CARE's Rapid Gender Analysis Toolkit

What is Rapid Gender Analysis?

Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) provides information about the different needs, capacities and coping strategies of women, men, boys and girls in a crisis situation. It does this in part by examining the relationships between women, men, boys and girls. An RGA is built up progressively, providing an initial but incomplete analysis of gender relations in an emergency, and links to more in-depth Gender and Power Analysis using the CARE Good Practice Framework. An RGA is also used to make recommendations to ensure that CARE comprehensively meets the needs of everyone involved in the crisis.

Rapid Gender Analysis has been used by CARE in more than 20 countries in large-scale emergencies and more than 30 countries in their preparedness phase. Almost all members of the CARE Global GiE team, and several RED Roster Consultants have used the toolkit. The RGA is designed to be formatted to many situations: variations on the RGA approach include a protection focus (Kobane), an urban focus (Jordan), and fully remote (Syria and South Sudan). CARE in Yemen, Iraq and Nepal conducted joint RGAs that engaged with external actors in the process of the research.

The RGA toolkit contains guidance on how to do every step of a Rapid Gender Analysis. The tools can be adapted to suit each country’s unique situation. In addition to the Guidance Notes, the RGA toolkit includes tools for primary data collection, secondary data review, analysing the data collected, and making recommendations. There is also a Report Template that should be used when drafting the RGA reports.

The external communications piece on the RGA provides an overview of the approach and steps to conduct an RGA:

rapid_gender_analysis_external_comms.pdf

Rapid Gender Analysis in Five Steps:

The Rapid Gender Analysis provides essential information about gender roles and responsibilities, capacities and vulnerabilities, together with programming recommendations. It is used in situations where time is of the essence and resources are very scarce. It can also be used to update or verify gender information that is already available. The Rapid Gender Analysis is built up progressively: using a range of primary and secondary information to understand gender roles and relations and how these may change during a crisis. It will assist in providing practical programming and operational recommendations to meet the different needs of women, men, boys and girls and in ensuring we ‘do no harm’.

gie_guidance_note_rapid_gender_analysis.pdf rga_template.docx

care_rapid_gender_analysispptx.pptx

Rapid Gender Analysis Reports organised by country can be found here. These can be used as examples.

1. Find Existing Gender Information

Gender in Briefs (GiB) are a key part of producing CARE's Rapid Gender Analysis in an emergency. A Gender in Brief compiles and analyses existing secondary gender information and presents this information in a two-page document, which contains sex and age disaggregated statistics and gender analysis from before the crisis. It makes links to key reference documents and existing CARE programmes.

GiE Guidance Note: Gender in Brief

gie_guidance_note_gender_in_brief.pdf gib_template_2017.docx

Gender in Briefs organised by country can be found here. These can be used as examples.

2. Collect New Gender Information

RGA Assessment Tools are used to gather information from women, men, boys and girls about the impact of a crisis. CARE uses different tools to collect information from women, men, boys and girls. Select at least two tools from the tools listed below and then adapt the tool to the context. See the Guidance Note below for more information.

GiE Guidance Note: RGA Assessment Tools

1._gie_guidance_note_gender_assessment_tools.doc consent_form_english.docx

Example RGA Assessment Tools

2._sex_and_age_disaggregated_data.doc 3._focus_group_discussion_tool.doc

4._key_informant_interview_tool.doc 5._mapping_tool.doc

6._gender_and_protection_audit.doc 7._individual_story_tool.doc

8._survey_questionnaire_tool.docx 9._additional_sector_specific_questions.docx

3. Analyse the Gender Information

Gender data that has been collected is useless without analysis. The analysis of gender data is important for a number of reasons, including the following:

To provide practitioners with an understanding of changes to gender relations, and how they affect programming
To use the data and information generated from the data collection process to form recommendations
To find and understand gaps in programming and make adjustments

GiE Guidance Note: Analysing Data

gie_guidance_note_on_analysing_data.pdf

4. Make Practical Recommendations

Perhaps the most important step to completing a Rapid Gender Analysis is to provide clear recommendations to improve or address some of the problems or gaps identified in the analysis of the different needs, capacities and contributions of women, men, boys and girls. Remember that the purpose of collecting this information is to improve your response effort (and potentially those of your partners as well). Ask yourself, how can you use the information you now have to make targeted and practical recommendations to people within and beyond your organisation in order to improve the response effort?

GiE Guidance Note: Making Recommendations

gie_guidance_note_on_making_recommendations.pdf

5. Share and Update the RGA Report

CARE’s Rapid Gender Analysis relies on gender sensitive assessment information becoming available during a crisis. In order to ensure this happens, CARE’s gender in emergency assessment and analysis work needs to be aligned to the timeframe and processes of the OCHA-led assessments. The diagram in the Guidance Note explains when to share different RGA Reports with other actors.

GiE Guidance Note: Sharing the RGA Report

gie_guidance_note_on_sharing_the_rga_reports.pdf