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Preface

The Ministry of Social Affairs in Lebanon is assuming a leading role in addressing women's issues within the available human and financial capacities. MOSA different departments as well as the Social Development Centers all over the country are playing an active role by offering various women-related programs and services including rehabilitation, reproductive health and literacy services.

In addition, MOSA has developed a new vision in targeting women and gender equality issues. MOSA is striving to mainstream gender in its plans and programs in order to respond optimally to the needs of the society and to make utmost benefit of the individual and institutional capacities which will ensure active participation in the development process. Through Promoting Womens Participation in Local Governance and Development project, a project funded by the Italian Embassy in Beirut - Italian Cooperation Office for Development, MOSA is enhancing its capacities in the area of reducing social marginalization of the most vulnerable groups of the Lebanese society through the pursuit of gender equity.

This gender mainstreaming strategy conducted within the context of the project is considered a pioneer step which reflects MOSAs commitment towards international conventions especially CEDAW.

Moreover, this strategy is in line with MOSAs mandate in reducing social gaps and ensuring social justice. It is a result of high commitment of all MOSA officials at different levels.

Finally, we would like to thank the Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD.A) for their contribution to realizing this strategy. We hope that MOSAs pioneer initiative will be an incentive for other governmental institution to mainstream gender concepts in their plans and programs.

Minister of Social Affairs

Rashid Derbas

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Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Contextual Background ................................................................................................................................. 4

Part One: International Framework and Lebanese Political Will and Commitment .................................... 6

Lebanese Political Will and Commitment ................................................................................................. 9

Part Two: MOSA Gender Mainstreaming Strategy ..................................................................................... 11

What will Gender Mainstreaming Offer? ............................................................................................... 11

Goal of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy .......................................................................................... 11

Outline of the GMS ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Findings of the Gender Audit .............................................................................................................. 12

Scope for the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy .................................................................................. 13

Outcomes ............................................................................................................................................ 13

Strategic Framework ........................................................................................................................... 14

Empowerment Framework ................................................................................................................. 15

Approach ..................................................................................................................................................... 15

Way Forward ............................................................................................................................................... 17

Main steps .............................................................................................................................................. 17

The Action Plan for the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy ...................................................................... 21

Monitoring and Evaluation ..................................................................................................................... 23

Gender Mainstreaming Strategy - Monitoring Plan ................................................................................... 24

ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................................................... 27

References .................................................................................................................................................. 37

List of Acronyms .......................................................................................................................................... 39

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Introduction

This five-year strategy lays out a framework and sets an action plan to promote gender equality across the

Ministry of Social Affairs. The Gender Mainstreaming Strategy provides MOSA with a binding framework,

which nevertheless it offers some flexibility in the implementation phase. With the political will of the policy

makers and the commitment of the staff members inside MOSA, it is envisioned that this Gender

Mainstreaming Strategy will be implemented in a manner suited to the different sectors of MOSA.

Organization of the GMS: This working document of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy starts by providing

an overview covering the contextual background subsequently after the introduction section of the report.

This working document consists of two parts along with four attachments in a separate annex:

The first part presents international framework along with the key national commitments reflecting the

State political will. This part presents an overview of the main documents that set out the commitment to

gender mainstreaming and gender equality. This part contains basic background knowledge necessary for

MOSA staff and others to get familiar with the framework of the GMS since it provides an overview of the

global and institutional context in which gender mainstreaming policies and strategies have evolved. The

second section of part one presents the main concepts of gender mainstreaming and main definition as set

out in the international documents.

The second part presents the developed Gender Mainstreaming Strategy. It first presents the outline and

main principles of the Gender Mainstreaming strategy. Then it walks the reader through a realistic plan of

action with appropriate steps to be taken as a guide for active use. The last section of this part presents the

robust monitoring plan with main definitions of Monitoring and Evaluation.

First attachment: provides the main Scope of Work of the proposed Gender committee to be

instituted in MOSA

Second Attachment: provides recommendations, at the level of management and at the

level of Effectiveness of the Gender Committee.

Third attachment: presents the findings of the Gender Audit as extracted from the original

report conducted by CRTDA.

Fourth attachment: presents a succinct of levels of gender mainstreaming

Background: The Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) commissioned the Collective for Research and Training

on Development Action (CRTD.A) to develop a gender equality strategy to address the findings and

recommendations emanated from a gender audit exercise conducted by CRTD.A (April 2011 April 2012).

The main aim of the gender audit exercise was to determine opportunities and challenges of mainstreaming

gender in national policies and programs, due to the impact of gender mainstreaming on womens economic

participation and empowerment. Additionally, the gender audit exercise aimed to explore possibilities for

supporting internal processes for gender mainstreaming and for identifying gaps in capacity building

required to support existing or potential efforts for gender mainstreaming. The gender audit exercise

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targeted MOSAs internal administrative processes regarding gender roles, organizational behavior, and

womens direct economic participation.. Subsequently a report was developed in May 2013 that serves as an

anchor and base of the scope of this strategy.

Ministry of Social Affairs - MOSA Established in 1993, the Ministry of Social Affairs is the governmental entity in charge of coordinating the

provision of social protection and assistance in Lebanon. It is mandated to develop social policies, to

implement social development projects, and to provide support for the vulnerable groups. It is also

mandated to support social development plans and programs at the community level. According to the law

212/93, the Ministry assumes the following functions1:

Conduct studies and plan for social policies

Provide welfare and social assistance services to certain social under-privileged groups either

directly or through contracts with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGOs).

Promote local development through a network of social development centers and joint projects with

CSOs and local administrations.

(elderly, children, etc) or specific sectors implemented through parallel projects or joint initiatives

with international organizations or CSOs.

CRTD.A The Collective for Research and Training on Development Action (CRTD.A) is a Lebanese non-governmental

organization officially registered in 1999 and is located in Beirut. CRTD.As programs and scope of

interventions include working at grassroots, local, regional, and international levels on gender equality and

womens rights with development initiatives targeting women and community groups and on promoting

womens rights and gender equality in Lebanon and in the Middle East and North African region.

Contextual Background

Women in Lebanon

The conditions of Lebanese Women are also fairly unique: a gender analysis of Lebanons development

indicators reveals that Lebanese women experience relatively high levels of health and education, but are

lacking a commensurate presence in the public sphere. Such gains in health and education are not reflected

in womens economic empowerment, advancement in politics or full equality under the law2

1 United National Development Programme. Country: Lebanon Project Document p.2

http://www.lb.undp.org/content/dam/lebanon/docs/Poverty/Projects/3159.pdf

. 2 Lebanon: An Overview Context, evolving demographics for women, sexual and reproductive health, poverty and

women, gender and rights, Dejong Jocelyn Meyerson-Knox, AUB, Funded by UNFPA p.1

file:///D:/LEBANON/GENDeR%20MAINSTREAMING/MOSA/unfpa.case_study.lebanon.pdf

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In the National Situation Analysis Womens Human Rights and Gender Equality produced by Europe, states

that the situation of Lebanese women has always been highly two-edged: on the one hand, a wide

emancipation of women, schooling on footing with men, active participation in the various fields of social,

economic and cultural life and on the other hand, a great discrimination in the family codes and a striking

backwardness in political participation. In the public sphere, over 60 years have passed since the law of

1953, which recognized equal rights for men and women in elections, voting and candidacy. However,

womens rate of participation in political life is still very low, including in candidacy. (Euromed 2010: p 8, 9).

This is echoed in CRTD-As report on gender profile of Lebanons equality and economic indicators stating

that:

While Lebanon boasts some of the best gender statistics in health and education in the Arab region,

not to mention the degree of social mobility for women that exist in the country, it is also home to

some of the worst regional rates of gender equality in areas of political representation and

leadership, and is among the countries in the region which have enacted the fewest changes to

discriminatory laws governing personal status and citizenship

The National Social Development Strategy of Lebanon in 2011, developed by MOSA, states that even though

Lebanese women are seen by the world to enjoy a better status than other Arab women due to the

countrys pluralism, many issues hinder their progress in the Lebanese society. A noticeable disparity

remains in womens participation in decision-making positions across various fields and sectors. While

women occupy high levels in the areas of economy and finance, education and social affairs, giving them

power and authority in those sectors, female participation in the political arena is yet to be visible. While

gender is already respected in many policies and rules, a dire need still remains for the government and

society to have a clear vision on how to improve the status of women in all realms.

The Gender Audit Report of May 2013 developed by CRTDA mentioned that according to the Euromed

Gender Equality Program (EGEP) findings, women in Lebanon are still challenged by many legal, social, and

cultural issues. Meanwhile, non-governmental organizations suffer from lack of a system wide government

actions, as well as organizational challenges. These limitations lead to a lack of coordination between actors

regarding their various programs.

The national priorities highlighted subsequent to the Euromed Gender Equality Program (EGEP) findings

included the need to:

Develop the institutional capacities of the Lebanese parties concerned in both public and associative

sectors.

Develop strategic considerations to which the public institutions concerned and the Lebanese non-

governmental organizations and associations should adhere, with the technical support of bilateral

and multilateral agencies. This mainly involves promoting the creation of mechanisms to constantly

renew the national strategy for Lebanese Women through a participatory approach.

Develop a network of actions promoting active participation of women in decision-making in public

life and a network of pressure groups combating violence against women.

As a result, Lebanese women face critical situations because of beliefs and norms of their local communities.

Government and civil society have started to recognize and understand the importance of gender relations,

as well as the essential role of women achieving sustainable development.

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Part One: International Framework and Lebanese Political Will and Commitment

International Framework

The CEDAW Convention the Beijing Platform for Action and the UN

Millennium Declaration

The most important agreement binding governments to promote womens rights is the UN Convention on

the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that was established in 1979. The

Convention was ratified by Lebanon in 19963and by 2002 it had been ratified by 170 countries. The UN

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women monitors the implementation of the

Convention by means of the periodic reports that every state that has ratified it is obliged to make to the

UN.

CEDAW is the most comprehensive agreement on basic human rights for women, and a critical step in

developing a standard for such rights. The Convention contains 30 articles and is based on three main

principles, as follows:

The Principle of Equality, stating that:

women are entitled to equal opportunities and treatment;

women should have equal access to resources;

women should not just receive formal equality, but laws may need to be changed and enforced so

that results can be seen.

The Principle of Non-discrimination, stating that:

discrimination is socially constructed, exclusionary and not essential to human interaction. It prevents

women from enjoying their rights and fulfilling their potential;

both direct discrimination (where intent exists) and indirect discrimination (the effect of unintentional

actions) need to be actively redressed;

temporary measures (specific actions) can be put in place to correct past discrimination;

discrimination that occurs in the private sphere needs to be addressed, as much as discrimination in

the public sphere.

The Principle of State Obligation, stating that

once a State ratifies CEDAW it becomes party to legally binding obligations

to eliminate discrimination against women. The State will abide by and be

held accountable to the norms and standards mentioned in CEDAW;

the State is responsible for the welfare of its women and therefore must

take measures to protect their rights and redress any inequalities.

Source: Toolkit on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in EC Development Cooperation p.26

http://www.iiav.nl/epublications/2004/toolkit_on_mainstreaming_gender_equality.PDF

3Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Initial reports of States parties Lebanon - 2004

http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/502/59/PDF/N0450259.pdf?OpenElement

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Another important intergovernmental agreement is the Declaration and Platform for Action for improving

the status of women approved at the UNs Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The

Beijing Platform for Action includes goals and steps to be taken in twelve critical areas of life to improve the

position and influence of women and girls. All member countries of the UN are bound by the Platform for

Action, including of course Lebanon.

Critical areas of concern identified at the Beijing World Conference on Women 1995:

1. Persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women

2. Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training

3. Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services.

4. Violence against women

5. The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign

occupation

6. Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to

resources

7. Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision making at all levels.

8. Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women

9. Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women

10. Stereotyping of women and inequality in womens access to and participation in all communication

systems, especially in the media

11. Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the

environment

12. Persistent discrimination against and violations of the rights of the girls child

The UN Beijing + 5 Follow-up Conference in 2000 approved a Political Declaration and Outcome Document

committing governments to take effective steps to enhance the implementation of the Beijing Platform for

Action. Governments also affirmed their commitment to new measures during the next five year period to

meet new types of challenges.

From this point onward, gender mainstreaming was established as a major global strategy for the promotion

of gender equality in the Beijing Platform for Action from the Fourth United Nations World Conference on

Women in Beijing in 1995. Hence, the ECOSOC agreed conclusions (1997/2) established some important

overall principles for gender mainstreaming4. In July 1997, the United Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

defined the concept of gender mainstreaming as follows:

"Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any

planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making

women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation,

monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that

women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender

equality.5

4Gender Mainstreaming An Overview, United Nations, New York 2002 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/e65237.pdf

5http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/ECOSOCAC1997.2.PDF

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The report of the Economic and Social Council for 1997 (A/52/3. 18 September 1997) on Gender

mainstreaming outlines the main principles for mainstreaming a gender perspective in the United Nations

system. These principles are primarily used as guidelines in most of the gender mainstreaming strategies and

policies.

Principles for mainstreaming a gender perspective in the United Nations system

Issues across all areas of activity should be defined in such a manner that gender differences can be

diagnosed that is, an assumption of gender- should not be made

Responsibility for translating gender mainstreaming into practice is system-wide and rests at the highest

levels. Accountability for outcomes needs to be monitored constantly.

Gender mainstreaming also requires that every effort be made to broaden womens participation at all

level of decision-making.

Gender mainstreaming must be institutionalized through concrete steps, mechanisms and process in all

parts of the United Nations system.

Gender mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, women-specific policies and

programmes or positive legislation, nor does it substitute for gender of focal points.

Clear political will and allocation of adequate and, if need be, additional human and financial resources

for gender mainstreaming from all available funding sources are important for the successful translation

of the concept into practice.

The United Nations Millennium Declaration was approved at the 55th session of the General Assembly in

September 2000. The Millennium Declaration is a comprehensive political statement of international

commitment in which the leaders of countries pledge to work to ensure peace, development, protection of

the environment and human rights. The Declaration also includes concrete development

goals to be attained by 2015.

The Eight Development Goals of the Millennium Declaration: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

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Lebanese Political Will and Commitment Clear political will and the allocation of adequate human resources and financial resources are the bedrock

for gender mainstreaming. Political will kicks off the journey of successful translation of the concept into

practice i.e. the process of gender mainstreaming. In light of this, three main documents were produced to

exhibit the State political will:

First: A document by Ministry of Social Affairs, Department of Family Affairs Womens Affairs Division on

19 September 2005 stated that Lebanon has signed most of the international treaties which call for the

elimination of violence, including, in particular, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence

against Women. However, it has made some reservations to these treaties regarding the issues of nationality

and personal status. Additionally, in 1995 the State of Lebanon ratified the Convention on the political rights

of women of 1953.

Second: The National ten-year strategy for Womens Affairs 2011 -2021constitutes a public document of a

consultative nature for all parties concerned with the improvement of the status of women in Lebanon, and

with the advancement of human rights in general in the country. It is also a facilitating tool for the formation

of a modern democratic state which seeks to apply good governance. Furthermore, The National Strategy

for Women in Lebanon (2011 2021) developed by National Commission for Lebanese Women and UNFPA

highlights gender equality in all fields and stressing the importance of gender mainstreaming as the right

approach to achieve full equality between men and women.. The National ten- year strategy endorsed

twelve strategic objectives which serve as the main framework of the strategy as follows:

1. Achieving citizenship to its full potential on the basis of equality between men and women in

defacto (fields of practice) rights and duties and dejure (legal texts).

2. Promoting opportunities for girls and women in the areas of education and training.

3. Achieving full equality between men and women in health care through the provision of health

services and care for girls and women, including reproductive-health care.

4. Combating poverty among women, and giving special attention to the eradication of poverty in

general

5. Promoting the participation of women in the economic sector.

6. Achieving equality between men and women in all fields and sectors and in decision-making

positions.

7. Combating all forms of violence affecting girls and women in all areas.

8. Eradicating stereotyping of women in local culture and in such media forms as ratio, television and

advertising.

9. Enhancing the contribution of women to environment protection

10. Strengthening the capacity of institutions concerned with womens issues at the national level,

and reinforcing the partnership NCLW and public-sector departments and institutions, and with

civil society

11. Protecting girls and women in situations of emergency, armed conflict, war and natural disaster

12. Introducing gender mainstreaming in all fields.

Source: The National ten-year strategy for Womens Affairs 2011 -2011

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Third: MOSA developed The National Social Development Strategy of Lebanon in 2011with a clear mission

statement along with a set of five main objectives as follows:

Mission Statement

The National Social Development Strategy leads the way to integrated development and an enhanced

quality of life through better and more equitable provision of social services, and expansion of socio-

economic opportunities.

Main Objectives:

1. Achieve better health

2. Strengthen social protection mechanisms

3. Provide quality education

4. Improve opportunities for equitable and safe employment

5. Revitalize communities and develop social capital

The National Social Development Strategy of Lebanons a document contains a section on gender

mainstreaming (section 4.4 page 23). The section describes the tasks of the Womens Affairs division at the

Ministry of Social Affairs Department of Family Affairs and calls on the Lebanese government to implement

the following tasks:

Put in place a strategy which would include time-bound targets for a systematic review and revision

of all legislation that is against womens rights.

Strengthen the existing national womens machinery, namely the National Commission for Lebanese

Women and the MOSA Womens division, by providing them with the adequate authority and

resources, both human and financial, to make them more effective in the fulfilment of their

mandates based on an all-encompassing gender equality perspective.

Mainstream a gender perspective in all policies and programs in all sectors including through training

and capacity building measures on gender issues.

Hold consultations among the main actors in this domain, especially NGOs concerned by gender

mainstreaming, for planning and implementing the gender mainstreaming process.

In the same vein, it is worth mentioning that by virtue of conducting the Gender Audit and the development

of this strategy, MOSA has expressed its political will and commitment to gender equality goals and values

that have to be realized through significant organizational change. The fact that a time and effort were

allocated to support the Gender Audit was implemented is a translation of the commitment of MOSA since it

is consistent with the international commitment as articulated by MOSA regarding gender equality.

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Part Two: MOSA Gender Mainstreaming Strategy

What will Gender Mainstreaming Offer?

Gender mainstreaming work is a development work with a long-term perspective and only fully bears fruit

when it is done systematically. Generally mainstreaming is a strategy in which administrative and operating

practices in ministries and authorities are developed to promote gender equality. It is widely recognized that

gender equality is both a development goal in itself and a precondition for the achievement of other

development outcomes; it is both a matter of human rights and a matter

of development or smart economics. Gender equality can enhance economic growth and improve other

development outcomes in three ways: (i) increasing womens access to and control over resources can

generate broad productivity gains, (ii) improving womens and girls status improves many other

development outcomes (health, nutrition, etc.), and (iii) crucially, womens economic gains benefit not only

themselves but also the next generation, thus, magnifying the development impact.

Based on The National Social Development Strategy of MOSA, gender mainstreaming positions women and

men at the heart of policy-making, and leads to better governance ensuring equal opportunities. In that

sense, this strategy aims to incorporate gender into MOSAs core activities and programs. Gender

mainstreaming is a strategy for achieving equality. It implies applying a gender equality perspective

throughout the operation, wherever decisions are made and wherever activities are undertaken. Gender

equality and female empowerment are core development objectives, fundamental for the realization of

human rights and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes. No society can develop

successfully without providing equitable opportunities, resources, and life prospects for males and females

so that they can shape their own lives and contribute to their families and communities6. The aim is

therefore to ensure that the services provided to the general public are equally and of the same benefit to

citizens, whether women or men. Empowerment is very much aligned with gender mainstreaming.

Therefore, this strategy draws on the notion of empowerment and adopts gender mainstreaming as a crucial

approach to achieve MOSAs vision and stated commitment, laying out a focused plan to help MOSA carry

out its mandate and commitment to meet the demands and aspirations of the Lebanese citizens.

Goal of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy

This five-year strategy aims to strengthen gender equality both in the programs and services that MOSA is

mandated to deliver and to be institutionalized at MOSA itself (i.e. at the institutional level

The strategy addresses MOSA staff members first and foremost. It is up to MOSA to put the strategy into

practice. It falls on MOSA to take it further and to strive to create a working environment that not only

respects gender equality internally but also generates and develops engendered programming externally.

Beyond this, this strategy also serves as a basic source of reference and guidance for MOSA partners. This

6USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy March 2012

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GMS lays out a focused plan to help MOSA in carrying out its mandate and commitment to meet the

demands and aspirations of the Lebanese citizens.

Outline of the GMS

Findings of the Gender Audit7

The CRTD-A Gender Audit exercise resulted in a number of key findings which have been clustered thematically as follows8: On MOSAs organizational commitment to gender equality:

Gender equality as an objective is mentioned briefly in recent documents but not in the fundamental organizational documents.

There is no explicit mention of mechanisms of implementation or lines of responsibility and accountability for mainstreaming gender.

There is no explicit mention of what MOSAs mandate is in relation to realizing gender equality and how this mandate relates to fundamental texts such as CEDAW.

On staff commitment and understanding of gender equality:

CRTD-As assessment received a surprisingly high response rate (90%) amongst informants who were asked to complete a rather long self-assessment questionnaire.

Staff demonstrated an overall an uneven knowledge of gender equality and an uneven understanding of the organizations role and commitment to gender equality.

Female staff showed better familiarity with and knowledge of key gender concepts and were more eager to know more

Women scored better when responding to questions about specific areas of knowledge and were more conversant about the priorities, needs, situation and position of women in the community.

On vision regarding organizational mandate: Overall, respondents believe that women will automatically benefit from MOSAs programs. Responses indicated a lack of consensus regarding MOSAs mandate to realize gender equality. Respondents showed an uneven knowledge of and value given to guiding instruments such as

CEDAW. Field staff demonstrated a more hands-on understanding of key gender issues.

The process that followed the gender audit exercise was extremely interesting in view of its consultative and

participatory nature. As a first step, the results and findings were shared and validated with a sample of

respondents involved in the gender audit. The latter were asked to validate the findings and contribute to

drafting recommendations. MOSA then endorsed the gender audit in a public event and announced that as a

result, it would proceed with a capacity building program targeting its staff, as well as draft its first ever

gender strategy.

In light of the above findings of the Gender Audit report, the outline of the strategy is developed

encompassing its scope of work along with main areas for strategic direction.

7Source: http://www.blog.learningpartnership.org/2013/05/lebanon-gender-audit-ministry-social-affairs/

8 The findings of the Gender Audit are attached in the Annex part so that the reader relate to the rationale behind the strategy and

its background.

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Scope for the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy

The scope of the Gender Mainstreaming (GM) strategy highlights areas that require strategic directions for

MOSA to adopt. Three areas/dimensions are considered for institutional adaption and/or change.

The three key levels of emphasis include:

Organizational Level: Addressing MOSAs gender infrastructure requires putting in place gender

policies and establishing a gender balance in the leadership hierarchy. This involves not only

increasing resources for womens programs but also implies that staff are well equipped technically

and have the right knowledge on gender concepts including gender equality and gender justice. This

level encompasses setting out policies, measures, ministerial decrees and enactment of certain

measures aiming at gender equality at the organizational level.

Operational/Development Program Level: Integrating gender at the programmatic level and in

service delivery ensures that services and programs are gender responsive. This entails tailoring

capacity building programs on gender for the MOSA staff, managers and officers. Capacity building

will take the shape of training workshops and discussion seminars to address gender roles and the

dynamics of power relations. Considering social norms, beliefs, attitudes and values will be an area

of concern and a challenge to be integrated in the capacity building program.

Cultural and Social Level: In order to better show impact on development on the ground, it is

important to address the rigid cultural social gender norms and imbalance of power dynamics. This

entails working on two levels;

o First level is to work on developing the learning capacity of women and men at the

community level on gender and social/cultural norms

o Second level is to hone the skills and knowledge of MOSA service providers and staff on

gender and development issues and scholarships

Outcomes

In order to achieve this goal, this strategy is aiming at five overarching outcomes. The shaded box shows the

outcomes with the GE (Gender Equality) results:

Institute a gender mainstreaming committee at the policy level within MOSA

Reduce the gender-gap in perceptions of concepts related to gender roles and gender based division

of labour among MOSA employees

Socially and economically empower women and girls and influence decision-making in households,

communities, and societies.

Develop gender responsive/specific processes in all MOSA services and projects targeting all

citizens.

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Strengthen and consolidate partnerships with other government departments, academia, research

and study centers at universities, with civil society and external agencies

Strategic Framework

Engendering MOSAs structure, system and programs that serves people, is the crux of the gender

mainstreaming. This is not a mission impossible; however, it does require time, commitment and will; along

with resources, investment, and leadership. In order to mainstream gender in the above mentioned levels

(institutional, operational and cultural) the following five complementary strategic areas must be developed:

Figure 4: Strategic Areas for Gender Mainstreaming Strategic Area Meaning

Political Will and

Accountability

This reflects the commitment and the deep belief of the leadership to mainstream gender in the structure and system of MOSA. A continuous support for the gender equality and a follow up on its implementation are needed.

Organizational Culture This reflects how policies and systems are set to promote gender equality, which

is ultimately reflected in patterns of behaviors, attitudes and codes of conduct to

create a gender friendly organizational culture. Gender equality starts at the

institutional level in that sense leadership and top management must set an

example and live the values as this will be an important factor in the

implementation of new policies on gender equality.

Gender Equality within

MOSA

This reflects equal opportunity policies and ensures gender balance across all of

MOSAs hierarchical levels and field of responsibilities. Equal opportunities are an

integral aspect for gender equality. The ultimate aim is to ensure that

opportunities and capabilities are met with no discrimination based on sex,

religion, ethnicity, sect, etc. This entails designing and adjusting measures and

procedures to enable women and men alike to find balance between work and

family life.

Gender Competencies This refers to gender knowledge. How well MOSA staff, including directors,

managers, and officers, are aware of the gender term and its implications as well.

Gender competency goes beyond the knowing what gender means to a deeper

A gender Committee acting as a gender expert is institutionalized. Such an organizational body would reflect the stated commitment of the ministry to gender equality.

Institute a gender mainstreaming committee at the policy level within MOSA

MOSA staff are fully aware of gender concepts and are capable to address GE in their daily work and conferences/workshops . . . etc

Reduce the gender-gap in perceptions of concepts related to gender roles and gender based division of

labor among MOSA staff

Increase in the capability of women and girls to realize their rights, determine, their life outcomes, and influence decision-making in household, communities, and societies.

Increase in the availability of sex disaggregated data

Socially and economically empower women and girls and influence decision-making in households,

communities, and societies

MOSA officials are well aware of the importance of gender equality in their own fields/projects/directorates/ Develop gender-responsive/specific processes in all

MOSA services and projects targeting all citizens

GE and women empowerment intiatives are coordinated with civil society and womens advocacy organizations.

MOSA success stories and good practices are shared and disseminated through civil society and womens advocacy groups . . . etc.

Strengthen and consolidate partnerships with other government departments, with civil society,

academia, and external agencies

15 | P a g e

understanding of knowing why power dynamics and relations between men and

women exist. Competency in gender is not satisfied with gender-sensitive staff

and leadership but it aims at training gender-responsive and transformative staff9

to be able to influence change.

Process Adjustment This entails rethinking and revisiting all processes to ensure that all existing

processes and instruments are gender-sensitive. This might require mere

adjustment, total transformative processes and/or designing new tools and

instruments. This would also include process adopted in services and projects of

MOSA so that services are more gender responsive i.e. all services should meet

needs and interests of women and men.

Empowerment Framework

The Gender Audit reveals that in terms of empowerment, the general sentiment was that there is still room

for women in Lebanon to be empowered, though many participants also raised the idea that Lebanese

society as a whole, including both men and women, needed empowerment. The most popular suggestion for

empowering women was to educate and raise awareness of both women and men about gender issues. It

was also suggested that women would be able to attain financial empowerment through the provision of

more jobs.

Departing from this vantage, this GMS adopts the empowerment framework as the overarching component

encompassing the institutional capacity building alongside with empowering communities. The

empowerment framework is focused on empowering the relationship between institutions, actors in order

to improve development outcomes, particularly to serve citizens. Institutional and State reform that

supports investments in people, men and women alike, and their organizations leads to improved

development outcomes, including improved governance, better-functioning and more inclusive services,

more equitable access to markets, strengthened civil society. Institutional reform to support the

empowerment of people means changing the relationship between the state and people and their

organizations. It focuses on investing in peoples assets and capabilities, both individual capabilities and the

collective capacity to organize, to enable them to participate effectively in society and to interact with their

government.

Approach

Gender mainstreaming is a complex process of learning as it requires a transformation of both programming

and organizational practice. Gender mainstreaming is the strategy while gender equality is the goal and the

result. This strategys approach for MOSA recommends focusing on three inter-related strategies:

Technical Capacity Development

Organizational Shift/Change

Forging partnerships with Civil Societies, and External Agencies

9Concepts of gender-sensitive and gender-transformative are mentioned in details in the annex to provide the exact definitions.

16 | P a g e

Technical Capacity Development

A capacity building component on gender concepts and other related womens rights issues is essential.

Basically this starts by conducting a gender audit to assess the current level of gender awareness and

based on that work, the capacity building component is designed to best suit the target group. Primarily,

the training component needs to focus on technical workshops on gender concepts and gender equality

that should focus more on knowing why rather than knowing what. In that sense the training goes

beyond the meaning of gender. Thus, it helps to develop the analytical and critical thinking necessary to

create a cadre capable of understanding and analyzing the underlying power structure that permeates

gender inequality and advocating for social change and gender justice. The capacity development program

may take many shapes including workshops, seminars, discussion round tables, field visits, etc.

Basic Gender Awareness: In order to mainstream gender within MOSA, all staff must acquire an

understanding of gender concepts and adopt the gender mainstreaming strategy.

Its worth-noting that in light of the recommendations of the gender audit, and within the context of

Promoting Womens Participation in Local Governance and Development project, a capacity building

program for MOSA staff was implemented on gender mainstreaming. Furthermore, a Training of Trainers

program was implemented for selected MOSA staff to foster their expertise and enable them to replicate

gender sensitization trainings in the future.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Capacity building is needed to enable qualified and relevant personnel to

mentor and monitor the process of gender mainstreaming. Additionally, accountability measures should be

put in place. They should include requiring gender indicators for monitoring and evaluating project

processes and outcomes, ensuring that gender is integrated throughout annual plans and reports, and

requiring that all field requests for funding demonstrate gender integration.

Organizational Shift/Change

It is important to influence and change the current values and views on gender that prevail within MOSA.

These changes can be realized through approaches such as ensuring gender balance on technical and

administrative teams. In another facet, it is essential to involve men as partners not as a cumbersome

participants and obstacles in the process of gender mainstreaming. Changes may take the form of altering

MOSAs structure and personnel policies to create an enabling environment for an egalitarian work place

and culture. These steps should include but not be limited to the development and implementation of

gender policies, planning frameworks and developing technical resources as tools and guidelines.

Forging Partnership

Establish and strengthen partnerships that effectively support the development and implementation of

programs that address gender inequalities and reduce womens and girls vulnerabilities, provide

quality technical assistance, and build capacity of groups

Partnership with civil society is another way to enhance gender mainstreaming. In many instances, civil

society groups are well positioned to understand the critical gender issues in Lebanon and to work

effectively with the government to influence the political agenda and identify gender-responsive

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actions that are culturally appropriate

Partnership with active womens advocacy groups or womens and gender studies units in research,

will help in developing necessary researches and issuing policy briefs when appropriate.

Way Forward

This section translates the above GMS into an action plan with a coherent monitoring plan. Good models and

best practices show that systematic change work is essential when an organization seeks to build up long-

term gender mainstreaming in its core activities, system and operation. Most importantly, a budget should

be allocated to carry out the plan of action. The objective of gender mainstreaming work is to make

operations gender-equal, i.e. to provide services that are equally accessible, of equally high quality and

equally well adapted to all citizens, irrespective of sex. To achieve this, we draw up a plan for how to

improve gender equality. Therefore, this section is divided into three parts:

First part: walks you through the main implementation steps of GMS. It offers a step-by-step guide on the

essential steps on GM. It also provides some checklists to serve as a tracking model.

Second part: presents the plan of action outlining the main goal, main outcomes/objectives, activities and GE

(Gender Equality) results

Third Part: outlines the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the GMS. The monitoring plan is defined for

implementation

Main steps

Step One:

Plan and Organize

Management takes the responsibility for planning and setting targets for gender mainstreaming. The Gender

committee will have to play a vital role in this step too. Directives are to be developed and provided from

the top on how the work is to be organized. This step translates the political will into concrete action and

benchmarks.

A list of guiding questions is developed with a special focus on how the organization can ensure that

development work is improved and has a lasting impact. Also it helps to achieve the National ten- year

strategy endorsed twelve strategic objectives as mentioned in page 5. This guiding checklist also can be used

in a gender equality audit. The questions also provide guidance and inspiration in the initial phase of the GM

work.

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Aspect of analysis

1 In what way does the management make clear its commitment to developing and introducing gender

mainstreaming?

2 What are the explicit actions do senior staff take to communicate the work of gender mainstreaming

and ensure that it is understood by MOSA staff?

3 Identify who is the senior staff responsible for following up and developing the work?

4 What are the necessary financial conditions for gender mainstreaming? Is there a budget allocation?

Is there a time allocated for this?

5 What is the current level of competence and gender knowledge of the staff? Does this need to be

improved?

6 Is there a plan for what skills and knowledge staff need to carry out their assignment/work?

7 How will the staff be guided and mentored to apply their acquired knowledge and skills?

8 Is there a long-term plan for how the organization can supply the knowledge and skills needed for further development?

9 Is there a scope of work/TOR (Terms of Reference) for the gender focal points?

10 Is the work of the gender committee defined and visible to all staff?

11 What are the methods and other procedures that MOSA adopt to achieve the expected goals and

results?

12 In what way are the sex-disaggregated data and statistics used in the operational work of the GM

work?

13 How is the gender mainstreaming work coordinated within MOSA?

Step Two:

Building knowledge - Basic Awareness

Before gender mainstreaming work begins, all MOSA staff must acquire a basic understanding of the

National Strategy of Social Development of 2011 and the gender mainstreaming strategy. This form of

capacity building should encompass concepts of gender equality and gender theory. They will then know

more on how to link gender equality into their existing work, tasks and activities. This will lead a heightened

awareness of gender issues and to greater interest in them. Senior management, too, need to be included in

this form of capacity building in order to reach decisions to move the GM work forward.

Training is fundamental to success of the GM work. Both management and staff must be aware of the power

relations and gender concepts. This will motivate MOSA staff to realize the importance of the gender

mainstreaming to ensure equitable access to services and benefits i.e. to provide services that are equally

accessible, of equally high quality and equally well adapted to all citizens, irrespective of gender. Building

peoples knowledge is the bedrock of the success of gender equality in order to understand and use

information and analyses effectively.

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As such, MOSA has started a training program on gender concepts and gender mainstreaming for its staff

since 2013, around 011 employees have already trained.

Example of questions to be included in such trainings :

What needs to change in your work ( in the Ministry) and operation to make it more

gender equal?

How must I change my own behavior and thinking in order to be part of this process?

New step plan how you will move on. . .

Step Three:

Implementation Phase

MOSA implements activities and undertake certain measures to achieve gender equality. Here are some

guiding questions to walk through the implementation process:

Does the activity affect women and men by its actions?

Are services provided to both women and men equally?

Whose needs and interests are in focus?

What financial conditions are necessary for gender mainstreaming? How much time is needed?

What is the current level of competence for MOSA staff ? Does this need to be improved? What is

the plan for staff performance development?

What are the proposed measures to ensure implementation of the work plan of the GM? Here is a

suggested table to track changes

For example one concrete measure is the development of the Gender committee. Such an organizational

body would reflect the stated commitment of the ministry to gender equality. MOSA should set up a

Gender committee to plan and support the Gender Mainstreaming strategy. It acts as a consultative

body that can make recommendations and proposals to the Leadership body of the Ministry. The

Gender committee also monitors the implementation of the agreed upon work plan. Additionally the

Gender committee coordinates all relevant gender work and activities with other partners including

academia, civil society, and womens organizations, among others. A detailed proposed SOW of the

gender committee is included in attachment two.

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Proposed measures

Starting Point Measures for achieving the GM

policy/operational objectives

Who is

Responsible?

Completed

Step Four:

Evaluate the outcome

This step enables management to evaluate progress from a gender equality point of view. Senior staff makes

sure that the results are followed up, and evaluate the outcome by answering questions such as the

following:

Monitoring and follow-up: What are the results/outcomes? What are the main adopted processes? How far

were these processes successful? How do we assess the quality of the implementation plan?

Evaluation: Have we achieved our main goals/objectives? What are the lessons learned? How do we make

positive change last? What are the next steps?

Disseminate results: how do MOSA disseminate the outcome and the lessons learned throughout the course

of the action plan? How does MOSA make the outcome sustainable? How does MOSA celebrate the success?

An Action Plan

The plan of action: This plan and its implementation strategy are premised on the political will and

commitment of MOSA to take the efforts forward to achieve its ultimate result of the gender equality.

Additionally, its underlying assumption is that a process of change and improvement should happen by

adopting several actions. To be effective, such a process of the gender mainstreaming should be organized

along the lines of widely accepted stages. Realistic goals, objectives and means for implementation and

action need to be established and coordinated in accordance with a countrys context, priorities and capacity

and based on efforts and willingness of the staff of MOSA as well as the policy makers.

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The Action Plan for the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy

GOAL: Strengthen gender equality both in the programs and services that MOSA is mandated to deliver

and within MOSA itself

Outcome Strategic

Direction

Activities GE (Gender Equality)

Results

Outcome One: Institute a gender mainstreaming advisory unit at the policy level within MOSA

Political will and accountability

Organizational culture shift/change Process Adjustment

Establish a gender committee to

act a consultative body on

gender equality in MOSA and to

support for the development of

gender-sensitive policies and

program strategies. This

committee is to be linked to the

office of the Minister or the

Director General, the mandate of

this committee is to generate

interdepartmental policies and

procedures that pertain to

gender mainstreaming.

Assign a gender focal point post/

task in each of the regional units

and programs in the Ministry.

Integrate capacity building

component on gender issues

within the training unit which is

part of the Department of

Planning and Research

Report on gender equality

activities periodically

A gender committee acting as a gender consultant is institutionalized. Such an organizational body would reflect the stated commitment of the ministry to gender equality.

Outcome Two: Reduce the gender-gap in perceptions of concepts related to gender roles and gender based division of labour among employees

Gender

Competencies Develop a capacity building

program/strategy for MOSA on gender mainstreaming and how to effectively and efficiently operationalize it.

Conduct training throughout

MOSA and its associated

programs and organizations on

gender concepts, and gender

equity; and womens invisible

work

Conduct training targeting

employees and stakeholders on

MOSA staff are fully aware of gender concepts and are capable to address gender equality and gender mainstreaming in their daily work and conferences/workshops . . . etc

22 | P a g e

mechanisms of implementing

gender mainstreaming in

programs within the Ministry.

Outcome Three: Socially and economically empower women and girls and influence decision-making in households, communities, and societies.

Women

Empowerment

Hold more awareness-raising and training sessions including sessions that specifically target men.

Provide financial grants to women wanting to start their own businesses.

Train MoSA partners and help them develop gender sensitive norms and procedures

Coordinate with media institutions to highlight gender mainstreaming work and activities done and use more gender sensitive language and material.

Develop an action plan to ensure gender is taken into consideration on every project.

Increase in the capability of women and girls to realize their rights, determine, their life outcomes, and influence decision-making in household, communities, and societies.

Outcome Four

Develop gender

responsive/specific

processes in all MOSA

services and projects

targeting all citizens.

Advocacy and Policy Change

Ensure that all MOSA services served men and women equally with no discrimination.

Ensure that all measures and procedures are gender sensitive e.g. human resources, management plans . . . etc

Ensure that all publications and distributed material are gender sensitive e.g. brochures, training manuals, videos, etc..

Train managers, service providers on gender, social and economic rights to get familiar with the women/human rights framework

MOSA officials are well aware of the importance of gender equality in their own fields/projects/directorates

Outcome Five: Strengthen and consolidate partnerships with other government departments, research and study centers at universities, with civil society and external agencies

Forging

Partnership

Work closely with National

Commission for Lebanese Women on

GE results and outcomes

Partnership with civil society since

they are well positioned to

understand the critical gender issues

in Lebanon to work effectively with

the government to influence the

political agenda and identify gender-

responsive actions

Partnership with active womens

advocacy groups or womens and

gender studies units in research, will

Consultations on GE and women empowerment are coordinated with civil society and womens advocacy organizations. MOSA success stories and good practices are shared and disseminated through civil society and womens

advocacy groups . . . etc.

23 | P a g e

help in developing necessary

researches and issuing policy briefs

when appropriate. Also, this includes

developing sex-disaggregated data in

different areas. This gives

information for decision-makers on

the scope of the situation of women

and men, female and male needs and

interests.

Building partnerships with academia

and gender research studies in the

Universities in order to provide latest

scholar researches, gender studies

and statistics/data on recent women

issues.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Monitoring and Evaluation:

Although they are usually placed in one section but they are in fact two separate activities. The following

section presents the monitoring plan for the action plan. In the monitoring plan, it is most likely that

indicators are process indicators and output indicators. Usually process indicators measure the

implementation of the activities according to the set action plan. These indicators are mostly quantitative.

As for the evaluations: it will address the main question: Did we get there and with and what success?

Evaluation is a method of accountability and a means to learn and to improve a possible next phase of

activities.

Figure :

Key Definition: Monitoring: is an ongoing function that involves data collection and analysis throughout the life of a project or a plan. Information and learning gleaned from monitoring activities are used to make adjustments during the life cycle of a project or a plan. Evaluation: is a one-time (as opposed to ongoing) function that reports on progress of actual versus expected results. Information and learning from evaluation are used to inform future projects and organizational learning. . Source: IRCs Guide to Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, November 2005. IRC (International Rescue Committee).

24 | P a g e

Gender Mainstreaming Strategy - Monitoring Plan

Outcomes Major Planned Activities Illustrative

Indicators

Means of

Verification

Frequency and schedule of data collection

Strengthen gender equality both in the programs and services that MOSA is mandated to deliver and

within MOSA itself

Outcome One: Institute a gender mainstreaming advisory unit at the policy level within MOSA

Establish a gender committee

to act a consultative body on

gender equality in MOSA and

to support for the

development of gender-

sensitive policies and

programme strategies. This

committee is to be linked to

the office of the Minister or

the Director General, the

mandate of this unit is to

generate interdepartmental

policies and procedures that

pertain to gender

mainstreaming.

Assign a gender focal point

post/ task in each of the

regional units and programs in

the ministry.

Integrating capacity building

component on gender issues

within the training unit which

is part of the Department of

Planning and Research

Report on gender equality

activities periodically

A Ministerial decree is issued and approved indicating the establishment of the Gender committee A clear Scope of Work is developed for the Gender committee A budget line is developed for the gender committee to ensure that all its expenses are covered. Number of gender specialists employed in the gender committee.

A periodic report reflecting the technical activities of the ministerial decree is issued and approved

Outcome Two: Reduce the gender-gap in perceptions of concepts related to gender roles and gender based division of labour among employees

Develop a capacity building program/strategy for MOSA on gender mainstreaming and how to effectively and efficiently operationalize it.

Conduct training throughout

MOSA and its associated

programs and organizations

on gender concepts, and

gender equity; and womens

invisible work

Conduct training targeting

employees and stakeholders

on mechanisms of

implementing gender

Number of MOSA staff

who participated

effectively in Gender

trainings

Number of

workshops/meetings

with MOSA staff to

introduce GMS

Workshops

reports

Pre and post tests to measure the level of comprehension of MOSA staff on gender concepts and GMS

25 | P a g e

Outcomes Major Planned Activities Illustrative

Indicators

Means of

Verification

Frequency and schedule of data collection

mainstreaming in programs

within the Ministry.

Outcome Three: Socially and economically empower women and girls and influence decision-making in households, communities, and societies.

Hold more awareness-raising and training sessions including sessions that specifically target men.

Provide financial grants to women wanting to start their own businesses.

Train MoSA partners and help them develop gender sensitive norms and procedures

Coordinate with media institutions to highlight gender mainstreaming work and activities done and use more gender sensitive language and material.

Develop an action plan to ensure gender is taken into consideration on every project.

Number of financial grants provided to women to start new business. Number of sessions on gender concepts targeting men Documentation of number of success stories (anecdotes) on women entrepreneurs who managed to establish their own business and demonstrating their successful path of managing the financial grants. Number of partners trained Number of media articles discussing gender

MOSA reports Training reports Pre and post tests measuring the level of comprehension of content

Outcome Four

Develop gender

responsive/specific

processes in all

MOSA services and

projects targeting all

citizens.

Ensure that all MOSA services served men and women equally with no discrimination.

Ensure that all measures and procedures are gender sensitive e.g. human resources, management plans . . . etc

Ensure that all publications and distributed material are gender sensitive e.g. brochures, training manuals, videos, etc..

Train managers, civil servants,

service providers on gender,

social and economic rights to

get familiar with the

women/human rights

framework

Number of benefits and services accessed to women and men Number of staff participated in the tailored capacity building workshops Number of gender sensitive material produced

MOSA reports Training reports

Pre and post test measuring the change in comprehension

Outcome Five: Strengthen and consolidate partnerships with

Work closely with National

Commission for Lebanese

Women on GE results and

outcomes

Number of joint reports and documents produced by MOSA and other partners

Documentation of reports and events

Number of experts consulted

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Outcomes Major Planned Activities Illustrative

Indicators

Means of

Verification

Frequency and schedule of data collection

other government departments, research and study centers at universities, with civil society and external agencies

Partnership with civil society

since they are well positioned

to understand the critical

gender issues in Lebanon to

work effectively with the

government to influence the

political agenda and identify

gender-responsive actions

Partnership with active womens

advocacy groups or womens and

gender studies units in research,

will help in developing necessary

researches and issuing policy briefs

when appropriate. Also, this

includes developing sex-

disaggregated data in different

areas.

Building partnerships with academia and gender research studies in the Universities in order to provide latest scholar researches, gender studies and statistics/data on recent women issues.

Number of NGOs

supporting MOSA in

realizing its GMS

Number of conferences and seminars developed by civil societies and womens organizations sponsored by MOSA

ANNEXES

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Attachment One: Proposed Scope of Work for the Gender committee

MOSA should set up a Gender committee to plan and support the Gender Mainstreaming strategy. It acts as a

consultative body that can make recommendations and proposals to the Leadership body of the Ministry. The

Gender committee also monitors the implementation of the agreed work plan. Additionally the Gender

committee coordinates all relevant gender work and activities with other partners including academia, civil

society, and womens organizations, among others. Main tasks can be summarized as follows:

Acts as a consultative body on gender equality in MOSA

Support for the development of gender-sensitive policies and porgramme strategies

Advice and support of staff in applying gender-sensitive activities, services, programmes, including follow

up to MOSA conferences or workshops

Plans and monitors gender mainstreaming in key areas of MOSA e.g. budgets, performance management,

projects, strategies, etc)

Responsible of development of tools and methodologies for gender mainstreaming

Reports and makes recommendations to the leadership and management body of MOSA

Collects and dissemination of information on gender issues and on best practices.

Participate in Coordinating and liaising all related gender work and activities with other stakeholders and

partners

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Attachment Two:

The following section suggests recommendations at two levels, at the level of Project and at the level of

Effectiveness of the Gender Committee.

Level of Management:

Based on the above findings, this section suggests

recommendations for the Gender Committee to mainstream gender across the management cycle:

Planning Review existing projects plans and activities and

mainstream gender across results, outcomes,

outputs and activities.

Review all learning material developed by the

different projects and include gender

components in all of them adapted to the

different target beneficiaries

Evaluation

Planning

Implementation

Management

Produce a set of creative tools and modules that are flexible to be included in different activities

and shared by the different projects to their targeted beneficiaries and stakeholders (the game

produced by ABAAD promoting gender equity with kids can be a good example for such

products)

Organize planning retreats per project to plan for next year inviting to it staff members from

projects and SDCs, allowing them to voice their concerns, ideas and suggestions to mainstream

gender.

Management Develop, in a participatory process, an internal gender policy to be adopted by the staff that can

eventually create a gender sensitive management.

Revisit the practice of recruiting contractual employees who do not have enough benefits to

become equally attractive irrespective of gender in areas such as: working hours, career

advancement options, benefits, etc

Design, develop and conduct a capacity building program targeting all staff levels, senior, junior

and field staff, including a coaching and follow up mechanism to ensure that they have the tools

to mainstream gender in their work. Different training modules should target people with

different responsibilities:

a. A gender sensitization project to target all project staff b. A more advanced training on how to integrate gender sensitivity into the everyday

work of each staff member for selected staff members c. An executive training for program managers and heads of SDCs and heads of units and

divisions at MOSA to help integrate gender into policy making. Staff capacity building component and budget needs to be added; this allows integrating a

gender component in all programs.

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Design a tool to measure gender awareness of potential recruits and develop an orientation

program for new ones that allows them to better grasp the project they are working on and

adopt a gender sensitive attitude.

Design and develop easy to use gender related training modules, and train selected staff to train

on them targeting their beneficiaries and stakeholders.

Implementation

Develop a follow up mechanism to regularly monitor gender indicators and suggest to the staff

corrective measures.

Organize awareness sessions for stakeholders interacting with various projects to raise their

gender sensitivities irrespective of the projects objectives.

Based on the main criteria adopted for the assessment framework and the expected role and

set of functions suggested for the gender committee, the following generic Monitoring and

Evaluation framework is suggested:

The indicators can be divided into process indicators which can be used to plan, measure and assess

the work of the committee (number of tools produced, policies revisited, etc) and output indicators

which can be used to assess the outputs achieved from the committee work and set plans and

objectives (% of gender sensitive services, number of reports including gender specific data, etc)

Indicators on Gender Perception

Number of awareness sessions conducted to introduce the concept of gender sensitivity % of staff participating in gender mainstreaming trainings Number of awareness material produced and communicated about the issue of gender sensitivity Number of program managers knowledgeable about gender sensitivity and how to implement it

within their programs % of staff knowledgeable about gender sensitivity and its importance in MoSA type of work % of staff who support having a special focus on gender sensitivity within MOSA (and within each

program for programmatic level) % of staff knowledgeable about the measures they need to take in their own work to respect

gender sensitivity

Indicators on Gender Sensitive Design:

Number of planning retreats conducted to discuss gender mainstreaming within projects Number of tools and modules created to help program managers introduce gender into their

activities Number of revised action plans to include a gender sensitivity component % of new programs that include a gender equity goal within their design Number of gender sensitive services within programs emanating from MoSA

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Indicators on Gender Sensitive Staffing: Number of recruitment policies developed that include a referral to gender sensitivity % of vacancy notices that refer to gender competencies Ration of women to men within program staff

Indicators on Gender Sensitive Management:

Number of management procedures and policies revisited to include a gender sensitivity

component % of women in key management positions within MoSA (heads of units, departments and

programs)

Indicators on Gender Sensitive choice of Beneficiaries: Number of beneficiary recruitment policies which mention gender equity as a criteria for selection % of programs which purposefully include men and women as a target % of male versus female beneficiaries among MoSA programs

Indicators on Gender consecrations in Information and data management

% of programs capable of producing gender segregated reports % of programs including gender specific qualitative and quantitative indicators in their evaluation

plans Number of program reports inducing gender specific analysis

Indicators related to Work Environment

Number of measures taken to cater for gender specific needs at work environment Number of family friendly measures incorporated within programs % of program managers perceived by staff as creating a gender sensitive environment

Other indicators related to gender sensitive programming (Impact, budget, opportunities, trainings, publications, etc..)

% of projects having budget allocations for gender mainstreaming activities % of female consultants requested as short term experts by programs % of sections within training manuals with gender sensitive material Number of training sessions with gender sensitive component Number of training sessions entirely focused on gender sensitivity Number of MoSA partners trained on gender awareness % of suppliers (private sector) chosen who have commitment to gender equity within their values

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Attachment Three: Findings of the Gender Audit

Social Context Perceptions of Gender inequality in Lebanon

In general most respondents among MoSAs employees conceded that there is no justice and equality among men and women in Lebanon. A higher proportion of women compared to men indicated that there is no justice or equality among women and men in Lebanon (86.4 percent and 63.6 percent respectively). (See Table 1)

Table 1 Distribution of survey participants among MOSA employees by their attitude towards gender equality and justice by gender

Q16 - In your opinion, is there justice and equality between men and women in Lebanon?

Men Women Total

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Yes 26 18.6

67 11.7

93 13.1

No 89 63.6

494 86.4

583 81.9

No Answer 25 17.9

11 1.9 36 5.1

Total 140 100.0

572 100.0

712 100.0

A higher proportion of women than men answered yes to the questions on norms affecting gender

equality. The difference between women and men narrowed for the question on the influence of the system of division of labor on controlling women and limiting their freedom. The latter indicates a lack of awareness among women on the gender perspective as it relates to the division of labor among women and men in the public and private spheres on the lives of women controlling them and limiting their freedom. (See table 2)

Table 2 Distribution of survey participants among MOSA employees according to gender perceptions/ attitudes by gender

Number and Percent responding with

Yes

What is your opinion regarding the

following statements?

Men Women Total

# % # % # %

Q

20

Does the traditional social system play

a role in causing defects in equality

between men and women in Lebanon?

9

4

67.1

5

15

90.0

6

09

85.5

Q

21

Does the mechanism of division of

labor in the public and the private spheres

in Lebanon control women and limit their

freedom?

6

7

47.9

3

86

67.5

4

53

63.6

Q

23

Is there an unequal distribution of

power between men and women in

Lebanon?

9

7

69.3

4

90

85.7

5

87

82.4

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Social norms disempowering women There was a consensus among various researches of the disempowering role of current social

norms. Such norms include prioritizing the private sphere as the main role of women, are regarded as impediments to womens empowerment, pose a threat to effective implementation of future interventions.

A consensus in focus groups was on the existence of gender inequality in Lebanon primarily related to social traditions. One respondent summarized the situation as follows Women are prisoners of our traditions and our customs; the services dedicated to women have changed but the mindsets have not.10 Women have progressed but there are still preconceived ideas regarding womens roles and characteristics.11 One interviewee indicated that women are prisoners of our traditions and our customs; the services dedicated to women have changed but the mindsets have not.12

An overwhelmingly larger proportion of women study participants (93 percent) agreed that women

need empowerment in contrast to 63.6 percent of men respondents; also 17.1 percent of men respondents did not give an answer in contrast to only 1.9 percent among women respondents. (See table 3)

Table 3 Distribution of survey participants among MOSA employees by their attitude towards the need for women to be empowered in Lebanon by gender

Q15 - In your opinion, do women in Lebanon need empowerment?

Men Women Total

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Yes 89 63.6

532 93.0

621 87.2

No 27 19.3

29 5.1 56 7.9

No Answer 24 17.1

11 1.9 35 4.9

Total 140 100.0

572 100.0

712 100.0

The vast majority of women (83 percent) indicated that womens empowerment is considered a

development priority in Lebanon in contrast with 50 percent among men. In addition almost a quarter of all men (21.4 percent) did not give an answer to that question. (Refer to table 4).

10

Interview with associations, 28 October 2011 11

Interview with social welfare institutions, 26 October, 2011. 12

Interview with associations, 28 October 2011

34 | P a g e

Table 4 Distribution of survey participants among MOSA employees by their attitude towards the statement womens empowerment as a development priority in Lebanon by gender

Q18 - In your opinion, is womens empowerment considered a development priority in Lebanon?

Men Women Total

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Yes 70 50.0

475 83.0

545 76.5

No 40 28.6

81 14.2

121 17.0

No Answer 30 21.4

16 2.8 46 6.5

Total 140 100.0

572 100.0

712 100.0

The discussion on gender equality in Lebanon sparked lively debates in the focus groups. Although several participants asserted that there is equality between men and women in Lebanon, many felt some jobs were more suitable for men and others for women due to biology and physical anatomy. Participants who perceived an inequality between men and women felt it existed on many levels due to the influence of education, religion, social customs, finances and cultural traditions. One person stated that, Women are prisoners of our traditions and our customs; the services dedicated to women have changed but the mindsets have not.13 Another common theme participants brought up was the responsibility a woman has towards her family, though people sensed that this was changing. As one participant explained, Women have progressed but there are still preconceived ideas regarding womens roles and characteristics.14

Respondents in focus groups indicated that social attitudes remain an obstacle to womens economic empowerment as well. Some cited instances of husbands who did not want their wives to work.

The belief that women were not able to carry out certain types of jobs for physical and mental

reasons was also prevalent among respondents. For example, a participant from the Department of Equipping and Workers Affairs said, Some posts do not fit women because they are emotional, like judges. It is true that women are strong but they are also too emotional and subjective.15

Social attitudes such as these form a major obstacle to further economic empowerment. A lack of

political resolve to tackle the problem was also cited as a barrier to change, as were laws that continue to restrict women. Many