What does Gender Mainstreaming really mean?
Gender mainstreaming is an often-used phrase, particularly in donor and international communities. It involves assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, with gender equality the ultimate goal. However, it is frequently misunderstood or ignored in practice. DFID has recognised the role of gender in its new Research Strategy, and specifically addresses it through one of its series of papers published alongside the strategy, presenting the case for mainstreaming gender analysis in DFID-funded research. The Siyanda website hosted by BRIDGE, the gender and development research and information service, is now set up to take information on mainstreaming to a new level, supporting researchers and other experts, whether they are gender specialists or not. A new issue of the Siyanda newsletter specifically focuses on mainstreaming issues, giving a selection of resources from their database alongside short summaries of the work.
