IOB - Gender sense & sensitivity - Policy evaluation on women's rights and gender equality (2007-2014)

This policy evaluation of the Dutch international gender policy covers the period 2007-2014. One of the key foundations of this policy has been the principle of equal rights for women and men. Nevertheless, the evaluation found that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has struggled with mainstreaming this principle into foreign and development aid policies and putting it into reality. Moreover, information on the results is limited.

Enlarge image IOB – Gender sense & sensitivity
IOB – Gender sense & sensitivity

The report calls for increasing gender sensitivity, for analysing women's specific constraints, needs and priorities and for coming up with relevant solutions and interventions. It underlines the importance of a long-term commitment to gender equality coupled with a sensible dose of realism on what effectively can be accomplished.

In addition to this policy evaluation, separate reports have been published about the Dutch National Action Plans to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (IOB evaluation # 399) and about the MDG3 Fund (IOB evaluation # 401). These reports, together with the literature review of the thematic premises underlying the Dutch policy for women's rights and gender equality (IOB study # 403), have provided important inputs for the policy evaluation.