewill often be professional trainers, hired for aspecific gender-training course.30 Whilst this

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Gender training for development policy iniplenienters

ensures professionalism, it can also reinforce theone-off n ature of gende r training, as the trainersare not based within the organisation and so arenot in a position to carry out continuousmonitoring or suppo rt for the implementation of

the concepts and skills trainees have learne d.For DPU, gender training makes up part ofthe regular work of the institution. Wheretraining is conducte d abr oad, the DPU train erwill be par t of a team carrying out DPU trainin gwork on a more or less regular basis, forparticular organisations. This is a similararrangement to DFID's relationship withregular training consultants; DPU trainers actas consultants with particu lar organisation s, butwith different grou ps of trainees each tim e.

Some organisations such as Oxfam andACORD rely heavily on staff, generally called'gender advisers' or 'gender officers'.31 Althoughthese roles enable trainers to develop trainingwithin a particular organisation, they have notgenerally been roles of authority or power.These staff have not had the time or resources tomonitor and support the implementation ofgender analysis within the organisation as awhole and in the programmes. Any progressthat is made has relied upon individual'champions'. Despite the considerable successso far (mainly thanks to the commitment andvision of individuals), gender training has notyet been systematically respected andappreciated within development organisations.

Who trains ? Th e trainers used in gende r training should

be representative of both the local contextand the organisation.

Trainers should carry enough authoritywithin the hierarch ies of both the local andthe organisational contexts to ensure thatthe im portance of gender concerns is fullyrecognised by the trainees.

Tra iners should be of a high personal andprofessional calibre, ensuri ng tha t conceptsand tools are understood and used byparticipants.

Tra iners should be in a position within theorganisation which enables them to monitorand su pport the implementation of workaddressing gender inequalities after thetraining.

1.3 Approaches to trainingThe approach taken to gender training willoften reflect the culture of the organisationitself. While this provides coherence, different

approaches can strengthen or weaken thecapacity of the gender training to relateconcepts to the reality of gende r relations at theimplementation level. Furthermore, some ofthe approaches are more 'transformative' thanothers.

Skills (or tools) acquisition: As we have seen,gender training is often understood by devel-opment organisations as the acquisition ofprofessional skills. Th e gend er-tr ainin g frame-work used by DFID in their UK trainingis basedon the 'Moser framework'.32 This has beenmodified to include more personal under-standing of gender relations, and the use ofpractical examples. In the field, the frameworkused is mo re flexible and tailored to the needs ofthe group to be trained, but concentrates onprofessional 'skills acquisition'. Gaining practi-cal skills is often considered to be particularlyimportant by proponents of this approach,which is focused on chan ging the work practicesof participants, rather than personal attitudes:

It is im portant to emphasise the competence

development aspec ts of training since stopping atawareness and commitmen t can be very counter-productive. It can create considerable frustration ifpersonnel and consultants are aware and committed,but lack thenecessary skills to moveforward.Hannan Andersson:1996:2, quoted in Stewart: 1997: 5

In a recent review, gender training withinDFID in the UK has been seen to be veryeffective in raising awareness among partici-pants of the need to address ge nd er concerns intheir work, but less effective in providing theskills needed to do so.

Awareness training can be provided in a one-daycourse but skill development requires more time so thata range of practical exercises can be undertaken withenough time toconsider an d discuss these.Jones, Kanji and Male quoted in Stewart: 1997:17

For the ODA training in Kenya, the trainersused the DPU framework. This is primarily a'planning approach', focusing on the practicalneeds of men and women and how they aredifferentially affected by a particular 'technical'project. More political aspects of gender rela-

tions, focusing on wom en's strategic interests,33

were pre sente d as issues to be considered by the

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Fail one: Trainin g in context

gr ou p, rath er than as part of the formal train ingframework. Gender issues in the workplacewere han dled towards the end of the trainin g, asthese were expected to be more problematic.3 4

The content of this kind of training will often

have a stron g practical com po nen t, with partici-pants working on ' l ive' projects. It is intendedtha t with the g uid anc e of the facilitator, the y willbe able to begin to apply the concep ts they havelearned, integrating an analysis of genderrelations into the existing logical frameworks orimplementation strategies with which they arefamiliar. Th is practical ori enta tion is very m uchappreciated by participants:

Almost allthe participants said that the workshop hadprovided, them with a useful/rigorous framework forgender analysis and a logical and practical approach

to integrating gander in the planning of their projects.Several commented, thai their understanding of genderissues and /or gender awareness had. increased, but ingeneral, participants emphasised, the usefulness of themethodology to make practical assessments andchanges within their current project work.Kanji: 1994:lf>

This approach was designed to be non-confrontat ional :

These tools provide a. commo n language that allowspractitioners from different disciplines, of different

persuasions and, positions on WID/G AD issues, tocommunicate with each other non-lhrealeningly.Moser, C, 1993:176 (see also p. 179-180)

A non-co nfrontation al ap pro ach is often usedin heterog eneou s group s s ince peop le in m ixedgroups will often feel more insecure than thosein hom ogen eou s group s, and therefore non-threaten ing, non-confrontational app roach eswill allow th em to explo re the issues mo re easily.T h e app roac h is appre ciated by DFID staffinterviewed by Sheelagh Stewart in 1997:

The non-threatening pa.rticipatoiy nature of thecourse is highly effective.(Stewart: 1997: 16) andTh e style oj the Social Development Division was seenas important in creating change. 'They are neverconfrontational, they just get alongside people andassist in m aking chang e easy and making it happen.'(Stewart: 1997:23)

Personal awareness-raising: Oxfam's basictraining is primarily based on this moreperso nal ap pro ach . It is Oxfam 's belief thatgender relations are part of every individual 'spersonal exper ience, coloured by the cul tural

contex t in which they grew u p and now live.

Awareness raising training addresses altitudes,perceptions and. beliefs; unless people are sensitive togender inequalities, gender analysis training isunlikely in the long run to change planning andpractice in development and. relief agencies work. We

believe that unless people's emotions are touched, andtheir practices in their personal lives are brought intothe discussion, there is a risk that gender awarenesswill remain merely an intellectual construct, and willbe limited, in its power to bring about meaningfulsocialchange. Williams: 199430

Only after this personal exploration of theissues do the workshops start analysing theparticular projects from which the participantsare drawn, and develop tools and skills for par-ticipants to use in their ongoing work (Williams:1994).

ACORD uses a very similar approach togender t r a in ing :

Gender concerns us primarily in our private lives, and .only secondly as a professional concern. In. this respectit is unlike many other areas of skill, or knowledgewhich developmentworkers receive training in (suchas report-writing or agricultural technology), in whichparticipants are unlikely to have such a high degree ofemotional involvement.El-Bushra: 1996

This kind of training can be threatening,because it challenges many basic assumptions.

But if it is facilitated carefully it can be non-confrontational, and a process of discovery,with the participants themselves bringing outotherw ise difficult elem ents of ge nd er relations:

Th e role play generated a lot of discussion theother issue related, to the gender perspective whicharoused a. lot of comment luas the issue of the genderperspective with regard to leadership, particularly asthe elders were not only talking on behalf ofthe womenbu t xuere also talking as if the men were a homogenousgroup It was generally felt that the workshop had

been useful, interestingand.

challenging.3

'We all found these questions brought up a. lot of verydeep feelings. Just answering them xuas quite anemotional e xperience. Dealing with the questionscalmly was like holding a riverback. A participant,South Africa, April 1992:18

Oxfam field staff in the Philippines haveworked with local gender experts (the A-Team)to develop a modular grass-roots gendert ra ining that presents concepts of gender asthey apply to areas of the participan ts ' perso naland professional lives (in this case as handicraft

workers). The issues explored included health

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and sexuality, violence, decision making, andorganisational leadership. This exposed the'gendered' nature of the participants lives andtheir work, as well as some more political issuesof 'gendered' power and control both at homeand at work.39 This is ambitious, as issues ofgender and power are perhaps the mostdifficult element of gender relations to addressin training workshops. They are the subject ofthe last approach to gender training to bementioned here.

Challenging power relations:Cender is a. political issue, because it is about power. Itis a political issue because it seeks to bring the privatesphere into the public arena, of debate and action.MacDonald:1993:1740

In the first section, we identified implem-enters as being the people who are required toapply theoretical concepts of gender planningto complex and dynamic social situations, ofwhich they themselves are a part. We alsoidentified the necessity of using local trainers toplace concepts of gender in the local culturalcontext and in the context of the organisationitself. In this section we can identify a furtherway in which gender training can be context-ualised, through exploring gender relations asrelationships of power.

If the purpose o f the training is to expose participantsto a professional, tool or use by all ODA staff thenthatis an entirely technical objective. If it is also toconlextualise the use ofthe tool, that is political. Th emarriage of the two requires some more shifts andchanges in the structure of the training .... [to one]which has space for the feminist and. political stancemen if itdoes produce some adverse reaction.4'

The above quote is from the UNIFEM co-trainer, Audrey Ingram Roberts, in the ODACaribbean training. She strongly suggestedintroducing the more political elements ofgender in the training, and was particularlyconcerned to:

. ..allow enough space or the political aspects of genderanalysis to enter the debate. Further, that the strategicresponses taken by women of the Caribbean in responseto policy impacts cannot be fully appreciated usingmerely a sterile, technical approach when the issues arepolitical.42

However, her stance was perceived as more'feminist' and 'produced some adversereaction'.43 This can create barriers to gender

awareness among participants.

Challenging gender relations is a far longerand more demanding process than acquiringprofessional skills. But it is not necessarily anegative process:

[Gender training ] is a tool, a strategy, a. space fo r

reflection, a site of debate and. possibly of struggle.Training is a transformative process: it aims toincrease knowledge and. to develop understanding as away to change behaviour, and. to offer newskills withwhich to do this. MacDonald:1993: 32.

Approaches to gender training The skills acquisition approach is non-

confrontational and non-threaten ing. This

approach is best used in heterogeneousgrou ps, and it is often used in shor t,one-off,trainings. This approach can succeed ingiving trainees very im port antskills,but itdoes not allow for the time and space toaddress the more personal elements ofgender relations, nor the reality of genderrelations as relationships of pow er.

Th e personal awareness-raising approachaddresses peoples' attitudes, perceptionsand beliefs. This is a more 'thr eate nin g'appro ach to gender, but it is not necessarilyconfrontational. It takes more time andrequ ires sensitive facilitation; itis also bestachieved with a homogeneous gr oup . Itdoes not explicitly explore the politicalnatu re of gender relations as relationships ofpower.

Challenging power relations is a politicalapproach to gender. This can be threa teningand confrontational, creating increasedresistance to gend er con cerns. How ever, ifhandled sensitively, it equips the traineeswith an unde rstan ding that fully addressesthe realities of gen der relations; their basisin people and the relationships of powerthat exist between people in both the localand the organisational contexts.

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1.4 Pedagogy and frameworks

The principles of pedagogy concern howpeople learn, as opposed to what people learn.The pedagogy behind gender training is often

weak. If a particular framework1

*1

for genderanalysis is being taught, how it is taugh t has thepotential to make it relevant to the reality withwhich implementers will engage in their personaland their professional capacities. This in turnhas implications for the potential of gendertraining to enable implementers to carry outwork that fully addresses gender inequalities.Training of adults is not the same as teaching;adults will often learn best by 'doing', in anactive and relevant learning environment.

In the ACORD gender training report,4r 'thepedagogy of trainingis based on four principles:

Freirian principles of learn ing , 'which holdsthat education (using the word in its broadestsense) is essentially a political process whichvalidates the existing knowledge and expe-rience of participants.' El Bushra: 1996

The principle that 'adults learn best byactively engaging with the subject-matterthrough all their senses. A training processwhich does this will, for exam ple, make use ofsong, drama, mime, poetry, drawing, team-work, personal reflection, and the explo-

ration of questions about the world aroundit.'El Bushra: 1996

Th e p rinciple that th ere ar e stages tolearning and they need to be followedthrough in sequence:

- mind state (getting yourself into arelaxed and stress-free state, believingin yourself, having a vision of success)

- gathering information- deepening and appropriating

information- recognising key elements- showing you know

(to yourself and others)- reflecting on this knowledge.

Finally a principle 'related not to adultlearning theory but to gender: that gender isnot an extraneous body of knowledge but is'lived' by everyone throughout their lives.Th ere are no experts on gender, and no rightanswers about how people should live theirlives. The basic material on which trainingshould be based is therefore the experienceswhich participants bring with th em .'

El Bushra: 1996.

Th e pedagogy develop ed by Sue Jon es forthe one-day planning course for ODA stallinvolves two main components of adultlearning: the participants' use of their ownmaterial (b rought with them) and the use ofvisual stimuli (including video, slides/photos,children's drawings).'"' The successful use ofvaried presentation methods is also noted bySheelagh Stewart in her review of gendertraining in DF1D, with one training participantcomm enting: 'I'm a trainer and I didn't realisethat you could use so many methods soeffectively in one day.' (Stewart: 1997: 16)

Pedagogy used in the DPU methodology canbe inferred from the briefing document byNazneen Kanji in the ODA Kenya TCO gend er-training workshop. The training course wasmainly based on presentation and discussion inplenary sessions, and work in small groups onapplying concepts to 'live' projects.'17

An example of the pedagogy used in theOxfam methodology is the training carried outin South Sudan:

The format of the worlishop was based on aprogression from the presentation and discussion ofbasic concepts, to the introduction, of practicalmethodologies for gender analysis and, commun i-cation, ami finally and most importantly, activitieswhich would lead, to the identification of practical

strategies for the integration of genderconcerns in theprogrammes. Smyth: 199748

The par t ic ipants of the AGRA-East genderorientation workshop in the Philippines gavesome useful ideas on improving pedagogy inthe t ra ining. For example:

Sessions designed, for the four stages of learning tooccur theory, practice, reflection and action. Forexamp le for the 'prac tical versus strategic needs' session,let participants first me ntion a project they have support-ed which addresses wome n's practical needs. Discuss,

then have them think about what activity mightbe doneto address a strategic need.' 19 ( s e e p r e v i o u s n o t e 3 3on practical and strategic needs)

There is very little written on the ped agogy ofteaching various 'frameworks'. All too often, theframework being taught (ie. what is beingtaught) is assumed to be the same as thepedagogy (ie. how it is being taught) . This leadsto misunderstandings about frameworks, andhow they can be used. For example, there isoften confusion about whether the frameworkthat is used should be considered also as the

'approach' taken to gender issues, and more

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Gender training for development, policy iinpleincnters

specifically the approach taken to gender train-ing. Frameworks are only tools. A particularframework can be used with different peda-gogies, and is often useful when used withdifferent approaches.50 Above all, frameworksare not the answer to the problems of carryingforward work to address gen der inequalities:

Gender planning frameworks are seductively uni-versal, presented, as providing universally applicabletools. Experience has shown however, that they are notuniversal and, cannot be universally applied. GAD isas much about applying the insights of feminism todevelopment studies, as it is about gender sensitiveproject planning. Pearson: 19965'

The pedagogy used in the training shouldenable the participants to understand issues ofgender relations, both as they can be appliedusing a framework, and outside the frameworkthat they have learned. For example, partici-pants in the Oxfam South Sud an training raisedthe issue of limiting one's understanding ofgen der relations to a particular framework:

Th e discussion highlighted that in using such frame-works it is important to be aware of their limitations.These are important considerations, given the uncriti-cal way in which these frameworks areoften proposed... most seriously they run the risk of being equaled withthe long-term work of developingand. implementing

appropriate gender strategies. Smyth: 1997: 2-3M

Pedagogy and the standard of training givento implementers will be crucial in determininghow effective the training is in increasing theircapacity to carry out gen der ed work.

How do people learn? Pedagogy refers to how people are taught,

which must be based on how they learn.

With some excep tions , the lack of clear,documented, pedagogy in much of theexisting gend er training is a limiting factorin its success in build ing the capacity ofdevelopment organisations to addressgender inequalities.

Th e over-reliance on the 'frameworks' beingtaught can lead to problems of over-simplifi-cation of gende r issues, an d ultimately thefailure to adequately addr ess the complexreality of gen der relations in developm ent

initiatives.

1.5 Training materials,documentation, and institutionallearningMaterials used in gender training will affect not

only what is learned , bu t also how it is learn ed.Materials are not only 'inputs' into gendertraining, they are also a vital element in thedocumentation of gender training over time, asgender training is adapted and developedaccording to different contexts and trainees.

There is much good gender training materialthat is being used creatively and effectively bymany different organisations in a variety ofcontexts. The Oxfam Gender Training Manual hasbecome a leading resource, used by gendertrainers and development practitioners all over

the world. There are many other gender-training manuals that have been recentlyproduced by other development organisations,which focus on the specific needs of their staffand partners.53 Development organisationsrecognise that gender-training material cannotbe static, but m ust be adapte d and develo ped:

Even very good training material becomes stale, limited,in effectiveness and dislocated from the needs of thegroup wlwn repeated, automatically in all circumstances.Helen Derbyshireand Sarah Ladbury, February 199554

Developing specific gend er-tr ainin g materialin different contexts ensures that the materialreflects the dynamic nature of the contexts inwhich implementation staff are required tounderstand and apply concepts of genderanalysis. Thi s is a constant creative process, andmuch learning can take place between gendertrainers and development agencies as thematerial develops in relation to each specificcontext in which itis being used.55

ACORD has developed its gender-trainingmaterial specifically in the field, emphasising

the cultural context in which staff are w orking:... the emphasis on the cultural context in which genderrelations are defined, is partly to underline the basicdefinition of gender as the culturally conditioneddifference between men and. women , and to enableparticipants to explore what this means in their ownenvironment. Howev er, it also provides anopportunity to deal withone of the principal fears thatparticipants may have about dealing with genderissues in their work, ie. that gender is an imposedagenda, and one which may create dangers for theprogramme and for individual staff members when

promoting this agenda in the local community.ElBushra: 1996: 456

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Similarly, participants in the ACT1ONAIDInternational Gender Workshop saw the needfor the development of training material to becontinuous, and built on the experiences of theparticipants.57

However, one of the limitations of presentgender training is that there is a distinct short-age of material that is produced from gender-training courses or workshops; i.e. document-ation of gender training. For example, there isvery little documentation available centrally onthe gender training that Oxfam Project Officerscarry out with partner organisations, its successor failure. Documentation of gender trainingremains one of the 'weak spots' recognised bythe AGRA network.58

Documentation of gender training shouldspecifically include the material that is used inthe training, but also other aspects of training,such as the pedagogy and the approach used,and the success of the trainingitself. One reportthat does record th e context and process of th eworkshop, and a list of the training materials used,is a report of an Oxfam 'Health programmingand policy' workshop held inCairo. This includesa section on gender and health, but the work-shop was not a gender-training workshopas such.5'1

Existing documentation of gender trainingwill seldom include any reports of failure: thefailure of workshop m aterial to address certainissues or aspects of gender training, or thefailure of the training to reach the participantsin the way that was intended. Recognition offailure is vital to institutional learning. Althoughfailure may be shared internally and informally,the reluctance to document and share failureconstrains a wider sharing of experiences andlonger-term development of gender-trainingstrategies.

For example in Oxfam, the material used ingender training has been criticised in reportsand evaluations:

Case studies offering examples of other programmeexperiences were considered a go od wa y to proceed.Here, however the Indonesia exa mple (Forestry inIndonesia, adapted from The Oxfam GenderTraining Manual,) proved both too remote, in the.cultural sense and difficult to grasp. The documentconcerning the Lebanon case, on the other hand,addressed issues ofconsiderable relevance to the SouthSudanese situation. Ines Smyth:199700

Similarly, in the ODA Nepali gender train-ing, case materialwas identified as a weakness in

the course.61

However, these comments are not

common in reports. Generally, the material usedin a gender-training course is not docum ented,and ne ither is its success or failure.

Th er e is also evidence that thereis a shortageof clear institutional material to be used ingender training. This is important, becauseparticipants need to be able to understand notonly concepts of gender as they apply in thelocal context, but also why and how genderconcerns are being adopted and incorporatedby their organisation at othe r levels:

While the ODA WID policy is very clearlystated, inODA key documen ts, the findings ofthe study indicatethat this policy is no t widely disseminated amongst theimplementers of ODA projects in Nepal Prior tothe training, none of those inleniewed had, seen awritten version of the ODA WIDpolicy and two-

thirds of them were not aware of ODA's support forgender planning.fi-

Training material therefore needs to beplaced not only in the local cultural context, butalso in the institutional context, as was discussedin respect of the trainers. Docum entation of thematerial used, as well as other aspects of train-ing, and its level of success, is essential forfurther institutional learning on gender trainingas part of an organisational process of change.

Docum entation: a mech anismfor learning

Useful training mate rial does exist,and is bein g used effectively.

Material such as case studies will help torelate gender issues more closely to thelocal context.

Material should also contain concretereferences to the organisation itself (through

published material or oth er case studies),setting out clearly how its policies andpractice reflect its com mitm ent toaddressing gender inequalities.

Th er e is a lack of material produ ced fromgende r training, documenting itsdevelopment, and its success or failurein different contexts.

This lack of systematised doc umen tationconstrains the process of learning that shouldbe an integral part of gender training.

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Gender training for development policy iniplenieiHers

1.6 Resistance to gender trainingMany difficulties that arise in gender traininghave already been covered in the previoussections on contextualisation. However, there

are still problems that occur because of trainees'personal resistance to concepts of gender.There may be emotional reactions from menand women who have much invested in thepatriarchal system, the legitimacy of which isbeing questioned in the process of gendertraining. In some cases this problem is intract-able and there is very little that can be donethrough gender training to reverse suchattitudes:

// is probably fair to say that this group constitutes apocket of relatively intractable gender-resistance/hostility which existedprior to the training course, amito which a training course is a red rag to a. bull.Stewart: 1997: 173

However, there is also resistance that is notintractable and must be dealt with. Resistanceinevitably restricts participants' understandingof gender analysis. When participants do notunderstand concepts of gender analysis, theycannot understand where it fits into their work(both culturally and institutionally), and thismakes the implementation of gender analysis

almost impossible. In addition, particularly atthe implementation level, there may beproblems with language and logistics which cancontribute to resistance to gender training. It isimportant to understand the roots of this kindof resistance in o rd er to begin to overcome it.

The concepts of gender analysis have oftenbeen developed in other cultur es to those of thetrainees. In terpr eting concepts of gender acrosscultures will frequently inspire negative emo-tional reaction, expressed as cultural resistanceto the idea of feminism,as occurred, for example,in the ODA Caribbean training.64 A similarlynegative reaction was experienced in the OxfamSouth Sudan gender-train ing workshop:

Some participants feared, that the workshop would,promote ideas and, practices contrary and, insensitive tothe comm unities' cultural norms.Smyth: 1997.

The same reaction was also voiced by someparticipants in the ACT1ONAID InternationalWorkshop on G ender as 'concern about impos-ing gender, interfering in and destroyingcultu re; fear of western feminism'.65

Implementing agents are particularly fearfulthat their own legitimacy within the com munity

will be negatively affected by their espousal ofgender concerns that have been developed inanother culture. Implementing gen der analysiswill mean directly confronting g end er relationsin a community. This can upset a careful bal-

ance of power and barg aining, and leave peoplewho should have benefited from a project in aworse position. Implementation of work toaddress gender inequalities is sensitive, and caninspire great anxiety in those who are in closecontact with the local situation.60

Fear of gender approaches being associated with afeminism which may compromise the confidence placedin A CORD workers by the communities they work with.El Bushra: 1996: 1407

At the other end of the spectrum is the

negative reaction w ithin the feminist movem entto the idea of gender training, and indeedgen der analysis in developm ent. Th is reaction isbased on the belief that talking about 'genderissues' and carrying out 'gen der train ing' is away of de-politicising and co-op ting the politicalfeminist struggle for equality in some contexts:

For em inists struggling to achieve equality for womenin their societies, the assumptions [contained in theanalysis of gender relations in development] are at bestunfamiliar, and, at worst appear to lack legitivuicy inthe fight for equality.6*

Other problems with understanding conceptsof gender analysis arise from a perception thatthe analysis is considered as a priority technicalexpertise in development work, rather than as a'lens' throu gh which to question and chan ge thefocus of the whole developmen t process. SomeDFID technical staff feel they are being madeinto 'mini-Social Development Advisors'. Oneof the aims of the gender planning review daywas to tackle these concerns, and 'broaden the"ownership" of ODA's (DFID) approach togen der analysis and planning ':69

Many training models attempted to turn all staff into'gender experts' in a short period, of time. Yet experi-ence has demonstrated that people do not acquire allthe necessary skills in a. short workshop and in fact, thistype of focus may have con tributed to an under-estimation ofthe skills required to work specifically onequality issues.Sue Jones, quoted in Stewart:1997: 20

Underlying many of the difficulties outlinedabove is the fundamental question of whatconcepts of gender relations do we or should weexpect people to understand. The foreignness

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of concepts involved in analysing gender rela-tions can be the basis of the resistance oftrainees. The ACORD staff in Gulu, NorthernUganda, have overcome this problem by creat-ing their own definition of gender relations intheir own language.7" However, there may stillbe conflict between the organisational under-standing, and different local understandings.When two contexts meet and interact, as happensat the imp lementation level, itis the staff on thegrou nd (the 'implementers') who have the oppor-tunity to negotiate and resolve the conflict.

Language problems make understandingconcepts of gender analysis particularly severeat the level of implementation. This is becausetraining at this level is often targeted at peoplefor whom English (or French, Portuguese etc.)is not their first language. Th ereis a real lack oftraining material in local languages, and thiscompounds difficulties with conceptual under-standing:

Worlishops an d related activities conducted in a multi-lingual environment always present difficulties ofcomm unication the question of language andcomm unication should be explicitly addressed in allprogramme activities.Ines Smyth: 19977'

However, attempts at translation canalso bringtheir own problem s, as many of the fundam ent-al concepts of gender analysis simply do nottranslate easily into other languages, which arethemselves rooted in a particular context.72

Gender training at the level of field staff canalso have logistical problems. Field-level train-ing will often be in relatively isolated areas, withpoor infrastructure. This can create a logisticalnightmare, with nothing being predictable. Italso means th at participants can suffer problemsin attending the training. Logistical problems canalso occur in the UK videos break down, roomsare changed, people get lost in London andthey all add to the strain of gen der training .

Logistical problems have different implica-tions for men and women. If gender training isdesigned to give a clear message about genderrelations, the constraints of the trainees prod uc-tive and reproductive lives must be incor-

porated in the trainingitself.

The idea of'gendered time and space' has clear implica-tions for the way in which gender training isorganised for men and w omen, as well as for theway in which gender is integrated intoimplementing development projects.

The way development organisations structureeveryday work throughspace ami through time reflectthe physical and, social capabilities of those whodominate organisations. These practical, everydayaspects of the way organisations structure their workare a feature of the organisation's culture.

Goetz:19977:1

Resistance Many trainees find concepts of gend er

analysis threate ning , both personally andprofessionally, and in terms of the positionthey occupy in a comm unity. This oftenleads to emotional resistance to g ende rtraining, and a failure to understand or

implem ent concepts of gende r analysis. Problems with language can often

compound trainees' difficulties withunderstanding concepts involved in genderanalysis.

Logistical difficulties also have differentimplications for women a nd men , andshould be given due attentio n in theplanning of gender-training courses.

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Part two: Institutionalising gender training

To ensure that gender training is adequatelycontextualised is not enough. Training,however well carried out, is not sufficient initself to build the capacity of staff to implementpositive change in gender relations. Otheressential elements in implementing work toaddress inequalities in gender relations mustalso be present, and located within an institu-tional strategy of change. A supportive organ-isational context (and not ju st tha t of the field

office) is vital in order to ensure that genderconcerns do not 'evaporate' at any point in thedevelopment process:

It is also clear that training itself is most effective whenit is part of and supported by a pro-trainingorganisational, strategy. What this means for trainingas part of a change strategy is that it is most effectivewhen the strategy both uses training a nd endorses itsimportance. Stewart: 1997: 6

The scope of this paper does not allow for afull discussion of all the elem ents of in stitution al

transfo rma tion. He re we will only addre ss insti-tutional aspects that have practical implicationsfor gender t ra ining.

2.1 Needs assessment andinstitutional analysisBefore any training takes place, it makes senseto know where it 'fits' with other strategies forchange, and what it is expected to achieve.Needs assessments can and should fill this role.

An assessment of needs allows the trainer timeto find out what participants need, and todiscuss training materials and so on. F urth er, itallows time and opportunity for the trainer tolocate the participants within an institutionalstructure and identify the limitations andopportunities presented by their position. Fulland accurate needs assessments will allow thetrainer to contextualise the training, and canalso pre-em pt many of the difficulties associatedwith it.

Needs assessments have sometimes been

carried out prior to gender training by trainers,

but this is by no means systematic within anyorganisation. Where they have been carried outthey have found to be essential to the success ofthe training.74 In ACTIO N AID a 'trainingneeds analysis' has been found to be very useful,to build awareness and support for the wholeprocess of training at decision-making levels.75

Needs assessment can also be used to matchthe group being trained. It is recognised thatdifferent groups require different approachesto gender training. If gender training is beingplanned with an extremely heterogeneousgroup,70 the trainer may opt for a non-confron-tational approach to gender. However, it mayactually be better to sepa rate th e grou p into two(or more) homogeneous groups, with some ofwhom the trainer could consider more personaland political approaches to gender training.

With an accurate picture of the group to betrained, it is also possible for the trainer todevelop an appropriate pedagogy. For example,for a group of trainees that are working in a

particular thematic sector of development(health, agriculture, sanitation etc), a modularapproach to training will be more appro-priate.77 Thematic training has been developedby agencies such as FAO and UNFPA, concen-trating on gender issues in agriculture or inpopulatio n activities, using specialised train ingmaterials. The Oxfam 'Health Program mingand Policy' workshop, held in Cairo inDecember 1997, is another example of howthematic training on gender issues can beincorporated. In this workshop, gender issues

were incorporate d by exami ning implications ofgender inequalities for health.78

Good needs assessment will also enable atrainer to develop training material in consult-ation with the trainees. As mentioned above,relevant material is essential for trainees to beable to understand the concepts of gender.Ideally, full needs assessment will enable atrainer to find out what general material existsin the country, as well as material that relatesdirectly to the work of the trainees (for exam ple,project case studies). In addition to developing

app rop riate material, needs assessment can also

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I'art two: Institutionalising gender training

identify appropriate co-trainersfor a particulargrou p of trainees.

For example, Nazneen Kanji carriedout anextensive needs assessmen t exercisein Kenya inpreparation for a subsequent gender-training

course.7

'1

This identified the level of under-standing and the expectations of the trainees(both TCOs and their counterparts), bothculturally and within the particular organi-sational context. This then helpedto identify anappropriate approach and co-trainers. Thetime and resources given to carrying out needsassessment also allowed for the collection ofmaterial relating tothe Kenyan situation.

Good needs assessment also givesan oppor-tunity for the trainees themselves to have aninput into the planning of a training course.This helps to foster a sense of ownership of th eissues by the trainees, and will pre-empt manydifficulties associated withthe perceived 'foreign-ness' of the concepts, already referredto.

Perhaps most importantly, needs assessmentmust also locate trainees within their organisa-tional structure so that the gender trainingacknowledges the limitations and opportunitiesinherent in their positions. Staff nominated toundergo gender training may have little realpower to implement change within theorganisation. If this is the case, needs assess-ment can lead to the recommendation thatsenior staff are also trained.

Institutional analysis carriedout beforehandis also important for assessing the impact ofgender training on the organisation. Anunderstanding of the institutional structureofan organisation will give an indication of itscapacity for change, and how gender trainingcan f it nto strategies to bring about that change.80

Gender training must fit into a longer-terminstitutional strategy to implement change,facilitating learning and ownership of genderanalysis across the organisation,at every level.

Needs assessment is therefore vital if thetrainer is to understand the institutionalstructure of both the local and organisationalcontexts81within which trainees are working.This will ensure that the training itself containsrelevant gender analyses of the institutionalstructures surrounding implementation staff,and develops tools to enable trainees to seizeevery opportunity for change in their work.

Needs assessmentsandinstitutional analysis Needs assessments have proved to be

essential and contribute greatly to thesuccess of training. H owever, needsassessments are by no means systematicallycarried out in the context of gender trainingwithin development organisations.

Needs assessment allows trainer sto gain anunderstan ding of the trainees sotheapproach, the pedagogy, the trainers andmaterials can be tailored to their needs.

More importantly, needs assessment allowstrainers to understand trainees' hierarchicallocation within the organisation and thelocal contex t, and prepare training thatacknowledges both the opportunities andthe limitations of the train ees' positiontoaddress gender inequalities.

2.2 Equal oppor tunitiesGender training is generally seen by develop-ment organisations as a set of skills and tools ofanalysis that relates to planning, implement-ation or evaluation of their projects andprogrammes. Gender training will very seldomreflect back on the working relationships withinthe organisation itself.

Gender and Development (GAD) policy initiativeshave, at least in principle, been accepted, by the devel-opment establishment, yet the fact that social insti-tutions and development organisations continue toproduce gendered outcomes which can be constrainingor outright disadvantageous for women means that wemust interrogate patterns of administration and. rulefrom a feminist perspec tive, an d. insiston accounta-bility to women as a serious issue in developmentmanagem ent and politics. (Goetz: 1995:1)

In formal term s, equal opp ortun ities policiesimplemented by government and non-govern-men t organisations reflectthe laws in existencein a particular country. In the UK, for example,there is an Equal Pay Actand a Sex Discrimina-tion Act, as well as Race Relations legislation.However, sex discrimination legislationin somecountries simply guarante es women 'equalityof

opportunity' i.e. ensures as far as possible that

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Gender training for development policy iniplenienlers

women have access to all opportunities (ofemployment, e arning , etc); in others countries,special tre atme nt may be prescribed positivediscrimination or affirmative action with theaim of equality of outcome. (Cockburn 1991).8'-In the UK. legislation has avoided positivediscrimination; creating an environment thatworks towards decreasing sexual inequality isleft to employers.

Employers who have a stated commitment tosocial justice as in the case of organisationsworking for development have an especiallystrong obligation to undertake appropriateinitiatives. This concerns not only matters ofrecruitment, promotion, training oppor-tunities, and adequate physical facilities (toilets,changing rooms), but also moves to establish aphysical environment free from sexual harass-ment, and a work culture which allows bothmen and women to cont ribute fruitfully to allaspects of work.

Commonly used terms such as 'mainstreaming gender'or'taking a gender perspective'are often understood tobe key strategies for the implementation ofthe genderpolicy within Oxfam. However, what are the para-meters of mainstreaming gender within a n o rganisa-tion ? Is it about mainstreaming resources and. genderissues in our development discourse, or is it aboutfundamental changes to transform existing asym-

metries and. inequalities? .... Questions such as wheredoes Oxfam's staled principles on gender stand inrelation to the prop osed strategies for prom otingdiversity an d its policy of equal opportunities need to beclarified to pave the way for interventions necessaryfor the implementation of the gender po licy.Rahman: 1997:68:1

The Oxfam equal opportuni t ies pol icy(established in the late 1980s) and connectedprocedures apply to the whole organisat ion.But in field offices they are mitigated by localnational law. Oxfam also has a gender policy

(established in 1993). It has been necessary toseparate these two policies (although theyappear in the Oxfam Policy and. ProceduresManual in one section), and it is clear th at bothof them are needed. But this must not obscurethe connections between th em . The two policiesare structurally connected and between the twothere is considerable transformational potentialfor both th e organisation and its work.

However, this connection is at best unclear,and certainly not brought out clearly in gendertraining. Oxfam's gender training has, like that

of other development organisations, concent-

rated on programme and project work, not onits internal functioning as an orga nisation. Th isreinforces the separation between the genderpolicy and the equal opportunities policy: theequal opportunities policy being more focusedon management issues,monitored by personneland corporate human resources departments;and the gender policy being more focused onpro gram me issues, monitored by desk and fieldstaff in the international division.

ACTIONAID also has a Human ResourceDevelopment policy which strongly endorsesgender concerns in the workplace. In order todevelop links between gender awareness in theworkplace and in development programmes itis important that connections are explored bystaff and management, not only in training'courses' but also in other fora, such as staffmeetings.

When issues of gender relations in theworkplace have been brought up in someACTIONAID gender-training workshops,participants have described the work environ-ment as 'more conducive to men'. The gender-training workshops are designed to encouragestaff to reflect on their attitudes and the way inwhich they relate to each other both profes-sionally and personally. This is clearly one wayin which gender training can be used to buildprofessional capacity in gender analysis, andcan contribute to changing the organisationalculture and making the workplace an environ-ment where both women and men can achievetheir full potential. Itis also recognised, however,that raising awareness of gender issues in theworkplace must be backed up by efforts toencourage women to apply for posts and remainin the organisation, such as family-friendlywork policies, and investment in women staffthro ugh consistent capacity building.84

The Oxfam staff network AGRA (Action forGender Relations in Asia) was originally

conceived (under the name of the Women inDevelopment Group) as a support network forwomen programme officers in India, who atthat tim e (mid-1980s) were a minority in a m ale-dominated environment. This kind of supportbecame an important part ofAGRA's role as itevolved, addressing issues of gender relationswithin the workplace, as well as building up anunderstanding of gender relations in Oxfam'spro gram me work in Asia.85

Implementation staff employed in the UKand working overseas for DFID will often be

either Technical Co-operation Officers, or

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project managers. Both of these roles carryconsiderable responsibility. Itis important that,while encouraging project staff and counter-parts to understand and work for genderequality, DFID stall, in their role as managers,accept similar responsibilities in their own workingpractices. Further, it is generally accepted thatin order to address gende r inequalities success-fully through project work, the organisationitself must also be committed to gender equalityin its own operation. This means followingpolicies and procedures of equal opportunities,not only as a legal requirement to guarantee'equality of opportunity', but also to create aworking environment conducive to challeng-ing, and ultimately changing, ge nder roles.

Training can have a very important role ininforming trainees of their rights, and explor-ing the way in which they themselves (as menand women) experience gender relations intheir work.80 Clearly, legal framew orks will varyin different countries, and training shouldreflect the specific situation. Gender trainingcan also be the ideal occasion to learn moreabout the priorities of male and female traineesin relation to their working environment.Finally, training can be used to highlight theconnections between a commitment to genderfairness in the work an organisation does, andgend er fairness within the organisationitself.

Equal opportunities in gendertraining: Equal oppo rtun ities issues and legal

requirements are structurally linked togen der analysis. This needs to be clear inany gende r training.

Equal oppo rtuniti es issues are often notincluded in gender training.

Equal opp ortun ities issues are particularlyrelevant to those implem entation staff whoare also mana gers in the field, and who willneed to understand and put in placeprocedures and facilities in different culturalcontexts.

Addressing equal oppor tunities issuesclearly during gender training can help tocreate a working cu lture th at is conduciveto challenging and transforming genderrelations.

2.3 Impact assessment andevaluation of trainingEvaluations of gender-training courses aregenerally carried out immediately at the end ofthe course, with feed-back from the participantsand the trainers. The contribution of theseevaluations to developing the potential ofgender training is undou bted.

For example, evaluations of the DFIDgender-training courses in London haveresulted in suggestions that training should becarried out on a more thematic or sectoral basis,and that problems of negative emotionalreaction should be tackled.87 At the level of fieldoffices, the DFID gender-planning trainingcourses in the Caribbean held in November1995 and April 1996 used lessons learnt from anearlier training to improve on the course.

However, this kind of evaluation tends toreflect the specific training courses in them-selves, not the process of increasing th e capacityof staff in the field of gender. There are indica-tions that gender training has led to anincreased commitment to addressing genderinequalities in programme work, but it is difficultto observe and assess the lasting impact of valuescommunicated through gender training.88

One exception to this is Oxfam Brazil. TheBrazil office carried out a full gender-focused

evaluation of their work over a period of threeyears, assessing the institutional capacity of theOxfam Brazil field office to address genderissues in their work. The evaluation includes,but is not restricted to , gen der trainin g:

The evaluation aimed to assess the appropriatenessan d success of Oxfams programme strategy between1990 and. 1993, particularly the integration ofgender into the various dimensions of its work. Th eevaluation also intended, to contribute to institutionallearning, to further staff training in gender, and topropo se future strategies for Oxfam in Bra zilBlakerand Reichmann: 1994.89

In the recommendat ions , fur ther t ra ining isment ioned along with many other suggest ionsfor better incorporating an analysis of genderrelations into the work of staff (Blaker andReich man n: 1994:3). T h e evaluation of OxfamBrazil is supposed to be part of a world-wideeffort to assess Oxfam's work on gender issues:

This evaluation is part of Oxfam's world-wideinitiative to review gender approaches in all of itsoffices, in light of a recently approved Gender Po licy.

Blakerand Reichmann 1994:5

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A recent 'Gender Review of the OxfamUganda Programme"10 aimed to:

... examine the existing gender practices of the OxfamUganda programme, and look at where an d how thesecould be improved. Th e emphasis of the Review was

much less on making judgementabout the impact of hegender aspects of he Uganda programme an d more onlearning together which approaches had, been adopted,in theory and. in practice, and how these could beimproved upon. Smyth and Payne: 1998: 5

However, there has been li t t le evidence of asystematic worldwide effort to implement areview of Oxfam's work on gender issues untilthe recent 'mapping exercise' that is takingplace at the moment:

[Die mapping exercise aims to] provide a b aseline

against w hich actions and non-actions can be mea-sured; taking into account ongoing and. past initia-tives, the process will analyse the goals set out by thecountry offices, regional desks and. divisions toimplement Oxfam's policy on gender, and achieve-ments an d obstacles of such initiatives.Rahman: 1997:3

A similar year-long 'stock-taking exercise' hasrecently been suggested for ACTIONAID. This isprimarily designedto take stock ofhow gender con-cerns are being incorporated into ACTIONAID'swork. In evaluating this work there is also oppor-tunity to carry out awareness-raising of genderissues and come to an organisation-wide understand-ing of what ACTIONAID understands by 'gend erand developm ent', and how to address g enderinequalities m ore effectively in the futu re.91

A review of the impact of gender trainin g inDFID was carried out by Sheelagh Stewart in1997.This comprehensive analysis of the effectsof gender training within DFID has beenquoted from already in this paper. Itis based onthe gender training carried out in the UnitedKingdom, which can include implementedsuch as Technical Cooperation Officers andother staff employed from the UK to work forDFID in partner countries, but will rarelyinclude national staff or par tner organisations:

The initial assessment is extremely positive. Firstly asound core knowledge about gender itself and aboutthe importance of gender to DFID is widespread in theorgan isation. There is ve ry little overt hostility togender. ... Finally the gender training courses havebeen extremely successful both in professional andadult learning terms, and on their own terms, ie. th ey

have communicated gender ideas in a clear and non-threatening fashion.

...the importance of the 'mix' of strategies whichincludes training, managem ent support, the SocialDevelopment Division and the Project InformationMarker System cannot be overemphasised.Stewart: 1997:2

This review is part of an effort to review the'Gender Equality Strategy', which is nowlooking specifically at the operationalisation ofthe strategy. The role of gender training at thelevel of policy makers in this strategy has alsobeen exam ined in some detail."2

ACORD has carried out a progress reportand critical assessment of gender training (exten-sively quoted already in this paper).93 Thisreport focuses specifically on gender trainingwithin ACORD as a whole both for thesecretariat and for field-based progra mm estaff:

Evaluation of programme-based, training worlishopsshows that they have had, a large measure ofsuccess indemystifying gender, introducing useful analyticaltools, and, indicating ivays in which gender trainingmight be approached at community level. The use of acommon terminology across A CORDhas facilitated,exchange of experience between, programmes. RAPP[.....] has also gained a mass of experience not only intraining techniques but also in developing a common'language' of gender across different cultures and.acquiring access to a rich source of understanding andinsights. The experience ha s shown up some of theweaknesses of conventional approaches to genderwhich ACORD can build, on in future.El Bushra: 1996 summary.

All evaluations are useful. The main weak-ness of evaluations of gender training is thatvery few of them systematically link togethe r theimpact of training (or other capacity-buildingactivities) within the organisation at differentlevels. Nor do they take account of the impact ofother gender training carried out in otherorganisations, for example, those operating in

the same country or region.Assessing the impact of gender training onproject im plemen tation can be virtually imposs-ible within established structu res of m onitoringand evaluation. This has been recognised bymany development organisations, and it hasbeen suggested by evaluation teams thatdeveloping specific indicators for the impact oftheir projects on gender relations should bepart of future actions to be taken after thetraining.94

A 'Guide to Gender-Sensitive Indicators' has

been developed by the Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA),95 which 'shows

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Pan two: Institutionalising gender training

how gender-sensitive indicators can and shouldbe used in both gender integrated and WID-specific projects, and in combination with otherevaluation techniques'.

For gender training to be evaluated for itsimpact on the capacity of implem enters to carryout work which addresses gender inequalities,the indicators used should focus on the workthat the training is designed to affect. Theseindicators can be developed as part of thetraining itself. A successful examp le of this is theKenya ODA gend er train ing forTCOs. After sixmonths, the training course was evaluated forits impact on the participants' work, and theparticipants were given the chance to demon-strate how they were using the skills they hadlearned in the training."" Because the partici-pants were able to formulate their own object-

ives at the training, there was a feeling ofownership, and a large degree of success inachieving these objectives. The limitation of thetraining however, was that the objectivesdeveloped by the participants tendedto concen-trate on practical gender needs, rather than themore strategic gender interests that come withdeeper understanding of the issues.'-17

Imp act assessment andevaluation: a longer-term view Evaluation of gend er trainin g is generally

carried out at the end of the course, and sowill evaluate the courseitself, not its effect.Th oug h useful, this tendency reinforces theone-off, shor t-term basis of field leveltraining.

The re is a lack of systematisation ofevaluation and impact assessmentexercises, across and between organisations.Institutional learning on the impactof gen der training is thus limited.

2.4 Follow-up to tra inin g

Follow-up to gender training is a vital elementof its long-term success, and ofits transformationalpotential. In the terms of reference for die 'GenderReview of the Oxfam Uga nda P rogra mm e', one

of the questions to be answ ered was:

After training on gender issues, l

Gender Training for Development Policy Implementers

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