Back to the Basics: How do I Apply a Gender Perspective to My Work?

If your boss hands you the latest brief on food security, police reform, or democratic elections, and then asks you to apply a gender perspective to the brief—here’s some help!

A simple tool you can use to apply a gender perspective to whatever policy brief, background document, or proposal you are reviewing is to create a chart that helps you identify what gender information you do and do not have.

Create the following table or print out this PDF.

Now read your brief, paper, or what-have-you and fill in your chart.

You will soon see what information you have about the men, women, boys and girls affected by your policy brief, paper, or proposal.  And you will see what you need to discover more about.

Knowing how men, women, boys and girls are affected by your strategy for food security, police reform, or democratic elections will yield more effective results.

That’s applying a gender perspective!