Tool 5.1a Analyzing services from a gender perspective

Why use this tool?

One of the most important gaps in service delivery is related to gender. Often the lack of use of services by women is awarded to their lack of interest: “women are not interested in technical training” and so on. Rarely service providers and producer associations try to understand the causes why women are not accessing their services.  

This tool gives new insight and inputs to service providers and economic associations for the design of products and services assuring gender equality and women empowerment. At the same time, it can be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their services from a gender perspective.

What do you gain from using it?

• Insight in the differences in men and women’s perceptions about the type and quality of services offered by farming or business organizations and service providers.
• An overview of the different needs and interests of men and women, in particular women’s demand for production and business services.
• Service providers gain insights in the importance of a differentiated evaluation of services as basis for the design of products and services with gender equity and a women empowering approach.

Who applies the tool and for whom?

This is a participatory tool to be used in workshops with a group of producers, processors, businessmen and women, inviting men and women. As most economic actors are family businesses, it is important that both husband and wife are invited to attend the workshop. Invite service providers as observers.

How does it work?

Homogeneous subgroups with different needs think about current service delivery and the gap between needs and supply. By discussing results in plenary sessions insight is gained in the needs of the different subgroups and recommendations can be made to improve service delivery to fit the needs of the different subgroups.

Download the tool here

Credits

Lindo Patricia, Vanderschaeghe Mieke, Javier Sánchez. Workshop for the validation of tools for addressing gender in producer organizations, HIVOS, 2009. 

Source pictures

Workshop in Coffee Cooperative “José Alfredo Zeledón”, San Juan de Río Coco, Nicaragua