Aryan M.

Limon IX - Faraday

Gender knowledge
We facilitate opportunities for researchers and practitioners to
critically engage with and reflect upon the state of gender
knowledge in development. By doing so, we are able to
challenge narrow understandings of mainstream
development.

Research that promotes action

As gender mainstreaming becomes an increasingly central
issue, different interpretations create the risk that it drifts
from its original target of transforming societies and securing
the rights and freedom of both women and men.
These knowledge projects are conceived alongside – and
implemented in partnership with – southern and northern
development organisations, research and practice institutions.
Through our knowledge work we hope to maintain the
integrity of gender work worldwide, thus preserving its power
for promoting social equity and gender justice.
 Gender, rights and development
The main framework guiding all
our work is the Gender, Rights
and Development approach
developed by KIT Gender in
collaboration with leading
southern and northern
organizations in the field of
gender and development and
women’s rights. This framework
draws on gender and
development theory and
practice, human rights and
feminist methodologies to address a practical question:

Why the framework?

There are three problems that gender and development has
encountered. First, that gender mainstreaming in development
has obliged institutions to respond to and correct gender
inequalities. Second, a focus on rights in development has not
automatically promoted greater equality. Finally, despite the
global rights talk there has been consistent failure of rights
implementation through development.
What is the framework?
The Gender, Rights and
Development approach
is premised on the
conceptual
understanding that
peoples’ ability to
be recognized as rights
claimants and make
claims for distribution of
development resources (as for example health, education,
agricultural and financial services) is affected by their social
position.
Rights implementation in development occurs at three levels:
the policy level which sets up the nature of the entitlement,
who is entitled to program resources, and the nature of the
obligation; the administration and planning level which
decides on how the entitlement is delivered, and in so doing
interprets the nature of the entitlement and who is entitled;
and finally the implementation level which further interprets
what the right is and who should have it through the actions of
program staff.
Application
The GRD approach has been
used in research as for example
in investigating issues affecting
girls’ access to and completion
of lower secondary education.
Our starting point was to
frame the research topic in
ways that allowed for an
investigation of the recognition
and redistributive failures at different institutional levels
leading to girls not being able to access their right to secondary
education.

Gender mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming has
been a central pillar of
development work for the last
20 years. Development agencies
have had varying degrees of
success in their efforts to
equalize the gender balance.
A fresh approach to mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming that results in real gender equality
outcomes requires a detailed
examination that informs the
strategic transformation of
programming and
organizational practice.
Accordingly, our approach
focuses on facilitating change
through three interrelated
strategies: advisory support, capacity development, and
research.
Our methodology is
participatory, learner-
centered and designed to
achieve and sustain
incremental steps towards
development working for
both women and men. Our
work involves operational
staff as well as decision makers and managers working equally
in the field as well as in the boardroom.