Gender equality programming
in UNICEF’s humanitarian
action
Good practice note
Planning & implementation
Gender equality programming (GEP) approaches are critical to delivering humanitarian results for men, women,
boys and girls.
Gender equality programming is about fostering the equal enjoyment of rights, opportunities, resources and
humanitarian services by girls, boys, women and men. It recognizes that men and boys can also be victims of genderbased discrimination and also that they can be powerful allies in the achievement of gender equality. The human
rights principles of equality, non-discrimination and participation underlie a gender equality approach as do the
humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and ‘do no harm.’ Gender equality is not only a nonnegotiable principle and a core element of UNICEF’s mandate and policy, it is also part of strategic and effective
humanitarian action. When applied in a systemic manner, it can contribute to strengthening equity in emergencies,
and to improving humanitarian outcomes. Gender Equality Programming (GEP) approaches are critical to realizing
the CCCs, and in particular to better meeting the strategic results, commitments and benchmarks therein. They
provide UNICEF staff and partners with a practical set of tools, methods and approaches to maximize the gender
equality of UNICEF’s humanitarian action.
Critical components of gender equality programming in humanitarian action:
Gender Equality Programming involves a combination of gender mainstreaming and targeted action. This includes
considering the distinct impact of all policies and programmes on females and males throughout the programme cycle,
and tailoring efforts to address the distinct needs and priorities of a population group in order to ensure equality of
access and of outcomes. Both approaches are critical to achieving gender equality.
Gender-responsive humanitarian interventions should aim to realize the practical needs (i.e. related to survival) as
well as the strategic interests (i.e. related to a person’s control over resources and decision making power in the
household, community or society) of affected populations. Meeting the practical needs of girls, boys, women and men
is critical in humanitarian situations, especially if living conditions are poor or if populations have been displaced.
While it may not always be possible to address the underlying and root causes of disadvantages among affected
population groups in the early stages of a crisis, interventions should be designed with these in mind to promote equity
and sustainability. While gender equality is a non-negotiable principle of UNICEF’s work, the manner to achieve it is
flexible and can be made context-specific.
Gender Equality Programming can be broken down into distinct components which, when applied together, can
help improve the quality and effectiveness of response. These include:
 Disaggregating population data by sex and age, and carrying out gender-sensitive data collection and
analysis including in needs assessments and performance monitoring.
 Conducting a gender analysis in order to assess the different impact of the crisis on girls, boys, women
and men, and to understand the immediate, underlying and root causes of inequalities.
 Consulting with girls, boys, women and men in all stages of project design, implementation and
monitoring.
 Designing projects that ensure safe and equitable access for different population groups, and address
any obstacles to access; where relevant, targeting responses to those groups most difficult to reach.
 Ensuring women and men participate in response and benefit equally from training, employment,
livelihood, and cash transfer opportunities.
 Addressing risks of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, and ensuring mechanisms are in
place to prevent and respond to sexual violence, exploitation and abuse, including transactional sex and other
protection risks.
UNICEF Office of Emergency Programmes, Humanitarian Policy Section
Step-by-step guidance : Entry points for GEP
There are critical entry points within the sequencing of humanitarian interventions where gender considerations can be
introduced. The steps outlined below are not intended to be prescriptive but rather aim to help humanitarian actors
ensure that the distinct needs and priorities of crisis-affected girls, boys, women and men are identified and addressed
in humanitarian programmes, with the ultimate aim of improving humanitarian outcomes.
1. Gendersenstiive
emergency
preparedness
2. Gender-senstive
humanitarian
assessment
3. Contigency and
emergency
planning with
gender analysis
6. Gendersenstive
humanitarain
monitoring and
review
5. Genderresponsive
humanitarian
programme
implementation
4. Gender-sensitive
humanitarian
programme design
Gender-Standby Capacity Project / Gender Advisors
IASC Gender Advisors (“GenCaps’) are interagency resource personnel that are deployed to humanitarian emergency
settings to facilitate, coordinate and advocate for greater gender equality programming in Humanitarian action. As
GEP is multi-sectoral, the advisors collaborate with multiple actors from all sectors, notably cluster lead agencies as
well as with national governments and affected communities.
GenCaps can assist with the provision of training opportunities, document review, awareness raising and the design of
gender analysis or any other capacity-building service as needed. A GenCap has already been identified and
deployed to the Philippines to support response planning and initial needs assessments.
Gender Marker:
The Gender marker is an IASC tool that aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian projects by
enabling better tracking of gender allocations and promoting more equitable outcomes for women, girls, boys and
men. The Marker is a toll that codes-on a 1-to-2 scale- whether or not projects included in humanitarian appeals are
designed well enough to ensure that women/girls, men/boys will benefit equally from the project or whether projects
will advance gender equality in another way. Many donors will not allocate funding to projects that code low with this
marker, UNICEF aspires that all cluster projects code 2a or above.
Related links and guidance
EMOPS intranet site for Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action
EMOPS Gender in Humanitarian Action Guidance Pamphlet
Global Protection Cluster website
For more information please contact:
Sibi Lawson-Marriott, EMOPS Policy Specialist and focal point for gender equality programming in humanitarian action
Mendy Marsh, Gender Based Violence Specialist
UNICEF Office of Emergency Programmes, Humanitarian Policy Section