Past Events

Workshop on Strengthening the Development Results and Impacts of the Paris Declaration through Work on Gender Equality, Social Exclusion and Human Rights (London, 12-13 March 2008)

See workshop web site: www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/resultsandimpacts

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Joint workshop with IANWGE – Enhancing partnerships between multilateral and bilateral agencies to support partner country efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment (Paris, 28-29 January 2008)

The OECD DAC Network on Gender Equality and the United Nations’ Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality hold a workshop every two years to exchange ideas and share information on issues of mutual relevance and interest. The two groups represent the gender focal points and advisors of the United Nations system, bilateral agencies and the development banks.

Focus of the 2008 workshop:

• The role of multilateral agencies in delivering on commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment
• How bilateral agencies can best support the efforts of  multilateral agencies
• Innovative practices in partnerships between bilateral and multilateral agencies
• Opportunities to enhance and scale up our mutual work to support partner country efforts, and
• Improved tracking of development assistance focussed on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
  

See also: www.oecd.org/dac/gender/ianwgeworkshop

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Fifth Meeting of the DAC Network on Gender Equality (Paris, 27-29 June 2007)

The meeting included a Workshop on scaling up for women’s empowerment and rights from a donor perspective - why, how and where do we invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment? with presentations by representatives from non-governmental organisations and private foundations.

The two GENDERNET task teams – on aid effectiveness and on DAC "new directions" on gender equality and women’s empowerment – reported on their ongoing work.

Read the provisional summary record.

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Workshop on Development Effectiveness in Practice – Applying the Paris Declaration to Advancing Gender Equality, Environmental Sustainability and Human Rights (Dublin, 26-27 April 2007)

This workshop was organised by the DAC Networks on Environment and Development, Governance, and Gender Equality and the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, with the support of the Irish and Danish Governments. The purpose  was to increase mutual knowledge and understanding of how practitioners are applying the Paris Declaration’s overarching principles to advance gender equality, environmental sustainability and human rights. The long-term goal is to demonstrate how attention to these issues enhances development effectiveness. See Workshop web site.

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Fourth meeting of the Network (Paris, 5-7 July 2006)

The meeting was chaired by To Tjoelker (Netherlands). A day-long workshop examined good practice in using the partnership commitments of the Paris Declaration to accelerate progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. Members also considered the findings of the recently completed survey of how member agencies’ staffing and institutional arrangements support their work on gender and development. The meeting concluded with sessions finalising the implementation of the 2005-06 work programme and fleshing out the 2007-08 work programme.

The approach of DAC members to gender equality in development cooperation – changes since 1999 
The key findings of the survey are that:

• most agencies have a solid policy on gender equality that combines mainstreaming and interventions targeted towards women’s empowerment
• no agency has put in place the structures, resources, incentives and accountability systems needed to implement their policy fully, and
• there is no “magic bullet” for dealing more effectively with gender equality in the new aid environment.
  

Members were challenged to consider the opportunities and changes that were needed within bilateral and multilateral development agencies and at partner country level – but especially the efforts gender advisors themselves could make to communicate better, create “win-win” situations and be more specific, more concrete and more strategically focussed.

Workshop on aid effectiveness and gender equality
The key objectives of the workshop were to increase members’ understanding of the partnership commitments of the Paris Declaration and to examine how the Paris Declaration is being implemented at partner country level through joint assistance strategies (JAS) and other processes.  A case study was presented by representatives from Zambia’s Ministry of Finance and Cabinet Office and Dutch Development Cooperation on how gender equality dimensions have been integrated into the JAS and the implementation of the Paris Declaration in Zambia.  The workshop identified specific follow-up for the Network, including a workshop on integrating cross-cutting issues (environment, human rights and gender equality) into the implementation of the Paris Declaration; an Issues Brief on aid effectiveness and gender equality for field-based staff; and a thinkpiece on innovative practices in donor funding and support for women’s empowerment organisations.  Each of these activities will contribute to the 2007-08 revision of the DAC guidelines for gender equality and women’s empowerment in development cooperation.  The consultancy paper for this workshop was also considered by the concurrent meeting of the WP-EFF. Read the paper: Paris Declaration commitments and implications for gender equality and women’s empowerment

Introduction to economics – a workshop, 3-4 July 2006
A well-received, two-day training workshop for members on applying basic economic concepts was held in conjunction with the GENDERNET meeting.

Read the Summary Record of the meeting

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Third informal meeting on Promoting the gender equality MDG – the implementation challenge. Paris, 12 May, 2006

Tthe DAC Network on Gender Equality, with the World Bank’s Gender and Development Group (Poverty Reduction and Economic Management) and the Government of Norway hosted a third informal meeting as follow-up on Promoting the gender equality MDG – the implementation challenge.

This meeting was designed to:

• review and discuss the World Bank draft Action Plan for implementing MDG3 - Gender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank Action Plan
• focus on the opportunities for scaling up programmes based on the results of an informal mapping exercise  of bilateral donors
• further develop ideas for a global action plan to achieve MDG3, and
• identify entry points, key meetings and other opportunities to galvanise support.
  

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Second informal meeting to follow-up the World Bank’s consultation on Promoting the gender equality MDG – the implementation challenge. Paris, 17 March 2006.

The DAC Network on Gender Equality, with the World Bank’s Gender and Development Group (Poverty Reduction and Economic Management) and the Government of Norway hosted an informal meeting as a follow-up to the World Bank’s consultation on Promoting the gender equality MDG – the implementation challenge (Washington, 16 February 2006). The informal meeting continued discussions begun at a meeting of donors and multilateral agencies hosted by the World Bank on 17 February 2006.

Its principal objective was to respond to World Bank Vice President Danny Leipziger’s challenge to “…the World Bank and other interested parties to propose an action plan in 100 days to accelerate the implementation of the gender equality MDG.”

The meeting aimed to:

• Identify opportunities for galvanising enhanced support for MDG3
• Build further on the World Bank’s initiative to prepare a “100 day” action plan, and
• Stimulate some fresh thinking and ideas on how to accelerate the achievement of MDG3.

It was in three parts: a session on bilateral donors’ initiatives for accelerating the implementation of MDG3, both individually and collectively; a briefing and exchange of views on the development of the World Bank’s action plan for implementing MDG3; and, a discussion focussing on future actions by bilateral donors and the World Bank.

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Joint workshop between the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) and the GENDERNET

A joint workshop between the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) and the GENDERNET on "Aid modalities and the promotion of gender equality" was held in Nairobi in January 2006. Read the summary report.