DAC Source Book on Concepts and Approaches Linked to Gender Equality

Complete Document (80 pages) The DAC Working Party on Gender Equality has drawn together a set of practical guidelines for advancing the goals identified by the OECD Development Assistance Committee and by the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) with respect to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The DAC Guidelines for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Development Co-operation (1998) draw on lessons of experience and incorporate illustrations of improved efficiency, effectiveness and coherence in development co-operation. The Guidelines give a valuable set of definitions of key concepts and approaches which guide and deepen the reader's understanding of gender equality issues and how to address them. These have been compiled into the DAC Source Book on Concepts and Approaches Linked to Gender Equality.

The former DAC Expert Group on Women in Development, renamed in 1998 the DAC Working Party on Gender Equality, has drawn together a set of practical guidelines for advancing the goals identified by the DAC and by Beijing with respect to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The DAC Guidelines for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Development Co-operation (1998) draw on lessons of experience and incorporate illustrations of improved efficiency, effectiveness and coherence in development co-operation. In the course of preparing the guidelines, the authors developed a valuable set of definitions of key concepts and approaches which further the reader's understanding of gender equality issues. They also collected a valuable set of resource references. These have been compiled into the DAC Source Book on Concepts and Approaches Linked to Gender Equality, which, like the guidelines, has been approved by the DAC and made widely available in English and in French.

There are two sections in the document. The first contains a number of discussions by topic (in alphabetical order). Each entry is divided into three sections:

Discussion: A brief presentation of key issues, questions and themes.

See also: A list of other relevant topics in the source book.

References: A list of documents is included to encourage readers to make use of the growing literature coming from gender equality advocates, academics and development co-operation agencies themselves. We've restricted the list of references to include only those available from DAC members and published sources.

The second section provides sample references by theme with no discussion.

Please note that this Source Book is not comprehensive, and the lists of references are merely indicative. Documents may have been produced that are not listed here.