Published: January 9, 2020

On October 24, after the “Campesina Family” Community of Practice meeting organized by KNOWHOW3000 in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala, Dagny Skarwan presented the results of the ‘Gender Analysis’ of the HORIZONT3000 ADA Co-financing program in Central America.

Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals at the global level, a new awareness about the centrality of women’s empowerment for sustainable development was born. Gender equality is a key piece and a substantial part for sustainable development. The commitment to gender equality, rights and the empowerment of women are transversal to the entire 2030 Agenda. The SDGs are aimed at all countries and for all sectors of society. The systematic incorporation of a gender perspective in the implementation of the global SDG agenda is reflected in Goal 5 of “Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls” and 11 SDGs include specific goals disaggregated by gender.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs expressly state that in order to achieve sustainable development, discrimination and gender inequality must be eradicated worldwide. Progress for girls and women is not limited only to Objective 5. Therefore, mainstreaming gender and women’s rights are part of the mandate of the countries that signed the SDGs and should guide the implementation of their sustainable development policies.

The objective of this Gender Analysis is aimed at both HORIZONT3000, its regional team in Central America and the 14 Partner Organisations in three countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The study seeks to highlight gender inequities in the themes of the program in the sectors of the Central America Programme Intervention and understanding how projects impact men / women and girls differently in the enjoyment of human rights and / or the benefits produced and access to local development efforts. As a tool it should serve for the consistent incorporation of the gender approach in the HORIZONT3000 General Program and the strategies of its Associated Organizations in three countries of Central America. The objective was also to evaluate the gender competencies and capacities of the Partner Organizations and the staff of the HORIZONT3000 Regional Office for AC (ORAC), as well as their knowledge of gender inequities. It is definitely not possible to generate greater equity without changing individual behaviors, work methodologies and organizational cultures.

This study for the HORIZONT3000 Co-Financing Framework Program with the CAD-ADA for the period 2019-2022 in Central America: “Promotion of decent living conditions for the rural population of Central America” (Intervention G-19-800 of the PMC- AC / 2019 -22) was performed by Dagny Skarwan and Lucia de los Ángeles López García during the months of September to November 2019. The analysis includes reflection in the 14 partner organizations in three countries (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala), in the teams HORIZONT3000 and its coordination in the ORAC – Regional Office of Central America with a field phase.

After a first presentation of the results I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Dagny Skarwan and asked her what the most interesting results of the study were:

Thanks to Dagny! I hope we hear much more about this important topic.

What are your experiences with gender inequality, in your country, in your working environment, in your daily life?