Quality

On the quality of tools within the framework of Gender Mainstreaming

The quality of the tools for the implementation of Gender Mainstreaming is in the final analysis a factor in deciding the quality of the entire implementation process. Good tools can be identified from the way in which they comply with certain quality standards in terms of content and form.

If you have tools for Gender Mainstreaming, quality standards enable you to assess them in an expert way.

Good tools for Gender Mainstreaming from the point of view of content:

• clearly integrate and formulate the aim of gender equality, including any sub-objectives,
• do not equate “gender” with “men” and “women” as stereotypes, but thematize more far-reaching categories that structure individual lives such as origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation,
• are characterized by a clear addressing of the persons applying them,
• are tailored to the respective actor, taking into account her or his working context, responsibilities, interests and prior experience
• are tailored as closely as possible to the policy field and, optimally, also to the subject area,
• identify need for information and action such as gaps in the state of research and in data.
• require as a rule differentiated answers to test questions to effect sustainability in relation to the subject, the organization and the system,
• can be adapted flexibly to fit possible changes in working processes,
• enable the integration of new findings in gender research
• use only examples which have been carefully selected, serve as illustrations and offer impulses for implementation in people’s specific work situation.

Good tools for Gender Mainstreaming from the point of view of form:

• are worded to do justice to gender, in order to represent people equally in their diversity and not in a stereotyping way,
• define terms such as “gender” and “gender equality” in a way that can be understood and use them in a uniform way,
• are clearly structured and are consistent in terms of content and form,
• present content in an effective manner,
• are geared to daily work routines, in order in the long term to facilitate specialist work that is thoroughly oriented to gender equality.

In summary, the following quality criteria should be noted:

Content	Form
gender equality not an “extra” but integrated (as cross-sectional task) no treatment of gender as something banal clear targeting actor-related related to the policy field or subject area practicability sustainability openness to development and optimizability	language that does justice to gender uniform and understandable use of language referring to ‘gender’ and ‘gender equality’ consistency and effectiveness of form and content binding nature orientation to existing work routine