Gender analysis is the systematic attempt to identify key issues contributing to gender inequalities, many of which also contribute to poor development outcomes. This process explores how gendered power relations give rise to discrimination, subordination and exclusion in society, particularly when overlaid across other areas of marginalization due to class, ethnicity, caste, age, disability status, sexuality, etc.

The gender analysis process seeks to collect, identify, examine and analyze information on the different roles of people across genders. Gender analysis primarily seeks to understand these three questions:

  1. What are gendered-related rights denials in a given context? How do unequal gender relations, gendered discrimination, subordination and exclusion influence rights denials? How do these rights abuses intersect with other areas of discrimination – based on ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, etc.?
  2. How will gender relations affect the achievement of sustainable results? For example, if the project’s sustainable result is increased productivity among female smallholder farmers, then gendered norms in household divisions of labor and workloads may greatly influence production outcomes,
  3. How will proposed results affect the relative status of men and women? Will it exacerbate or reduce inequalities?

Rapid Gender Analysis in 5 Steps

The Rapid Gender Analysis provides essential information about gender roles and responsibilities, capacities and vulnerabilities, together with programming recommendations. It is used in situations where time is of the essence and resources are scarce.

The Rapid Gender Analysis is built up progressively, using a range of primary and secondary information to understand gender roles and relations and how these may change during a crisis. It will assist in providing practical programming and operational recommendations to meet the different needs of women, men, boys and girls, and in ensuring we ‘do no harm’. 5 steps to prepare a rapid gender analysis:

Resources

1. Find existing analysis and data on gender relations 

Gender in Briefs (GiB) are a key part of producing CARE's Rapid Gender Analysis in an emergency. A Gender in Brief compiles and analyses existing secondary gender information and presents this information in a two-page document, which contains sex and age disaggregated statistics and gender analysis from before the crisis. It makes links to key reference documents and existing CARE programmes.

2. Collect additional data through gender assessments

RGA Assessment Tools are used to gather information from women, men, boys and girls about the impact of a crisis. CARE uses different tools to collect information from women, men, boys and girls. Select at least two tools from the tools listed below and then adapt the tool to the context.

Example RGA assessment tools

3. Analyse the results and compare to pre-crisis data

Gender data that has been collected is useless without analysis. The analysis of gender data is important for a number of reasons, including the following: to provide practitioners with an understanding of changes to gender relations and how they affect programming; to use the data and information generated form the date collection process to form recommendations; to find and understand gaps in programming and make adjustments.

4. Write practical recommendations

Perhaps the most important step to completing a Rapid Gender Analysis is to provide clear recommendations to improve or address some of the problems or gaps identified in the analysis of the different needs, capacities and contributions of women, men, boys and girls. Remember that the purpose of collecting this information is to improve your response effort (and potentially those of your partners as well). Ask yourself, how can you use the information you now have to make targeted and practical recommendations to people within and beyond your organisation in order to improve the response effort?

5. Share with other actors

CARE’s Rapid Gender Analysis relies on gender sensitive assessment information becoming available during a crisis. In order to ensure this happens, CARE’s gender in emergency assessment and analysis work needs to be aligned to the timeframe and processes of the OCHA-led assessments. The diagram in the Guidance Note explains when to share different RGA Reports with other actors.