Gender

­­­­Gender issues are cross-cutting and relevant to all policy areas on the Policy>Action Network website. This section has been developed to allow for more emphasis on specific policy development processes, particularly policy analysis and implementation. Participation in policy formulation is of particular relevance when looking at gender equity and this is also highlighted here. ­In addition there is a focus on evidence-based policy development.

Policy briefs

• From Evidence to Action: a newsletter of the Policy > Action Network 
  
  Issue 4 of the newsletter focuses on the issue of violent crime in South Africa. The newsletter aims to stimulate debate around evidence-based policy-making. To contribute to future editions plesae send your submissions to pan@hsrc.ac.za­.
  Policy > Action Network, August 2011
• From Evidence to Action: Issue three: Child-centred policy 
  
  Issue Three of the PAN newsletter focuses on the interface between child-centred evidence and related policy. It features a range of resources that illustrate how child-focused data and research evidence can contribute to and inform better outcomes for children when formulating social policy.
  Human Sciences Research Council and the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development, June 2011
• Gender equality in the mathematics and science school curriculum  
  
  This policy brief focuses on the extent to which gender equality policies and interventions impact on teachers’ commitment to MDG3. It investigates South African educators’ perceptions, attitudes and beliefs regarding girls’ access to, participation and success in mathematics and science in high schools.
  Human Sciences Research Council, March 2011
• The gendered dimensions of food security in South Africa: A review of the literature  
  
  This policy brief explores women as a central factor in food security. It investigates the gendered dimensions of hunger and malnutrition in South Africa, in order to foster an understanding of the relations between gender, food insecurity and policy.
  Human Sciences Research Council, March 2011
• Vacancy: Head: Research Use and Impact Assessment (RIA) (Deputy Executive Director) 
  
  The Research Use and Impact (RIA) programme at the HSRC wishes to appoint a suitable candidate to lead the programme. The successful candidate will be based in Pretoria on a 5 year contract. The closing date for applications is 18 November 2011.­­
  Human Sciences Research Council, November 2011
• Women's participation in industrial science, engineering and technology 
  
  Policy brief which argues that while women’s entry into higher education in South Africa over the past decade has increased, they remain under-represented within the science, engineering and technology ­sector.
  Human Sciences Research Council, March 2011

Research reports & papers

• Towards better use of evidence in policy formation: A discussion paper 
  
  A report intended as an initial high-level paper to stimulate discussion amongst New Zealand policy advisors and policy makers.­
  Gluckman, P., May 2011
• Assessing progress in Africa toward the Millennium Development Goals 
  
  Highlights policy innovations including expanded social protection programmes in Africa that are facilitating progress toward at­tainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
  United Nations Development Programme, September 2010
• Citizens' engagement in policymaking and the design of public services 
  
  Citizen participation in policymaking and service design has been debated or attempted, but too infrequently realised. Considers current reform initiatives in the Australian Public Service (APS) and examines the implications of citizen-centric ideals for the processes and structures of government agencies.­
  Australian Public Service (APS), July 2011
• Fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Africa +15  
  
  Reviews delivery of outcomes agreed upon in 2004 in Addis Ababa at the Seventh Africa Regional Conference on Women (Beijing­ +10).
  United Nations Economic Commission for Africa , November 2009
• Implementing the APRM: Views from civil society  
  
  Assembled collaboratively over the past year by several South African civil society organisations (CSOs), this report scrutinises the country’s track record in fighting corruption, managing diversity, addressing xenophobia and racism, managing elections, consolidating democracy and upholding the rule of law, as well as confronting social exclusion and effective service delivery. ­­
  APRM Monitoring Project (AMP), June 2011
• Knowledge, networks and nations: Global scientific collaboration in the 21st century 
  
  Reviews the changing patterns of science, and scientific collaboration, in order to provide a basis for understanding such ongoing changes. Aims to identify the opportunities and benefits of international collaboration, to consider how they can best be realised, and to initiate a debate on how international scientific collaboration can be harnessed to tackle global problems more effectively.
  Royal Society, March 2011
• Local government, gender and integrated development planning, service delivery 
  
  Considers whether national gender policy directives are being incorporated in integrated development programmes.
  Human Sciences Research Council, 2007
• South African CEDAW report: Progress made in the implementation of the Convention for the period 1998 to 2008  
  
  ­Focuses on the implementation of laws and policies which impact on women and the girl child.
  Presidency, May 2009
• South African Development Index (SADI) 
  
  An initiative by the South African Institute of Race Relations which aims to track development trends in South Africa, and will be released on a quarterly basis. ­
  South African Institute of Race Relations, February 2011
• State of the cities report: Towards resilient cities 
  
  Assesses the progress made by South African cities over the last decade in relation to key development outcomes and reviews strategic problems and opportunities relating to planning and management­
  South African Cities Network (SACN), April 2011
• The global financial crisis: Are women more likely to be pushed into chronic poverty? 
  
  Harmful household coping strategies may push many, particularly many women and their dependents, into chronic poverty.
  Chronic Poverty Research Centre, November 2009
• The state of the world's children 2011: Adolescence - an age of opportunity 
  
  Examines the global state of adolescents, outlines the challenges they face in health, education, protection and participation, and argues that investing in them now is our best hope of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity and laying the foundation for a more peaceful, tolerant and equitable world.
  UNICEF, March 2011
• The university in development case studies of use-oriented research 
  
  This analysis provides new understandings of current concepts of 'globalisation', 'use-oriented' research, 'knowledge society and economy', and 'national system of innovation'.
  HSRC Press, November 2011

Case studies

• Call for proposals: To conduct a series of case studies on the policy influence of impact studies 
  
  Call for proposals to conduct a series of case studies to identify factors that contribute to or impede evidence from rigorous impact evaluations to influence policy(deadline is 28 February 2011).
  International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), February 2011
• Gender in the making of the Nigerian university system 
  Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, 2007
• Systematic review database 
  
  ­This database provides policymakers and practitioners with easy access to systematic reviews that examine evidence on the effects of social and economic development interventions in low- and middle-income countries. It draws together systematic reviews from a range of sources and covers all sectors.
  International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), September 2011

Country studies

• Africa Capacity indicators 2011: Capacity development in fragile states 
  
  This report introduces a unique and unprecedented series of data on the state of capacity in Africa. It also examines key issues and challenges confronting in-country and cross-border capacity development.
  African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), February 2011
• Assessing progress in Africa towards the Millennium Development Goals 
  
  The third in a series which discusses what needs to be done further in reaching the MDGs,  an abridged version of a much more comprehensive joint Economic Commission for Africa, African Union Commission, and African Development Bank report.
  United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, February 2009
• World Bank eAtlas of gender 
  
  The new World Bank eAtlas of gender ­allows users to map and graph dozens of gender indicators over time and across countries.­
  World Bank, September 2011

Toolkits & guidelines

• Budgeting for women's rights monitoring government budgets for compliance with CEDAW: A summary guide for policy makers, gender equality and human rights advocates 
  
  ­
  United Nations Development Fund for Women, December 2008
• Call for submissions: Terms of reference for an online course on how to build a policy influence plan 
  
  Call for the development of a course which will improve  organizational capacity to influence public policies in developing countries - deadline 23 January 2011
  Global Development Network (GDNet), January 2011
• Data strategies for policymaking: Identifying international good practice 
  
  Reviews international good practice for using data in policymaking and develops a conceptual framework for characterising and classifying the different elements of a data strategy for public sector orga­nisations.
  RAND Corporation, 2010
• e-Atlas of global development 
  
  A free, online, interactive tool, which maps and graphs more than 175 indicators from the World Bank’s development database.
  World Bank, March 2011
• From Evidence to Action: Issue 6: Evaluating our way to better government performance 
  
  In the final issue of the PAN newsletter for 2011 ­we look at how the evaluation of government programmes can be invaluable in improving performance and service delivery.
  Policy > Action Network, Human Sciences Research Council, December 2011
• From Evidence to Action: P>AN Newsletter 1/2010 
  
  This is the first edition of the Policy > Action Network newsletter, From Evidence to Action, published with support from the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD), a partnership between the Presidency and the Eu­ropean Union.­
  Policy > Action Network, November 2010
• Gender mainstreaming: 10 steps for integrating gender into the policy-making process 
  
  With questions adapted from policymaking guidelines.
  Status of Women Canada, 1998
• Handbook on monitoring, evaluating and managing knowledge for policy influence 
  
  The main purpose of this handbook is to facilitate the investment process of a public research institute in developing a system (from the simplest to the most sophisticated) of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and knowledge management (KM) of the impact of research on public policy.
  CIPPEC, February 2011
• Magenta book 
  
  Sets out the key issues to consider when designing and managing evaluations, and the presentation and interpretation of evaluation results. Describes why thinking about evaluation before and during the policy design phase can help to improve the quality of evaluation results without needing to hinder the policy proce­ss.
  HM Treasury, April 2011
• Managing for development results: A focus on Africa 
  
  A case book aimed at ensuring­ that managers are using evidence to make decisions and development stakeholders are able to keep track of progress.
  African Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results, 2010
• Manual for gender mainstreaming social inclusion and social protection policies 
  
  Supports the implementation of gender equality in policies on social inclusion and social protection.
  European Commission, 2008
• Research as a tool for advocacy 
  
  A presentation outlining approaches to achieving research-based­ policies.
  Institute for Security Studies (ISS), 2010
• Sound expectations: From impact evaluations to policy change 
  
  A conceptual framework to be used in the production of case studies which identify factors that help or hinder rigorous impact evaluations from influencing policy.
  International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), April 2011
• Tools and resources 
  
  Aims to provide analytical tools and resources to assist analysts and managers with policy development or service-planning projects.
  Population and Sustainable Development, New Zealand, March 2011

Conference & seminar papers

• Formulating a gender policy  
  
  ­­­A presentation with recomme­ndations on formulating a gender policy.
  Caribbean Water Iniatitive, June 2007
• Gender equity in South African education 1994 - 2004: conference proceedings 
  
  Explores research and social action dimensions related to gender equity in education.
  Human Sciences Research Council, 2005
• Presentation: Evaluation as a key source of evidence for policy-making 
  
  Presentation from a seminar which reviewed evidence-based policy-making and the potential role of evaluation as a key, and a systematic, source of evidence. Presented by Dr Ian Goldman, Deputy Director General, Evaluation and Research, DPME,­ The Presidency.­
  Goldman, I., January 2012
• Producing knowledge syntheses that are both rigorous and relevant to policy makers 
  
  Workshop report where participants were enabled to apply a knowledge synthesis ­method including: choosing a relevant policy for study, analysing it, performing a literature review (in a way that differs from literature reviews on simple interventions) and organising deliberative processes.
  National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy, June 2011
• Public policy: Why ethics matters 
  
  Essays based on a conference which aimed to ­encourage and facilitate debate about the ethical basis for policy making.
  Australian National University, October 2010
• The country we want to live in: Hate crimes and homophobia in the lives of black lesbian South Africans 
  
  C­aptures key aspects of a roundtable discussion and makes recommendations that have relevance for research, policy and practice.
  Human Sciences Research Council, September 2010

Advocacy initiatives

• 365 National action plan to end violence against women and children 
  
  Established in May 2006 when civil society organisations and government representatives met to draft a National Action to End Gender Violence, and adopted the Kopanong Declaration.
  May 2006
• African Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results 
  
  A community of over 1,000 practitioners managing for development results (MfDR) from 37 different African countries and regions across the world.
  March 2011
• From Evidence to Action: the Policy > Action Network newsletter 
  
  Download the second issue of the Policy > Action Network newsletter and email pan@hsrc.ac.za if you would like to make comments or submissions for the next issue.
  Human Sciences Research Council, February 2011
• IPC-IG Internship Programme  
  
  This internship offers outstanding graduate-level students the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to IPC-IG’s work as a global forum for policy dialogue and South-South learning on development innovations.
  International Poverty Centre, January 2011
• National Planning Commission (NPC) Jam 
  
  If you have some ideas on building a better South Africa, please register for and participate in the National Planning Commission (NPC)­ Jam (an online brainstorming event from noon on 28 September until noon on 1 October). Additional information can also be found here. ­
  National Planning Commission (NPC) , September 2011
• Online training: How to build a policy influence plan 
  
  CIPPEC, a leading think tank in Argentina will award 12 scholarships to participate in the third edition of this online training programme developed jointly with Global Development Network (GDN)­ which will start by the end of August 2011.­
  
  CIPPEC, August 2011
• September National Imbizo 
  
  A new Facebook forum for a national citizens' dialogue, currently working against xenophobia and planning for ­a National Indaba in September 2010.
  July 2010
• Women'sNet 
  
  Works to advance gender equality and justice ­through the use of information and communication technologies, repository of ­info­rmation on gender advocacy.
  2009