Mainstreaming gender equality, Nicaragua, South Africa and Bangladesh 

In this project, COWI evaluated the Swedish International Development Agency's support to development cooperation for the promotion of gender equality. This involved assessment of Sida's mainstreaming strategy, reflected in the country strategy process, and the quality of gender analyses.

Gender promotion through dialogue

The evaluation looked into how gender equality is promoted in dialogue with partners prompted by selected interventions in Nicaragua, South Africa, and Bangladesh. The focal areas were urban development, democratic governance, and the health and education sectors.

Key concepts and new perspectives

Part of the project was to provide input to clarification of the key concepts concerning gender equality, namely empowerment of women, stakeholder participation, strategic and practical gender needs and interests, gender and poverty linkages; new perspectives, such as male roles and masculinities, were also included.

Services

COWI's services in this project included evaluation of country strategy processes and case interventions, as well as facilitation of workshops and focus group discussions, documentary analysis, application of participatory methods, and synthesising lessons learned. Results were been presented in DAC, EC and in Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Stockholm.