STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

What types of staffing architecture exist to support the gender mandate?

• Gender architecture (non-sector-specific gender expertise) is resourced throughout the institution to support all initiatives.

• Gender staff hiring and placement requirements (i.e., gender experts as focal points, specialists, advisors; per the policy) are based upon whether the programmatic budget exceeds a certain amount and whether the investment is located in an emergency context.

• Gender advisors/specialists/officers/points-of-contact are required at every level of the institution.

• Regional and country gender focal points exist in most country offices.

• Gender experts exist in all sectors and report to sector leads.

• The institution has standard position descriptions for all gender specialist hires.

• The institution Gender Equity Division (i.e., a network, committee, or secretariat) provides a central platform for strategic, operational, and knowledge cooperation across departments and between HQ and country offices/missions.

ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

How do institutions enforce the stated staffing architecture for gender?

• Divisions/operating units must hire gender advisors/specialists within 3 years of the gender policy release date.

• Gender focal points and field staff undergo a mandatory certification process to demonstrate technical rigor within these positions.

• Some institutions’ gender staffing architecture is carried out as guidance only, with "soft" enforcement of certain positions and qualifications; "soft" here refers to the internal advocacy that is needed to ensure these positions are instated.

RECOMMENDATIONS

How might institutions better enforce their commitment to gender staffing architecture?

START HERE: Develop a "good practice guide" to gender equality work that lays out features of an effective gender accountability mechanism, including a well-staffed unit, caliber of staff, description of standards, and means of integrating gender staff throughout various departments/functions (e.g., HR, finance).

• Include the mobilization of sector-specific gender specialists in donor proposals, as well as gender expertise secondments and surge capacity in emergency response efforts.

• Given that gender staffing relies heavily on country/regional office budgets, ensure all offices have flexible funding options for hiring gender positions.

• Consider recommendations in the Leadership section, as support for a robust gender architecture relies on sound leadership support.

• Align the number of gender experts hired within an institution in accordance with the portfolio size, or define a ratio of gender experts that is similar to other areas of expertise, such as monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) specialists.

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

How do institutions approach gender-related capacity building?

• Gender trainings are available for all staff, and some are mandatory.

• Institutions offer a range of gender trainings (at varying levels of complexity) to cater to different staff and allow for continued growth and learning.

• A basic gender training is required for all staff within 1 year of hire (or 1 year of policy release date).

• The institution requires additional trainings (x2) for gender specialists, within 5 years. Such capacity development may include in-person trainings, on-site visits, relevant exercises, etc.

• Targeted technical support is provided to gender specialists.

• Gender training is offered to implementing partner staff.

• Gender content is integrated into other technical and sector trainings.

• Training exists on a number of platforms: web-based, podcasts, and on-demand and customizable capacity development/coaching by gender team.

• Trainings cover issues including foundational gender principles, gender integration, institutional “gender marker”, and in-depth gender concepts including barriers to access, norms, and unintended consequences.

• Institutions offer customized technical assistance provided by internal experts to individual staff members, as needed.

• Institutions offer on-demand capacity building/technical assistance through an external partner.

• Institutions hire individuals with gender expertise to lessen the burden of capacity building for non-gender-focused staff.

ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

How are capacity building structures tracked and enforced?

• Development of training and resource materials are tracked in the institutional results frameworks and performance reviews.

• Certain gender trainings are required for all staff, often within a specified time period (e.g., within 1 year of gender policy's release); still other trainings are required for all gender advisors/specialists (e.g., within 3 years of policy release).

• Training for gender advisors/specialists are tied to their annual performance reviews and enforced by their supervisors.

• Inventory is taken to track all who attend gender-specific awareness-raising activities and trainings.

• Follow-up conversations are conducted with staff who attend awareness-raising activities and trainings, to track attendance and comprehension.

• The gender team offers on-demand, customizable capacity development/coaching, which is intended to entice learning and growth in gender integration; these efforts are tracked, but not required.

RECOMMENDATIONS

How might institutions better enforce their gender-specific capacity building structures?

START HERE: Ensure at least a basic gender training is required for all staff.

• Institute penalties or consequences for not completing training requirements.

• Link a basic gender training to the onboarding procedures for new staff.

• Require an annual refresher training to all staff (or select staff, depending on their technical responsibilities).

• Include gender training as part of institutions' continuing education requirements.

• Offer a range of gender trainings that are relevant to different cadres of technical staff, and tie participation to annual workplans/performance objectives.

• Track attendance through training inventory (e.g., sign-in sheets, attendance rosters, etc.).

• Assess knowledge acquisition and application of new skills obtained from gender trainings through follow-up sessions and one-on-one check-ins with staff.

• Offer on-demand, customizable coaching to staff, as possible and appropriate.

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

What other HR processes support the gender mandate?

• Institutions aim for gender parity in hiring.

• Institutions aim for gender equality in HR processes (i.e., EDGE certification).

• Institutions employ workplace policies and/or formal systems that promote equity and counter/address SEA/SH, including reporting back to staff on institutional progress in these areas.

• Institutions create a working group to oversee the prevention and response of SEA/SH.

ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

How do institutions enforce HR practices that support the gender mandate?

• Institutions follow EDGE Certification protocols for institution-wide HR procedures: 1) equal pay for equivalent work, 2) recruitment and promotion, 3) leadership development training and mentoring, 4) flexible working arrangements, and 5) company culture.

• Gender parity is enforced through governing bodies (e.g., the UN Secretary General).

• The Executive Board requires progress reports on gender-related workplace policies' implementation.

• An internal staff survey is used to assess the percentage of men and women who believe they are given fair promotion opportunities.

RECOMMENDATIONS

START HERE: Set a requirement for hiring staff who have a baseline competency in gender.

• Routinely include gender skills and experience requirements in position descriptions.

• Instate a mechanism to track and report on gender parity in hiring.

• Survey staff to understand perceptions of and enforce fair promotion opportunities, flexible working conditions, and promotion and retention of women in senior positions, among other gender-related HR policies.

• Encourage EDGE certification for internal and external enforcement of HR practices.