24-06-2018, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia): The Gender Unit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) today concluded a three-day training workshop on Gender & Development for staff that has not been given the opportunity to acquire the basic knowledge to utilize the IGAD existing technical documents to mainstream gender in their day-to-day activities.
About 40 staff members drawn mainly from the Administration and Finance Division of the regional organisation’s Secretariat participated in this workshop in Addis Ababa.
The main objective of the training workshop was to improve gender responsiveness of IGAD programs, policies and administrative practices with the following more specific objectives:
- To increase knowledge and awareness among IGAD staff about gender concepts and how they relate to their work;
- To equip participants with basic skills of conducting gender analysis; and
- To equip staff with basic skills on how to address gender issues in their work.
The Director of Peace & Security Division, Amb Tewolde Gebremeskel, highlighted that promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment was not “only a matter of normative value but an intrinsic and integral pre-requisite for socio-economic transformation and sustainable development”.
“In order to mainstream gender in IGAD’s programs and activities, staff requires to have the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to analyze gender perspectives in their programs/activities, identify gender issues and design accordingly”, he added.
Amb Tewolde announced that IGAD Secretariat will launch “three Institutional Technical Gender documents for utilization to mainstream gender in our day-to-day activities” in July this year.
The expected results/outcomes of the training are:
- Basic terms and concepts of gender and development issues understood and internalized by participants;
- Improved knowledge on gender and development issues among participants; and
- Capacity of staff to identify and address gender issues in their work enhanced.
Background
Gender mainstreaming training workshops were conducted in September 2010, April 2013, October 2014 and December 2017. A total of 105 core staff from the Secretariat and Specialized Offices was equipped with basic knowledge about gender mainstreaming concepts and practices.
Moreover, sector specific gender mainstreaming training workshops were held for Agriculture and Environment Division (AED) in December 2015, Economic Cooperation and Social Development (ECSD) in June 2016 and Peace and Security Division in May 2018 and a total of 54 core staff were trained. The workshop of AED and that of ECSD also included 27 participants from relevant Ministries/Departments/Agencies from Member States.
