CANADA NEPAL GENDER IN ORGANIZATIONS

Section II: NGO Capacity building for gender equality

8. Building Skills and Knowledge

| Conference |

8.3. Linkages

Linkage building, understood as “making connections”, was constantly reinforced through the capacity building process to ensure understanding and skills to make effective relationships for gender equality. One of the first workshops at baseline was to map the PNGO’s current linkages on a Venn diagram, including the who, why, how frequently, achievements. Then the participants were facilitated to come to a common understanding of the importance of gender-sensitive linkages for NGO sustainability and gender equality advocacy as a GRO. Linkages had to benefit both women and men, or not benefit one sex at the expense of the other. Affirmative action was needed to ensure that women, who started from a disadvantaged position relative to men, were able to benefit.

A core training curriculum module focused on linkage building skills. Workshops were held regularly to strengthen these skills. With guidance from CNGO, PNGOs then developed their linkage plan for their own district. As PNGOs implemented these plans, with the ongoing support and coaching of CNGO staff, they began to learn about the benefits of sharing information and developing relationships.

When the CNGO team met with the district stakeholders (for example, district government staff and INGO staff), PNGO members were usually included to ensure relationship building was fostered. This was first, a learn-by-observation approach, then mentoring to build skills and confidence. These steps fostered their growth as a GRO. Women were especially encouraged to be active in linkage building as they were often less experienced than the men in the PNGO.

Other project initiatives, such as gender conferences, gender allies and the district partnership program (discussed later in this paper) were designed to build on the linkage skills developed and lead to more substantial and sustainable relationships (for example, relationships that go beyond information sharing to actual collaboration on initiatives).

A sample linkage plan is included in Reference #6 of Section 6.

8.4. Conferences

A national level conference was held with participants from all PNGOs to network and build relationships among the PNGOs and with national gender experts, and to deepen skills and knowledge on gender concepts and specialized topics.

National conference - CNGO consulted with PNGOs on appropriate topics for the conference sessions to bridge knowledge gaps and to share experiences. With these topics, sessions were planned over five days. Gender experts were invited to present and facilitate the sessions and to network with PNGO members. Ten members (women and men) from each PNGO attended, so that each PNGO was represented at all sessions. Sessions were intended to motivate PNGOs to develop and implement action plans on issues they identified, such as developing a gender pressure group or tackling issues of gender discrimination and violence.

District conferences – The two PNGOs per district organized a district-wide gender conference two years later. The purpose was to network the PNGOs within their district and build their reputation as gender equality catalysts. In addition, the conferences helped build gender awareness within the district, supporting a demand for GRO services. CNGO coordinators provided advice. Bringing together different district stakeholders such as government officials, NGOs, and community participants resulted in broadening the number of people learning about gender equality, and created a forum for issues to be openly discussed such as chhaupadi, domestic violence and witch craft.

National Conference Report available from CNGO. District conference reports available from PNGOs.