INTL Reading: Gender Analysis in Development Planning        Spring 2017

Professor Anita M. Weiss

                                          Assignments

                         Students are responsible for two interrelated assignments

I. Preliminary Mapping Project

For Week Two, identify an issue that you ascertain is crucial for the global empowerment of women, and write a 2-page review of why you have selected this issue. This is to be a very practical, realistic task. It should also be something that deeply interests you. Following our discussion of these issues, you will then conduct a preliminary mapping of those organizations in Lane County that share your concerns. Presumably, these will be NGOs, though for some of your interests you may determine that it is important to include other groups as well. The mapping, designed to be an individual exercise, is due in two parts: i) Week Three, be prepared to discuss what you have already completed. At this time, we may identify prospective project partners (two per group; three in one group if the seminar has an uneven number of participants); and ii) final mapping is due Week Four.

II. Final Project 

The goal is to develop a fundable Project Proposal (PP) with explicit project details. It is preferable to develop a generic project that will have applications in different countries and provide examples of generalizable significance (this seems to be the thrust of many donor agencies these days), but you may make your project comparative, country or region specific.

For the project, we will use the USAID format for an RFA (Request for Applications), also often referred to as a Project Design, bearing in mind that different donor agencies use various terminologies and formats for this kind of initial document. For this assignment, you are to:

      i. Develop a "Project Purpose" (maximum 480 characters); you can have a 'working project purpose' (much longer) but this should be refined at the very end.

ii. Divide your PP into three sections: (1) Program Factors/Perceived Global and Theoretical problem; (2) Project Description; and (3) Factors Affecting Project Selection and Further Development.. To write this PP effectively, you will need to assess:

1. Program Factors/Perceived Global and Theoretical problem: Address the program factors in an ideal sense: how does your project address and bring in current views on development priorities (such as those agreed upon in the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW, UN Women, or other documents) to promote women's empowerment? What is the perceived global problem? Bring in some of the literature we have been reading.

 2. Key components in project description: what major issue is at the heart of your concern; where might the project be developed and why; who might be involved, why, and how they might be involved; what tools can best be used to develop and later evaluate the project design, proposal and implementation?

3. Factors Affecting Project Selection and Further Development. how (based on what criteria) will partner organizations be selected, and related matters.

Other points to include:

            i.      a component affirming how this project intrinsically incorporates gender analysis;

            ii.     what data need to be collected to address the project needs, and how you propose to do so;

            iii.    what methods should be employed to obtain and analyze the gathered information;

            iv.    what methods should be employed to develop appropriate strategies and goals for the project;

            v.     what is the likely impact of this project? how will it change people's lives, and what is the likelihood that its activities can be sustained and/or replicated by the beneficiaries, local organizations, and government(s) after the project ends?

            vi.    estimate a realistic time-line and, as far as you can ascertain, realistic funding guidelines and associated requirements for the project's implementation;

            vii.   create a series of evaluation methods for use during the project period, as well as to ascertain its effectiveness at its conclusion. Bear in mind that these should also include a component to evaluate the project's effectiveness in empowering women.

We will address each of the above only when students assess they warrant further discussion. All PPs are due on the day they are presented. I'd like to link these PPs to the course website, with students' permission. Presentations based on the PPs will be made Weeks 8 and 9. (I will be present at all meetings those weeks)

III. Final assignment (voluntary)

Return to those organizations you had initially contacted in the preliminary mapping stage, and provide them with a copy of your final Project Proposal. Follow through on international connections you may have made in the course of the mapping or Project Proposal development stages, and ask for feedback from practitioners (if possible).