QED is committed to gender integration and women’s empowerment throughout our work. We endeavor to incorporate the gender perspective into all of our projects, with a view of ultimately promoting global equality between women and men. Below are 15 examples of such project activities.
- Developed and launched USAID’s Women’s Leadership in Small and Medium Enterprises (WLSME) Website and knowledge portal to capture new learning in gender and enterprise development, disseminate it among development practitioners, USAID staff, and other donors, and connect those actors to each other in order to improve development outcomes around the world. http://wlsme.org/
- Worked with USAID/Turkmenistan to develop a Tourism and Gender Training component for the Turkmenistan Tourism Seminar. Topics included how gender ties to economic development and tourism; traditional gender roles and gender wage gaps; gender stereotypes and representations in the media; opportunities for women and women’s occupations and positions in the tourism industry, and government incentives for employers to take measures to advance all women and all men.
- Revised USAID’s Bureau for Food Security (BFS) Agriculture Core Course curriculum to make gender one of three integrated themes for the course and worked with the BFS Gender Advisor to develop a 90-minute session entitled Integrating Gender into Agriculture, targeted at helping participants understand what gender means and what USAID is doing on gender; recognize the role of women in agriculture and the impact of narrowing the gender gap on food security; and learn what works and why when integrating gender into agriculture programs.
- Helped develop Tips for Integrating Gender into Agriculture Sector Solicitations, a guide to help USAID agriculture officers better incorporate gender issues into solicitations and their technical evaluation. It aims to assist in the application of ADS requirements for gender integration into new and existing agricultural programs.
- Assisted USAID in finalizing their Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA) Gender Assessment Synthesis Report, capturing best practices and lessons learned and make evidence-based recommendations on gender integration in order to maximize future agricultural investments toward the goals of rural poverty reduction and food security.
- Provided instructional design and logistical support for USAID’s Economic Growth Office Advanced Topics course. The course objectives provide economic growth officers with a better understanding of key economic topics and issues; apply potential policy or programming responses to those issues and accompanying tools; and build a community of practice among USAID economists. This course includes a session titled Gender Economic Analysis & Employability of Women, which addresses gender analysis in economics and growth diagnostics.
- For the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev), developed a series of electronic gender training modules (Gender 101, 102 and 103), which were posted to USAID University online.
- Completed the USAID/Iraq Gender Assessment under our Performance Evaluation and Reporting for Results Management (PERFORM) project. QED analyzed gender integration in USAID/Iraq’s existing programs in health, economic growth, agriculture, democracy and governance, and education; made recommendations for the Mission to achieve greater gender integration in its programs; facilitated the statement of Mission gender equality goals and provided guidance for its Strategic Plan and Gender Action Plan.
- Co-authored and led the development of the Effective Gender Integration Practices for Agriculture, a six-part series to assist Mission staff in making gender central to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of successful agriculture programs.
- For USAID/OTI, QED developed a 2-day Gender Integration in Political Transitions and Post-Conflict Programming training with DC and field staff in DCHA and PPL, focusing on concrete examples and action-oriented practices. This includes a two-hour online training for participants to identify and address gender constraints and gender-based exclusions and to promote gender equity in political transitions and post-conflict programming. QED trained staff to modify online training content and functionality so that the module could be updated and adapted as needed.
- Developed a Gender Analysis of the Côte d’Ivoire PEPFAR Program with a view towards understanding the socio-cultural gender norms and inequalities that put people at risk for acquiring or transmitting HIV, their ability to access HIV services, and the country’s efforts to achieve epidemic control. This includes: (a) access to and control over resources; (b) access to and utilization of HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support; and (c) differences in power among and between women, men, girls, boys, and gender and sexual minorities, as well as subgroups of these populations.
- Conducted a USAID/Afghanistan Midwife Retention Study, analyzing the retention rate of midwives in health facilities. A field dominated by women, midwives were deployed to work for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health during a three-year period, and QED assessed USAID support to the Afghan Midwives Association and Midwifery and Nursing Accreditation Board. The functions of the Accreditation Board shifted to a newly established Midwifery and Nursing Council.
- Facilitated a Family Planning Project Design, working with the USAID/Jordan Population and Family Health team to design activities to expand family planning and reproductive health services in the private sector and contribute to increasing demand for and use of modern contraceptive methods in Jordan. In large part, the activities proposed were a continuation or modification of activities currently funded under the Mission’s Private Sector Project for Women’s Health (PSP) project.
- Prepared a Gender Analysis and Assessment for USAID/Jordan, analyzing gender-related inequalities and disparities to inform current and future development assistance programming for USAID/Jordan in the areas of water, health, basic education, economic growth, democracy and governance, and energy. A complete and up-to-date analysis of gender considerations and disparities in Jordan better informed program development, contributing to improved outcomes.
- Conducted a Gender Analysis Assignment in Nigeria, focusing on the HIV response to further inform the design of PEPFAR projects and activities. The purpose of this analysis helps the Nigeria PEPFAR country team and its implementing partners: a) develop gender responsive country operational plans; b) design programs that integrate and address gender issues; c) work to advance gender equality and female empowerments throughout the HIV continuum of prevention, care, treatment and support; and d) identify gender-related issues and programmatic gaps.