Case-based Gender and M&E

Kyoko KusakabeAsian Institute of Technology

APMAS-GSM Workshop on Gender Responsive Monitoring and Evaluation System1-2 September 2011Phnom Penh

Challenges in institutionalizing gender and M&E

Gender often not full integrated in project design Gender objectives Gender indicators

Gender relations difficult to measure.

Gender analysis capacity in the field level

Gender analysis outside the project framework

Principles of Case-based gender process monitoring

Build capacity for gender analysis

Story-based (flexible and wide coverage)

Participation, discussion, reflection

Steps to do case-based gender process monitoring

1. Selection of key domains of change Issues related to gender issues

Women’s participation Women’s confidence level; Decision making patterns in the household; Decision making patterns in the community; Gender division of labor; Violence against women; Women’s access to knowledge Women’s network and mutual help.

2. Meeting at the commune level to discuss the key domains of change

3. Collection of stories Stories collected by field level staff/ focal

points “happy” story and “sad” story

4. Sharing of stories Stories brought together at the district level for sharing and

discussion Discuss

What is “happy” (“sad”) about this story? Why do we feel that this is “happy” (“sad”)? Why did it happen like this? Have you seen similar stories in your area? What are the desired changes? How can we bring about that change? What is the role of the project to bring about change?

Reporting the stories and discussions Summary of each story (one line) Meeting minutes Issues of concern for the project Signs of achievement of the project Recommendations for change

Advantage of case-based gender process monitoring

Open ended

Information collection and capacity building

Easy to collect (stories) not too technical/ conceptual

On-going

Key domains of change: participation

Mrs. Socheat, 38 years old of Tacheik village is one of the participant of FFS. She is illiterate, and was sitting in the back of the room in each session. She never talked a word and never took notes. However, on field day, she was one of the most active in the group and went down to the rice field to look for insects. The next week, the trainer asked Mrs. Socheat to sit in the front line. The trainer asked Mrs. Socheat about pests, and Mrs. Socheat was able to answer the question. Since that day, Mrs. Socheat always sat on the front line, and asked questions, even though she was not able to take any note.

Key domains of change – decision making

Mrs. Sokha, 35 years old, lives in Chambak Kui village. She borrowed money from the village credit. In her application, she wrote that she is going to buy three piglets and feed with $100, and also submitted a business plan for this. However, when she came back home, her husband asked that he urgently needed some money for fuel for water pump to irrigate the field. She also had to pay for her children’s school fees and batteries. In the end, she was left with only $50, and bought three small piglets. Since she did not have enough money left to buy feeds, piglets became weak and two of them died. She has only one pig left with which she has to repay back her credit. She is asking for extension of interest payment.

Key domains of change: self-confidence

Ms. Lim attended a training on pickle making. She used to do pickling at home for home consumption, and in the training she learned how to improve quality and to market. She needed to make some new investment to improve the place where she produce pickles. She was convinced that it would be good to start the business, but she was afraid to discuss this new investment with her husband, and she was afraid that she will not be able to sell. So, up until now, she has not yet started her business.

Key domains of change: Gender division of labor

Ms. Vathana has been selected as a village health volunteer. She has attended several training in the village and also in the district center. Ms. Vathana lives with her husband and three children. The youngest is 3 years old. She sometimes brings the smallest child to training sessions, and had to miss some sessions when her child has a problem. At first, her husband was not happy that she is absent from home frequently. He asked her what is the merit to their family when she do these activities. But seeing people coming to Ms. Vathana for advice and help, he stopped complaining, and now is taking up household work to allow Ms. Vathana to concentrate on her volunteer work.