Corporate-level Evaluation on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Preliminary Findings

1. Corporate-level Evaluation on Gender Equality and Women’s EmpowermentPreliminary Findings 63rd Session of the Evaluation Committee 15-16 July 2010

2. Background • IFAD adopted a Gender Plan of Action (2003-2006), approved by the Board in April 2003 • In July 2008, the Programme Management Department issued a Framework for Gender Mainstreaming • In October 2009, IFAD received the Global MDG3 Champion Torch • This is the first corporate-level evaluation on gender by the Office of Evaluation 2

3. Evaluation Objectives • What IFAD’s corporate strategy says about gender equality and women’s empowerment (consistency, relevance) and how effectively has it been reflected in country strategies and projects? • What results have actually been achieved on the ground in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment? • Generate a series of findings and recommendations for IFAD’s future activities related to gender equality and women’s empowerment

4. Process • Desk work including: (i) review of corporate strategy documents; (ii) meta-evaluation of existing evaluative evidence; (ii) review of recently approved COSOPs and projects; (iii) assessment of IFAD’s internal corporate processes; and (iv) benchmarking exercise. • Five country visits to Bangladesh, Egypt, Guatemala, Mauritania and Zambia • Presentation of preliminary findings to Management and the Evaluation Committee in July ’10 • Preparation of draft final report • Stakeholders’ workshop, 27-28 Sep ’10 (first of its kind) • Evaluation Committee (26 November) and Executive Board (15-16 December) discussions

5. Preliminary Findings Corporate strategy and its implementation • There is a general consensus among the Board, Senior Management and staff of the importance in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment for sustainable agriculture and rural development • IFAD’s corporate strategy on paper is broadly relevant and consistent (dispersed among numerous documents + experience-based) • Is IFAD walking the talk? The translation of strategy into action has not been entirely adequate (e.g., administrative budget allocation, HR capacity building, monitoring & reporting, incentives, accountability, communication, etc)

6. Preliminary Findings Corporate strategy and its implementation • Specific, earmarked investments favoring gender and women’s empowerment in operations is difficult to aggregate and not systematic across the portfolio • There does not appear to be a common understanding of: (i) related terminology: gender equality, gender equity, gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment; and (ii) causes and dynamics of the gender problematic, leading to a wide range of solutions pursued

7. Preliminary Findings Results from past operations and current portfolio • Overall, performance of past projects is only moderately satisfactory, but highly variable across projects and countries, and not always context specific • Introduction of innovative solutions to gender in past operations was moderately unsatisfactory. There are few examples of scaling up • Gender equality and women’s empowerment issues increasingly incorporated in recent COSOPs and projects

8. Preliminary Findings Corporate Processes • There is neither incentive for excellence in this area, nor consequence for staff who give low or no priority to the issue • Staff work planning and performance assessments is not results-oriented in terms of gender achievements. Compliance culture predominant • Change in gender-balance in workforce is very slow, with the exception of recent efforts at a very senior level. 6 of 23 mission members were women (26%) in the 5 COSOPs reviewed in 2009, and only 2 gender experts. 24 of 124 mission members were women (19%) in 21 projects approved between 2003-2009, and only 6 gender experts.

9. Preliminary Findings Corporate processes • Formal gender-friendly HR policies are in place, but organizational culture does not encourage women or men who challenge traditional workplace practices • IFAD’s results framework, strengthened quality enhancement and quality assurance, shift to country presence and direct supervision are paying more attention to gender equality and women’s empowerment • Learning and knowledge on gender is not pulled together, nor is progress systematically monitored and reported

10. Preliminary Findings Corporate Processes • Funding for specific gender work (thematic studies, self assessments, HQ capacity building, etc) has depended heavily on supplementary funds and TAGs • Gender desk in Policy and Technical Advisory division does not have earmarked annual administrative budget to support work plan and corporate strategy • Corporate capacity through divisional Gender Focal Points is inadequate • Gender Thematic Group is mainly a platform for exchanging information, but has no coherent annual work plan, targets, budget, etc.

11. Preliminary Conclusions • IFAD is in principle well positioned, because of its mandate and strategy to become a global leader in this area for agriculture and rural development • The corporate strategy is largely relevant and consistent, but not adequately translated into action • Performance in the past however has been only moderately satisfactory and variable, even though more recent country strategies and operations show improvements • Investments in gender-related work both in IFAD-funded operations and at HQs is difficult to track and unsystematic. Heavy reliance on supplementary funds and TAGs • Learning and accountability framework to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment is inadequate. Compliance rather than results culture prevalent

12. Preliminary Recommendations • IFAD should develop a corporate gender policy to consolidate its strategy and approaches • Innovation and scaling up on gender should be an integral feature of COSOPs and projects, as a means to achieve wider impact on rural poverty • Executive Board and Senior Management need to more actively monitor and report progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment • Apply a results-oriented work planning and performance management system with incentives and accountability, in order to shift from compliance to impact achievement • Invest specifically in knowledge management on gender, appoint a Champion in the Senior Management on gender, and strengthen decentralized technical advice to operations