The objective of this project was to help the Government to increase women’s participation in political decision making and improved gender mainstreaming in policies and programs at the regional level. This project directly addressed the third Millennium Development Goal to reduce gender disparities and promote gender equality and empowerment through gender-sensitive programs and projects at the district level, including conducting training and workshops. The project developed the capacity of potential female representatives and female representatives of local governments to perform more effectively and improved the gender sensitivity of local government laws and regulations.
The three outputs of this assignment included (1) increasing the capacity of women as present members or future candidates of Local Representative Bodies (LBRs) to influence political decision making, (2) increasing the capacity of district administrations to mainstream gender concerns into design and monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects, (3) the preparation of a national action plan which specified approaches, targets, and resources needed to support gender mainstreaming into regional policies, programs, and projects. Osana supported the Women’s Empowerment Divisions (WEDs) by preparing an inventory of women and future candidates of LRBs, identifying best practices for women in politics, prepared training materials on women in politics, prepared and conducted training programs for WEDs and districts to develop mechanisms for community participation in planning and development decision-making processes, prepared a gender analysis of the local budgets, provided recommendations to institutionalize gender-responsive budgeting, prepared recommendations on how to mainstream gender in programs, and consulted with stakeholders regarding the national action plan.
