Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture
Abstract The United Nations and major humanitarian organizations have made policy commitments to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. This study assesses the extent to which humanitarian responses have met these commitments based on reviews of gender mainstreaming, textual analysis o...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of International Humanitarian Action |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-023-00138-1 |
| _version_ | 1827961110165192704 |
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| author | Geeta Rao Gupta Caren Grown Sara Fewer Reena Gupta Sia Nowrojee |
| author_facet | Geeta Rao Gupta Caren Grown Sara Fewer Reena Gupta Sia Nowrojee |
| author_sort | Geeta Rao Gupta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The United Nations and major humanitarian organizations have made policy commitments to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. This study assesses the extent to which humanitarian responses have met these commitments based on reviews of gender mainstreaming, textual analysis of policy and program cycle documents, and interviews with humanitarian actors. The analysis reveals that while gender mainstreaming may raise awareness and make fixes at the margins, its focus has been limited to altering internal processes rather than emphasizing results for women and men and girls and boys. Our study also analyzes the cultural and institutional context in which gender mainstreaming takes place. The culture of humanitarian organizations has been characterized as hierarchical and driven by a short-term crisis response with a distinctly macho style of functioning, which is misaligned with gender mainstreaming. We propose replacing gender mainstreaming with a results-focused approach rooted in behavioral science that uses evidence of the conscious and non-conscious drivers of human behavior to address problems, alongside other efforts to change the internal culture of humanitarian organizations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T16:21:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-82b4b8354abc49b7ae4a7f3befa3ce41 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2364-3412 2364-3404 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T16:21:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of International Humanitarian Action |
| spelling | doaj.art-82b4b8354abc49b7ae4a7f3befa3ce412023-04-23T11:25:54ZengSpringerOpenJournal of International Humanitarian Action2364-34122364-34042023-04-018112010.1186/s41018-023-00138-1Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and cultureGeeta Rao Gupta0Caren Grown1Sara Fewer2Reena Gupta3Sia Nowrojee4Girls and Women Strategy, United Nations Foundation Center for Sustainable Development, The Brookings InstitutionThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences - Kungliga VetenskapsakademienGirls and Women Strategy, United Nations FoundationGirls and Women Strategy, United Nations FoundationAbstract The United Nations and major humanitarian organizations have made policy commitments to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. This study assesses the extent to which humanitarian responses have met these commitments based on reviews of gender mainstreaming, textual analysis of policy and program cycle documents, and interviews with humanitarian actors. The analysis reveals that while gender mainstreaming may raise awareness and make fixes at the margins, its focus has been limited to altering internal processes rather than emphasizing results for women and men and girls and boys. Our study also analyzes the cultural and institutional context in which gender mainstreaming takes place. The culture of humanitarian organizations has been characterized as hierarchical and driven by a short-term crisis response with a distinctly macho style of functioning, which is misaligned with gender mainstreaming. We propose replacing gender mainstreaming with a results-focused approach rooted in behavioral science that uses evidence of the conscious and non-conscious drivers of human behavior to address problems, alongside other efforts to change the internal culture of humanitarian organizations.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-023-00138-1Humanitarian programmingHumanitarian cultureGender inequalitiesGender mainstreamingResults-based approaches |
| spellingShingle | Geeta Rao Gupta Caren Grown Sara Fewer Reena Gupta Sia Nowrojee Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture Journal of International Humanitarian Action Humanitarian programming Humanitarian culture Gender inequalities Gender mainstreaming Results-based approaches |
| title | Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture |
| title_full | Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture |
| title_fullStr | Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture |
| title_short | Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture |
| title_sort | beyond gender mainstreaming transforming humanitarian action organizations and culture |
| topic | Humanitarian programming Humanitarian culture Gender inequalities Gender mainstreaming Results-based approaches |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-023-00138-1 |
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