Established in 1999 , the IGAD Gender Department mandate is to ensure mainstreaming of gender equality and equity into priority projects and programs. It also supports member states to have harmonized gender policies and thereby realize gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment is underscored as a critical imperative for fostering resilience, regional integration and peace for sustainable development in the region. To this end, gender is identified as one of the priority cross-cutting policy themes to be mainstreamed in all institutional instruments, programmes and undertakings at all levels. In effect, all IGAD programmes and projects should address gender equality and women’s empowerment through design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation alongside specifically targeted interventions to address critical gender issues in the region within the framework of IGAD’s mandate and service delivery mechanisms.
