After decades of war, gender equity is a vital issue that must be addressed by every development initiative in Afghanistan. Counterpart believes that successful reconstruction depends on the participation and contribution of all members of society. Gender equity is not limited to women’s empowerment; in order to create a sustainable environment of equity the entire community must be involved in the process.

The Gender and Development (GAD) approach to development interventions aims to ensure an equitable distribution of opportunities, resources and benefits to both women and men in different population groups. This approach looks at the root causes of gender inequity, addresses strategic needs for women and men, and helps project planners to identify important social differences in female and male roles and responsibilities. This, in turn, leads to the development of more effective programs and projects.

The I-PACS Gender Team has built the capacity of partners, grassroots CSOs, and Afghan government offices to understand and implement development activities through a GAD approach.

In order to guide and ensure the efficacy and acceptability of our efforts to integrate gender equity principles into all program activities, including those of our partner organizations, Counterpart developed a Gender Mainstreaming Strategy, as well as additional documents and tools to assist Counterpart and its partners in implementing a gender-mainstreamed program.

Through the Gender Team, Counterpart has fully internalized a gender equitable approach, achieving the following outcomes and impacts:

Gender Capacity Building

• Counterpart has trained 89 individuals (59 male and 30 female) in Gender Awareness and Gender Analysis.
• Counterpart’s Gender Team provides constant technical assistance to partners on mainstreaming gender in their organizations and activities. Assistance ranges from mainstreaming gender equity into organizational policies to providing strategies for increased women’s involvement in development activities.
• Counterpart’s Gender Team provides gender mainstreaming technical assistance to non I-PACS CSOs and to various ministries including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

Engendering Grants

• I-PACS allocated 56% of its grants to women-led and/or women-focused projects.
• Counterpart also ensures that all grants address the needs and issues of women and men in the community and promote gender equity for both sexes at the design, implementation and evaluation stages.

Research and Publications

The research document, Women’s Groups in Afghan Civil Society: Women and Men Working Towards Equitable Participation in Civil Society Organizations, investigates the formation and power structures of women’s and men’s organizations at the grassroots level and explores ways that these organizations can be more effective in the future.

The Outreach to Afghan Women Guide is an easily accessible and comprehensive tool for reaching women in communities through practical, contextualized advice. The guide, which has been distributed to the I-PACS partners, other CSOs, donors, Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and government ministries, has received wide acclaim.

Download: Gender Mainstreaming Guide

Download: Outreach to Afghan Women Guide

Download: Women's Groups in Afghan Civil Society (English)

Download: Executive Summary of Women's Groups in Afghan Civil Society (Dari and Pashto)