This Gender Mainstreaming Policy and Strategy is a multilateral document aiming at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in all NBI policies, strategies, processes, programs and projects through capacity building, rationalization and harmonization, research, resource mobilization, partnership development and advocacy. The main goal of the Policy is to achieve gender equity as an integral part of NBI’s socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability goals in terms of access, control and use of water resources, enjoyment of rights, availability of opportunities and decision making. The overall objective is to establish mechanisms to eliminate all gender disparities in NBI and the specific objectives are (i) to enhance efficiency and sustainability in transboundary water resources management through a gender perspective; (ii) to ensure that NBI creates a gender-sensitive working environment and equal employment opportunities; (iii) to ensure that NBI Staff is capacitated to mainstream gender considerations in their daily work; (iv) to promote organizational policies and practices that meet the specific needs of all women and men; (v) to build the principles of equal employment opportunities; (vi) to strengthen gender mainstreaming interventions at the NBI institutional/organizational level; (vii) to garner support for political will for gender-focused decision making; (viii) to enhance gender responsive actions in the management of Nile water resources; (ix) to develop empowering approaches that facilitate gender-focused planning, implementation and monitoring of actions in sustainable management of the environmental and water-related resources of the Nile Basin; (x) to enhance gender responsive actions in climate change, climate variability, and energy related interventions. A gender-responsive approach will be developed through programs and pilot projects for equal access to water for productive purposes. Gender policy shall be included in the environmental protection issues by supporting a gender-responsive policy, and legislative and administrative framework for activities in water resource management and development. The document is fully focused on the creation of more inclusive growth that, in particular, shall provide for (i) women's participation in decision-making positions in water resource management and development; (ii) an in-depth analysis to identify specific areas of focus, and types of interventions required to address the identified gender gaps in the water sector; (iii) the development of gender-sensitive human resources and gender-responsive budgets; (iv) the engagement of children in educational gender activities; (v) the promotion of a Gender Management Information System. As for Governance, the implementation of the NBI Gender mainstreaming policy and strategy will be done at four levels: Level 1 will involve the creation of regional Gender Task Force working group comprising all thematic focal points; Level 2 will involve the strengthening of the Gender coordinating point; Level 3 will involve the creation of and capacity building for departmental Gender focal points; Level 4 will ensure collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on gender outcomes in NBI to determine progress on implementation.
2012-07-01