Gender review of Save the Children programmes within child rights governance, child protection and health and nutrition

Background and objectives

Gender is central to Save the Children’s mission and vision - it is inextricably linked to a child rights approach and essential for high quality programming. In November 2017 SCN commissioned a gender analysis of its Child Rights Governance (CRG), Child Protection and Health and Nutrition programmes in order to expand the baseline from a previous analysis of the Education Programmes in 2016.

Methodology

The analysis uses Gender Equality Marker (GEM) to help determine whether gender equality considerations have been meaningfully integrated in project proposals. The review includes a total of 30 proposals, covering agreed and active programmes funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA), Europe Aid and the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and UNICEF during the period 2015-2017 (including the narrative, the results framework and the budget).

Key findings

Of the 30 proposals, seventeen were gender unaware (56%), nine had some elements of gender (30%), two were gender sensitive (7%), and two were gender transformative (7%). In terms of the sub-sections (or categories) where gender was better integrated: 26% of the proposals included gender equality considerations in the needs assessment, 24% in the project activities, 26% in outcomes, 14% in technical and financial resources and 10% included some potentially gender transformative approaches.

The study concludes that the results are in line with the 2016 study which concluded that most of SC Education proposals do not meet the minimum SC standard of being gender sensitive (86% in this exercise compared to 81% in the previous one), and only incorporate gender elements to a certain extent. Allowing for a certain degree of subjectivity in the scoring since the two exercises were done by different consultants, it is safe to confirm that both exercises together can form one single baseline for all proposals approved between 2015 and 2017. 

Recommendations

The recommendations arising from this analysis include practical guidance for SCN staff involved in the proposals as well as more strategic recommendations for the organisation as a whole to meet the goal of all programmes to be gender sensitive by 2018 and all programmes to be gender transformative by 2030:

Recommendation A: SCNs management to take ownership of the results of this analysis to exchange with donors on the implementation of their commitment to gender in humanitarian action and to send a clear message to staff about the organisation taking gender seriously.

Recommendation B: All staff to take the necessary steps to familiarise themselves with the GEM and the Gender Toolkit and the relevant staff to attend the training in the first quarter of 2018 when the scorecards for this analysis will be shared and commented in detail.

Recommendation C:  Each new proposal from January 2018 to be systematically scored at draft stage and based on the result follow the needed action in order to achieve a higher score in the final proposal (see pg.11 of the GEM copied in box 4 below). All staff is responsible for mainstreaming gender in their work and SCNs gender advisor in collaboration with the gender focal point for the country would provide the technical expertise for the inclusion of gender in the different sectors (this is particularly relevant for the upcoming Norad and NMFA proposals).

Recommendation D: Acknowledge the efforts to include gender considerations in project proposals through appropriate internal communication channels, by special mention by senior management or any other internal system of recognition. Those proposals that score the highest should be further analysed and shared as good practice.

Recommendation E: Select a number of programs for which proposals have scored gender sensitive or transformative and monitor both at mid-term and final stage how the gender considerations included in the proposal translate in reality1. This would provide real case studies of how the adequate integration of gender considerations in programming ensures that girls, boys, women and men are able to equitably access, participate in and benefit from SCN’s intervention, which is at the heart of SCN’s Principles for Gender Equality and Quality Framework.

Comments from the organisation

Save the Children Norway is implementing a gender action plan for the entire organisation where the findings and recommendations from this evaluation is being reflected.