3. SOURCEBOOK BACKGROUND

3.5 Gender mainstreaming challenges for proposal preparers

Discussions with gender and climate informants for the Sourcebook and a review of the literature suggest that many past applicants had not given adequate attention to gender in their CCA proposals to the multilateral climate funds. For example, in a systematic 2012 review of the proposals to the Climate Investment Funds (Aguilar et al. 2012), only one in four proposed projects developed gender indicators. Informants proposed a number of reasons to explain why gender discussions and strategies were missing or inadequate:

  • Written guidance for fund applicants is viewed as too vague regarding what to include in proposals, in terms of gender data and addressing gender issues.
  • Applicants are not specifically asked to provide gender-specific information and strategies in their proposals.
  • Some natural and physical scientists involved in CCA proposal preparation lack experience with gender data collection, analysis, discussion, and strategy development.
  • Gender specialists have not been engaged to support proposal preparation efforts, or have been engaged but lack sufficient understanding of CCA issues.
  • Proposal preparers have misconceptions about the time and effort required to collect, analyze, and incorporate gender-related data.
  • The gender-related guidance in CCA project design manuals is too vague or limited.
  • Available gender guides and toolkits for climate topics focus on small-scale community projects and work by grassroots organizations rather than the large-scale projects prioritized in CCA proposals to the multilateral climate funds.
  • Proposal preparers find it difficult to navigate the extensive gender literature already available for the sectors prioritized by CCA proposals.

The Sourcebook focuses primarily on the last issue. Because so many CCA projects focus on prioritized sectors, the Sourcebook is designed to support the work of proposal preparers by providing: (1) short summaries of sectoral gender issues and strategic entry points for CCA projects, (2) detailed case studies that help proposal preparers understand best practices for gender mainstreaming for different sectors, and (3) navigational guidance to the best sources of gender information within the climate and sectoral literature. Section 6, which is a checklist created for the Sourcebook, summarizes many opportunities to address gender within CCA proposals, including and beyond the sections required by some of the multilateral climate funds. Table 16 in Section 11 summarizes the types of gender publications, relevant to CCA proposals, that are available from international or regional institutions with gender expertise. Regional and country-specific information is also included in this table.