Gender Analysis for Strategic Programming (GASP)
How To Use This Document
This document can be used in a variety of different ways:
• As a guide for a complete introductory 2-day training session for mid level field staff
• As a series of shorter sessions or modules of 1hr to ½ day or 1 day, depending on staff needs. In these cases, trainers can select the sessions to use based on the objectives outlined at the beginning of each session.
• As a building block for longer gender analysis trainings of 3 to 5 days
Intended Audience for this Training
This training is aimed at field level staff and/or managers who are not gender specialists with some previous knowledge of gender and gender issues.
Throughout the module, the author has used blue asterisks and italicized text to indicate alternative versions of activities to use with more advanced group of participants.
NOTE – Participants interested in how to use GA at the policy, strategy or headquarters level and/or participants with very advanced levels of knowledge or experience related to gender should attend a more advanced version of GA training.
Approach Used to Design this Training
The focus of this training is on providing:
1. Practical information that non-gender-specialist staff can easily assimilate and apply in their day-to-day work; and
2. Opportunities for practice.
This means that this version of the GASP does not spend much time on specific tools, frameworks and guidelines but, instead, focuses on helping participants explore and understand underlying GA logic. This is done through the “Core Areas of Inquiry” and working through different ways they can be applied with the populations ACF works with.
Training Objectives
The complete 2-day training outlined in this Facilitation Module will:
1. Introduce participants to the basic theories underlying gender analysis in ACF;
2. Introduce participants to some of the key frameworks and tools needed to conduct gender analysis;
3. Provide participants with the opportunity to develop and practice some of the skills they need to implement and/or manage a gender analysis as part of ACF field activities.
When designing shorter trainings or using specific sessions, trainers can select which sessions to use based on the specific learning objectives for each session (ie. Basic personal exploration session 1.1-1.3; understanding gender issues for ACF sessions 1.3-1.5, etc.)
Methodology
• Each session in this training should be interactive and participatory – it is not a classroom full of students but rather adult professionals who all have varying levels of knowledge and experience to bring to the room. The design of the training will allow them to incorporate new knowledge and information into that framework, and they should feel free to ask questions and ensure their own understanding.
• All of the training sessions are designed to accommodate the different learning styles of the participants, including a balance of theoretical foundation and practical interaction with tools and information.
• This process should be fun for participants (and facilitators); a variety of different activities is included to ensure the training remains interesting and engaging, and
• Continual feedback from participants is necessary to ensure that participants’ learning needs are being met; daily evaluations will help with this but facilitators should encourage participants to voice any concerns and/or questions at any time throughout the training. The training uses various techniques – such as the “Parking Lot” to do this.
