Mid-term Review of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Gender Equality Strategy 2019-2023

"Increasing women's agency and empowering women with skills and resources will have a legacy and bring broader positive impacts in communities beyond polio eradication."

Gender norms, roles, and relations - and gender equality - are integral factors influencing global polio eradication efforts. Since 2019, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Gender Equality Strategy 2019-2023 has provided guidance on gender mainstreaming in GPEI interventions and institutional structures, with 4 objectives: (i) to promote the integration of a gender perspective into polio programming, interventions, and structures; (ii) to support countries in addressing gender-related barriers and opportunities to polio vaccination and surveillance; (iii) to increase women's meaningful participation and agency at the different levels of the polio programme; and (iv) to create more gender-equitable institutional culture and environments. In August-September 2022, the GPEI conducted a midterm evaluation of the Gender Equality Strategy to assess progress achieved against its 4 objectives, identify existing challenges, and guide potential adjustments for the GPEI while reinforcing promising initiatives.

The assessment drew on mixed methods, including 30 key informant interviews, an online survey of 102 respondents, and a desk review of key GPEI publications and gender parity figures in GPEI organisations and advisory bodies.

The survey results and key informant interviews indicate that, in general, GPEI staff consider gender issues to be important in their work and for the polio eradication programme overall. Many GPEI staff indicated strong motivation and appetite for integrating gender into their work, while highlighting the need for further technical support and training in this area, with a focus on operationalising the Gender Equality Strategy into actionable and concrete plans at the country level.

The evaluation found that the GPEI has made steady progress towards achieving most of the objectives set out in the Gender Equality Strategy, taking decisive steps to move from gender-blind programming to being more intentionally gender responsive. For instance, the GPEI is on track to meet objectives i (example: Gender Data Working Group launched and gender analysis for Afghanistan and Pakistan conducted) and ii (example: initiatives to engage women frontline workers and country-level capacity building implemented). The GPEI has also achieved progress, albeit still rather limited, on objective iv, especially in terms of its increased focus and commitment to tackling sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH). The GPEI is currently not on track in reaching objective 3 to increase women's meaningful participation at the different levels of the polio programme to work towards greater gender parity across the partnership, including at the management and leadership levels. The GPEI has not achieved progress towards gender parity since the adoption of the Gender Equality Strategy, especially at the management level and in advisory bodies that continue to be largely led by men. Taking concrete steps to increase the meaningful and equal participation of women at all levels, including as programme beneficiaries and those working at the forefront, remains critical.

To date, the GPEI has relied heavily on individual, motivated volunteers to actively push for progress on the gender agenda. The evaluation found that, while this approach has generated some results, further concerted effort is required in order to achieve the desired level of gender mainstreaming. Some of the specific areas noted as needing further improvement include:

• Based on the analysis of current personnel figures, there is minimal progress towards gender parity, especially at the management level. The evaluation suggests actions to increase women's meaningful participation at the different levels of the polio programme and to work towards gender parity across the partnership.
• Taking concrete steps to increase the meaningful and equal participation of women as workers at the forefront, including as vaccinators, social mobilisers, and surveillance officers, at all levels remains critical.

Overall, the evaluation finds that strengthening meaningful and results-driven gender mainstreaming across the partnership requires dedicated gender expertise, scaled-up resources, and greater capacity on gender, as well as ownership by all staff at different levels, especially at the management and leadership levels. Thus, there is a continued need to further institutionalise gender mainstreaming across the partnership and to ensure wider ownership and accountability of staff, especially managers and leadership.

Steps to strengthen gender mainstreaming will include focusing on gender data, conducting context-specific gender analyses, integrating gender into key GPEI documents, establishing more robust gender architecture and capacity by hiring gender experts and consultants, ensuring continued coordination of the Gender Mainstreaming Group, dedicating budgets to gender work, and establishing a gender focal point system and investing in training staff, including GPEI leadership, on gender issues.

Specifically, the report concludes with key recommendations for GPEI partners arising out of the mid-term review, divided into sections in line with the 4 GPEI Gender Equality Strategy objectives. Here are some examples:

• To strengthen gender-responsive programming (Strategy objectives i and ii) - 3 examples include: continue to strengthen efforts to meaningfully engage with frontline workers (FLWs), especially women, to identify challenges and barriers and appropriate solutions through participatory approaches (for example, building on lessons learned from the ongoing Pakistan FLW Co-Design Initiative); actively highlight and communicate on gender-related aspects of the programme to staff, partners, and external audiences, shedding light on the concrete results and impact achieved on the ground - focusing for example on the links between gender-related efforts and closing surveillance gaps, reaching communities and zero dose children, and empowering women/increasing women's agency; and explore ways in which social and behaviour change (SBC)/communication for development (C4D) and communication materials and activities could move towards being more gender-transformative - for example, by tackling harmful gender stereotypes, norms, and roles, portraying women in leadership positions and highlighting their agency, and encouraging men's participation in caregiving work.
• To increase women's meaningful participation at all levels (Strategy objective iii) - 3 examples include: commit to advocating with host governments in official meetings on increasing women's participation in the programme, including as vaccinators, social mobilisers, and surveillance officers/focal points; increase the participation of communities and programme beneficiaries in programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E), fostering partnerships with women's groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs); and offer dedicated training and capacity building to FLWs, especially women, on topics such as digital literacy or other areas identified together with FLWs, to support their career prospects post-eradication and beyond polio.
• To build an enabling organisational culture and strengthen gender architecture and leadership commitment (Strategy objective iv) - 3 examples include: ensure leadership actively promotes and enables gender integration, gender equality, diversity and inclusion, with accountability mechanisms such as including gender-related considerations in their performance evaluations; focus on participatory training approaches and highlighting the link between polio eradication and advancing gender equality by providing supporting evidence, stories, and case studies on the results achieved by addressing gender barriers and increasing women's participation; and establish effective community-level reporting mechanisms and ensuring support for survivors/victims of abuse and exploitation.

The GPEI Polio Oversight Board took note of the mid-evaluation report during their October 18 2022 meeting in Berlin, Germany, and agreed to extend the GPEI Gender Strategy until 2026 to align with the Eradication Strategy, 2022-2026.