 |
 |
Advancing gender equality is fundamental to CIVICUS' mission to strengthen civil society and citizen action around the world. CIVICUS recognises that gender equality is an intrinsic and important part of the organisation's work in promoting the enabling architecture for civil society. CIVICUS has adopted a gender policy and is currently undergoing a process to promote gender equality both internally and externally. The Gender Equality Policy CIVICUS held its first Gender Task Force (now callled the Gender Equality Team- GET) meeting in November 2000 in Tokyo where the group identified the need to establish a gender policy. Over the next six years, a series of discussions, workshops, meetings and evaluations were undertaken to develop the CIVICUS Gender Equality Policy, approved by the Board in June 2006. To read the Policy, click here. Promoting Gender Equality CIVICUS sees the Gender Policy as essential to realising CIVICUS' vision and mission rather than an added dimension to the programmes. Indeed, for CIVICUS' vision and mission to be achieved, structural gender discrimination must be addressed and equality of opportunities, engagement, participation and equality of access to opportunities of engagement and participation must be strengthened for women. Based on the Gender Policy, CIVICUS has recruited an expert that works on issues of gender equality and gender justice to assist the organisation in conducting internal training, further developing the Gender Policy and better integrating gender within its operations and programmes. As the process progresses, CIVICUS will provide more information in this section. CIVICUS brought in Rebecca Freeth as the facilitator for the CIVICUS Strategic Directions Retreats, and upon speaking with Rebecca the Gender Equality Team (GET) learned that she had an extensive background in gender. Rebecca came to CIVICUS for a preliminary training for GET members and then later facilitated a staff workshop that began at uncovering gender issues in the personal sphere but then moved concretely into engendering the work of CIVICUS programmes and departments. GET played a role as a catalyst before the workshop, conducting interviews, posting gender-focused questions throughout the office, and using gendered images to spark interest and debate in order to help staff interact with the topic of gender. The workshop was quite a success and following the workshop spurred conversation surrounding gender throughout the office. More concretely, following the workshop, GET held informal luncheons where members of GET helped critique CIVICUS operational plans. Gender Equality Team (GET) The CIVICUS Gender Equality Team is made up of staff members and two board members who are committed to ensuring that gender is integrated into CIVICUS' operations, programmes, and organisational culture in a thorough and sustainable manner. The Team meets on a monthly basis to discuss progress in gender mainstreaming and ongoing work. To contact the gender team at CIVICUS, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Gender-related Tools and Resources CIVICUS has compiled a list of tools and resources developed by other organisations specifically focused on gender equality and gender mainstreaming. To view this list, click here. |