Evaluation of DFID Development Assistance: Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment - DFID's Experience of Gender Mainstreaming 1995-2004

Overall DFID commitments to gender equality appear to have declined since a peak in 2000 although there are great variations between country programmes. The DFID gender mainstreaming strategies that have been widely admired outside the organisation have not been consistently applied within. In 2005 DFID will undertake a major evaluation of its work on gender equality. This interim working paper, written in preparation for the full evaluation, looks at DFID gender strategy and outlines the links between DFID policy and international policy on gender equality. It then reviews DFID gender mainstreaming strategies and resource committments over the past fifteen years. The paper concludes by looking at the limited evidence available on impact and provides recommendations for the forthcoming evaluation. The report found that the impact of the Millennium Development Goals has meant a narrowing of focus in DFID gender equality work to social sectors such as girls' education and maternal health, with less attention to women's economic opportunities and decision-making. It also points to a lack of consistency in the application of gender mainstreaming strategies and the failure to capitalise on in-country experiences. Recommendations include the need to gain a more detailed picture of gender equality committments across all DFID programmes and to explore the links between the different strategies and contexts. It will be crucial at this point to develop and use impact assessement methodologies which link interventions with outcome.