• Poverty and PRSPs

Poverty and PRSPs

This chapter is designed to guide those involved in poverty reduction strategies (PRS) at the country level in identifying and implementing policies and programs that will benefit both men and women and maximise potential benefits for poor families.

This chapter argues that conventional poverty research and analysis tools can address most gender issues, and when this is not the case, the problem lies mainly in a lack of recognition by policy makers and planners of the importance of gender as a key development issue.

Recommendations are made to build the gender analysis capacity of relevant agencies. This may well involve conducting an institutional assessment of agencies' gender analysis and M&E capacity first. Such as assessment could include questions such as:

• do the planning and implementing agencies have access to gender specialists?
• have staff members received gender sensitivity or gender analysis training?
• is there an incentive structure that would encourage or permit staff to address gender?
• have funds been approved for gender-related capacity building?
• have guidelines for gender-related activities, including gender M&E, been developed and implemented?

Promoting gender-balanced participation in monitoring and evaluation: When selecting indicators, tools, and methods to reflect gender outcomes and impacts, PRS managers should consider the following:

• select a few critical goals, outcomes, and indicators from the PRS for monitoring and evaluating gender outcomes and impacts
• ensure that data are collected that reflect the outcomes and impacts for critical gender-related goals
• ensure that the design and analysis of M&E systems are based on a clearly articulated, gender-inclusive PRS model
• in selecting a particular combination of goals and indicators to assess, consider how the information is to be used and by whom and assess these needs in light of budgetary and time constraints
• data collection methods are determined by the kinds of information and data needed to monitor change and progress. Optimum results are obtained when traditional and participatory approaches to M&E are complementary
• collecting new data on gender is not always necessary. Assess the availability of gender-responsive data before considering the need to collect new data
• gender M&E is frequently done by disaggregating the data already being collected and using other available sources of information

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