Global Finland * Gender training material for NGOs


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Gender equality in the organisation

AIM: You learn to recognise your organisation’s strengths and weaknesses in gender equality work.

BASIC CONCEPTS: gender equality, mainstreaming gender perspective, positive attitudes to gender equality

Importance of the organisation’s approach to gender equality

The gender equality perspective in development cooperation is not only important for the project itself and for the project area in the South, but is also necessary in NGOs’ own internal organisational structures. It is essential that the NGO or other organisation that is responsible for managing a project has a positive attitude to gender equality. The personal attitudes of every individual within the organisation to the importance of gender equality have decisive effects on the quality and sustainability of development cooperation.

An organisation’s own internal practice with regard to the roles of women and men can also be an obstacle to the reduction of inequality in the projects themselves. It can happen that men and women both take part in activities but the women are not in decision-making positions or their suggestions are ignored when decisions are made. This sort of inequality appears both in Finnish organisations and in their partner organisations in the South. When starting cooperation it is good to clarify how decisions are made and tasks divided both in your own and in your partner’s organisation, and what significance gender has within the organisations’ activities. Remember that gender equality does not just concern the relative numbers of men and women. Pay attention to the internal effects of gender on work and in the work place.

All of us together or a single expert?

A common commitment to mainstreaming the promotion of gender equality is not always self-evident in everyday work. Gender equality matters are not always seen as being everybody’s task and focus of attention, but are often thought of as a separate area of responsibility. Practical experience also shows that when organisations do appoint someone to be responsible for gender equality matters, that person is often a woman who is young in both years and seniority and so is thought “suitable” for the purpose. And just as often organisations do not appoint anyone at all to take responsibility for gender equality issues.

It is important to mainstream gender equality thinking throughout the organisation and in all its activities. On the other hand, internalising gender perspective in the organisation also calls for special skills and it is good to have somebody who can work to guide and facilitate mainstreaming. This justifies the individual appointment of a gender equality specialist, or even a specialist group, within the organisation. At the same time all the members of the organisation must promote gender equality in and through their own work. The leaders of the organisation play a key role in making the promotion of gender equality a priority. They must show in their own actions and attitudes that promoting gender equality is a matter of deeds, not just words.

Gender sensitive workplace - just a dream?

Gender equality in the workplace can be expressed in many ways and at many levels. In the first place gender equality, or the lack of it, is revealed in the attitude of the organisation towards the people in the workplace community. When there is gender equality in the workplace, the differences between and amongst women and men are valued and encouraged. Women and men are not quantitative representatives of particular quotas in various jobs and positions, but gender equality can be clearly seen as the resolute wish of the organisation’s leaders as a policy and as a goal. One expression of such a driving vision is equal pay for women and men, another is the equal division of responsible tasks. In a workplace with gender equality it is not only the women who do the work and not only the men who are managers. When there is gender equality in the workplace decisions are made as democratically as possible. Gender equality can also be seen in taking a positive attitude to combining work and family life for both men and women. Gender equality includes the appreciation of differences and does not mean forcing everyone into the same mould. The appreciation of differences is a particularly important aspect for everybody who works in organisations engaged in development cooperation, where issues, aims and tasks often have to be examined from very different points of view, for example because of cultural differences.

The following hints can help you mainstream gender equality in your own organisation:

Commitment! The first requirement of long-lasting and successful gender equality work is the commitment of workers and managers to promoting gender equality. This commitment must be in deeds as well as in words.

Training! The first step is often to change the attitudes and behaviour of project workers and managers so they become more favourable to gender equality. Possession of the skills required for promoting gender equality in practice is also essential. Attitudes and skills can be learned with the help of gender equality training, both in the South and in the North.

Knowledge! The significance of gender roles in working life can be learned by obtaining gender-disaggregated information about the organisation’s working environment and the roles of its stakeholder groups. How do women and men behave? Who decides? Who does things? Who can provide feedback?

Discuss! Gender equality and its promotion in all activities will be a fundamental theme in working with the partner organisation; positive attitudes and knowledge will be required at all levels. In this respect, too, it is important to know the working environment of the partner organisation.

Openness! Gender equality should be the common objective for everybody. Share your knowledge and experiences freely and openly with your partner organisation and with other organisations.

Make it official! Changing the organisation’s official policy to make it more favourable to gender equality is also important. To achieve permanent change also means changing individual attitudes.

Be prepared for resistance to change! Remember, and remind others, that gender equality is a matter of human rights and that promoting gender equality enables more sustainable and higher-quality results in development cooperation.

Allow time for change! Promoting gender equality requires patience, realism and flexibility. Attitudes and ways of behaving cannot be changed overnight. You cannot expect your partner organisation to work on a faster schedule than your own.

Talk to the donors! You should also explain to the donor about the stage that has been reached in promoting gender equality. Donors must also be able to assess whether they are willing to support a persistent but time-consuming process.

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23.04.2004