| dc.description.abstract | This Handbook was developed to guide “newcomers” who have been designated
as Gender Focal Points within UNESCO National Commissions and are looking for
advice, inspiration and coaching. For the more experienced National Commission
staff member or gender expert, we hope this manual will be able to provide ideas and
suggestions that can help enhance the impact of their work.
Serving as a Gender Focal Point (GFP) in a National Commission confers a whole
new and important set of responsibilities and duties that are not part of regular work.
Often GFPs have not received formal training in gender issues, nor have they necessarily
worked in the area before or have been able to familiarise themselves with the body of
literature relevant to this fi eld. This makes the assignment even more challenging and
the learning curve steep.
Each section of the Handbook is self-contained.
Section 1 provides basic information on UNESCO’s policy and the role of GFPs.
Sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 are more practical and action-oriented. They include lists of
initiatives and actions that can be taken; they offer arguments on challenging aspects of
gender work. They provide checklists as to how it is to best mainstream gender into
projects, their expected results and supporting documents. Section 6 recommends
key policy documents that may be of use for GFPs. Finally, Section 7 takes up
“Frequently Asked Questions” that may arise in work.
The Handbook as well as the full set of UNESCO gender-related resources and
materials can also be found on UNESCO’s online Gender Mainstreaming Resource
Center website at http://www.unesco.org/women
We hope that this Handbook will assist Gender Focal Points in fulfi lling their
responsibilities and, thus, making a contribution to the promotion of gender equality | en_US |
