هذه المقالة متاحة أيضًا بـ: العربية (Arabic)

Supports NHRIs to assess, identify and mainstream gender considerations and the human rights of women and girls in all their operations.

Contents

		Page #
Acknowledgements		4
Concepts, terms and definitions		5
Companion resources		5
Figures and tools		6-7
Introduction to the Toolkit		8
0.1	About the Toolkit	8
0.2	What is a Gender Audit and why do one?	8
0.3	Who is the Toolkit for?	9
0.4	How to use the Toolkit	9
Stage 1: Planning and designing your NHRI Gender Audit		10
1.1	Forming an audit team	10
1.2	Agreeing on the human rights principles to guide the audit	12
1.3	Identifying ethical considerations	14
1.4	Deciding inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes	15
1.5	Designing audit areas, questions and methods	17
1.6	Developing a communications strategy	23
1.7	Developing an audit plan	25
Stage 2: Carrying out your Gender Audit		27
2.1	Undertaking a document review	27
2.2	Administering an organisation-wide survey	37
2.3	Facilitating focus groups	41
2.4	Deciding how to store data	49
Stage 3: Analysing the results of your Gender Audit		51
3.1	Data analysis process – an overview	52
3.2	Analysing document review data	53
3.3	Analysing survey data	57
3.4	Analysing focus group data	58
3.5	Bringing it all together	60
Stage 4: Reporting on your Gender Audit and recommending action		64
4.1	Guidelines for reporting your results	64
4.2	What to include in your report	65

Acknowledgements

Promoting gender equality across the Asia Pacific Region, with a particular focus on the human rights of women and girls, is a priority for the APF. We are therefore excited to bring this resource to our members. Facilitating an NHRI Gender Audit is a practical toolkit that gives NHRIs a step-by-step guide to assess:

• the extent to which gender equality is understood and acted upon in your NHRI’s work, systems and processes, and
• how well your NHRI is integrating gender equality measures into its internal and external work.

 

This resource expands on the APF produced guidelines, Mainstreaming the Human Rights of Women and Girls into Our Everyday Work (the Guidelines). We believe this toolkit will be an essential resource for NHRIs and the APF is most grateful to Dr Jillian Chrisp, the author, for helping bring it to life.

The APF acknowledges the critical work of members of the APF Gender Network (AGN), often in very difficult circumstances. We would also like to acknowledge Leah Barbia from Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, whose experience and feedback were essential to the development of this resource.

Lastly, the APF acknowledges Aishath Fasoha, APF Gender Focal Point, for her ongoing commitment to gender equality and for her vision and leadership of this work.

Companion resources ·       APF (Apr 2016), Video series on Promoting and Protecting the human rights of women and girls, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRocLBTawJw&list=PLMWlphfUG936ME92wxzAQuunidY-gI3yg&index=1&t=106s (from here the other videos are available) ·       APF (Jul 2019), Guidelines for Mainstreaming the Human Rights of Women and Girls into our Everyday Work, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/media/resource_file/APF_NHRI_Guidelines_Mainstreaming_pCkDLRa.pdf ·       APF (2020), Monitoring, Evaluating, Accountability and Learning: A Guide for Human Rights Institutions in the Pacific, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/monitoring-evaluation-accountability-and-learning-guide-national-human-rights-institutions/ ·       Pacific Community Regional Rights Resource Team (2020): How do I use data? A Guide for NHRIs,

Concepts, terms and definitions

Activities	Any actions that take place to reach planned outcomes, such as programmes, projects, processes, events, tools and meetings
Gender analysis	Analysis of the situation for different genders, including identifying gender inequalities, which usually results in recommendations to reduce inequalities
Gender Audit	A tool to find out the extent to which gender equality is understood and acted upon in your NHRI
Gender-disaggregated data	Data collected, analysed and presented separately according to sex and gender identity
Gender mainstreaming	A strategy to achieve gender equality by considering gender implications across all activities of an organisation
Gender-sensitive indicators	Indicators that measure gender-related changes over time
Indicators	The measures you will use to track progress towards, or achievement of, planned outputs and outcomes
Inputs	The resources needed to achieve your outputs and outcomes. Inputs can include your NHRI’s staff, financial, physical and technical resources
NHRIs (acronym)	National Human Rights Institutions
Outcomes	The changes and impacts that your NHRI is working towards. They can be short-term, medium-term or long-term
Outputs	The immediate result or product of an activity

Figures and tools

Figures		Page #
Fig 1	The four stages of a Gender Audit	8
Fig 2	Examples of principles to guide your Gender Audit	11
Fig 3	Overarching ethical principles for gathering, using and storing personal data	13
Fig 4	Checklist to ensure data collection, analysis and storage is ethical	13
Fig 5	Planning your Gender Audit – a logical model	15
Fig 6	Examples of inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes	15
Fig 7	Areas of internal operations where gender mainstreaming may apply	17
Fig 8	Areas of external work where gender mainstreaming may apply	17
Fig 9	Examples of areas for audit and audit questions	18
Fig 10	Examples of quantitative and qualitative data	21
Fig 11	Example of a Gender Audit communications strategy	23
Fig 12	Steps for a document review	27
Fig13	Example of an online word search	28
Fig 14	Example of a review of images	28
Fig 15	Example of highlighting and noting a key statement in a PDF	29
Fig 16	Example of document review findings	31-34
Fig 17	Steps for administering a survey	36
Fig 18	Example of types of survey questions	37
Fig 19	Guidelines for preparing surveys	37
Fig 20	Examples of good and bad survey questions	38
Fig 21	Rate of return on surveys	40
Fig 22	Steps for administering a survey	41
Fig 23	Example of a focus group schedule for a large NHRI spread over several regions	42
Fig 24	Example of a focus group schedule for a small NHRI with one office	42
Fig 25	Five-step data analysis process	51
Fig 26	Main steps for analysing document review data	52
Fig 27	Example of qualitative document review analysis	54
Fig 28	Main steps for analysing your survey data	56
Fig 29	Example of quantitative survey data analysis	56
Fig 30	Example of comparing responses by female and male respondents	57
Fig 31	Example of quantitative focus group data analysis	59
Fig 32	Steps to bring your analysis together	60
Fig 33	Example of outcomes from Stage 1 – Planning your Gender Audit	61
Tools		Page #
Tool 1	Form your Gender Audit Team (GAT)	10
Tool 2	Decide on the principles to guide your Gender Audit	12
Tool 3	Decide your inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes	16
Tool 4	Audit areas and questions	20
Tool 5	Gender Audit communications strategy	24
Tool 6	Gender Audit work plan template	25
Tool 7	Document review template	35
Tool 8	Focus group schedule	43
Tool 9	Face-to-face (F2F) focus group session – 2 hours	44
Tool 10	Online focus group session – 2 hours	45
Tool 11	Document review analysis template	55
Tool 12	Bringing the analyses together from the document review, organisation-wide survey and focus groups	62
Tool 13	Checklist for writing a good report	64
Tool 14	Draft report template for discussion with senior leaders	65
Tool 15	Report template for wider distribution	66

Introduction to the Toolkit

• About the Toolkit

This toolkit accompanies the APF produced guidelines, Mainstreaming the Human Rights of Women and Girls into Our Everyday Work[1] (the Guidelines).

Before your NHRI can develop a strategy to mainstream the human rights of women and girls, it needs to take stock of its current situation. You must aim to understand, from multiple viewpoints, to what extent equality for women and girls is built into your NHRI’s existing processes and activities.

Scope The term ‘gender’ refers to socially constructed roles of, and power relations among, women, men and gender diverse people. However, considering that women and girls have historically experienced discrimination as a result of patriarchal norms and power structures, the APF focuses on advancing gender equality between women and girls/men and boys, including cisgender and transgender. APF also acknowledges that many women and girls face multiple other and intersecting discriminations on the basis of race, disability, age, socio-economic status/class, caste, indigeneity, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, rurality and migrant or refugee status.

Therefore, the first step in the planning stage of mainstreaming the human rights of women and girls is doing a Gender Review of your NHRI. This review can be called a Gender Audit, a Gender Impact Assessment, a Gender Analysis or something similar. This toolkit uses the term Gender Audit (GA). It has been developed to provide you with the steps and resources to review how well your NHRI is integrating gender equality measures within its internal and external work.

• What is a Gender Audit and why do one?

A Gender Audit is a tool to find out the extent to which gender equality is understood and acted upon in your NHRI.  It will help you understand whether, and how effectively, your NHRI includes gender equality in its internal operations (such as its structure, organisation culture and practice, policies and procedures, funding and resourcing) and its external work (across all its functions and work divisions).

A Gender Audit will provide your NHRI with the opportunity to increase its understanding of gender equality and to work across the organisation to strengthen its practices. The purpose of the NHRI Gender Audit is to:

• Establish a baseline of information against which progress can be compared
• Identify what your NHRI does well and what it could be doing better
• Recommend strategies and activities to address the gaps
• Share and document good practices across the organisation, and
• Strengthen the capacity of your NHRI to apply a gender perspective to your activities and to your internal policies and practices

• Who is the Toolkit for?

Leaders of NHRIs—Ombudspersons, Chairpersons/Presidents, Commissioners, Senior Executive Officers and Senior Managers—are responsible for initiating and supervising its gender mainstreaming strategy. They are also responsible for initiating and overseeing your Gender Audit.

A Gender Audit will likely result in recommendations that require a response from throughout your NHRI. As such, it is good to establish an audit team of people from across the divisions or departments within the NHRI and externals, if appropriate, to make the Gender Audit happen.

While this Toolkit provides information for the leaders and staff of your NHRI, it has been developed as a step-by-step guide for the teams responsible for facilitating the Gender Audit.

• How to use the Toolkit

You can use the Toolkit as a downloadable resource or as a self-facilitated online resource as you work through the Gender Audit process. It includes examples and tools that follow the four stages of a Gender Audit (Fig 1) and aims to guide you through these stages.

The Gender Audit is represented in a cycle to indicate that the process of recommending action and reviewing the outcomes is an ongoing one. The first Gender Audit will give you a baseline of the current situation. Subsequent audits will indicate any progress made.

 

Figure 1: The four stages of a Gender Audit

1

4

3

2

44

Recommend actions

3

Analyse the results

22

Carry out the audit

11

Plan and design the audit

Gender Audit

Stage 1:

Planning and designing your NHRI Gender Audit

1

4

3

2

11

Plan & design the audit ·        Form an audit team ·        Agree on the Gender Audit principles ·        Identify ethical considerations ·        Define inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes ·        Design audit areas, questions and methods ·        Develop a communications strategy ·        Develop an audit plan

Gender Audit

1.1 Forming an audit team

 

The senior leadership in your NHRI is responsible for initiating a Gender Audit by appointing a Gender Audit Team (GAT). It is this team that will make the audit happen.

What is the purpose of a Gender Audit Team?

The purpose of the audit team is to:

• Drive and clarify the audit purpose, outputs and outcomes
• Plan and design the audit (including timeframes)
• Determine the focus and level of the audit and who should participate
• Facilitate the audit
• Analyse the information gathered
• Communicate the audit outcomes (internally and externally), including recommendations for a gender mainstreaming strategy

The audit team should schedule regular meetings to plan for and achieve the above.

Who should make up the Gender Audit team?

Your Gender Audit team should be made up of personnel who can deliver the above responsibilities. Apart from a team lead/coordinator, it is useful to have human resources staff and representatives from divisions across your NHRI as well as staff with expertise in gender equality. This will ensure wide uptake and include various perspectives.

The team can also include a Commissioner or senior staff member who will ensure ownership at the leadership level. Further senior staff members can be appointed as the ‘sponsors’ or ‘champions’ of the audit and receive regular reports from the team.

You may also decide to include external members with specific gender or audit methodology expertise, particularly if there are internal gaps. Sources of external expertise can include UN Women or the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

What are the roles and responsibilities of a Gender Audit team?

Tool 1 suggests roles and responsibilities against which you can assign specific names from your NHRI. While there is no correct size for an audit team, aim for around eight members. It is important that at least half of the team are women and, if possible, include diverse representation from other groups such as gender diverse, disability, ethnicity, age etc.

Tool 1: Form your Gender Audit Team (GAT)

Name	Role	Responsibility (including but not limited to…)
Audit team permanent members
	Senior Manager / Commissioner / Ombudsperson (1)	·     Ensures ownership and support at the leadership level of the NHRI
	GAT lead / Coordinator (1)	·     Has an overview of the audit project ·     Coordinates the audit team and ensures it effectively carries out its responsibilities ·     Regularly communicates on the audit progress ·     Identifies other personnel that may be needed for specific tasks (e.g. facilitating focus groups, data analysis) ·     Addresses any challenges or difficulties that may arise
	Gender expert (1)	·     Ensures a gender perspective is included across all aspects of the audit ·     Supports members of the team to deepen their own understanding and practice of gender equality, if required
	Human resources (1)	·     Manages the link between the audit and personnel policies and practices
	Representatives from NHRI divisions, who may also be gender experts (up to 4)	·     Ensure diverse ‘division’ perspectives strengthen the audit and audit recommendations ·     Provide the communication link between the audit and divisions
Audit team casual members
	Facilitator/s	To work with groups of staff during Stage 2
	Data analysis expert	To advise the data gathering and analysis stages of the audit
	Other?

1.2 Agreeing on the human rights principles to guide the audit

You will adapt the Gender Audit process to suit your NHRI’s context and priorities, but the following six overall principles may help you plan and carry out your Gender Audit (Fig 1). These principles are loosely aligned to a human rights approach and aim to ensure your Gender Audit not only focuses on achieving gender equality, but that it also practices gender equality.

 

Figure 2: Examples of principles to guide your Gender Audit

At the first meeting of your Gender Audit team, you will:

• discuss and form a set of principles appropriate for your NHRI to guide your audit (Fig 2)
• consider the ethical considerations outlined in Fig 3 and Fig 4.

 

Tool 2: Decide on the principles to guide your Gender Audit

The principle	How will you apply this principle to the audit?

The principles you have identified in Tool 2 will guide your audit approach.

Example

If you identify participation as one of the guiding principles—and we respectfully advise that you do—then the audit methods you choose will ensure the perspectives and concerns of all those who have an interest in, and/or are affected by, the Gender Audit are able to contribute to it.

Depending on the size of your NHRI and its geographic spread, it may be impractical to include every member of your NHRI in the audit. If only selected views are canvassed, it is important to ensure they include a cross-section of the following groups:

• Rights holders: those impacted by gender discrimination, including those further impacted by being disabled, an ethnic minority
• Duty bearers: those who have the structural mandate and responsibility to promote and protect the rights of staff such as commissioners and senior management
• Influencers: those who inform and influence, such as human resources, cultural advisers, communications personnel

Including non-discrimination, inclusion and equality in your guiding principles will also ensure the audit methods are accessible to, and appropriate for, multiple perspectives and views to be canvassed, especially from those who experience gender-based inequalities.

1.3 Identifying ethical considerations

The Gender Audit will involve gathering, using and storing information (data) from people that may, at times, be sensitive and personal.

As well as deciding the human rights principles that will guide your audit, it is important for the Gender Audit Team to think about the ethical considerations involved in gathering, using and storing this data. Figure 3 suggests three overarching ethical principles and Figure 4 offers a checklist under each ethical principle.

As with the human rights principles you have already developed (Tool 2), the ethical principles you choose may be expressed more appropriately in the language and cultural customs of your NHRI.

Figure 3: Overarching ethical principles for gathering, using and storing personal data

 

 

Figure 4: Checklist to ensure that data collection, analysis and storage is ethical

Do no harm
✔	Ensure participants, particularly those who experience gender-based human rights violations, can be heard and are protected from harm during and after the data process.
✔	Apply ethical considerations such as: ●      Equality of access ●      Freedom to participate ●      Duty of care, ensuring no-one is hurt by taking part in the Gender Audit ●      Respect and integrity ●      Disclosure, privacy and confidentiality
✔	Recognise the sovereignty of the data including: ·       How it is generated ·       Who it is about ·       Who has permission to use it ·       Laws about where it is stored and accessed
✔	Be aware of unintentional bias, including gender bias. Be transparent about intentional biases and why you are adopting them by asking: ·       Whose voices may be silenced or ignored? ·       What considerations impact on the data? ·       What are the lenses through which data is analysed?
✔	Understand the contexts from which the data is gathered, assess any risks and match data gathering activities to context, participants/stakeholders and resource constraints.
Ensure reliability
✔	Disaggregate data against cross-cutting factors (e.g. disability, sex, age, ethnicity etc).
✔	Validate findings with the participants/people about whom data is being collected.
✔	Make sure your recommendations are based on reliable information.
✔	Link conclusions to the context within which the data was gathered.
✔	Acknowledge any limitations in the data gathered.
✔	Ensure data (both primary and secondary) is referenced appropriately.
Ensure impartiality, integrity and transparency
✔	Be transparent with participants about how the data will be used.
✔	Be genuine and respectful of those providing the data.
✔	Review data through all alternative viewpoints and data sources (commonly referred to as triangulation of data).
✔	Consider the biases that may be inherent in the NHRI’s context, personnel and processes.

For further information MEAL Guidelines – link – INSERT THE LINK Data Resource – This section has been informed by How do I use data? A guide for National Human Rights Institutions. Pacific Community’s Regional Rights Resource Team, (2020).

1.4 Deciding inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes

The logic model (Fig 5) is a useful tool for planning your Gender Audit. It will guide you to decide:

• The resources you will need for the Gender Audit (inputs)
• What you need to do and who you need to do it with (activities)
• What you will produce from the Gender Audit (outputs)
• What will be achieved as a result of the Gender Audit (outcome/s)

 

 

 

Figure 5: Planning your Gender Audit – a logical model

 

Figure 6: Examples of inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes

Logic model	Definition	Example
Input(s) What are the resources you need to carry out your Gender Audit?	Personnel, financial, physical and technical resources	·     Audit team time allocation to plan, carry out and report on the audit ·     Participant time allocation for staff survey and focus groups ·     Budget for materials related to the audit methods (document review, survey and focus groups)
Activity(ies) What do you need to do to deliver your output/s? Who will participate in your Gender Audit?	The Gender Audit tools you will use and who will be involved in the audit	·     Desk review of key NHRI policies, practices and documents ·     All staff general survey ·     Focus groups with selected staff and Commissioners/Ombudspersons from all work units and disaggregated by gender and age group
Output(s) What will you produce as a result of your Gender Audit?	The immediate result of your activity	A Gender Audit report is produced that: ·     Establishes a baseline of information against which progress can be compared ·     Identifies what your NHRI does well and what it could be doing better ·     Recommends strategies and activities to address the gaps
Outcome(s) What changes are you aiming for as a result of the Gender Audit. These can be broken into short, medium and long-term outcomes	The changes you anticipate as a result of the Gender Audit	As a result of the Gender Audit: ·     Short-term: senior leaders agree to implement a targeted gender mainstreaming strategy across the NHRI ·     Medium-term: the capacity and commitment of the NHRI to apply a gender perspective to its internal culture, policies and practices and to its external activities has been strengthened ·     Long-term: there is gender equality across all internal operations and external work of the NHRI

 

 

 

Tool 3: Decide your inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes

Logic model
Input(s) What are the resources you need to carry out your Gender Audit?
Activity(ies) What do you need to do to deliver your output/s? Who will participate in your Gender Audit?
Output(s) What will you produce as a result of your Gender Audit?
Outcome(s) What changes are you aiming for as a result of the Gender Audit? These can be broken into short, medium and long-term outcomes.

1.5 Designing audit areas, questions and methods

In section 1.4, you developed the outputs and outcomes that would result from your Gender Audit. Now it’s time to think about the questions, approach and methods that will give you the best opportunity to achieve them.

What are the areas you will audit?

Section 3 of the Guidelines for Mainstreaming the Human Rights of Women and Girls identifies seven areas of an NHRI’s internal operations and nine areas of its external work where gender mainstreaming may apply.

Figure 7: Areas of an NHRI’s internal operations where gender mainstreaming may apply  

Figure 8: Areas of an NHRI’s external work where gender mainstreaming may apply  

While it is important that all areas listed above practice and advance gender equality, your Gender Audit, particularly the first one, does not need to drill down to this level of detail.

Try to identify no more than five broad focus areas and design your audit questions, approach and methods to suit.

The five areas could be:

• Organisation structure and decision-making
• Organisation culture and practice
• Human resource management, policies and procedures
• Internal gender expertise, competence and capacity
• Mainstreaming of gender equality in external work

What are your audit questions?

The questions you design for the audit will develop out of each of these areas. It is important to design questions that will provide the information/data you need to meet the outputs and outcomes you have developed.

Specifically, you want the questions to provide you with:

• a baseline of information against which progress can be compared
• data about what your NHRI does well and what it could be doing better, and
• information from which you can develop recommendations to inform your gender mainstreaming strategy.

 

Figure 9: Examples of areas for audit and audit questions

	Audit area	Audit question examples
1	NHRI’s structure and decision-making	How well does the NHRI: 1.1  integrate gender perspectives into strategic statements and decision-making processes? 1.2  include gender mainstream strategies, priorities and practices throughout functional and portfolio areas? 1.3  balance gender representation at the senior leadership level? 1.4  proactively promote and recruit for gender equality at senior leadership positions? 1.5  designate leadership responsibility for the gender equality portfolio? 1.6  have a designated division, unit or work program focused on gender equality? 1.7  commit to ensuring gender equality is integrated in operational plans?
2	NHRI’s culture and practice	How well does the NHRI: 2.1  have an organisational culture, language and physical environment that reflect gender equality? 2.2  demonstrate awareness, attitudes and behaviours that reflect a practical understanding of gender equality, gender stereotypes and unconscious bias? 2.3  demonstrate gender awareness and sensitivity in its values, structures, systems, processes and relations of power? 2.4  have a reputation for integrity, inclusivity and competence on gender issues among leaders in the field of gender equality?
3	Policies, procedures and practices	How well does the NHRI: 3.1  have policies and procedures about gender equality, including equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment and domestic violence? 3.2  ensure gender considerations are included in all human resource management policies and practices, including recruitment, job descriptions, induction programmes, codes of conduct, performance assessments, professional development, staff support systems, leave allocations (including family and parental leave), complaints processes, remuneration levels, promotion and retention, staff travel etc? 3.3  include gender equality as a measure in performance assessments? 3.4  collect and report on gender-disaggregated data with regards to internal processes and employees? 3.5  have a gender balance across the organisation, including all functions and at all levels? 3.6  practice affirmative action where there is not a gender balance? 3.7  have personnel who understand gender mainstreaming and can apply a gender perspective to their work?
4	Internal gender expertise, competency and capacity	Does the NHRI: 4.1  have Commissioners/Ombudspersons and staff who understand gender mainstreaming and can apply a gender perspective to their work? 4.2  have gender expertise on staff?
5	Mainstreaming of gender equality in external project / programmes and activities	Planning & design How well does the NHRI: 5.1  mandate gender considerations for inclusion in external work and approval processes? 5.2  include an analysis of gender roles and implications in its planning? 5.3  include the views and preferences of diverse genders in its planning and design? 5.4  seek internal and external gender perspectives in its planning processes?
		Delivery How well does the NHRI: 5.5  aim to redress gender imbalances and uphold and strengthen gender equality in projects, programmes and functions? 5.6  have staff with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to gender mainstream their work?
		Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) How well does the NHRI: 5.7  monitor and evaluate the gender impact of its programs/projects and functions? 5.8  show that it contributes to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through its programmes, projects and functions? 5.9  include gender mainstreaming in its MEAL Framework and Plan?

The next step is for the Gender Audit Team (GAT) to discuss the areas for the audit to cover and design the related audit questions for each of these areas (you can use Tool 4 for this purpose). Your senior leadership may have already indicated the audit areas. In any event, it will be important to get senior leadership sign-off on these areas before you start developing the questions, approach and methods.

 

Tool 4: Audit areas and questions 

	Audit area	Audit questions
1
2
3
4
5

What methods will you use for the audit?

There are many methods you can use to gauge the views of your colleagues, external stakeholders and partners. Surveys and questionnaires are useful tools to gather information from a large number of people. However, that information tends to be more superficial.

Focus groups, workshops and interviews, on the other hand, are suitable for smaller numbers of people and the information will be more detailed.

It is good practice to use a combination of methods to gather your data. This may involve using methods that gather both quantitative data (counting and numbers) and qualitative data (descriptions and words). Figure 10 gives examples.

 

Figure 10: Examples of quantitative and qualitative data

Audit method	Quantitative data	Qualitative data
Document review	The salary levels of staff	NHRI staff salary policy
Survey	The number of staff employed disaggregated by gender and other intersectional categories	The comments from staff in the open question sections of the survey
Focus groups	The number of people attending focus groups disaggregated by gender and other intersectional categories	The thoughts expressed by participants during focus groups discussions

Using a combination of methods allows you to collect multiple perspectives on an issue. It also enables you to check consistency by cross-referencing your information against several sources. This is called data triangulation.

Example A document review of the staff salary policy indicates the top salary for senior women staff is the same as the top salary for senior men staff. Your initial analysis may be that your NHRI’s salary policy is gender equitable.   However, when cross referencing the number of women staff receiving top salaries against the number of men staff receiving top salaries, you discover there is one woman being paid at the senior level and five men being paid at the senior level.   Upon triangulating the information further, comparing it with comments from staff, you determine that women find it difficult to win senior positions.   By using multiple audit methods and triangulating several data sources, you conclude that while the salary policy appears fair, there are barriers for women to achieving higher salaries in the NHRI.

Audit methods can include:

• Gathering the views of people internal (and external[2]) to your NHRI through:
  • focus groups
  • workshops
  • individual and/or group interviews
  • survey questionnaires
  • other participatory techniques such as force field analysis[3], community mapping[4], photovoice[5] and theatre[6]
• Reviewing relevant documentation, such as:
  • strategic, decision-making and performance documents and reports
  • budgetary decision-making and allocations
  • relevant policy and operational documents
  • human resource policies, practices and data
  • case studies and/or reports of previous gender equality work
• Observing the physical and cultural environment of your NHRI, such as:
  • messages
  • symbols
  • imagery
  • informal attitudes, behaviours, norms and hierarchies

While you decide the most appropriate methods for your Gender Audit, Stage 2 of this toolkit will guide you on how to administer, facilitate and analyse:

• a desk review
• an organisation-wide survey, and
• focus-groups.

1.6 Developing a communications (comms) strategy

A communications (comms) strategy is an important tool to ensure the whole of your NHRI is engaged in, and has ownership of, the Gender Audit. As stated earlier, if your NHRI is large and geographically spread, it may not be possible for all within the NHRI to take part.

A comms strategy will let people in your NHRI know:

• what the Gender Audit is about
• how it will benefit the NHRI and their work within the NHRI, and
• what contributions are required from them and the timeframes for their involvement.

A communications strategy will also provide information to people external to your NHRI about this work.

The Gender Audit can be a standing agenda item in regular team and NHRI member meetings, apart from usual NHRI communication methods such as intranet, newsletter, staff announcements and notice boards.

A simple communications strategy outlines:

• Who you are communicating with (stakeholder)
• Why you are communicating with them (purpose)
• How you will communicate (medium)
• How often you will communicate (frequency)
• Who is responsible for the communication (lead)

 

 

Figure 11: Example of a Gender Audit communications strategy

Stakeholder	Purpose	Medium	Frequency	Lead
Commissioners / Ombudspersons	Approval & sign off	Formal report, perhaps accompanied by an oral presentation	At the end of Stages 1 and 4	Senior staff representative on the GAT or GAT Lead
Senior Management Team	Progress update / approval sign-off	Informal report	At the end of Stages 1 and 4	Senior staff representative on the GAT or GAT Lead
NHRI division meetings	Progress update	Standing agenda	At each team meeting	GAT Lead or division representatives on the GAT
Participants (internal & external)	·   Information about their engagement ·   Checking accuracy of information	Email	When seeking input and after participation	GAT Lead
All staff	Progress update	Whatever method is used at your NHRI to communicate with all staff (intranet, newsletter)	At the end of each stage	GAT Lead
Externals stakeholders (make a list)	Progress update, seeking feedback if appropriate	Draft report	At the end of Stages 1 and 4	GAT Lead

 

 

Tool 5: Gender Audit communications strategy

Stakeholder	Purpose	Medium	Frequency	Lead

1.7 Developing an audit plan

After working through the above steps, you can bring together the decisions you have made into a Gender Audit work plan. Cutting and pasting the detail from the tools in this toolkit will not be practical, but they may be added as appendices for your reference. This plan will guide you through the next three stages: carrying out the audit, analysing the results and recommending actions.

Tool 6: Gender Audit work plan template

Outcome(s)	From Tool 3
Output(s)	From Tool 3
Activity/ies	From Tool 3
Participants	From Tool 3
Guiding principles	From Tool 2
Audit areas/questions	From Tool 4
Comms strategy	From Tool 5
Audit methods	Data source	Data storage	Data Analysis	Responsibility	Timeframe
	Where will you get your information?	How will you store the data to ensure it is safe and confidential? (s 2.4)	How will you analyse the data? (s 3.1)	Who will do this?	When will this happen?
Document review	(s 2.1)		(s 3.2)
Survey	(s 2.2)		(s 3.3)
Focus groups	(s 2.3)		(s 3.4)

Stage 2:

Carrying out your Gender Audit

1

4

3

2

22

Carry out the audit ·      Undertake a document review ·      Administer an organisation-wide survey ·      Facilitate focus groups ·      Decide how to store data

Gender Audit

Now that you have planned your Gender Audit, you are ready to carry it out. This section will walk you through how to design and implement three audit methods: document review, organisation-wide survey and focus groups.

As noted in the previous section, while there are multiple audit methods, combining these three methods will provide a thorough picture of how well gender equality is understood and acted upon in your NHRI.

2.1 Undertaking a document review

A document review involves gathering information that will help you understand the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of your NHRI. It is the first step in carrying out the Gender Audit as it provides a basis from which you can refine and further develop your audit methods and questions.

The purpose of your document review is to:

• Assess the extent to which gender issues are reported in the documents
• Assess the extent to which gender equality considerations have been included in the major programme planning strategies and activities
• Identify progress achieved in relation to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as shown in findings of reviews, evaluations and annual reports
• Assess the gender sensitivity of documents[7]

What documents should you review?

You should include any significant documents that relate to each of the five areas you have selected for review. Some examples of useful documents for each of the five selected audit areas:

• NHRI’s structure and decision-making: strategic plans, business plans, budgets and annual reports
• NHRI’s culture and practice: documents relating to organisation structure, funding and resourcing, evaluations, organisation culture and practice, and monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL)
• Policies, procedures and practices: human resources documents such as recruitment, job descriptions, induction programmes, code of conduct, performance assessments, professional development, staff support systems, leave allocations (including family and parental leave), complaints processes, remuneration levels, promotion and retention
• Internal gender expertise, competency and capacity: documents used for human resources polices and external work
• Mainstreaming of gender equality in external project/programmes and activities: plans and reports related to your NHRI’s external work, communications, website profile

It is impractical to review all documents from your NHRI, so discuss as an audit team what documents to include and how many will give you a big enough sample to produce credible responses to the questions you have listed in Tool 4.

The documents will take time to review so it is a good strategy to share the review amongst members of the audit team. You can ensure consistency among document reviewers by:

• having an agreed review framework (such as Tool 7 below)
• meeting regularly to compare findings, and
• choosing several documents for peer review and discussing any differences that may have occurred.

Tool 7 (the Document Review Template) can be used to record your findings. Note: not all your questions will be answered by the document review and some documents will answer several questions. Remember that you are not yet analysing your findings (that is the next stage) but merely recording what you are finding out.

Figure 12: Steps for a document review

STEP 1: Initial overview of language, images and tone

Begin your review of each document with a quick overview of:

• Specific words, tone and phrases that are relevant for you and for the language of your documents (e.g. gender + budgeting, disaggregation, discrimination, diversity, equality, inclusion; gendered pronouns such as she/he etc). Note how and where these terms are used. Are they gender neutral or specific? Do they promote gender equality?
• Images, photos, graphics etc, noting how gender is represented (particularly images of women and girls). What is the context? Does it promote gender equality?

If you are reviewing the documents online, you will be able to use search tools. Figure 13 is an example of a search for ‘gender equality’ in the APF’s Human Rights Education Manual[8].

Figure 13: Example of an online word search

Figure 14 shows a selection of images taken by the UN in the APF’s manual on investigating human rights. What impression do these images give about the gender of an investigations officer? Who in these images is ‘in charge’? Who has authority?

Figure 14: Example of a review of images[9]

It is important not to jump to conclusions at this early step in your review (other images in the manual on investigating human rights, for example, also showed investigation officers who were female). However, note your findings in the document review template (Tool 7) and as you continue your review you will begin to build an important data set to answer your audit questions.

STEP 2: Focused review

Read the document closely, looking for answers to your questions. Review your documents online where possible. By doing so, you can make comments directly into your document review template and share your findings with others easily. As with search functions, there are a number of tools you can use to highlight online material. Highlighters and sticky notes are useful for hard copy material.

Two overall headings you may find useful when recording your findings are:

Q1:  What information does the document provide about how the NHRI promotes gender equality?

Q2: Are there any gaps or questions that arise from the documentation?

 

Figure 15: Example of highlighting and noting a key statement in a PDF[10]

STEP 3: Peer moderation

Peer moderation involves comparing your findings to those that others have made to ensure you are reviewing consistently as a team. Once you have completed a number of documents, get others in the team to check over your findings and you check over theirs. Not all documents need to be moderated; a small selection is adequate. Discuss any potential differences in how you are reviewing and how you might manage those differences.

STEP 4: Review of findings

Once the document review has been completed, discuss as an audit team what you have found out and what is still left to know, such as:

• Are your questions being answered?
• Has the review raised additional questions?
• Are there areas you wish to highlight in the survey and focus groups?

 

Example

The document review shows that while planning documents state the NHRI’s commitment to integrating gender equality into its decision-making processes, the senior leadership team is predominately male. You want to know how a female perspective contributes to your NHRI’s decision-making. You decide to include this question as a discussion topic in the focus groups.

If more than one of the GAT members have been involved in the document review, combine your results into one document ready for analysis. Store the data in a safe place until you are ready to analyse it.

 

Figure 16: Example of document review findings

Audit area		Examples of Gender Audit questions		Examples of findings
				Q1: What information does the document provide about how the NHRI promotes gender equality?		Q2: Are there any gaps or questions that arise from the documentation?
DOCUMENTS			Such as Strategic Plan 2021–2026; Operational Plan & Budget 2021; Annual Report 2020
1	NHRI’s structure and decision-making		How well does the NHRI: 1.1     integrate gender perspectives into strategic statements and decision-making processes? 1.2     gender mainstream strategies, priorities and practices throughout functional and portfolio areas? 1.3     balance gender representation at the senior leadership level? 1.4     proactively promote and recruit for gender equality at senior leadership positions? 1.5     designate leadership responsibility for the gender equality portfolio? 1.6     have a designated division, unit or work program focused on gender equality? 1.7     commit to ensuring gender equality is integrated in operational plans? 1.8     incorporate provisions for gender equality at all levels of the budgetary process?	Strategic Plan 2021–2026 ·       Language, tone, images are gender inclusive ·       Gender equality is included as a strategic priority ·       There is a designated gender portfolio at Commissioner/Ombudsperson level Operational Plan & Budget 2021 ·       Language, tone, images are gender inclusive ·       There is a separate division focused on gender equality ·       There is a work stream for gender activities Annual Report 2020 ·       Language, tone, images are gender inclusive ·       The outcomes of the gender work stream are reported	Strategic Plan 2021–2026 ·      There is a lack of gender balance at Commissioner/Ombudsperson level ·      There is no evidence of a budget specifically allocated for gender priorities Operational Plan & Budget 2021 ·      There is a lack of gender balance at senior leadership level ·      There does not appear to be a budget allocated for the work stream on gender activities ·      There is no evidence of gender-related indicators to measure improvement of the NHRIs work Annual Report 2020 ·     Data is not disaggregated by gender ·     The impact of the NHRI’s work on gender across all functional and portfolio areas is not reported

DOCUMENTS		Such as those relating to organisation structure, funding and resourcing, evaluations, organisation culture and practice, MEAL
2	NHRI’s culture and practice	How well does the NHRI: 2.1     have an organisational culture, language and physical environment that reflect gender equality? 2.2     demonstrate awareness, attitudes and behaviours that reflect a practical understanding of gender equality, gender stereotypes and unconscious bias? 2.3     demonstrate gender awareness and sensitivity in its values, structures, systems, processes and relations of power? 2.4     have a reputation for integrity, inclusivity and competence on gender issues among leaders in the field of gender equality?	etc.	etc.
DOCUMENTS		Human resources such as recruitment, job descriptions, induction programmes, code of conduct, performance assessments, professional development, staff support systems, leave allocations (including family and parental leave), complaints processes, remuneration levels, promotion and retention
3	Policies, procedures and practices	How well does the NHRI: 3.1     have policies and procedures about gender equality, including equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment and domestic violence? 3.2     ensure gender considerations are included in all human resource management policies and practices? 3.3     include gender equality as a measure in performance assessments? 3.4     collect and report on gender disaggregated data with regards to internal processes and employees? 3.5     have a gender balance across the organisation, including all functions and at all levels? 3.6     practice affirmative action where there is not a gender balance? 3.7     have personnel who understand gender mainstreaming and can apply a gender perspective to their work?	etc.	etc.
DOCUMENTS		Such as those used for human resources policies, procedures and practice and for external work
4	Internal gender expertise, competency and capacity	How well does the NHRI: 4.1  encourage an understanding and commitment to gender equality? 4.2  ensure Commissioners/Ombudspeople and staff understand gender mainstreaming and can apply a gender perspective to their work? 4.3  ensure gender expertise on staff?	etc.	etc.
DOCUMENTS		Such as plans and reports related to your NHRI’s external work, external communications, press releases, website profile
5	Mainstreaming of gender equality in external project / programmes and activities	Planning & design How well does the NHRI: 5.1  mandate gender considerations for inclusion in external work and approval processes? 5.2  include an analysis of gender roles and implications in its planning? 5.3  include the views and preferences of diverse genders in its planning and design? 5.4  seek internal and external gender perspectives in its planning processes?	etc.	etc.
		Delivery How well does the NHRI: 5.5  aim to redress gender imbalances and strengthen gender equality in projects, programmes and functions? 5.6  ensure staff have the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to gender mainstream their work?	etc.	etc.
		Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) How well does the NHRI: 5.7  monitor and evaluate the gender impact of its programs/projects and functions? 5.8  show its contribution to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through its programmes, projects and functions? 5.9  include gender mainstreaming in its MEAL Framework and Plan?	etc.	etc.

Tool 7: Document review template

Audit area		Audit questions	Findings
			Q1: What information does the document provide about how the NHRI promotes gender equality?	Q2: Are there any gaps or questions that arise from the documentation?
DOCUMENTS
1	From Tool 4	From Tool 4
DOCUMENTS
2	From Tool 4	From Tool 4
DOCUMENTS
3	From Tool 4	From Tool 4
DOCUMENTS
4	From Tool 4	From Tool 4
DOCUMENTS
5	From Tool 4	From Tool 4

2.2 Administering an organisation-wide survey

 

An organisation-wide survey involves gathering information to help you understand what staff and Commissioners/Ombudspersons think about the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of your NHRI.

This is an opportunity for all people in your NHRI to express their views. You can also invite selected external stakeholders to participate.

Surveys are useful when you want:

• an efficient way to seek the views of a large number of people
• to collect individual thoughts and experiences
• a cost effective and easy way to collect large volumes of information
• to reduce bias, since the same questions are asked of all participants, and
• responses to be anonymous, as respondents can give personal thoughts without being identified.

A survey can be administered in a number of ways, such as face-to-face, online, mail or using mobile devices. You can use paper format, electronic documents such as Word or Excel or an online platform such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms.

 

Figure 17: Steps for administering a survey

STEP 1: Design draft survey

It is important to design a survey well. You want a high response rate and answers that are easy to analyse. Carefully craft your questions to be direct, unambiguous and to give you the answers you are looking for.

There are several types of survey questions:

• Open-ended: requiring an explanation
• Closed: usually requiring a one-word answer
• Rating: requiring a choice to be made on a scale, usually from worst to best. Numbers (e.g. the Likert scale) or words can be used
• Multiple choice: requiring a choice to be made from a group of answers
• Picture choice: as with multiple choice but with pictures used
• Demographic questions: can include any of the above but are aimed at finding out about the sub-categories of people completing the survey

 

Figure 18: Example of types of survey questions

Type of question		Example
Open-ended	How well does your NHRI include gender perspectives in its decision-making?
Closed	Does your NHRI include gender perspectives in its decisions making? (please tick your response)
				Yes									No
Rating	Does your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making? (please tick your response)
	Strongly disagree				Disagree					Neither agree nor disagree					Agree						Strongly agree
Multiple choice	What areas of your NHRI effectively include gender perspectives in their decision-making?  (you may tick more than one response)
	Commissioners / Ombudspersons					Senior management						Human Resources						Your unit / division
Demographic questions	The responses to these questions are particularly useful when you want to disaggregate your data by specific groups such as gender, ethnicity, age, unit/division/role in your NHRI etc.

There is a lot of material available online about how to prepare good surveys, but the following checklist (Fig 19) gives a few guidelines that may be helpful. Fig 20 gives examples of good and bad survey questions.

You have already identified your audit areas and your audit questions in Tool 4. These will be the basis for your survey. Following the guidelines below, draft your survey.

Figure 19: Guidelines for preparing surveys

Prepare the survey
✔	Keep it simple and short The number and depth of questions will depend on your survey participants and the time they will have to complete the survey. Generally, no more than 10 to 15 key questions are appropriate. Each question should cover only one idea.
✔	Use a combination of questions (ref Fig18) ·       Open-ended questions will let your survey participants say what they wish and you are less likely to influence the responses. More detailed qualitative information can be gathered, but analysis can be more difficult. ·       Closed-ended questions (including rating and multiple choice) result in a limited number of quantitative responses. They are easier to interpret and analyse and have a higher response rate. Use a combination of question types to gather both critical and more detailed information.
✔	Use unambiguous and neutral language that respondents will understand Use language that relates to, and is appropriate for, your NHRI. Frame questions positively and consider sensitivities in language so there is no harm experienced by survey participants. Make definitions clear and word questions as neutrally as possible to avoid misinterpretation and to minimise any influence on responses.
✔	Break questions into sub-topics according to the audit areas you have identified to improve the structure and flow of your questions. This will make it easier for survey participants to respond and helps when it comes to analysing the information.
Include in the survey
✔	A short introduction which explains the purpose of the survey and how and when survey participants will be able to see the results.
✔	A short statement of principles and ethics including how the confidentiality and anonymity of survey participants and their information will be kept. If you think it necessary, the principles and ethical considerations can be appendicised.
✔	The definitions of concepts or words that are frequently used in the questions and might be widely interpreted.
✔	Close-ended questions to collect information on the demographics of survey participants for disaggregation purposes.
✔	A message to thank survey participants for their time and contributions. Gender equality can be a sensitive topic so you may wish to provide information on where survey participants can access support.
✔	Contact details of the Gender Audit team and an invitation for people to contact you with any questions or concerns.

 

 

Figure 20: Examples of good and bad survey questions

Avoid	Bad question	Good question
Leading questions	It seems that your NHRI does not have any women in its leadership team. What do you think about that?	How well are women represented in your NHRI’s leadership team?
Questions with assumptions	What do you think about the lack of a gender provision in the budget?	How well does the budget provide for activities that promote gender equality?
Double-barreled questions	Have you experienced gender-based discrimination in your workplace and how did it affect you?	Have you experienced gender-based discrimination in your workplace? If so, how has this affected you?
Jargon	Your NHRI is undertaking a GA. What are two priority issues for you?	Your national human rights institution is undertaking an audit about the extent to which gender equality is built into its systems and processes. What two issues are most important to you?
Poor scale options	How much does your NHRI encourage an understanding and commitment to gender equality? Answer: Yes/No	How much does your NHRI encourage an understanding and commitment to gender equality? Answer: Not at all / sometimes / mostly / very much

STEP 2: Test the survey questions and finalise

Writing good survey questions is difficult. You know what you mean, but it may not always be clear to others. Before finalising the survey, test it with a small group. Ask for their feedback and review the quality of the responses you receive and consider:

• Are the questions giving you the information you want?
• Are the questions clear and unambiguous?
• Are there too many questions? Are there too many open questions? Is it too long and off-putting for survey participants?
• Are there any ethical considerations you haven’t taken into account?
• Are the questions asked in a way that makes analysis easy?

Once you have received this feedback, incorporate it into your survey and finalise. As the survey will be administered throughout your NHRI, the Audit Team lead may wish, at this stage, to seek sign-off from senior leadership/Commissioners/Ombudspersons. It is crucial those at the most senior levels of your NHRI are confident with the survey and survey process. If they are, it is more likely they will accept the survey findings.

STEP 3: Administer the survey and collect the data

Now you are ready to administer the survey. Review Tool 2, the principles you have developed to guide your Gender Audit. It is crucial the survey itself and the process of delivering the survey stands up against these and the ethical principles outlined in Fig 3.

It may be useful for the Commissioner/Ombudsperson overseeing the Gender Audit to accompany the distribution of the survey with a supportive message. This should encourage staff to do the survey and let them know their participation is important.

As indicated in Fig 19, include with the survey:

• A short introduction
• A short statement of the audit principles and ethics
• The definitions of concepts or words as needed
• Demographic questions of survey participants
• A message to thank survey participants for their time and contributions
• Contact details of members of the Gender Audit team

Allow a long enough period for the completion of the survey but not too long that the survey is forgotten about. You will know what will work best for your NHRI considering its geographical spread, work priorities etc. Consider a two or three week period. You can also build in check-in times to monitor the number of responses you are receiving and whether to send out reminders.

Offer survey participants an opportunity to discuss results with you, acknowledging confidentiality and anonymity considerations.

 

It is important you receive a good response rate to the survey as this is the one chance many staff, Commissioners and Ombudspersons will have to submit their thoughts. The larger the number, the stronger the result and the more ownership there will be over the recommendations made from the analysis.

The survey response rate is calculated as the number of surveys returned divided by the number you sent out. Fig 21 below calculates rates of return for the number of surveys distributed.

If your rate of return is not high enough, consider as a team how you can increase it. You may want to extend the response time, ask division leads to follow up with their staff, send out further communications or offer alternate ways to complete the survey.

Figure 21: Rate of return on surveys

# surveys distributed	# returned	Rate of return	Quality of response
20	4	20%	Not acceptable
	10	50%	Acceptable
	14	70%	Excellent
100	20	20%	Not acceptable
	50	50%	Acceptable
	70	70%	Excellent
500	100	20%	Not acceptable
	250	50%	Acceptable
	350	70%	Excellent

If you have distributed a large number of surveys, begin collating the information as soon as it is returned. Remember: at this stage you are merely recording the findings and not yet analysing the results.

Store the data in a safe place until you are ready to analyse the data you have gathered.

2.3 Facilitating focus groups

Focus groups involve gathering information to help you understand more deeply what a selection of staff and Commissioners/Ombudspersons think about the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of your NHRI.

A focus group is a small, facilitated group discussion. Participants are carefully selected and discussions are facilitated in a way that enables free exchange of thoughts and opinions. All information gathered is considered useful data.

Focus groups are useful when you want to:

• obtain detailed information
• encourage participants to develop each other’s ideas and deepen the discussion
• understand ‘insider’ experience, thoughts and feelings
• ensure multiple ideas, thoughts and experiences to be expressed
• be more time efficient than you would with individual interviews, and
• educate the group, as discussions can highlight key points and perspectives not previously considered.

Figure 22: Steps for administering a survey

STEP 1: Identify focus group and participants

Identifying the number and nature of focus groups you need to facilitate will depend on several factors:

• Size of your NHRI: the bigger your NHRI, the more focus groups
• Geographical spread of your NHRI: if you have regional offices, hold focus groups in at least some, if not all, of the offices
• Issues that have been highlighted: organise focus groups around specific issues you want to follow up from the document review and survey results
• Gaps in the information gathered to date: organise focus groups around questions that haven’t yet been answered adequately
• Who you think can provide the best information: canvass all perspectives and experiences (e.g. from diverse gender groups, divisions or functions in your NHRI, levels of seniority within the NHRI, external stakeholders etc.)
• What is most conducive to free discussion: it is good practice to group together participants with similar characteristics so discussion can flow freely and can deepen. Use your common sense to decide what will work for the time you have and the size of your NHRI (e.g. female staff, male staff, senior leaders, regional staff, division staff).
• Practicalities of resources, budget and time: focus groups take time to arrange, facilitate and analyse the information from (note your inputs in Tool 3)

There is no rule about the number of focus groups you facilitate or whether to run more than one session with each group. Be practical and hold enough focus groups to get the information you need to answer your audit questions.

STEP 2: Plan focus group number and composition

Once you know the makeup of your focus groups, decide how you will invite them to take part. You can invite individual participants directly or seek nomination through key people. Focus groups work well with between six and ten participants.

You may find, particularly in a small office, that one person meets several focus group categories, such as a female staff member AND senior leader AND communications division. If this is the case, use your better judgement about when it would be useful for them to participate, remembering that each focus group will have a slightly different emphasis.

A focus group typically lasts for one to two hours but this will depend on how engaged your participants are. This is dependent upon the ability of your facilitators to ensure everyone participates and feels their views are valued.

Figs 23 is an example of a focus group schedule for a large NHRI spread over several regions and Fig 24 for a smaller NHRI that works from one office. Note: these are examples only and you may prefer different group compositions that suit your audit areas, questions and NHRI context.

Figure 23: Example of a focus group schedule for a large NHRI spread over several regions

Focus group	# needed	# invited	Invitation from	Date / time	Venue F2F or online	Facilitator + recorder
Female staff (central office)	10	12	Gender Unit OR Human Resources OR Senior Leadership Team
Female staff (regional office 1)	8	10
Female staff (regional office 2)	8	10
Male staff (central office)	10	12
Male staff (regional office 1)	8	10
Male staff (regional office 2)	8	10
Commissioners / Ombudspersons	6	All	Gender Audit team lead OR Assigned Gender Audit team member
Senior Leadership Team	6	All
Division (e.g. Human Resources)	6	All
Division (e.g. Investigations)	6	All
Division (e.g. Communications)	6	All
Division (e.g. Policy & legal)	6	All

Figure 24: Example of a focus group schedule for a small NHRI with one office

Focus group	# needed	# invited	Invitation from	Date / time	Venue F2F or online	Facilitator + recorder
Female staff	6	8	Gender Audit team lead OR Assigned Gender Audit team member
Male staff	6	8
Commissioners / Ombudspersons	6	All
Senior Leadership Team	6	All
Division (e.g. Investigations)	6	All
Division (e.g. Human rights)	6	All

 

 

Tool 8: Focus group schedule

Focus group	# needed	# invited	Invitation from	Date / time	Venue F2F or online	Facilitator + recorder

While the schedule will give you the overall composition of each focus group, be sure to also gather appropriate disaggregated data on who the participants are, such as  role/position at the NHRI, age, ethnicity, disability, length of employment with the NHRI etc.

STEP 3: Decide the focus group method

Focus groups can be run using a number of methods including face-to-face and online. Encourage good information gathering and make sure to record focus group outcomes that participants agree at the time as reflecting their views.

Think about the environment you are creating for the focus group[11] and ensure it is accessible and conducive to good engagement. Participants are giving up their time to take part in the focus group so it is important to show you value and respect their contribution. Think about whether to provide food and drink. Are there factors that may exclude participation for some people?

Tool 9 is an example of a 2-hour face-to-face focus group session and Tool 10 is an example of a 2-hour online focus group session, each with around six to eight participants. These are suggestions only; other methods may work better for you and for your NHRI.

Tool 9: Face-to-face (F2F) focus group session – 2 hours (timing will depend on the number of participants in the focus group)

Focus group		e.g. Female staff from central office
Facilitator	From Tool 8		Date / Time / Venue	From Tool 8
Participants	List names
Programme	Activity			Who	Resources
Prior	Tea/coffee available			Facilitator	Tea/coffee etc
0.00 – 0.10	Welcome and introductions			Facilitator/participants
0.10 – 0.20	Overview of the Gender Audit and focus group purpose, principles and ethical considerations			Facilitator	(Tool 4)
0.20 – 0.40	Session 1: Gather thoughts and ideas Invite each participant to think about the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of the NHRI. Using two different coloured sticky notes (e.g. green and pink), ask them to write down: ·       three things the NHRI does well to promote gender equality (green notes), and ·       three areas where the NHRI could improve how it promotes gender equality (pink notes). Record each idea on one note so each participant completes six notes in total.			Facilitator/recorder /participants   [Note to facilitators: participants may wish to give examples to illustrate their ideas. The recorder must write these down]	Pens, sticky notes If sticky notes are unavailable, six strips of paper per person and Blu Tack® can be used.
0.40 – 1.10	Session 2: Collate thoughts and ideas As a whole group, collate the sticky notes and focus firstly on the things the NHRI does well (green notes). Ask each participant to read out what they have written. Put the sticky notes on a large sheet of paper. As participants read out their ideas, group similar thoughts together to develop themes. Repeat this process, focusing on the things the NHRI could improve on (pink notes).				Pens, large sheets of paper
1.10 – 1.40	Session 3: Group analysis Review the themes as a whole group and discuss: ·       whether there are any additional thoughts they have, or would like to add to the themes ·       how the NHRI could strengthen what it already does well, and ·       how the NHRI could address the areas it could improve on. If more than six participants, you can do this in smaller groups with a feedback session.			Facilitator/recorder /participants
1.40 – 2.00	Summary: Review the information gathered and explain next steps Invite participants to give any final feedback on the focus group.			Facilitator/recorder

Tool 10: Online focus group session – 2 hours (timing will depend on the number of participants in the focus group)

Focus group		e.g. Senior staff from central and regional offices
Facilitator	From Tool 8		Date / Time	From Tool 8
Participants	List names
Programme	Activity			Who	Resources
Prior	Decide what online platform to use. Some of the common free ones are Zoom, Skype, join.me, Google hangouts. There are also useful working tools such as Miro and Mural. However, until you are confident working online, it is best to keep your process simple and clear. Practice! The following resources are useful: ·       Tips for attending online meetings  ·       Tips for running remote meetings and workshops. Encourage everyone to join the online focus group 10 minutes before the meeting to check their technology is working.			Facilitator/s	Online access
0.00 – 0.10	Welcome and introductions. Remind participants about how to get the best from engaging online.			Facilitator/participants
0.10 – 0.20	Overview of the Gender Audit and focus group purpose, principles and ethical considerations			Facilitator	(Tool 4)
0.20 – 0.40	Session 1: Gather thoughts and ideas Invite each participant to think about the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of the NHRI and ask them to list: ·       three things the NHRI does well to promote gender equality, and ·       three areas where the NHRI could improve its promotion of gender equality.			Facilitator/recorder /participants   [Note to facilitators: if participants give examples to illustrate their ideas,  make sure the recorder writes them down]	Pens, paper   Mute all microphones while individual work is happening.
0.40 – 1.10	Session 2: Collate thoughts and ideas Focus on the things the NHRI does well and ask each participant to read out what they have written. Repeat this process, focusing on the things the NHRI could improve on. Ensure the Recorder types the information into their computer, organising it into each section.
1.10 – 1.40	Session 3: Group analysis Ask the recorder to share their screen with, or send their notes to, participants. Once they are available to everyone, review the themes and discuss: ·       whether there are any additional thoughts they have, or would like to add to the themes ·       how the NHRI could strengthen what it already does well, and ·       how the NHRI could address the areas it could improve on. If you have more than six participants, you can do this in smaller groups using a facility such as ‘Zoom Rooms’ with a feedback session.			Facilitator / recorder / participants
1.40 – 2.00	Summary: Review the information gathered and explain next steps Invite participants to give any final feedback.			Facilitator/recorder

STEP 4: Facilitate the focus groups

The effectiveness of a focus group largely depends on the ability of its facilitators to encourage free, open and deep discussions about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges facing them.

Among other things, good facilitators will:

• use techniques to encourage free thinking
• encourage participants to clarify and refine their ideas
• show participants their ideas have been heard, and
• enable diverse views to be expressed.

The APF is working across the region to build the capacity of facilitators in NHRIs. Those who have completed this programme are part of the APF Facilitators’ Network (AFN). If you have an AFN member and/or competent facilitators in your NHRI, ask them to facilitate or oversee the facilitation of your focus groups.

If you don’t have access to competent facilitator/s, consider using external expertise including contacting a member of the AFN from another NHRI. The APF will give you these details.

The AFN have also developed Guidelines for Effective Facilitators.

Guidelines for Effective Facilitators   The APF Facilitators’ Network has developed a set of guidelines for human rights facilitators (Jakarta Guidelines for Human Rights Facilitators). They are available at https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/jakarta-guidelines-human-rights-facilitators/ in Arabic, English and Thai.

While the aim of the discussion is to hear participants’ views, make sure to explain the purpose of the focus group at the start, including what will happen with the information gathered. Participants need to know they can speak honestly and that all viewpoints and perspectives are valued.

Review the Gender Audit principles and ethical considerations (Fig 2, 3 & 4) early in the workshop and make sure to forward this information to participants when they are invited to partake in the organisation-wide survey, and as part of the invitation to participate in the focus group.

STEP 5: Write up the findings

Once you have facilitated the focus group session (Tools 9 and/or 10) you will have data in two formats:

• Sticky notes contributed by the participants and the themes developed from them, having already checked with participants this information is accurate and a fair representation of their contributions

OR

• Collated notes from the participants and the themes developed from them, as recorded during an online focus group

AND

• Observation notes from the recorder, even though you will not have the opportunity to check this information with participants. It is important the facilitator and recorder discuss the notes soon after the focus group, and definitely before the next one, to ‘debrief’ with each other and discuss any intangible observations or body language.

Store the data you gather in a safe place until you are ready to analyse it.

2.4 Deciding how to store data[12]

Organising, referencing and storing your data takes time but is very worthwhile and an important discipline to have. Your analysis will be difficult if your data is not available in a useful format.

There are many ways of storing data, both in hard copy and digitally. Consider your available resources and select an appropriate storage system that works for you and the data.

The ethical considerations of data storage are covered in Figure 3, but some pointers will help you with the logistics. The aim is to:

• Be able to access the information easily
• Ensure data are referenced correctly with the title, the author, when it was gathered, how it can be accessed, what version it is and what level of sensitivity it has. Note: the UN uses three levels (strictly confidential, confidential and unclassified^[13])
• Make sure the data are secure and safe from physical threats such as fire, water, exposure to light or theft

• Be clear about who can access the data

There is a wide range of digital storage systems. If using one, ensure sensitive information is protected by encrypting the data (making it unreadable by anyone other than those who have legitimate access to it). An Information and Computer Technology (ICT) staff member can help with this and there is information online as well as in the text box below.

How to encrypt data   Protecting Confidentiality and Encrypting Data https://www.dummies.com/computers/computer-networking/using-a-network/protecting-confidentiality-and-encrypting-data-on-a-home-network/   How to Encrypt a File (Microsoft Windows 10) https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026312/windows-10-how-to-encrypt-a-file

A common backup rule to protect against data loss, which works for both hard copy and digital material is the 3-2-1 rule^[14]:

	Ensure you have at least 3 copies of anything important
	Stored on at least 2 different media/storage devices/cloud systems
	With at least 1 copy in a different geographical location to your own.

Note: apart from an online device for digital data, it is useful to have a lockable and fireproof filing cabinet and a shredder (for information that may be sensitive but no longer required). Your NHRI may also arrange a confidential material pick-up and disposal system.

Stage 3:

Analysing the results of your Gender Audit

1

4

3

2

33

Analyse the results ·      Data analysis process – an overview ·      Analyse document review data ·      Analyse survey data ·      Analyse focus group data ·      Bring it all together

Gender Audit

By now, you have finished gathering the information for your Gender Audit using three data collection methods: a document review, an organisation-wide survey and focus groups. You have recorded the findings from each activity and stored it safely and securely.

The next stage is to analyse the data to find out what it says about the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of your NHRI.

Section 3.1 will give you an overview of the data analysis process then walk you through how to make sense of the data you have collected.

For more comprehensive information on how to analyse data you can access the two resources in the text box below.

How to analyse data   Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning: Guidelines for NHRIs. Asia Pacific Forum (2020), https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/monitoring-evaluation-accountability-and-learning-guide-national-human-rights-institutions/     How do I use data? A guide for National Human Rights Institutions. Regional Rights Resource Team, Pacific Community (2020).

3.1: Data analysis process – an overview

Most data can be analysed through a five-step process, as shown in Figure 25:

Figure 25: Five-step data analysis process

Step 1: Review the data

Look over the data you have collected to:

• refamiliarise yourself with it, and
• make sure it is referenced correctly including its source, when it was gathered and the context of when it was gathered.

Step 2: Revisit Gender Audit purpose and questions

Revisit why you are doing the Gender Audit—including your inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes (Tool 3) as well as the audit areas and questions (Tool 4)—and consider:

• Will the data you have gathered meet these inputs/activities/outputs/outcomes and answer your audit questions?
• If not, do you need to gather more information, perhaps review additional documentation, call for a high return rate in your survey responses or hold further focus groups?

Step 3: Decide method of analysis

What method/s do you think would be most appropriate to make sense of the data you have collected? The sections below propose methods of analysis for the three audit methods you have used.

Step 4: Do the analysis

Once you have decided on the method, you can do the analysis of:

• Quantitative data (usually involves making calculations and creating graphs)
• Qualitative data (usually involves organising written information into themes)

Step 5: Interpret the results

For the final step, you will need to reflect on the data analysis and find answers to your questions.

This will give you the information you need to draw conclusions about the extent to which gender equality is built into the systems and processes of your NHRI and to make recommendations to inform future decision-making.

3.2 Analysing document review data

Your document review will most likely have resulted in qualitative data (descriptive information usually represented by words). To analyse qualitative data you need to find common themes or categories.

Figure 26: Main steps for analysing document review data

Step 1: Review the data

Look over the data you have collected to:

• refamiliarise yourself with it, and
• make sure it is referenced correctly including its source, when it was gathered and the context of when it was gathered.

Step 2: Identify common themes

The findings from your document review have been recorded in the document review template (Tool 7). Review these findings to identify your themes either manually or by using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). Highlighters, notes in the margins and sticky notes can be used for marking data documents. Fig 27 gives an example of how themes can be developed from the findings using an online highlighter.

While this can be done by individual members of the Gender Audit team, it is best to workshop as a group.

Some tips for creating themes from qualitative data:

• Use several people to identify the themes and compare your thinking for a more accurate interpretation
• Invite those who provided the data to participate in analysis by reflecting on it and generating their own themes, patterns and relationships. Some data collection methods have participant analysis as part of the process (co-design, deliberative dialogue and community forums)
• Triangulate the themes by comparing the findings with other data collection methods on the same issue, including secondary sources, and by reflecting on similarities and differences
• Check for alternative explanations by reflecting on how the conclusion was made and whether alternative explanations can be ruled out
• Search for missing informationby reflecting on which aspects of the issue were not mentioned by participants that you may have expected

 

(More information about analysing quantitative data can be found in Section 3.3 below)

 

Step 3: Make conclusions

Once you have identified your themes, it’s time to discuss what they mean and develop your conclusions. Review your conclusions with others in the audit team in case something has been missed.

It is important not to generalise conclusions that come from qualitative data. While all information is important to review, it may not be correct for, or relate to, all situations. When making conclusions from qualitative data, include where the data is from and any other information about its context that may be useful.

Example

Inaccurate conclusion: “There is inadequate commitment to operationalising gender priorities”

Accurate conclusion: “Information gathered from the Strategic Plan 2021–2026 and the Operational Plan & Budget 2021 shows the lack of a designated division, person or budget. This may mean that there is inadequate commitment to operationalising gender priorities.”

Triangulating your findings will strengthen your conclusions. In this example, you could include a question in your survey or focus group about how the NHRI meets its strategic gender priorities.

 

(A note about data triangulation can be found in Section 3.5 below)

 

Figure 27: Example of qualitative document review analysis

Audit area		Audit questions	Findings (from Fig 16)		Analysis of key themes
			Q1: What information does the document provide about how the NHRI promotes gender equality?	Q2: Are there any gaps or questions that arise from the documentation?
DOCUMENTS		Strategic Plan 2021–2026; Operational Plan/Budget 2021; Annual Report 2020
1	NHRI’s structure and decision-making	How well does the NHRI: 1.1  integrate gender perspectives into strategic statements and decision-making processes? 1.2  gender mainstream strategies, priorities and practices throughout functional and portfolio areas? 1.3  balance gender representation at the senior leadership level? 1.4  proactively promote and recruit for gender equality at senior leadership positions? 1.5  designate leadership responsibility for the gender equality portfolio? 1.6  have a designated division, unit or work program focused on gender equality? 1.7  commit to ensuring gender equality is integrated in operational plans? 1.8  incorporate provisions for gender equality at all levels of the budgetary process?	Strategic Plan 2021–2026 ·       Language, tone, images are gender inclusive ·       Gender equality is included as a strategic priority ·       There is a designated gender portfolio at Commissioner / Ombudsperson level Operational Plan & Budget 2021 ·       Language, tone, images are gender inclusive ·       There is a work stream for gender activities Annual Report 2020 ·       Language, tone, images are gender inclusive ·       The outcomes of the gender work stream are reported	Strategic Plan 2021–2026 ·      One of six Commissioners are female (16%) ·      There is no evidence of a budget specifically allocated for gender priorities Operational Plan & Budget 2021 ·      The Chief executive is male. Two of eight senior leaders are female (25%) ·      There is not a separate division / portfolio focused on gender equality ·      There does not appear to be a budget allocated for the work stream on gender activities ·      There is no evidence of gender-related indicators to measure improvement of the NHRIs work Annual Report 2020 ·     Data is not disaggregated by gender ·     The impact of the NHRIs work on gender across all functional and portfolio areas is not reported	According to [list documents]: 1. Gender is evident as a priority for the NHRI in strategic and decision-making levels and in workstreams (green). 2. There is inadequate commitment to operationalising gender priorities, e.g. lack of designated division / person or budget (grey). 3. There is a lack of gender balance at Commissioner / senior leadership levels (blue). 4. Monitoring, evaluating and reporting on progress: While gender activities are reported, data is not disaggregated by gender nor reported across the organisation’s functions / portfolios (yellow).   (Note: some of these themes may also be relevant for the other four audit areas)

 

Tool 11: Document review analysis template

Audit area		Audit questions	Findings (from Fig 16)				Analysis of key themes
			Q1: What information does the document provide about how the NHRI promotes gender equality?	Q2: Are there any gaps or questions that arise from the documentation?
DOCUMENTS
1	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From Tool 7		From Tool 7
DOCUMENTS
2	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From Tool 7		From Tool 7
DOCUMENTS
3	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From Tool 7		From Tool 7
DOCUMENTS
4	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From Tool 7		From Tool 7
DOCUMENTS
5	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From Tool 7		From Tool 7

 

3.3 Analysing survey data

Your surveys will have resulted in both qualitative data (descriptive information, usually represented by words) and quantitative data (recorded using numbers).

The numbers of surveys to analyse will depend on the size of your NHRI and your rate of return (Fig 21). If you have used software for your survey—such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms—it can do much of the collation for you, particularly of quantitative data.

The main steps for analysing quantitative data are listed below in Fig 28: cleaning the data, making calculations, identifying trends and making conclusions. You will find more information about this in How do I use data? A guide for National Human Rights Institutions[15].

 

Figure 28: Main steps for analysing your survey data

Step 1: Review and clean the data

Look over the data you have collected to:

• refamiliarise yourself with it, and
• make sure it is referenced correctly including its source, when it was gathered and the context of when it was gathered.

‘Clean’ the data by finding and removing any inconsistencies so the conclusions drawn are reliable.

Example

A survey form has not been filled out properly and may distort your results. If this is the case, take it out of the surveys for analysis.  

Step 2: Make calculations from quantitative data

Making simple calculations can provide some powerful insights about the data collected and to understand what it is saying about a topic or issue.. Fig 29 gives an example.

 

Figure 29: Example of quantitative survey data analysis

Your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making	None of the time	Some of the time	Most of the time	All of the time
	12	24	16	5

By dividing each number by the total of surveys returned (57), you get the following result. This shows the majority of respondents (63%) think your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making only some, or none, of the time.

Your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making	None of the time	Some of the time	Most of the time	All of the time
	21%	42%	28%	9%

Step 3: Draw themes from qualitative data

Guidelines for drawing themes from qualitative data are in Fig 27 above.

Step 4: Make conclusions from quantitative data

Determine if the results are credible by testing for statistical significance.

Example 1

You have 96 staff, Commissioners/Ombudspersons at your NHRI. As you have received 57 surveys, your rate of return is 59.4% which will give you a credible result (Fig 21). You can triangulate this finding against those of the document review and focus groups with a relatively high level of confidence that the result is statistically significant.

Example 2

You have 240 staff, Commissioners/Ombudspersons at your NHRI. As you have received 57 surveys your rate of return is 23.7%. This is not an acceptable rate of return (Fig 21). The result is not statistically significant and it is not possible to be confident of this result.

You can further analyse this data by comparing results against your disaggregated demographic data. The following table gives an example of comparing the responses of female and male members of the NHRI.

Excel is useful for making these calculations, from which you can produce graphs that provide a visual understanding of what your data is saying.

Figure 30: Example of comparing responses by female and male respondents

Your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making
	None of the time	Some of the time	Most of the time	All of the time
Total	12	24	16	5
	21%	42.1%	28.1%	8.8%
Female respondents	7	16	6	1
	12.3%	28.1%	10.5%	1.8%
Male respondents	5	8	10	4
	8.8%	14%	17.5%	7%

By comparing this data you can see:

• more female than male respondents think your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making only some, or none, of the time
• more male than female respondents think your NHRI includes gender perspectives in its decision-making most, or all, of the time.

Step 5: Make conclusions from qualitative data

Guidelines for making conclusions from qualitative data are in Fig 27 above.

If you have used open questions in your survey, which is good practice, you will also have qualitative data to analyse. Use the same steps in Fig 27 to review this data, identify common themes and make your conclusions.

3.4 Analysing focus group data

Your focus groups will have resulted in both quantitative and qualitative data. Guidelines for analysing and making conclusions from quantitative and qualitative data are in Sections 3.2 and 3.3 above.

Quantitative data

The quantitative data you have collected from the focus groups will be in the form of disaggregated demographic data from each focus group and totals across all focus groups.

You may also want to do a quantitative analysis of participant comments about what the NHRI does well to promote gender equality and where the NHRI could improve how it promotes gender equality (session 1 of the focus group programme). This will give you part of the picture about what focus groups participants think is most/least important.

 

Figure 31: Example of quantitative focus group data analysis

Issues from focus group	Numbers
What does the NHRI do well to promote gender equality?
Gender equality is recognised at decision-making levels	31
NHRI has a designated gender division	28
etc	#
Where could the NHRI improve how it promotes gender equality?
Lack of gender balance at senior leadership levels	36
There is not a specific budget for gender work	12
etc	#

Qualitative data

The benefit of the process you have used for the focus group is that each focus group has already analysed the qualitative data. It has collated and agreed the key themes (session 2 of the focus group programme) and identified areas for recommendation for strengthening and improving the NHRI’s gender equity work (session 3 of the focus group programme).

Your task is to collate and theme the findings across all focus group sessions.

3.5 Bringing it all together

By this point you have analysed data from your document review, the organisation-wide survey and the focus groups. Now it is time to bring it all together.

The benefit of having three sets of data and using multiple approaches to analyse the data means:

• people from across the organisation—and potentially external to it—will have had an opportunity to have their say, encouraging ownership of the audit outcomes
• the data is enriched by multiple perspectives, and
• you can cross-reference your findings from each method used which strengthens your data and gives you a more complete picture of how well gender equality is understood and acted on in your NHRI.

Data triangulation Imagine if four people were gathering information about a mountain. One person looked at the north face, one at the east face, one at the south face and one at the west face. Even though it is the same mountain, the perspective that each person sees will be different. If only one person’s perspective were taken into account, you would not get an accurate understanding of the mountain. By collating all four perspectives (triangulating the data from all four perspectives) the information about the mountain becomes more complete and more accurate.

Using multiple sources of data and multiple approaches to analysing data is called data triangulation.

Include disaggregated demographic data in findings

Alongside your analysis, conclusions and recommendations review, the demographic data you have gathered—such as gender, role in the NHRI, salary levels/bands, regional or central office, ethnicity, age, disability etc—will add to your understanding and context of your findings.

You will know what the important groupings are for your context.

Remember: the information gathered from a regional office without a gender focal point may be different from the information gathered from a central office where there is a gender focal point and gender programme.

Meet as a Gender Audit team and workshop the following eight steps

You may find Tool 11 helpful for this task, as it has a basic set up of columns, but using Excel will allow you to make further columns/rows and create a more sophisticated analysis. Excel is a good analysis option, unless you have other dedicated software available and people with the technical expertise to use it.

Note: the tool has room for ‘general findings’ (those you think are important and need to contribute to the audit result but may not fit into your five audit areas).

 

Figure 32: Steps to bring your analysis together

Step 1: Reflect on the outcomes you identified in Tool 3 and consider how the data you have gathered will meet these outcomes.

Fig 33: Example of outcomes from Stage 1 – Planning your Gender Audit

Outcome/s   What changes are you aiming at as a result of the Gender Audit?

As a result of the Gender Audit: •    the capacity and commitment of the NHRI to apply a gender perspective to its internal culture, policies and practices and to its external activities has been strengthened, and •    senior leaders agree to implement a targeted gender mainstreaming strategy across the NHRI.

Step 2: Revisit your audit areas and questions in Tool 4 as your final analysis will be guided by these areas and questions.

Step 3: Group the analysed data (quantitative and qualitative) from each method into the relevant area.

Step 4: Reflect on this information to find out what it is saying using the guidelines and tools in Stage 3 above.

Step 5: Make your final draft analysis and conclusions by combining all of the information you have gathered, collated and analysed.

 

Step 6: Check your analysis with key stakeholders as appropriate. Your stakeholders may be those who contributed information, selected internal staff and/or selected external people.

This is a very important step in the process. Although you have already agreed outcomes from each focus group, no one will have yet seen the overall draft audit results. This is not a time to relitigate any new points but to ensure you have correctly captured the meaning and intent of the contributions. Checking in with key stakeholders is also helpful to keep people briefed and up to date. This sustains their interest in, and ownership of, the audit.   

Step 7: Finalise your analysis and conclusions as a result of stakeholder feedback.

Step 8: Draft recommendations and reflect on the results of the final analysis. Does it uncover draft recommendations about what the NHRI can do to strengthen what it does well and to address some of the challenges and gaps it may be experiencing?

At this stage you don’t need to finalise the recommendations (that happens in Stage 4) but make sure to note the key areas they address.

Tool 12: Bringing the analyses together from the document review, organisation-wide survey and focus groups

Audit area		Audit questions	Analysis	What is this saying / conclusions?	Potential recommendations?
1	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From analysis of document review, survey and focus groups
2	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From analysis of document review, survey and focus groups
3	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From analysis of document review, survey and focus groups
4	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From analysis of document review, survey and focus groups
5	From Tool 4	From Tool 4	From analysis of document review, survey and focus groups
General findings

 

Stage 4:

Reporting on your Gender Audit and recommending action

1

4

3

2

44

Report on your audit ·       Guidelines for reporting your results ·       What to include in your report

Gender Audit

4.1 Guidelines for reporting your results[16]

In order to maintain momentum and commitment to your NHRI’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, it is important to consider and report on draft findings as soon as possible after the audit.

A lot of information will have been gathered during the audit and the final report can take a while to prepare. However, if information has been collated and themed during the audit, the Gender Audit team will be able to prepare a draft summary that includes:

• key findings on what the NHRI does well to promote gender equality and where the NHRI could improve how it promotes gender equality, as well as
• draft recommendations.

The audit team should discuss the draft summary with the senior leader/s of the NHRI to enable a discussion of the audit findings and proposed strategies and actions. Buy-in at senior level is key to the successful progression of the next stages.

This discussion can also involve deciding how and when to communicate the draft summary to the relevant teams/groups within the NHRI, particularly to those who participated in the audit. These discussions will contribute to preparing and refining the final report.

The final report should be prepared by the Gender Audit team as soon as possible after the draft report. This is the basis for the next step in the NHRI’s gender mainstreaming strategy. Once completed, it is important the report’s findings and recommendations are communicated across the organisation and that opportunities to discuss the implications of the report are facilitated.

While you will have report processes and styles in your NHRI, the following is a checklist for writing a good report.

Tool 13: Checklist for writing a good report

How to write a good report
✔	Make sure your report is completed and disseminated on time.
✔	Write in clear, concise language and translate the report into local languages if necessary.
✔	Be consistent in your use of terminology and definitions.
✔	While it is useful to report on the outputs, the focus of the report should be on the outcomes.
✔	Use evidence to demonstrate how your activity contributed to the outcome/s.
✔	Use figures, summary tables, maps, photographs and graphs when information is complex.
✔	Highlight key points.
✔	Ensure you reference the material you have used, whether primary or secondary.
✔	Include a table of contents for longer reports.
✔	Take a ‘no surprises’ approach and discuss the findings face-to-face with staff, participants or stakeholders involved and allow them to provide feedback.

4.2 What to include in your report

Throughout the process of analysing your data and drafting recommendations you will have used your Communications Strategy (Tool 5) to report and check interim findings throughout the organisation and key stakeholders.

As indicated in your Communications Strategy, it is also important to keep your senior leadership team briefed through all stages of the audit. It will take time to prepare the final audit report so make sure to prepare a report for your senior leadership as soon as possible after you have completed your final analysis that includes a summary of findings and proposed draft recommendations (Tool 13).

Ideally you will be able to meet with senior leaders to discuss. It is particularly important for the senior leadership of your NHRI to have an opportunity to discuss, refine and agree on the recommendations before they are distributed further.

Writing recommendations   The International Labour Office suggests the following guidelines for writing audit recommendations. To ensure quality in the report, recommendations should: ·       Be numbered and limited ·       Be formulated in a clear and concise manner ·       Be relevant and useful ·       Be supported by evidence and follow logically from findings ·       Not be too general but specific to the programme evaluated ·       Specify who is called upon to act ·       Specify which action is needed to remedy the situation that needs improvement ·       Distinguish the priority of importance of single recommendations (high, low, medium) ·       Specify the recommended timeframe for follow up ·       Acknowledge whether there are resource implications   ILO (2012) A Manual for Gender Audit Facilitators: The ILO participatory Gender Audit methodology 2nd Edition. Available at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—gender/documents/publication/wcms_187411.pdf  (p103)

 

Tool 14: Draft report template for discussion with senior leaders

1	Background summary of what you did and why, including outcomes sought
2	Methods used for data collection
3	Summary of findings, including participation level, on what the NHRI does well to promote gender equality and where the NHRI could improve how it promotes gender equality
4	Draft recommendations

Once the senior leaders have had a chance to review and comment on your findings and recommendations, you can prepare a more comprehensive and formal Gender Audit report (Tool 15).

 

 

Tool 15: Report template for wider distribution

1	Executive summary that includes a summary of findings and recommendations
2	The purpose of the report and contents
3	Background including what you did and why (include logic model analysis)
4	Methodology on how you went about the Gender Audit including:
	4.1     stakeholders you engaged with
	4.2     audit areas and audit questions
	4.3     methods you used
	4.4     how you analysed the data
	4.5     human rights principles and ethical considerations
5	Conclusions and Recommendations under each of the five audit areas that mention: ·       What the NHRI does well to promote gender equality ·       Where the NHRI could improve how it promotes gender equality ·       Recommendations
6	Proposed next steps
7	Appendices that include the tools you completed in this toolkit

 

 

 

[1] APF (2019), Mainstreaming the Human Rights of Women and Girls into Our Everyday Work, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/media/resource_file/APF_NHRI_Guidelines_Mainstreaming_pCkDLRa.pdf

[2] Try to gather the views of relevant external stakeholders who have experience of the NHRI and/or an interest in the NHRI’s efforts to achieve gender equity

[3] APF (Oct 2019 Rev), Human Rights Education Manual, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/human-rights-education-manual/ Tool 1- Force Field Analysis, p116

[4] As above, Tool 5 – Community Mapping, p122

[5] As above, Tool 6 – Photo Voice, p123

[6] As above, Tool 13 – Role-play, play back theatre, p133

[7]ILO (2012), Manual for Gender Audit Facilitators. The ILO Participatory Gender Audit Methodology 2^nd edition, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—gender/documents/publication/wcms_187411.pdf (p35)

[8] APF (2019 Rev), Human Rights Education: A Manual for NHRIs, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/human-rights-education-manual/ (p104) 

[9] APF (2018 Rev), Undertaking Effective Investigations: A Guide for NHRIs, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/media/resource_file/May_2018_Undertaking_effective_investigations_guide.pdf

[10] APF (2019), Capacity Assessment for NHRIs: An Easy Guide, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/media/resource_file/2019_Easy_Guide_Capacity_Assessment_for_NHRIs.pdf

[11] A section on creating effective environments can be found in APF (updated 2019), Human Rights Education: A Manual for NHRIs, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/media/resource_file/2019_HRE_Manual_for_NHRIs.pdf (S7.3, p69)

[12] APF (2020), Monitoring, Evaluating, Accountability and Learning: A Guide for NHRIs, https://www.asiapacificforum.net/resources/monitoring-evaluation-accountability-and-learning-guide-national-human-rights-institutions/

[13] UN Archives and Records Management Section, UN Records and Information Management Guidance, https://archives.un.org/sites/archives.un.org/files/7-guidance_secure_records.pdf

[14] NAVIKO Blog (Nov 2017), The 3-2-1 Backup Rule – an Efficient Data Protection Strategy, https://www.nakivo.com/blog/3-2-1-backup-rule-efficient-data-protection-strategy/

[15] Regional Rights Resource Team, Pacific Community (2020).

[16] From MEAL resource … will reference – INSERT REFERENCE

Supports NHRIs to assess, identify and mainstream gender considerations and the human rights of women and girls in all their operations.

Facilitating an NHRI Gender Audit – A Toolkit for National Human Rights Institutions © Copyright Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, February 2021