PRIA’s
vision of a desirable world is where
relations across individuals, families,
communities and nations are characterised
by equity and justice. Besides socio-economic
equity, PRIA believes in gender
justice as a cornerstone of such
relations. PRIA's mission directs
it to work towards promotion of
policies, institutions and capacities
that strengthen the voice and participation
of the poor and the marginalised
in improving their socio-economic
status through democratic governance
in society. This is achieved through
three broad strategies- capacity
building, policy advocacy and knowledge
building, which operate in an integrated
and interlinked manner.
PRIA’s
analysis of the existing situation
of discrimination in society provides
the basis for identifying the poor
and marginalised, especially women.
It believes that gender discrimination
necessitates focusing upon changing
women’s roles and status,
as agents and leaders of change.One
of PRIA's core values is therefore
to mainstream gender justice and
equality through analysis of and
action on the surrounding social
realities.This core value is integral
to PRIA's vision and informs the
organisation's interventions, into
it's own policies, systems, structures,
programme priorities and plans.
Gender
mainstreaming in the institutional
development of PRIA has become an
explicit Governing Board Policy,
which is driven by PRIA’s
long-standing concern about gender
equity at the workplace. Recognising
these events and adhering to its
commitment to gender-justice, PRIA
formed a Committee against Sexual
Harassment (CASH) in December 1998.
The decision to form a CASH was
also in response to the Supreme
Court guidelines passed two years
prior, in 2001, which mandated such
a committee be formed by all Indian
organisations.It eventually evolved
into the Committee on Gender Awareness
and Mainstreaming in PRIA (CGAMP).
The Committee has a well defined
Terms of Reference which act as
guidelines to its functioning.
PRIA’s
commitment to gender-justice and
equity works and can be defined
at two levels– institutional
and programmatic. This includes
initiating gender mainstreaming
within RSOs and partners.
(a)
Institutional Level:
Staff
Polices:
All
staff policies, service
rules and regulations of
the organisation shall be
gender sensitive. Periodic
reviews of the same would
be done through a gender
lens to ensure that gender
sensitivity is maintained.
These policies would be
in line with the government
provisions.
Recruitment
& Induction:
All
interviews for staff recruitment
in the organisation will
have women represented on
the interview panel. PRIA
will have a gender sensitive
recruitment policy where
preference would be given
to women candidates in appointments.
All
new staff members joining
the organisation shall be
oriented to PRIA’s
gender policy and the role
and functions of CGAMP within
the organisation.
Performance
Reviews:
All
performance review forms
of individuals by self or
supervisors/peers/subordinates
will have indicators to
assess gender sensitivity
in the overall performance.
PRIA
will be committed to creating
and promoting a gender sensitive
work environment within
the organisation and its
various branches/field offices.
Towards achieving this goal,
it would organise regular
workshops/seminars and exposure
to a variety of other inputs.
All PRIA organised events/programmes,
both internal and external,
will have a gender component
and address gender specific
needs of the participants.
Sexual
Harassment:
Through
CGAMP, PRIA will also address
complaints relating to sexual
harassment made by staff
members, guests, and participants
to workshops etc. The organisation
shall be responsible to
set up structures where
staff members may feel free
to seek redressal of their
complaints.
Documentation
of Processes and Dissemination:
PRIA
will also ensure a detailed
documentation of all the
processes related to the
activities on the issue
of gender within the organisation.
These will be accessible
to all those who wish to
use the same to promote
and strengthen gender equality
within their work spheres.
These will be reported in
the PRIA Newsletter and
Website regularly.
(b)
Programmatic level:
PRIA
will set up systems to ensure
that gender equity forms
an essential element of
all project planning, implementation
and monitoring with specific
indicators to measure the
progress that has taken
place with respect to the
same. All reports and evaluations
will also include a specific
focus on the gender component.
Similar interventions will
be ensured with RSOs and
partners in order that their
own programmatic interventions
(those in collaboration
with PRIA) are gender just
and equitable. Gender audits
and gender analysis will
form a part of PRIA’s
gender mainstreaming efforts.
In
an attempt to focus on,
address and integrate issues
of gender equity within
the organisation the CGAMP
will play a key role in
the mainstreaming of gender
within the organisation.
The
basic principles to be followed
in mainstreaming gender
will be:
The
establishment of adequate
accountability mechanisms
for monitoring of progress
within the institution as
well as programmatically.
The
identification of issues
and problems within the
organisation should focus
on the gender differences
and disparities wherever
they exist.
