Pro WO+MAN - Research Report

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PRO WO+MANResearch Report


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Pro WO+MANResearch Report

Authors: Albulena Metaj and Driton Zeqiri

Project manager: Ajete Krqeli

The views and interpretations expressed in this report are the authors.

Copyright:PEN and the authors, 2013

Special thanks to Annica Holmberg, OPIC external consultant

______________________________________________________________________________

This research report is part of the project Pro WO+MAN, implemented by Peer Educators

Network PEN from Prishtina, financed by Olof Palme International Centre and supported by

Swedish Government

This publication can be downloaded from: http://www.ngo-pen.org


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Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................

METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................................................................................

DEMOGRAPHICS .......................................................................................................................................................... 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................................................

I. GENERAL REFLECTIONS ON GENDER EQUALITY ...........................................................................................

II. INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONALSTRUCTURES AND STEERING DOCUMENTS ....................................

III. AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES OF STAFF AND LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION .............

IV. METHODS, STRATEGIES, TOOLS AND POLICIES..........................................................................................

V. CAPACITIES TO PRACTICALLY APPLY GENDER TOOLS IN THE WORK OF THE ORGANIZATION ....

CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................................................................. 5

RECCOMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 5

REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................................. 6

ANNEXES ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6


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INTRODUCTION

Gender mainstreaming is a globally accepted approach to achieving gender equality and

constitutes an essential part of Human Development and Human Rights. Of the multiple layers of

identity including age, ethnicity, religion, class, disability, sexual orientation, and education,

gender is one of the most important factors that determines how an individual is perceived in

society, the roles they are expected to play as well as the access they have to resources,

opportunities, and power to influence decisionmaking.1

Among many challenges faced by developing countries, policies and transition period appear to

be indicators of gender based inequalities and other forms of social exclusion. While several

countries have relatively strong economies and stable democracies, the situation in Region

appears to be different.

It is important not to conflate gender with women, but it is also essential to note that in spite of the

progress made in achieving greater gender equality, women continue to be among the poorest and

most marginalized segments of the population in parts of the world. 2 While men and women

have experienced hardships during the transition periods, women by and large have suffered

greater losses socially, politically, and economically than men. The historical and cultural

background, dominated by a patriarchal mindset revealed the inadequate treatment and the issue

of womens position in society. The basic principle of gender mainstreaming begins with the

acknowledgment that gender equality is a key and absolute aspect of sustainable human

development and the achievement of human rights.

Rapid dynamics and new circumstances of transitional process of Kosovo, socio economic,

political, health and welfare policies promoted during the transition phase, highlighted gender

perspective as significant, especially relevant to contribute toward building of a more inclusive

society. Kosovo could be said to be in a developing phase with regards to the engendering of

1Gender mainstreaming in Practice, A Toolkit. Regional programme of the United Nations DevelopmentProgrammes Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (UNDP RBEC). 2007 (third edition)

2Ibid


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social and political structures and minds as well. Despite that, although necessary, changes in

gender relations and roles appear to be of a long term nature. Gender architecture and formal

measures such as the gender quota3or the gradual presence of women in traditionally male

spaces, such as police service, security force, other relevant bodies, may have contributed to

progressively normalize the presence of women in traditional male public spaces and, ultimately,

to promote gender equality. 4

Kosovo has moved forward and established a good foundation of legal and institutional

mechanisms in the field of gender. It has been depicted as the most progressive in the whole

Balkan region by local and international actors. The overall infrastructure is based in an

important principle which respect and promote gender equality, human rights and equal

involvement. The Kosovo Gender Equality Law, adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo in 2004,

states that all economic, financial, employment and social welfare legislation and financeprograms, including the right of inheritance and property, loans and natural resources shall enable

the equal and full participation of both women and men. Yet, in the economic, health and

education sectors challenges still remain to properly address gender equality concerns. The

unemployment rate in Kosovo is 43% whereas womens unemployment rate is about 57%.The

lack of women in the workforce actively perpetuates poverty at the household level. Education

remains a problem as young girls tend to drop out of higher level of education at a higher rate than

their male counterparts. There has been significant progress in womens school attendance,

however lower rates of attendance remain in rural areas.

The socio-economic situation of women in Kosovo still needs to be improved. By adopting the

Gender Equality Law and the Action Plan, the Government has acknowledged the importance of

investing in the empowerment of women as key to sustainable economic development and

prosperity. This important legislative framework has resulted in a legal obligation on all public

and private sector employers to provide equal rights and opportunities, and equal pay, for females

3Since 2002, following a decision by the Central Elections Commission, all political parties in Kosovo are obliged to have

women represented at one third of candidates in their election lists. As a result, after the 2010 election, 33.3 % of members of

parliament in the Assembly of Kosovo are women. Quota is integrated also in the Constitution of Kosovo, as a provision on

affirmative action pertaining to women.4An Approach to the Kosovo Post-War Rehabilitation Process from a Gender Perspective. QUADERNS DE CONSTRUCCI DEPAU N 2, January 2008.


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and males. The law treats women equal to men in all economic, financial and social welfare

programs thus stipulating the equal access to resources and economic opportunities.5Despite

progress being made, efforts still remain to be done so that gender dimension is understood,

socialized, institutionalized and translated into progender equality action.

The promotion of gender equity and mainstreaming of gender in transitional context in Kosovo

have been and still are complex processes. Political will and continuation of efforts and

commitment from Civil Society to jointly improve the wellbeing and the socio-economic position

of men and women are crucial toward achieving gender equality goal. The role of the

international agenda in advancing human rights and gender issues in Kosovo has been crucial as

well in supporting the establishment of Institutional and Legal framework, and other relevant

gender mechanisms. The review of the relevant literature but practices as well, highlight that

gender mainstreaming, as a strategy to promote gender equality, is possible and sustainable in thecontext of strong, well placed and well-resourced institutional mechanisms, cooperation and

support from all partners. The role of Civil Society is well recognized in social developments, and

in particular in addressing gender specific issues. In Kosovos context, Civil Society played a

crucial role in the developmental processes, as active agents in informing institutional structures.

A great number of active Civil Society Organizations located throughout Kosovo continue to play

a crucial role in this regard. Conversely civil society has been influential on social developments.

Kosovar civil society is successfully engaged in promoting human rights. It is also successful in

positioning women within the sector and promoting gender equality; indeed women take some of

the most influential roles with the NGO.6In this regard, it is worth mentioning that in Kosovo, as

in other contexts, the promotion of the gender perspective and of the goal of gender equality has

been pushed forward by certain groups of women acting as catalytic agents. This active

mobilization is combined with specific international and local socio political context, it must be

highlighted that the lead advocating and action role in terms of gender has been played by gender

aware women. 7

5Womens summit booklet, UN WOMEN, 20126Policy Action Brief Civicus Civil Society Index for Kosovo. Kosovar Civil Society Foundation, March 2011.

7An Approach to the Kosovo Post-War Rehabilitation Process from a Gender Perspective. QUADERNS DECONSTRUCCI DE PAU N 2, January 2008.


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The aim of the study

Acknowledging the importance of gender dimension in developing societies, with the support of

Olof Palme international Centre, Peer Education Network In Kosovo PEN, within the project

Pro Wo+man, undertook an initiative to review the situation of 13 Partner NGOs who are active

in Kosovo since 2000, mainly working and addressing essential developmental issues in

respective communities. The main scope of this study is to assess the extent Partner Organizations

integrate gender mainstreaming perspective into their internal organizational structure and area of

work. The extent of conceptual understanding of gender related terms such as: gender equality;

gender mainstreaming; gender perspective; and the applicability of these concepts into practice,

identification of needs, capacities and adequate resources for gender mainstreaming are objectives

of the study as well. Majority of PENs Partner Organizations are active in Kosovo since 2000,

with a wide range of their working area. A summary of their focus areas include, but not limitedto: promoting and developing civil society, youth, supporting disability persons rights,

integrations of marginal groups in society, connecting local institutions and local citizens and

promotion of process of return and dialogue; work in the field of art, culture and media;

community, improvement of citizens lives, develop public policies through independent research

in the areas of socioeconomic, governance, development of political parties and advancement of

inter-ethnic relations; advocacy, influence public policies and processes in creation, wider

inclusion, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies; facilitate forums for

discussion and exchange of experiences in a wide spectrum of sectors; policy research, training

of political parties and government institutions and administration; with the overall aim to

promote democracy and democratic values in Kosovo and the region. Yet, despite a wide range of

working area of Partner Organizations, the situation in practice show that the need to emphasize

gender dimension into their work and the demand for effective understanding, tools and

mechanisms to facilitate gender mainstreaming remains high and a challenging process.

Therefore, the aim of the study is twofold: it aims to find out how partner organizations

(participants) approach issues concerning gender, in specific gender equality and gender

mainstreaming, and what knowledge, capacity and experience they have to mainstream gender

into their area of work. The study will help PEN and Olof Palme International Centre to identify

relevant areas and forms for capacity building initiatives for the staff of the partner organizations


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and organizational development. Secondly, it aims at revealing the level of participants

conceptual understanding of gender mainstreaming and gender perspective as a relevant strategy

and integral part of their working area, from a personal and professional point of view.

Findings from this research will to help PEN to plan the focus of forthcoming workshops, team

work and individual coaching to support this conceptual approach, which will be implemented

according to the particular institutional, social and cultural context.

What is gender mainstreaming?

Gender mainstreaming is a globally accepted approach and to promote the achievement of gender

equality and constitutes an essential part of Human Development and Human Rights.

In addition, gender mainstreaming is known as a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender

equality and other policy goals in a most effective manner. This implies the understanding that themainstreaming of gender aspects is not an end in itself but rather a strategy, an approach which

highlights the relevance and implication of the different conditions, situations and positions of

women and men within a specific cultural and social context and how these features affect women

and men differently in relevant segments of life.

This concept was first proposed at the 1985 Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi,

Kenya, to be developed further in the United Nations development community, which was

formally featured in 1995 at theFourth World Conference on Women inBeijing,resulted fromthe conference, the Beijing Platform for Action. There are several definitions for gender

mainstreaming strategy/ approach, depending on the contexts, backgrounds, systems and bodies,

organizational culture, etc.

According to the United Nation System, gender mainstreaming was defined and adopted in 1997;

the official definition of gender mainstreaming is:

the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including

legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making womens

as well as mens concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_World_Conference_on_Womenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_World_Conference_on_Women


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monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres

so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated.8

Furthermore, the Council of Europe in 1998, defined gender mainstreaming as: The

(re)organization, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender

equality perspective is incorporated in all policies, at all levels and at all stages, by the actors

normally involved in policymaking.

Through gender mainstreaming approach, gender equality is no longer viewed as a separate or

isolated issue, but rather a concern for all policies and programs. As a strategy, Gender

Mainstreaming highlights that interventions, policies, contexts, and other related dimensions

affect women and men differently.

A gender mainstreaming approach does not make obsolete the need for specific policies,programs, or projects on gender equality. The level of intervention (from basic gender

sensitivity to comprehensive, targetedprograms for women and men) will depend on the specific

needs and priorities revealed by gender sensitive situation assessment. 9

The idea of mainstreaming gender derives or starts from the recognition that the differences and

disparities between women and men the life conditions, possibilities and opportunities are closely

linked and impact all aspects of society. Therefore, policy makers, advisers, program and projects

managers, researchers, and other relevant actors, who recognize the importance of addressing agender dimension into their work must embrace the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy and put

efforts to support technical and human capacities to integrate such perspective into their working

area.

When mentioning the working area, it is important to highlight that a strategy to integrate gender

perspective into working area, should be also followed by a strategy to ensure that working

environment is gender sensitive as well. This means that within the organization, equal

opportunities and equal treatment to both women and men as employees are guaranteed andrespected. The gender equality perspective in development cooperation is not only important for

8The Report of the Economic and Social Council for 1997. United Nations, 19979Gender mainstreaming in Practice, A Toolkit. Regional programme of the United Nations Development Programmes RegionalBureau for Europe and the CIS (UNDP RBEC). 2007 (third edition)


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the project itself and for the project area, but is also necessary in Organisation s own internal

structures. In this regard, it is essential that the Organisationsand its employees have positive

attitude toward gender equality. The personal attitudes of every individual within the organisation

to the importance of gender equality have crucial effects on the quality and sustainability of

development cooperation.

Often, it can happen that men and women both take part in activities but the women are not in

decision-making positions or their suggestions are ignored when decisions are made.

Engendering10the workplace means that decisions are made as democratically as possible as well.

It is essential to highlight that within the certain context, gender equality does not just concern the

relative numbers of men and women, an attention should be paid to the internal effects of gender

on work and in the work place ( i.e. attitudes of the organization toward people in the workplace

community, equal payment for women and men, equal division of responsible tasks, making

decisions together, taking a positive attitude to combining professional and personal life for both

men and women, etc) .

10To make visible the different impact on, or impact of women and men and their genders in a given context. For example,engendering involves the recognition that the gender division of labor and its associated norms, values and ideologies aboutmasculinity and femininity are defined by a complex of power relations which tend to accord to women lesser political voice,social / cultural value, and access to and control over economic resources.


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List of abbreviations

ATRC - Advocacy Training & Resource Center

CSDCommunication for Social Development

COCivil Society

D4DDemocracy for Development

FGDFocus Group Discussion

GEGender Equality

GMGender Mainstreaming

PENPeer Educators Network

NGONon Governmental Organization

KIPREDKosovar Institute for Policy, Research and Development

KDIKosova Democratic Institute

M&EMonitoring and Evaluation

YAHR - Youth Association for Human Rights

WAGJWoman Association of Gjakova


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Glossary of key gender terms

It should be noted that different organizations and bodies have different working definitions of the

terms below, and of the terms inter-relationship. As such, the following should be taken as a

guide only.

DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS11

GENDER: The political, social and cultural significance attached to biological differences

between men and women, boys and girls. A focus on gender not only reveals information about

women and mens different experiences, it also sheds light on ingrained assumptions and

stereotypes about men and women, the values and qualities associated with each, and the ways in

which power relationships can change. The Secretary-General defines the term in his 2002 report

Women, Peace and Security as: the socially constructed roles as ascribed to women and men, as

opposed to biological and physical characteristics. Gender roles vary according to socio-

economic, political and cultural contexts, and are affected by other factors, including age, race,

class and ethnicity. Gender roles are learned and are changeable.

GENDER ANALYSIS: The variety of methods used to understand the relationships between

men and women, their access to resources, and the relative constraints they face. Gender analysis

recognizes that gender, and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability,

and/or other status, is important to understanding the different patterns of involvement, behavior

and activities that women and men have in economic, social and legal structures. (Definition used

by the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA.)

GENDER BALANCE: The degree to which men and women hold the full range of positions in a

society or organization (more accurately, sex ratio). The long-term objective, as defined by the

UN General Assembly, is to achieve a 50/50 gender balance.

GENDER EQUALITY: Equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for women and men;

accordingly equal consideration to the interests, needs and priorities of women and men. Gender

11Source:http://peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/key-gender-terms
http://peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/key-gender-termshttp://peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/key-gender-termshttp://peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/key-gender-termshttp://peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/key-gender-terms


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equality does not imply a goal of non-differentiation between the sexes, but rather the elimination

of adverse discrimination based on sex (e.g., lower remuneration for women doing the same work

as men). Gender equality exists when both sexes are able to share equally in the distribution of

power and influence; have equal opportunities for financial independence; enjoy equal access to

education and the opportunity to develop personal ambitions, interests and talents; share domestic

responsibilities; and are free from coercion, intimidation and Gender Based Violence at work and

at home. (Definition used by United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA)

GENDER MAINSTREAMING: The process of assessing the implications for women and men

of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels.

It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral

part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all

political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is

not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality. (1997 UN

Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC). Mainstreaming is not achieved by adding a

women/gender equality component to an existing activity, or by simply increasing womens

participation. It means bringing the experience, knowledge and interests of women and men to

bear on the development of an agenda or programme.

GENDER PERSPECTIVE: With respect to any social phenomenon, policy or process, exposing

gender-based differences in status and power, and considering how such discrimination shapes the

immediate needs, as well as the long-term interests, of women and men. (See, e.g., 1995 Beijing

Platform for Action).


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METHODOLOGY

Design: A mixed methods approach (design) has been used to implement the project Pro

WO+MAN, with the emphasis on both methods, qualitative and quantitative.

Initially a literature review took part in order to understand the relevant approach, theoretical

perspective, relevant empirical studies, in order to conceptualize the scope of research from a

more holistic approach. Global and local gender mainstreaming strategies and related documents

were also relevant to the source of information during the review of the literature.

Thirteen partner Organizations were assigned by PEN to participate in this research. The

organizations consisted of: KIPRED; Woman Association Gjakov, Syri i Viziionit; ODA; D4D;

ATRC; KDI; EC ma ndryshe; CSD; RADC; Multimedia/CCTC; YAHR, spread around Kosovo

with their scope of work, as following : Prishtin; Pej; Mitrovic; Gjakov; Prizren; Gjilan;Lipjan; Graanic, Zvean. Furthermore, 103 individuals engaged in respective NGOs where part

of the questionnaire administration and fifteen of them participated in the Focus Group

Discussions. (See demographic data for more detailed information!)

Instruments: Desk review,Questionnaire (compiled by PEN staff with the expertise support of

international gender expert) and Focus Group Discussion were among instruments which were

used to gather data.

Questionnaires:103 questionnaires were administered with NGOs staff (managerial level and

employees). The questionnaire was designed to enable the respondents to reflect on their work

and attitudes toward gender perspective and gender mainstreaming. It was intended to support the

organization participating in the research to identify areas and relevant forms of capacity building

initiatives for the internal structure of the organization and organizational culture as well. The

questionnaire consists of these main areas, issues:

General reflections on gender issues;

Internal organizational structures and steering documents;

Awareness and attitudes of staff and leadership within the organization;

Methods, strategies, tools and policies;


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Capacities to practically apply gender tools in the work of the organization.

Focus Group discussion (FGD): Two sets of the FGD were organized in order to get an insight

perspective and an in depth reflection of the main issues which were treated in the questionnaire.

FGD enabled to get a clearer picture and to complement data analysis from the questionnaire

which was sometimes perceived rather vague or non-significant through quantitative analysis. It

also enabled to get a distinct perspective of managerial and employees on gender related issues

and relevant perspectives. The discussion consisted of four main area / thematic issues:

Conceptual understanding of gender and its relevance;

Gender Mainstreaming within the organizational structures and environments;

Tools and mechanisms;

Needs and challenges towards gender mainstreaming.

Procedure:Questionnaires were implemented during November, 2013. All related instructions

were given to the respondents and attached to the questionnaire a summary of the glossary / key

terms and concepts of gender mainstreaming was included in order for respondents to get a clear

understanding on gender and related differences of the certain concepts. Statistical Package for

Social Sciences (SPSS 21.0 V) was used to conduct a quantitative analysis. Descriptive statistics

and Cross Tabulation were among key analysis which took part for the data analysis. Data have

been analyzed and scrutinized, in order to have a clear understanding on the needs and topics to

be expended and understood from a more holistic perspective.

Two sets of the FGD (one with managerial level and another with employees of respective

organization) were conducted. The first FGD lasted 2.5 hrs, while the second one 2 hrs.

Participants were very keen to discuss and explain relevant issues of the project, although the

conceptual understanding of gender related issues appeared to have an impact in their perceptionsfor a gender mainstreaming approach into their daily work and programmatic issues. All relevant

topics and thematic areas were covered and the analysis was conducted by creating appropriate

categories which were relevant to the thematic area of discussion.


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DEMOGRAPHICS

Chart 1D. Sex data

Chart 2D. Level of education


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Chart 3D. City

Chart 4D. Organization


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Majority of the respondents, respectively around 82% believe that there is still no gender

equality at the level desired.

There appears to be no gender balance within organizational structures. The discrepancy

starts at staff where we have 20% less women, gets bigger in management position where

we have 30% less women and continuous with boards where we have 40% less women

than men.

Majority of the respondents, respectively 60% believe that there should be given more

space to discussions on gender equality in planning processes within their organization.

Majority of the respondents, respectively 53% consider there is a good discussion on

gender equality within different working groups. A significant number of respondents,

respectively 29% believe that there should be done more in this direction, while 18% of

respondents believe that this issue is neglected within organizations they work.

Only 20% of respondents declared that their organization has a specific gender policy. Themajority of respondents, respectively 80% either has no information about the existence of

such policy documents or declares that such document does not exist.

Only 44% of respondents believe that within their organization a sexual harassment in the

workplace would be appropriately addressed even though they declare of not having such

a case within their organization.

Majority of respondents, respectively 60% declare of not having any tools for gender

mainstreaming which could be used in their activities.


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I. GENERAL REFLECTIONS ON GENDER EQUALITY

1. Majority of the respondents believe that there is still no gender equality at the level

desired. Around 82% of respondents think that gender equality is yet a field which needs to

improve. 58% of respondents believe that there have been efforts toward ensuring gender equality

but effort should continue, while around 20% of respondents believe there has been done very

little in that direction.

There are some slight gender differences in answers since male respondents have a higher

percentage (M60% v. s F40%), when it comes to completely/partly agree that gender equality has

been achieved, while female respondents have a higher percentage (F56% v. s M44%) when it

comes to completely/partly disagree that gender equality has been achieved.

Chart 1. Gender equality has already been achieved for the most part

The conceptual and proper understanding of gender notions, in specific gender equality and its

relevance in the working area, appear to be an important aspect which has impacted participants

attitudes on the issue of whether gender equality has been achieved or not. Experiences and

findings revealed during the Focus Group Discussions emphasize difficulties toward

understanding, explaining and translating into the practice the concept of gender and related

dimensions such as: gender sensitivity, gender equality gender perspective and gender

mainstreaming. The issue of adequate conceptual understanding appears to be the crucial area

reflecting participants attitudes as well in the questionnaire. Despite what the diagram shows


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above, reflections from the FGD appear to show a very limited conceptual understanding of

gender mainstreaming and its applicability into the practice. The limited conceptual understanding

has reflected on participants views, believes and real practices to figure how important and

relevant are the applicability and translation of gender mainstreaming concept into the working

area. The prominent tendency to limit the understanding of gender mainstreaming and/or gender

equality, gender issues, only to women issues, and to look only at women in isolation whenever

gender is mentioned, was among highlighted aspects that participants brought along the

discussion. This is also encountered during the questionnaire analysis, where majority of

participants with no hesitation believe that gender equality has been achieved so far. As

interpreted by the quantitative approach, around 60% of participants responded that they partially

agree that gender equality has been achieved for the most part, whereas in practice this does not

reflect on other crucial aspects of participants attitudes and beliefs regarding gender equality.

This limited conceptual understanding might serve as an explanation why sometimes respondents

and involved actors have the impression that they feel overwhelmed by the task of gender

mainstreaming into their work.

In general, one of the crucial aspects which have a direct impact on the way of how gender

perspective and its relevance is being perceived and integrated is linked with the reflections from

social and cultural context/background and working area as well.

Participants have mentioned few factors which have impacted and continue to have an impact inthe individuals mindset toward understanding and conceptualizing gender mainstreaming.

Among these factors they mention: mentality (mainly male dominated), the social system, family,

and socially constructed norms within the society.

2. Majority of the respondents, respectively around 58% strongly disagree that only well-

to-do people benefit from gender equality initiatives. Around 27% of respondents in a way believe

that to a certain point well-to-do people are more likely to benefit than other social categories.

There is a significant difference on the percentage of people who completely disagree with thestatement and their job position. Around 71% of respondents with full time positions disagree

with the statement while this percentage drops to 37% of part time employees who completely

disagree.


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To conclude, majority of full time position completely disagree that well-to-do people benefit

from gender equality initiatives while majority of part time respondents believe that to a certain

level well-to-do people do benefit from such initiatives.

There is no significant difference between respondents of different gender and age in their

approach to the above statement.

Chart 2. Work to achieve gender equality today benefits mostly well-to-do people

The fact that participants showed tendencies sometimes to perceive that gender mainstreaming

and related concepts are being perceived and treated as trendy or hot topics, might leave the

impression that dealing with gender issues sometimes could be profitable. This especially was

linked with an example that there are sometimes cases where Donors imply their gender practices

without even taking into consideration the specific needs of a context.

FGD analysis reveal that participants agree that lots of initiatives and efforts have been made to

address gender equality issues, in specific equal participation, opportunities for both men and

women in developmental processes, but not to a satisfactory level. Although the strategy of

quotas 12 remains a crucial mechanisms for advancing womens empowerment and gender

12Since 2002, following a decision by the Central Elections Commission, quota was integrated as a tool to enhance womens

participation in decision making levels; all political parties in Kosovo are obliged to have women represented at one third of

candidates in their election lists. As a result, 33.3 % of members of parliament in the Assembly of Kosova are women (from the


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equality, few of participants tend to believe that if these mechanisms/affirmative measures remain

enforced for a long period of time, such in Kosovos context case, they could have a harmful

effect as well for the way how gender related dimensions are being perceived into society.

3. Majority of respondents, respectively 81% strongly disagree that when women rights

are increased it means that man have lost those privileges. The other 15% of respondents believe

that to a certain point by promoting gender equality lot of existing privileges are taken from men.

Within those that agree with the statement, respectively 15% of respondents, male respondents

dominate with 10% in comparison to 5% of female respondents.

Chart 3. Increased rights for women means that men lose out

It is essential to mention that in specific, the FGD with employees revealed that participants prefer

to understand and to address gender perspective within the human rights perspective. This

reassures that participants didnt show reflections or beliefs that if we treat gender in the concept

of womens rights or mens rights and/or perspective, this will automatically mean that one of

them will be in disadvantage or will be superior in terms of less/more rights. They tend to show

the essentiality that this should not be seen as a competitive issue for women and men, but rather

within the framework of humans rights.

election in 2010). Quota is integrated also in the Constitution of Kosovo, as a provision on affirmative actions pertaining to

women.


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In a more general context, participants attitudes indicate that sometimes gender discrimination

derives from individuals involved directly in public institutions, those who are supposed to

develop and advance gender policies and mechanisms to facilitate or sustain gender

mainstreaming. The fact that individuals from institutional level, but ordinary citizens as well tend

to believe that Kosovos society has major problems such as Poverty, Corruption, Justice System,

Infrastructure, Social Policies, etc., presents an actuality that there is a lack of proper

understanding of the importance of gender perspective integrated into all segments of society.

4. Majority of respondents, respectively 78% strongly disagree that when women work

they take jobs away from men. The other 22% of respondents believe that to a certain point

increasing the number of women employed means decreasing the number of employed

men.Within those that agree with the statement, respectively 22% of respondents, male

respondents dominate with 14% in comparison to 8% of female respondents

Chart 4. When women work they take jobs away from men

There is a small discrepancy compared to answers shown on Chart 3 which can be attributed to

existing quota employment system, where public institutions are obliged to have at least 30%

female staff.

Awareness raising activities, training, issues of affirmative measure such as quotas, equal

participation, mainly quantitative modalities, the system in which society functions, mentality,

etc, appear to be among few modalities related to gender, that participants perceive as consumed


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concepts when attempting to understand, address and explain in depth the gender perspective

(women versus mens rights and perspective) and its related concepts.

It was interesting to highlight that during the discussion on the conceptual understanding aspects

of the gender mainstreaming and participants general attitudes toward gender, a general view

among participants, highlights a tendency to perceive gender issues as issues which are mostly

treated and addressed by women in society, dominated by a feminist13approach. Sometimes, from

participants attitudes, this reflection has a tendency to stem from a more radical feminist

approach14as well. These attitudes appear to lead participants on wrongly believing that gender

mainstreaming strategy is rather perceived as a tendency to look women in isolation, and not to

count for both perspectives of women and men as relevant to the developmental agendas.

Apparently, there seems to be a misunderstanding of the feminist approach as well in this

regard.

Interesting opinions were revealed during the FGD discussion with regard to the approach on

gender issues. Few participants, mainly women, think that despite the crucial premises of gender

mainstreaming and gender equality, women seem to have fewer rights and more obligations,

assuming that the roles and responsibilities in the professional and personal context do not seem

to be complemented by both perspectives: women and men. This is mainly explained by the

unequal involvement in the household activities as well, making women less active in the

professional sphere due to other family obligations.

13Feminist theory is one of the major contemporary sociological theories, which analyzes the status of women and men in societywith the purpose of using that knowledge to better women's lives. Feminist theorists have also started to question the differences

between women, including how race, class, ethnicity, and age intersect with gender.14Radical feminism is a current withinfeminism that focuses on the theory ofpatriarchy as asystem of power that organizessociety into a complex ofrelationshipsbased on an assumption of "male supremacy"used to oppress women.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminismhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchyhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theoryhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationshiphttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationshiphttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theoryhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchyhttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism


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II. INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND

STEERING DOCUMENTS

As shown in the charts (5.1, 5.2 and 5.3) within these organizations there is no gender balance

within organogram. The discrepancy starts at staff where we have 20% less women, gets bigger in

management position where we have 30% less women and continuous with boards where we have

40% less women than man.

Limited conceptual understanding has a tendency to be perceived as an indicator of other views

and beliefs as well, and real practices on how important and relevant is gender mainstreaming and

40%

60%

Proportion within the staff of organization

Female

Male

35%

65%

Proportion within managment

Female

Male

30%

70%

Proportion within board

Female

Male


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its applicability into their working area, both on the internal and external structures of the

organization.

Despite the statistics, opinions from FGD indicate that participants dont believe that there is a

substantial difference among any working position which can be fulfilled by women and/or men,

and generally they do not perceive as discriminated or comprehensive the ratio of men and

women involvement into the respective positions within their organizations. According to

participantsattitudes, there are increasing trends of women managers and this is being viewed as

a positive indicator. The quantitative data from the questionnaire indicate few discrepancies

between working positions and the ratio of the staff within the organizations. This especially

appears more significant on the decision making levels (managerial vs. non managerial positions)

and board compositions. In general, this trend tends to highlight and support the Kosovos context

overall situation in the field of equal participation, opportunities and contribution. Sociallyconstructed norms were mentioned as well by participants as factors influencing attitudes and

ideas that there are male and female dominating working positions, but they do believe that this is

more due to the personal characteristics (attributions) and human nature, rather than the

implication of any external factor which hinders the equal participation of men and women in

different working positions.

The FGD discussion indicated that there are still prominent beliefs and perceptions that the issue

of gender and employment is subject to a great discrimination nowadays as well. This isespecially linked with cases which are still present such as age, sex, marital status, and other

related information which sometimes are required during the recruitment process, which in

principle tend to be perceived as discriminatory in vacancy announcement and following

processes. Participants attitudes indicate that sometimes the gender discrimination derives from

individuals involved directly in public institutions, those who are supposed to develop and

advance gender policies and mechanisms to facilitate or sustain gender mainstreaming.

However, it has been noticed that there is a huge discrepancy in perceiving the linkage between

gender mainstreaming in programs/projects and the reflection into the Organizational Structures

and Environments. More concretely, much is required to understand that a strategy to integrate

gender concerns into programming area of the work must be accompanied by a strategy to ensure


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that the working environment is gender sensitive as well, in order to guarantee equal opportunities

and treatment for men and women within the organization and beneficiaries as well.

III. AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES OF STAFF AND

LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION1. Majority of respondents, respectively 83.5% believe that they contribute to ensuring

respectful environment within their working place. Within 16.5% of those that think that they do

not give enough attention or give some there is a domination of male respondents under thirty

years old. When performing a comparison with answers in Chart 6, Chart 7 and Chart 8 we can

see an increase in the percentage of respondents being indifferent toward relationships between

man and women in workplace. The difference between Chart 6 and Chart 7 or 8 can be attributed

to the fact that some respondents choose not to be involved if there is an issue affecting their

female colleges because they believe that is a private matter of the person/s being involved. The

increase between Chart 7 and Chart 8 can be attributed to the fact that there is increased attitude

that man should protect themselves.

Chart 6. How much attention do you pay to ensure that there are respectful working

relations between men and women in your work/activities

It is important to highlight that quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate that the participants

of this research perceive their working environment and interpersonal relations as a very crucial

aspect, followed by a positive climate and mutual respect. They declare that they have never


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encountered problematic gender related issues and feel very competent and supported within their

working positions. The same belief if reflected with projects beneficiaries, including both men

and women.

Chart 7. When you identify problems affecting female colleagues, do you take action?

Chart 8. When you identify problems affecting male colleagues, do you take action?

2. Majority of respondents, respectively 92% believe that there are no obstacles thatprevent women from fulfilling any function, role or task within their organization. Within 8% of

those that think that there are some obstacles that prevent women from fulfilling any function

there is a domination of female respondents. According to respondent answers all obstacles are


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related to the fact that in a role of a mother a women has obstacles into adapting to long working

hours and especially working late in the evening. Among obstacles was also the issue of driving

the car while performing field activities. Some respondents also raised the issue related to

patriarchal mentality, when a woman having a job can face obstacles from their male family

members

.

Chart 9. Are there any obstacles that prevent women to fulfill any functions/roles or

positions in your organization

Analysis of the FGD revealed interesting reflections, separate beliefs and judgments within the

issue of discrepancy on working position and gender. In this regard, the FGD with the managerialstructure tends to show basic beliefs that there might be differentiation among working positions

related to gender, mainly in the field of Logistics and positions which require more technical

skills, as mentioned from the quantitative analysis. Nevertheless, they do admit that these

perceptions have undergone a lot of changes as well, and recently, new trends of the working

positions and gender tend to break the prejudices that theres a discrepancy on the working

positions and the effectiveness related to gender involvement. A fact to support this attitude was

justified by a new trend of the position of Financial Manager, which recently is being perceived as

a position which has more tendencies to get occupied by women rather men.

3. Majority of respondents, respectively 99% believe that there are no obstacles that

prevent men from fulfilling any function, role or task within their organization.


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Chart 10. Are there any obstacles that prevent men to fulfill any functions/roles or positions

in your organization?

An issue worth mentioning does not have to do directly with the ratio and the position that women

and men occupy but rather the extent to which women and men get involved into whole processes

and become key actors in the programmatic issues and the whole cycle of the program/project.

Other reasons which tend to describe the discrepancy between gender and working positions

within the organizations among participant in FGD included also the multiple roles, overloads

which women usually carry household activities, the misbalance between personal and

professional life, etc. According to participants beliefs, the fact that there is a very limited accessor lack of the inadequate social services for women as mothers as well, might have impacted that

sometimes they cannot be fully effective or overly engaged in the working area or their

professional life. If we add to this reason the dynamic of the social life and the change in the

societys system of organization, the dynamic where the mens involvement in family obligation

is crucial as well, the tendency to set a balance between professional and personal life for women

appears to get difficult. This is believed to have an impact and to reflect into the working

engagement as well. Therefore, there is the general belief that despite so many commitment and

efforts to mainstream gender as a tool to promote gender equality, women seem to be more extraoverloaded rather than perceived equal and empowered from the efforts to integrate gender

concerns into all spheres of life. In general, participants shared their common belief that the

womens role and voice in the meeting and working discussions, assessment of situation and


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sometimes even in the reduction of tensions in the working place is very crucial. In this regard, it

is worth mentioning the attitudes of employees participants; they unanimously believe that there

are no differences between working positions and gender.

The disproportionate ratio and the leading roles by women and men, in this case could be

described only by personal factors, attributions that women or men carry within their personality.

They tend to believe that it is human nature in the first place, which has an impact and then the

socially constructed roles and gender identities that sometimes impact the perceptions of gender

roles within the working position they occupy.

They tend to describe this belief with the insights from their working perspective, that often

during their area of the work with men and women, for example the submission of business plans

in the field of agriculture, despite the fact of the affirmative measures to encourage women, there

are cases when women participants lead in the ratio, due to the meritocracy and the quality of the

business plan proposals and their ambitions and commitments on this field. An example of project

aiming to provide a critical view of Governments work, managed by women, is an example

which reaffirms the womens role in positions, not only that inquire ambition, knowledge and

adequate qualities, but courage as well.

4. Majority of the respondents, respectively 97% believe that their organization gives

orientation on including women in project cycle

Chart 11. How often does your organization give orientation on including women in project

cycle?


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There are strong indications that respondents were referring to specific requests which are usually

done by donators. Only few of participants believe that women appear to be the most

marginalized group of society, especially on rural areas, while the other part of FGD participants

believe that so far, a lot of efforts took place to address gender inequalities and that gender

perspective is being mainstreamed to a satisfied extent. Nevertheless, participants believe that the

Donors persistence to mainstream gender has had a positive impact as well, because with time, it

has really impacted the society in general and especially the civil society organizations that

gender perspective is relevant and crucial aspect of the developmental agendas, and it should be

as such.

The FGD with employees, indicate that from their perspective and attitudes on gender,

participants perceive quite essential that women and men get involved in almost every process,

not only the managerial level but into the whole cycle of the project in general. However, thepractice shows that only few of these organizations are committed to integrate gender perspective

within the project cycle, or mainly, a great part of the organizations integrate gender perspective

only through specific project activities, which very often are an ad hoc initiatives. This

approach is believed to have an impact in sustainability later on as well.


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General views of respondents

Column 1

It is important to highlight that quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate that participants of

this research perceive their working environment and interpersonal relations as a very crucial

aspect, followed by a positive climate and mutual respect. They declare that they have never

encountered problematic gender related issues and feel very competent and supported within theirworking positions. These indications derive directly from their personal role and characteristics

within the organization. It is worth mentioning that when these issues and general beliefs are

treated within a wider perspective, from socially constructed gender norms in the society, the

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

agree/ strongly agree


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same situation has tendency to be reflected in a different way, attributing a lot of inequalities and

discriminations.

Experiences within the organization

Majority of respondents , respectively 94 % of respondents feel valued as an employee

Chart 1. 1. I feel I am values as an employee

Majority of respondents , respectively 96 % of respondents feel free to express their views openly

Chart 1.2. I feel free to express my views openly


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Majority of respondents , respectively 94 % of respondents feel that colleagues and boss listen

to their opinion.

Chart 1. 3. I feel that colleagues and my boss/es listen to my opinion

Majority of respondents , respectively 63 % of respondents disagree with the statement that male

staff tend to talk more in meetings

Chart 1.4. Male staff tend to talk more in meetings


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Majority of respondents , respectively 78% of respondents disagree with the statement that female

staff is expected to fix tea/coffee for meetings

Chart 1. 5 Female staff is expected to fix tea/coffee for meeting

Majority of respondents , respectively 72 % of respondents disagree with the statement that only

female staff stay home when their child is sick.

Chart 1. 6. Only female staff stay home when their child is sick


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Majority of respondents , respectively 76 % of respondents disagree with the statement that it is

normally that male staff represent the organization at external events.

Chart 1. 7 It is normally male staff that represent the organization in external events

Majority of respondents , respectively 95 % of respondents would recommend their organization

to their male friends.

Chart 1.8. I would recommend this organization to my male friend


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Majority of respondents , respectively 97% of respondents would recommend their organization

to their female friends.

Chart 1. 9. I would recommend this organization to my male

Majority of respondents , respectively 95 % of respondents consider that there is someone at

their organization that they can speak to on confidentially about any gender issue that is of concern

to them.

Chart 1. 10. There is someone here that I can speak to confidentially about any gender issues that is ofconcern to me


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Column 2

Participants (both from managerial level and employees) have presented their working

environment as pretty supportive, with a positive climate and complemented by both women and

men. In general, participants shared their common belief that the womens role and voice in the

meeting and working discussions, assessment of situation and sometimes even in the reduction of

tensions in the working place is very crucial and has a positive impact in many cases.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Display or send you

pictures or jokes of a

sexual/sexist nature

which you find offensive

Making repeated and

unwelcome remarks,

suggestions or jokes of

sexual/sexist nature to

you

Having

inappropriate/unwanted

physical contact with

you

Someone has

discriminated against

you on the basis of your

sex

Yes

No


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IV. METHODS, STRATEGIES, TOOLS AND POLICIES

1. Majority of the respondents, respectively 60% believe that there should be given more

space to discussions on gender equality in planning processes within their organization. There is

no significant difference in gender, age or education when giving their opinions regarding

practicing gender equality discussions while planning.

Chart 12. Is gender equality discussed in the organization at meetings (when you plan,

follow-up or report on your work)?

The general belief that there shouldntbe a specific person, who deals with gender issues within

the organization, tends to show the lack of relevant understanding and institutionalizing the

mainstreaming strategy. Participants (mainly managerial perspective) show that gender issues are

discussed in meetings and follow up activities, but mainly on individual basis, not as a well-

placed strategy. One of the NGOs shared their experiences on a committee composition which

reviews the design of the project proposals and reflects the feedbacks. The committee is always

composed by men and women, staff of the organization and this they believe has an impact in

perceiving the projects issueswith a gender lens. However, the indication of other experiences,

show that this could be considered more as an individual will or initiative rather than a structural

issue practice, which should be institutionalized with the organizational culture.


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2. Majority of the respondents, respectively 53% consider there is a good discussion on

women issues within different working groups. A significant number of respondents, respectively

29% believe that there should be done more in this direction, while 18% of respondents believe

that this issue is neglected within organizations they work. There is no significant difference in

gender, age or education when giving their opinions regarding practicing gender equality

discussions within different working groups

Chart 13. Does your organization discuss the situation of women and girls (in the groups

you are working with)?

During the FGD discussion, participants appear to be aware that women and men might have

different needs and that this perspective might have an impact on the developmental agendas, yet

they dont have an insight on how to translate this into the practice or demonstrate this with an y

concrete example through their scope of work. An approach that values the diversity among both

men and women into a certain context was perceived as a missing approach in this regard.

Sometimes participant dont even make the relevant point that the needs of women and men

within a certain context might be different. Nevertheless, there are some great initiatives within

the Partner NGOs, with the focus on Local Communities which address both perspectives. These

initiatives have started to refer to these different needs and declare their commitment to scrutinize

and address properly these issues so they could be an integral part of their project components.

Therefore, the need for Gender Analysis is pretty highlighted in this regard, as often participants


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are now well acquainted on the existing methodologies to assess womens and mens needs

appropriately.

3. Majority of the respondents, respectively 60% consider that their organization has set

specific goals in aiming gender equality. A significant number of respondents, respectively 25%

believe that there should be done more in this direction, while 15% of respondents consider that

their organization has done little or nothing in setting goals to ensure gender equality.

Chart 14. Does your organization have specific gender equality goals?

There is no significant difference in gender, age or education when giving their answers regardingspecific gender equality goals. All respondents that said that their organization has specific gender

equality goals were asked to provide further information. The ranging of the answers based on

frequencies is as below:

1. Implemented projects in which there was a component on addressing gender issues such as

number of women to be included in project as beneficiaries.

2. Project that addressed gender issues such as women participation in decision making

3.

Employment policies giving women priority in employment

4. Operational yearly plans and strategies

5.

Internal procedures and policy documents


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Regarding the issue of specific gender policies, quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate once

again the participants and organizations tendency to address women issues isolated or through

stand-alone components are much highlighted. While discussing this thematic issue during the

FGD, there appears to reflect a general belief that the gender mainstreaming as a strategy, is

treated seriously within the framework of policies and strategic documents within the

organization. The experiences of staff (both managerial and employees) highlight that the usual

practice that gender specific goals are treated and addressed are mainly through training, forum

discussions with women, awareness raising activities, etc., which emphasizes again the tendency

to understand gender mainstreaming process, as a process which scrutinizes women issues in

isolation.

However, it is important to highlight that there are projects within the partner organizations which

have specific gender components to promote gender equality in communities, the inclusion ofcitizens in decision making processes and in specific the inclusion of women into these processes

and monitoring mechanisms. Nevertheless, when asked about specific steps or strategies on how

these organizations have planned and implemented these gender specific goals, there are

indications that they do not use any strategy or methodology at all to make womens and mens

concern integral part of the project, but rather it is a spontaneous process, mainly followed by an

increase of womens number in project components as beneficiaries. There is even a lack of

specific indicators to measure the achievement of these specific goals. This fact provides an

adequate understanding that there are rare cases when these gender specific components and / or

project components have also an adequate strategy with an adequate monitoring and evaluation

plan (indicators) to make visible and assessed womens and mensperspective all over the project

cycle. The development of gender mainstreaming documents with specific gender related goals is

a useful way of setting out the goals in moving from policy to implementation for mainstreaming

gender, unfortunately, the same practice was not perceived during the FGD.

Instructions and examples toward a conceptual understanding of gender mainstreaming and its

relevance into the working area were given as well during the FGD. The analysis of this

discussion indicates quite interesting reflections in this regard. Once participants started to get a

clearer picture of gender mainstreaming strategy and its relevance into the working area,

suggestions by participants to simplify the concept of mainstreaming into balancing the


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perspective appear to be interesting within the reflections of employee rather than of those

coming from the managerial level. This is an interesting point to assume that to some extent

participants understand the importance of making visible womens and mens perspective into

their working area, but they lack adequate capacity and advisory support.

4. Around 50% of respondents believe that gender perspective in well presented in the

steering documents, 37% believe that there was done good job in this direction but not enough,

while 13% consider that there have been done very little or nothing in including gender

perspective in steering documents. There is no significant difference in gender, age or education

when giving their answers regarding specific gender equality goals.

All respondents that said that their organization included gender equality perspective in the

steering documents were asked to provide further information. The ranging of the answers based

on frequencies is as below:

1.

Internal policies such as code of conduct and recruiting manuals

2. Operational annual plans and strategies

3.

Labor law

Chart 15. Is gender perspective integrated in any of the steering documents (like policies,

annual plans, staff regulations, communication strategies, etc) of your organization?

Despite the fact that a very limited number of participants were able to mention any of the

steering documents within their organization during the FGD as well (see also the quantitative


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analysis above), a great part of them claimed that they had never read them or consulted at least

during their work engagement. A small number of participants (mainly employees) were not even

aware that such documents exist within their organization, and the purpose they serve for.

However, in the cases where participants mention few of the steering documents, it seems that

there is a difficulty to provide a direct link in the sense that to what extent these steering

documents support the implementation of a gender mainstreaming practice. Since the partner

organizations working scope and area is pretty wide, it is comprehended that within their scope of

involvement, there are specific strategies such as communication strategy, strategies to access

community and assess needs of citizens, strategy for monitoring policies and other specific areas,

etc. It is important to mention that there were no examples or initiatives on how to engender15these existing strategies.

5. Only 20% of respondents declared that their organizations have a specific genderpolicy. The majority of respondents respectively 80% either has no information regarding the

existence of such a policy documents or declare that such documents do not exist.

All respondents that said that their organization has a specific gender policy were asked to provide

further information and all answers were only referring to their internal policies, specific part of

manuals.

Chart 16. Does your organization have a specific gender policy?

15To make visible the different impact on or impact of women and men and their genders in a given context. For example,engendering involves the recognition that the gender division of labor and its associated norms, values and ideologies aboutmasculinity and femininity are defined by a complex of power relations which tend to accord to women lesser political voice,social / cultural value, and access to and control over economic resources.


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When asked for the effectiveness of such policy into practical use most of respondents believe it

is very useful for providing steer on implementing activities.

The statistics in the section above indicate quite clearly the circumstances of knowledge,

awareness and the implementation into practicing the gender steering documents, or more

concretely the gender policies within the organization. From the qualitative analysis, it is noticed

that there are participants, although very limited number who are aware of the presence of gender

policies within their organization as documents to promote gender issues internally and externally.

They seem to have a clearer understanding on gender mainstreaming as integral part of their

working area as well. However, the challenges and constrains may be identified at the very

beginning when addressing issues of standard forms, templates, and or methodologies to put into

the practice these gender specific policies. Participants refer this issue mainly to the nature of the

project or project activities, by stressing that there are projects which do not require genderperspective. This fact supports the idea that gender mainstreaming perspective is not well

institutionalized within the organization and again the limited and coherent understanding of the

implication of gender mainstreaming into programs, projects, policies and internal structure of the

organization.

6. Only 40% of respondents declared that within their organization they have an action

plan against sexual harassment, while 60% of respondents either do not have information on the

existence of such a plan or declare that they do not have any plan within their organization

Chart 17. Does your organization have a policy and/or an action plan against sexual

harassment?


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The experience from the FGD reveals that this issue is addressed mainly through general manuals

within the human resources and other related policies, while there is no stand-alone policy which

addresses sexual harassment; rather it is an integral part of other related documents within the

organizational culture.

7. Only 44% of respondents believe that within their organization a sexual harassment in

the workplace would be appropriately addressed even though they declare of not having such a

case within their organization. There is also a significant number of respondents who say that

within their organization the sexual harassment is not addressed.

Chart 18. Does your organization address sexual harassment in the workplace?

Statistics from the questionnaire, but also data from the FGD, indicate that participants of this

research perceive their working environment and interpersonal relations as a very crucial aspect,

followed by a positive climate and mutual respect. They declare that they have never encountered

issues related to harassment and/or any form of abuse or discrimination. Nevertheless, it is worth

mentioning that in the general context, they do not exclude that cases of harassment and/or

discrimination are present generally in the working environments.


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V. CAPACITIES TO PRACTICALLY APPLY GENDER TOOLS

IN THE WORK OF THE ORGANIZATION

1. According to the findings majority of respondents, respectively 96% declare that gender

issues and gender perspective is part of different stages of project design and implementation

Chart 19. How well is gender issues (or gender perspective) integrated in different stages of

project design and implementation?

Data from the FGD tend to show completely different practice in the process of integrating gender

perspective in different stages of the project. The gender dimension of projects organizations isintegrated mainly in two phases: implementation and reporting phase. It is essential to mention

that no adequate strategy, tools or mechanisms are used/put into practice to integrate gender

perspective into the project cycle. Participants assume that the requirement to integrate such

perspective, so far has come mainly from Donors requirements. This is highlighted mainly in the

reporting phase mainly addressed through statistics (disaggregated data by sex) of beneficiaries

involvement into the project activities. In general, in order to assess gender perspective at the

implementation level, three sublevels can be identified: the level of understanding the adequate

need for gender dimension within the project scope; the level of capacity for mechanisms andinstruments put in place through which to facilitate the gender mainstreaming perspective, and the

level of actual implementation of these mechanisms in terms of addressing general and specific

needs and achieving practical result. This situation indicates the lack of tools, mechanisms,


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expertise which of course results in a inadequate manner of putting an emphasize on gender

perspective from the very beginning phase of the project design in order to make this perspective

an integral part of the project cycle and to reflect in an in depth analysis of the implication of

womens and mens perspective as main actors in developmental processes and as its beneficiaries

as well. The other issue worth mentioning with regard to mainstreaming gender into all project

cycle, is the issue that Monitoring and Evaluation are not seen as the indivisible aspects of gender

mainstreaming Plan (M&E). It appears that there is a lack of gender sensitive M&E Plans, and

gender sensitive Targets and Indicators, in order to monitor the progress and the implementation

process from a gender perspective.

2. Majority of respondents, respectively 60% declare of not having any tools for gender

mainstreaming which could be used in their activities

Chart 20. Do you have specific practical methods and tools for gender mainstreaming that

you use in your work?

A significant number of respondents, respectively 40% declare that they do have tools for gender

mainstreaming within their organization. All respondents that said that their organization has tools

for gender mainstreaming were asked to provide further information and all answers were only

referring to their internal policies or specific part of manuals usually related to recruitment

policies.

Quantitative analysis regarding thematic issues on tools and mechanisms to mainstream gender

into organization (internal structure and programmatic issues) indicates that participants


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reflections appear to be very vague, or completely irrelevant. (Refer also to the description of

chart 19 above!). From the participants attitudes, it might be perceived that few of them

(managerial but also employee level) are aware of the presence of gender policies within their

organization as documents to promote gender issues internally and externally but the main

hindrance remains at the fact that they do not use them as tools and mechanisms to implement

these policies. The lack of knowledge on specific methodologies to integrate gender perspective

within the internal structure of the organization and programmatic issues is highlighted.

Participants sometimes seem to have a clearer understanding on gender mainstreaming as

integral part of their working area as well and may have good ideas to address gender perspective.

However, the challenges and constrains may be identified at the very essential phase, when

participants where asked on the know how process of gender mainstreaming in practice.

Participants justify this essential process as an issue mainly depended to the nature of the project

or project activities, emphasizing that there are projects which do not require gender perspective

at all. From the quantitative but also qualitative analysis, it may be concluded that both

perspectives, (managerial and employees), mentioned modalities which they tend to call tools

and mechanisms to mainstream gender within their organization. Among them are mentioned:

communication, training, encouragement for equal employment opportunities, forum discussions

with women, social dialogue as a tool to identify needs, reporting statistics from a gender

perspective, awareness raising activities, etc, as tools and mechanisms through which they tend to

use to address gender mainstreaming and/or gender perspective. This fact supports the idea thatgender mainstreaming perspective is not well institutionalized within the organization; that there

is lack of knowledge and awareness on specific tools and mechanisms to mainstreaming gender;

which brings back to the issue of the limited and coherent understanding of the implication of

gender mainstreaming into programs, projects, policies and internal structure of the organization.

Despite very limited knowledge on adequate tools that participants have mentioned during the

administration of the questionnaire, as tools which they use to mainstream gender, the practice of

the qualitative analysis indicate that gender mainstreaming continues or tends to be perceived as a

strategy which looks only at women issues, solely isolated. The need to explore basic principles of

gender equality, gender mainstreaming and its relevance appear to be crucial in this regard. This

will open doors for insight perspective to consider gender analysis and gender impact assessment

as relevant tools and methods to gender mainstreaming practices as well.


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3. Majority of respondents, respectively 90% declare that within their organization they

apply gender perspective in planning activities

Chart 21. Do you apply a gender perspective in the planning of your activities?

All respondents that said that their organization applies gender perspective in planning activities

were asked to provide further information. The ranging of the answers based on frequencies is as

below:

1.

Making sure that while implementing projects women are included in project as

beneficiaries

2.

Making sure that women are included in project designing by giving their inputs

3. Making sure that women are part of annual planning and designing of strategies

The same practice as mentioned in the quantitative analysis does not appear to be consistent with

qualitative analysis as well. The general belief that there should be a specific person, who deals

alone only with gender issue within the organization, without coordination from all staff members

reveals a lot on the understanding gender mainstreaming perspective as a cross cutting

perspective throughout the project. Very often, practices such the involvement of women in

project designs by giving their inputs, involvement in projects strategies and targeting women

beneficiaries are mentioned as indicators among partner organization to say that they include

gender perspective since the design and planning phase of the project. Although few NGOs tend

to show very good examples on steps they undertake since the design and planning phase,

constrains to institutionalize this practice are visible. Lack of practices of an in depth analysis of


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gender perspective of a certain issue is perceived as well as a disadvantage to use this analysis as

an informative mean and justification for the design and planning phase. In general this shows to

be considered more as an individual will or initiative supported by donors rather than a practice

which should be institutionalized within the organizational culture and driven by managerial

structures.

4. Majority of respondents, respectively 87% declare that within their organization theyapply gender perspective while implementing activities

Chart 22. Do you apply a gender perspective in implementation of your activities?

All respondents that said that their organization applies gender perspective while implementing

activities were asked to provide further information. The ranging of the answers based on

frequencies is as below:

1.

Appoint women as project coordinators or including women as project staff

2. Through gender balanced working groups

3.

Making sure that while implementing projects women are included in project as

beneficiaries

Quantitative data from the analysis of the questionnaire tend to show a huge discrepancy between

participants attitude toward gender mainstreaming and its relevance at work, and the way of how

this concept is translated into their practice (knowledge, tools, mechanisms and needs). The

analysis of the FGD, revealed that participants many often feel that in many cases where gender is


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discussed and has tendencies and / or mandates to get addressed, a lot of NGOs within their area

of involvement (see the paragraph on the background of participant Organization) make efforts

only in putting nice wording (termi

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Pro WO+MAN - Research Report