Capacity Development for Promoting Gender Equality in the Aid Effectiveness Agenda: Lessons from Sub-Regional Consultations in Africa

In the context of discussions on financing for development and aid effectiveness, there has been growing recognition of the importance of integrating gender equality in national dvelopment planning and programming cycles. This has produced greater recognition of the capacity needed by both governments and gender equality advocates to advocate for and successfully integrate gender equality objectives and priorities in national plans, and allocate sufficient resources to achieve them.

To date, few national development plans have strong gender equality elements, while national gender equality action plans have little or no connection to national development strategies. Although national development plans occasionally make reference to national gender equality action plans, the linkages tend to be weak.

A series of African regional and sub-regional consultations on gender equality and aid effectiveness tackled these issues. The consultations brought together representatives from governments, donor partners and civil society to share experiences and explore strategies for advancing gender equality goals in the new aid environment. Drawing on the experiences and insights shared in the consultations, this discussion paper outlines a capacity development strategy for advancing development effectiveness and gender equality in the new aid agenda.