Implementing the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap)

Project Context

It is a well-established fact that gender issues matter greatly in humanitarian situations. Yet, the different needs and capabilities of women, girls, boys, and men in situations of crisis are more often than not overlooked in the rush of emergency responses. The evident lack of systematic gender perspectives in humanitarian assistance has evoked a sustained effort by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee's (IASC) Sub-Working Group on Gender in Humanitarian Action to improve gender equality programming into humanitarian situations through the Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap).

GenCap is a pool of highly-qualified senior gender advisers to be deployed on short notice to support the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator/Resident Coordinator (HC/RC), the humanitarian country teams (HCT) and gender networks in the initial stages of humanitarian emergencies. On behalf of the IASC, the Norwegian Refugee Council is responsible to establish and maintain this pool of advisers.

Project Objectives and Outputs

To ensure a positive impact of the GenCap Project on humanitarian action, the IASC has planned for a Monitoring and Evaluation project since the GenCap’s inception. GPPi has been selected in early 2007 to set up and pilot a comprehensive Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) framework and to conduct a review of the management and use of the GenCap roster. The framework has been established in an inclusive process capitalizing on the experience of the GenCap Secretariat, the GenCap Steering Committee, and all gender advisers.
The framework consists of a basic information questionnaire assessing the status quo of gender equality programming in Humanitarian Country Teams and a Scorecard measuring GenCap’s progress in increasing gender mainstreaming into humanitarian assistance. The M&E framework is complemented by a template to gather good and poor practices.

GPPi has been assigned to extend its M&E activities into the second year (April 2008 – March 2009).

The overall objective of this second phase of the M&E project is to provide the GenCap Secretariat with a M&E framework that allows them to independently track and assess program results on the country level.
The immediate goals are to revise and implement the current M&E framework, to continue to train and support gender advisors in the use of the M&E framework, to collect and analyze data produced, and to develop a strategy for the dissemination of the project’s results, good and poor practices as well as lessons learned in gender equality programming.
Further project outputs will include summary analyzes of the Scorecards, case studies of good and poor practices, a donor workshop, a research paper, a brief interim and a final report.

For more information, please contact Andrea Binder.