Corporatelevel Evaluation on Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment

Corporate-level Evaluation on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Preliminary Findings 63 rd Session of the Evaluation Committee 15 -16 July 2010

Background l IFAD adopted a Gender Plan of Action (2003 -2006), approved by the Board in April 2003 l In July 2008, the Programme Management Department issued a Framework for Gender Mainstreaming l In October 2009, IFAD received the Global MDG 3 Champion Torch l This is the first corporate-level evaluation on gender by the Office of Evaluation 2

Evaluation Objectives l What IFAD’s corporate strategy says about gender equality and women’s empowerment (consistency, relevance) and how effectively has it been reflected in country strategies and projects? l What results have actually been achieved on the ground in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment? l Generate a series of findings and recommendations for IFAD’s future activities related to gender equality and women’s empowerment 3

Process l Desk work including: (i) review of corporate strategy documents; (ii) metaevaluation of existing evaluative evidence; (ii) review of recently approved COSOPs and projects; (iii) assessment of IFAD’s internal corporate processes; and (iv) benchmarking exercise. l Five country visits to Bangladesh, Egypt, Guatemala, Mauritania and Zambia l Presentation of preliminary findings to Management and the Evaluation Committee in July ’ 10 l Preparation of draft final report l Stakeholders’ workshop, 27 -28 Sep ’ 10 (first of its kind) l Evaluation Committee (26 November) and Executive Board (15 -16 December) discussions 4

Preliminary Findings Corporate strategy and its implementation l There is a general consensus among the Board, Senior Management and staff of the importance in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment for sustainable agriculture and rural development l IFAD’s corporate strategy on paper is broadly relevant and consistent (dispersed among numerous documents + experience-based) l Is IFAD walking the talk? The translation of strategy into action has not been entirely adequate (e. g. , administrative budget allocation, HR capacity building, monitoring & reporting, incentives, accountability, communication, etc) 5

Preliminary Findings Corporate strategy and its implementation l Specific, earmarked investments favoring gender and women’s empowerment in operations is difficult to aggregate and not systematic across the portfolio l There does not appear to be a common understanding of: (i) related terminology: gender equality, gender equity, gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment; and (ii) causes and dynamics of the gender problematic, leading to a wide range of solutions pursued 6

Preliminary Findings Results from past operations and current portfolio l Overall, performance of past projects is only moderately satisfactory, but highly variable across projects and countries, and not always context specific l Introduction of innovative solutions to gender in past operations was moderately unsatisfactory. There are few examples of scaling up l Gender equality and women’s empowerment issues increasingly incorporated in recent COSOPs and projects 7

Preliminary Findings Corporate Processes l There is neither incentive for excellence in this area, nor consequence for staff who give low or no priority to the issue l Staff work planning and performance assessments is not results-oriented in terms of gender achievements. Compliance culture predominant l Change in gender-balance in workforce is very slow, with the exception of recent efforts at a very senior level. 6 of 23 mission members were women (26%) in the 5 COSOPs reviewed in 2009, and only 2 gender experts. 24 of 124 mission members were women (19%) in 21 projects approved between 2003 -2009, and only 6 gender experts. 8

Preliminary Findings Corporate processes l Formal gender-friendly HR policies are in place, but organizational culture does not encourage women or men who challenge traditional workplace practices l IFAD’s results framework, strengthened quality enhancement and quality assurance, shift to country presence and direct supervision are paying more attention to gender equality and women’s empowerment l Learning and knowledge on gender is not pulled together, nor is progress systematically monitored and reported 9

Preliminary Findings Corporate Processes l Funding for specific gender work (thematic studies, self assessments, HQ capacity building, etc) has depended heavily on supplementary funds and TAGs l Gender desk in Policy and Technical Advisory division does not have earmarked annual administrative budget to support work plan and corporate strategy l Corporate capacity through divisional Gender Focal Points is inadequate l Gender Thematic Group is mainly a platform for exchanging information, but has no coherent annual work plan, targets, budget, etc. 10

Preliminary Conclusions l IFAD is in principle well positioned, because of its mandate and strategy to become a global leader in this area for agriculture and rural development l The corporate strategy is largely relevant and consistent, but not adequately translated into action l Performance in the past however has been only moderately satisfactory and variable, even though more recent country strategies and operations show improvements l Investments in gender-related work both in IFAD-funded operations and at HQs is difficult to track and unsystematic. Heavy reliance on supplementary funds and TAGs l Learning and accountability framework to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment is inadequate. Compliance rather than results culture prevalent 11

Preliminary Recommendations l IFAD should develop a corporate gender policy to consolidate its strategy and approaches l Innovation and scaling up on gender should be an integral feature of COSOPs and projects, as a means to achieve wider impact on rural poverty l Executive Board and Senior Management need to more actively monitor and report progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment l Apply a results-oriented work planning and performance management system with incentives and accountability, in order to shift from compliance to impact achievement l Invest specifically in knowledge management on gender, appoint a Champion in the Senior Management on gender, and strengthen decentralized technical advice to operations 12