This paper outlines the case for why investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment as part of infrastructure projects makes sense, particularly the business case. Opportunities are highlighted in a business case to provide context for engagement with stakeholders and for raising awareness of addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment as critical factors in the achievement of sustainable and impactful financial investments. The paper then presents a series of key considerations and entry points in infrastructure programs for gender inclusion and addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment. These key considerations and entry points are designed to sit alongside the theory of change diagrams and illustrate the kind of gender-responsive features that could be incorporated into activities and to inform project design, including crosscutting good practices in mainstreaming gender equality in infrastructure projects. There are four sector theory of change (TOC) diagrams for (i) urban development, (ii) transport, (iii) water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and (iv) energy. These TOCs provide examples of how infrastructure projects can lead to positive outcomes in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including risks and assumptions. The paper ends with key recommendations, and a menu of example indicators for outputs and outcomes featured in the TOC diagrams is provided in Annex 1 with case studies from ADB in Annex 2.
Blog » Enhancing Gender Equality in Infrastructure Development Theories of Change, Indicators, and Sector Strategies (2023)
Enhancing Gender Equality in Infrastructure Development Theories of Change, Indicators, and Sector Strategies (2023)
This paper outlines the case for why investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment as part of infrastructure projects makes sense, particularly the business case. Opportunities are highlighted in a business case to provide context for engagement with stakeholders and for raising awareness of addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment as critical factors in the achievement of sustainable and impactful financial investments. The paper then presents a series of key considerations and entry points in infrastructure programs for gender inclusion and addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment. These key considerations and entry points are designed to sit alongside the theory of change diagrams and illustrate the kind of gender-responsive features that could be incorporated into activities and to inform project design, including crosscutting good practices in mainstreaming gender equality in infrastructure projects. There are four sector theory of change (TOC) diagrams for (i) urban development, (ii) transport, (iii) water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and (iv) energy. These TOCs provide examples of how infrastructure projects can lead to positive outcomes in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including risks and assumptions. The paper ends with key recommendations, and a menu of example indicators for outputs and outcomes featured in the TOC diagrams is provided in Annex 1 with case studies from ADB in Annex 2.