This article is written by Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian PhD, Director of Social Inclusion at the Organization of American States. Opinions are personal. They do not represent those of the Organization of American States.

  • The problem: Those of us working in the public sector have a commitment to mainstream a gender perspective in our work, and strive to change gender relations and outcomes, especially as we design and implement public policy. However, having the commitment is not enough, we need more guidance as to how to make it happen.
  • Why it matters: Learning how to ensure gender equity will help ensure we reach half of the population with our proposals, and in the long run, increase the impact of our interventions and ultimately improve society’s wellbeing.
  • The solution: Here are three key recommendations to guide you in the design and implementation of public policies to contribute to our shared goal of gender equity, ranging from the need to have gender-disaggregated data to the use of inclusive language.

Two central elements of public policymaking in recent times and in the gender equity agenda have included the adoption of a rights-based approach on the one hand, and the incorporation of a gender perspective in public interventions and investments on the other.

When we speak of a rights-based approach in public policy, we refer to the process by which we align the contents, aspirations and commitments contained in human rights treaties with how we design and what content we give to projects and policies. The United Nations defines it as “a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights.” In essence, this public policymaking process sees the full exercise of human rights as the ultimate goal, puts people at the centre and ensures that human rights norms inform the very formulation of the objectives, goals, and measurable indicators of the programming.

But this is not enough. This approach needs to be complemented by putting a gender lens to what we do as public sector officials, in other words, focusing on the differentiated way in which men and women experience reality, making visible the situation and potential impact of our work on men and women and highlight and proposing ways to revert existing inequalities.

A history lesson

Back in 1997, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) provided a seminal definition of what it means to mainstream a gender perspective, understood as “the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.” At its heart, this approach seeks to reveal inequalities and reverse discriminatory practices and unjust distributions of power that affect how men and women exercise their rights.

Although they may be similar in their objectives and strategies, these approaches are different and complementary, and they both must be part of our work. While the rights-based approach represents a broader view that can encompass the gender approach, the gender approach goes to the bottom of the inequalities between men and women to highlight them and, at the same time, ensures the participation of women in programmes and projects that are also rights-based.

Shaping the future

How do we ensure we contribute to achieving gender equity through our public interventions? Here are three key recommendations.

  1. Incorporate gender analysis as you design and deliberate the content of your proposals. As public sector officers, we have a unique opportunity to integrate the rights-based and gender approach from the outset. We also have the possibility of engaging with the diversity of actors and beneficiaries to bring them into the process of designing those proposals. For example, for the Colombian case back in the early 2000s, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) developed a broad national strategy that incorporated a specific gender equity component (2007–2008). Through its programming, and by promoting coordination amongst the different international development agencies towards this goal, UNDP’s range of activities at the national level and in various sectors contributed to the eventual approval of the quota law in that country. According to Puyana (2017, 197), “one of the expected results of this strategy was precisely the promotion of women's political participation. Thus, both the national context and the response of this organisation led to prioritising efforts to achieve real change in this area.”
  2. Generate data disaggregated by gender, including the diversity variable. Visibility begins with the identification of gender inequality gaps, that is, the exclusionary practices and discriminatory obstacles that affect women. The generation of data and disaggregation of data by sex constitutes an important tool for designing measures and responses to inequality and for implementing increasingly participatory and equitable experiences. An example of this type of exercise aimed at making visible the challenges of representation for women is the Women in Politics Map of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Agency for Women (UN Women) showing world rankings of women in executive, government and parliamentary positions. The IPU has also been instrumental in generating data on the representation of women in congresses worldwide through its databases, especially through its monthly ranking of women in national parliaments. These are examples that could be replicated nationally, and by sectors, to make visible how women and men fare in accessing their rights and representation. Intersectionality is also a reality in limiting access to rights. As important as having gender-disaggregated data to inform the design and follow-up of our policies is to generate data that also considers race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and disability, among other indicators.
  3. Use and promote the use of inclusive language. As public sector officers, we have the possibility of modelling national and international commitments to gender equality by example. One additional measure we could adopt in our efforts to mainstream gender equity is using non-sexist and inclusive language, and by avoiding the use of language and references that perpetuate gender stereotypes. One strategy is designing inclusive communications manuals or tools for you and your team to use. The United Nations, for instance, has developed a Disability-Inclusive Communications Guidelines, which could serve as an example, as well as the government of Queensland’s Inclusive Workplaces: Inclusive Communication Guide, which also provides guidance as to how to ensure gender equity in the language used, in the configuration of teams, in putting together panels and working groups, among other strategies. The overall goal is to ensure that all communications are committed to and represent equality and human diversity, seek to combat the prejudices and stereotypes that have been naturalised through language, and propose changes through the conscious and proactive use of language and communications. In addition, we should also ensure the use of images, data, examples, and quotes from female and male experts in a balanced way in documents as well as ensure that workshops, seminars and other public activities are not dominated by men, avoiding for instance, the so-called “manels”.

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