Capacity Development of State Facilitators on Integrating Gender Issues and Concerns in District Planning in three states (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha)

The project focuses on building capacities of government functionaries and elected representatives to address gender concerns and issues related to women’s empowerment and development through engendered district planning.
This project will contribute to the development of capacities of government functionaries and elected representatives towards engendering district planning and programme implementation. This process of ‘engendering’ will seek to ensure that budget allocations and activities in district plans across different departments, schemes and programmes suitably address gender concerns and issues of women’s empowerment. The process of engendering of individuals and consequently of institutions will also be effective in raising awareness on the extent and scale of gender discrimination in society and ways to address the same in inclusive, meaningful, non-threatening and holistic ways.

Objectives and Outputs
• Facilitating gender sensitisation orientation programmes for participating officials and elected representatives towards an interpretation and analysis of the gendered impacts of existing planning
• Developing teams of facilitators competent in gender inclusive planning, gender responsive budgeting and gender mainstreaming in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha
• Providing hands-on support and guidance to these facilitators in the context of gender sensitivity and inclusion in planning processes and engendered outputs at the ground level
• Support in developing engendered plans and implementation processes as well as mechanisms for monitoring and assessment to both highlight achievements and assess gaps that need further redressal
• Assisting in replication of gender planning and mainstreaming processes across districts within and beyond the States covered under the project
• Improve functioning of line departments from a gender perspective.
• Develop a check list of gender based indicators that are to be used in planning, monitoring and assessment of all programmes and activities.
• Training Needs Assessment Study to understand the capacity building needs required to address the gaps between in engendered planning and implementation of gender inclusive district planning. The findings of the TNA will be utilised for development of training module and handbook for the facilitators.
• Develop a specific capacity building programme that considers inculcating gender sensitive thinking and transformation of attitudes and approaches of key stakeholders responsible for planning, implementation and delivery of services. It is envisaged that such a programme will not only create a positive environment for individuals to view gender as a collective but provide an opportunity to examine their own personal views from a more engendered perspective. More importantly, it will help participants understand how stereotypical gendered views creates a negative impact on their programmes and can fail to produce the desired and intended results.

Specific Target Groups  
Women in general and particularly belonging to marginalised and impoverished communities would be the beneficiaries of the project as a result of improved gender sensitivity and inclusion in planning processes and engendered outputs at the ground level.

Geographical Spread 
Tikamgarh and Mandla districts in Madhya Pradesh
Kanker and JanjgirChampa districts in Chhattisgarh 
Sundargarh and Ganjam in Odisha

Key Deliverables 
• Training Needs Assessment
• Preparation of a Training of Trainer manual
• Handholding support in developing strategies for gender planning and mainstreaming in district planning

Year/Period 
10  October 2014 – 10 April 2015

Client
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (under the GOI-UNDP Project-Strengthening Capacities for Decentralized Planning)