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GENDER ASSESSMENT AND

ACTION PLAN

EFFECTIVE PLANNING AND SERVICES PROJECT (EPSP)

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EFFECTIVE PLANNING AND

SERVICES PROJECT (EPSP) Gender Assessment and Gender Action Plan

Contract No:

AID-263-C-12-00003

Submitted to:

USAID Egypt Office for Democracy and Governance

Prepared by:

AECOM International Development

DISCLAIMER:

The authors’ views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency

for International Development or the United States Government.

June 30, 2015

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was

prepared by Dina Scippa, AECOM Gender Adviser from AECOM International Development under the Egypt

Effective Planning and Services Project.

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ACRONYMS AECOM AECOM International Development CAOA Central Agency for Organization and Administration

COR Contract Office Representative (USAID)

CSC Citizen Service Center

EPSP Effective Service and Planning Project

FGD Focus Group Discussion

GoE Government of Egypt

HR Human Resources

HRD Human Resource Development

IT Information Technology

KPI Key Performance Indicator

LMC Logic Management Consulting

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoF Ministry of Finance

MP Member of Parliament MPMAR Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform

MSAD Ministry of State for Administrative Development

MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

PFM Public Finance Management Qtr Quarter (calendar)

RfP Request for Proposals

SCC Supreme Constitutional Court SDS Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt 2030

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WEF World Economic Forum

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TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 5

GENDER ASSESSMENT FINDINGS ......................................................................................................... 7

Demographic and Social Overview of Egypt ............................................................................................................................... 8

Barriers to Women’s Participation and Leadership ................................................................................................................ 11

Representation of Men and Women in Public Administration ............................................................................................. 13

Women’s Participation in Local Planning and Governance ................................................................................................... 14

Gender Perspectives in Effective Service Delivery .................................................................................................................. 16

GENDER TRAINING FOR EPSP STAFF ............................................................................................... .17

RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 18

CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 20

GENDER ACTION PLAN ........................................................................................................................ 23

ANNEX A: SCOPE OF WORK ................................................................................................................ 27

ANNEX B: REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 30

ANNEX C: INTERVIEWS AND CONSULTATIONS ............................................................................ 31

ANNEX D: INDIVIDUAL AND FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDED QUESTIONS .................. 32

ANNEX E: SCOPE OF WORK FOR PROPOSED STTA GENDER SPECIALIST ............................... 34

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The demonstrations that took place in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in January 2011 and June 2013 gave a

significant push to efforts and progress for women’s equal rights. Today, Egyptian women stand at the

forefront of a movement to ensure they remain equal partners and have meaningful participation in the

ongoing political transition. Despite progress made, critical challenges still remain in Egypt as the call for

women to build diverse coalitions that emphasize the benefits of equal rights for women to the country

as a whole. In order to sustain the momentum that this progress has ushered in, it is critical to gain a

comprehensive understanding of the constraints that face women in terms of inclusion in the political

process, and furthermore in seeking and establishing good democratic practices in the country. This

assessment presents an overview of gender-specific constraints in Egypt, particularly focused in the

context of local governance and political participation.

The greatest prospect for progress in supporting women’s leadership lies in the preparation, grooming,

and ultimately placement of more women in leadership positions in the public service sectors. The

access point to achieve this would be to increase female representation in various leadership training

programs particularly for the public sector. The need for support and initiatives that help support other

women is critical.

A gender assessment is a review of the current project portfolio of activities, with attention to the ways

in which the project is addressing the disparities and constraints in the lives of women/girls and

men/boys. It examines whether or not current programming is adequately promoting gender equality to

reach development objectives. The EPSP Gender Assessment carried out interviews with key experts on

gender issues in local governance, political participation, and effective service delivery to identify primary

constraints and help link opportunities to strengthen gender considerations in the implementation of the

project. The sections below summarize findings from interviews conducted as well as from the literature

review completed for the purposes of this assessment.

Having met with many influential women’s organizations, project stakeholder partners, female activists,

and other institutions, a number of key trends emerged from one-on-one interviews as well as focus

group discussions. In some regions of Egypt, the application of women’s legal, social, and political rights

are still contentious; and the equal participation of women and men in community, regional and national

decision-making structures are highly influenced by traditional and cultural gender norms. For these

reasons, there are significant returns that can be generated by supporting women’s participation in civil

society and women’s leadership in the public administration sector. Positive returns by ensuring

women’s perspectives are included in macro-level policies and strategies are too significant to be

ignored.

By promoting gender-sensitive and participatory processes in EPSP, there is a unique opportunity to

assist both local and national decision-makers to guarantee that the interests and priorities of women

and youth are addressed. Through targeted support and interventions that are outlined in the Gender

Action Plan, the project can strengthen the capacity of key partner institutions at the national and local

level to a) identify the different needs and policy perspectives of women and men living in different

governorates across Egypt; b) connect traditionally marginalized groups of women and men with

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regional and national decision-makers; and c) promote and advocate for policy recommendations that

reflect the perspectives and solutions of Egyptian men and women.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The USAID Effective Planning and Services Project (EPSP) is a bilateral effort in partnership with the

Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform (MPMAR or the “Ministry”) to address

selected issues identified by the Government of Egypt as priorities for meeting the basic needs and

aspirations of the Egyptian citizen through more effective planning, government service delivery and

administrative structures.

The general, overall objectives of EPSP continue to emphasize planning and administrative improvements

at the local administration sector, particularly since both the 2012 and 2014 renditions of the Egyptian

Constitution opened the door to the most significant reforms in more than forty years at the

subnational levels. The Project will support the Ministry efforts to bring these changes to fruition,

working toward implementing the following objectives and activities:

Increased Egyptian financial resources available to local government for responding to

community priorities;

Enhanced participatory mechanisms to plan, allocate, and monitor the use of resources;

Strengthened administrative capacity and legal framework for local government to effectively

and transparently manage resources;

More responsive and inclusive local council members through support for initiatives by the

Ministry to provide capacity building for members of the planning and budgeting committees on

roles and responsibilities (election of local council members expected during the second year of

EPSP implementation);

Improvements in public finance management (PFM) at the local level through capacity

building, support for local budget implementation and selected anti-corruption practices; and

Parliamentary outreach through technical assistance to various select committees of the

House of Representatives (expected to be elected and seated during the initial year of EPSP

implementation).

METHODOLOGY

The Gender Assessment of the Effective Planning and Services Delivery Project was conducted during

the period of May 17-June 4, 2015, with interviews held both in Cairo and Aswan, Egypt. The primary

technique used for data collection was one-on-one and group interviews with project staff, beneficiaries

and stakeholders (as listed in Annex B). The topics discussed during interviews included men’s and

women’s perspectives on roles and responsibilities; access and participation in local governance, access

to services and information, capacity, and gender-specific constraints. During interviews, the Gender

Analysis attempted to solicit feedback on challenges and opportunities for other marginalized groups,

such as youth and people with disabilities. All of the interviews were conducted by AECOM’s Gender

Adviser, with translation support from one of the EPSP staff. A literature review was also conducted to

serve as the background context for the analysis, which is included as a reference in Annex C.

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As in any assessment of this kind, certain limitations arise. Fortunately, there is a significant amount of

research on women’s leadership and political participation in Egypt, particularly after the Revolution, by

which this assessment could be supported. The primary limitation for this assessment was the short time

frame for which the assessment needed to be conducted, limiting the number of interviews that could

be a part of this study. Thankfully, with the support from our partners in Aswan, we were able to

organize two focus group discussions – one with a mixed group of men and women who worked in one

of the citizen service centers from Aswan; and another focus group discussion which gathered men and

women from various community development associations and other local organizations.

Individual interviews were semi-structured; which meant that while we worked off of a set of questions

when performing interviews, we also asked additional follow-up questions as they came up in the

discussion. This approach allowed each interview to remain focused on the objectives of the interview

and use the interview time efficiently, while allowing the opportunity to ask questions about unforeseen

issues and topics that arose in the discussion. Prior to beginning the interviews, the Gender Adviser

developed a core set of semi-structured interview questions that were open-ended and could allow

interviewees the opportunity to answer at their own pace. Focus group discussions were organized in a

semi-structured way as well, allowing questions to be put forward that helped control, direct, probe and

gather information.

GENDER ASSESSMENT FINDINGS

During the interviews held for the Gender Assessment, findings

showed that both men and women felt that there are common

barriers to women’s participation in local government decision-

making. Some of the barriers that women interviewed for this

assessment shared:

Cultural beliefs that subordinate women to men and define

women’s place in the home and public sphere as a man’s

world. In short, women are not encouraged to run for

political office – beliefs that can further undermine women’s

self-confidence to run for office.

Women have limited access to resources compared with

men. This includes money, access to information, time,

support for childcare, transportation, and campaign

materials. Furthermore, women shared that they lacked

Focus Group Participants from

Aswan Governorate

the network to people with long-standing power relations from their communities.

Together with a lack of transparency and accountability in municipal affairs and budgets,

corruption has tarnished the credibility, respect and status of local government in the eyes of

the public. This has acted as a further deterrent to women’s involvement in politics in certain

regions of Egypt.

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Women have unique constraints when it comes to responsibilities compared with men. Their

responsibilities in the family consume a significant amount of time, energy, and resources.

Limited access to education is another constraint for some women to run for political office,

which in turn restricts their ability to engage in political processes.

Most local governments are perceived to be inherently patriarchal institutions. Their structures

and procedures are designed for and by men. The ways meetings are structured and discussions

takes place, such as the time and schedule of meetings do not take into consideration women’s

multiple responsibilities in the home.

In the sections that follow, the assessment delves deeper into the challenges women face in accessing

basic services and participating in the political sphere. It also helps to highlight opportunities where

progress is being made for which EPSP can attempt to capitalize on those gains.

Demographic and Social Overview of Egypt

When it comes to the legal framework for gender equality in Egypt, significant progress has been made.

The Egyptian Constitution of 2014 has made significant advancements in guaranteeing the same rights to

all citizens, both men and women. Civil society involvement, particularly from women’s organizations,

has contributed remarkably in advocating and promoting legislation in favor of women. Examples such as

Article 11 of the Constitution, which supports “achieving equality between women and men in all civil,

political, economic, social, and cultural rights” signal to a recognition of the efforts that need to be

upheld in gender equality in Egypt. Compared with previous iterations

of the Egyptian Constitution, this latest version reinforces the state’s

support of equal opportunities for women and men, granting women

the right to hold public posts and high management posts in the state,

and to be free of harassment and gender-based discrimination.

However, access to the protection of the laws that have been passed

to protect and promote gender equality proves difficult in the face of

an environment that does not facilitate women’s access to justice.

Patriarchal traditions, structures and norms, often upheld in violation

of women’s rights, reflect the asymmetrical relationships that exist

among women and men in Egypt. Examples of gender inequality can

be found in the balance of power in women’s disproportionate

Examples of Leadership in Action

“I feel that the reason I have been successful as a

leader is because I had people who supported me, and

most importantly, believed in me, to pursue my goals.”

IOM Representative, Aswan (Recipient of

International Visitors Leadership Program)

representation in governance and decision-making,

discriminatory wages, laws regulating and enforcing the

ownership of property, and patterns of inheritance,

among other considerations. Fortunately, the inequality

present in so many spheres has been overcome in those

instances where women in Egypt have claimed their

voices – in legislative and judicial institutions, when it

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comes to advocating for their rights, and in acquiring safe opportunities for economic empowerment

and social development.

As of 2015, 49.8% of Egypt’s population of

84,705,681, are women.1 Egypt currently suffers

from high levels of unemployment, driven by a

demographic youth bulge, with the number of new

people entering the job force at about 4% a year. An

estimated 75% of Egyptians are under the age of 25

with just 3% over the age of 65, making it one of the

most youthful populations in the world. Many

donors agree that if the appropriate investments are

made in education, health, job creation, and

community participation, there is a huge opportunity

for Egypt to advance economically and socially.

Despite strong anecdotal evidence of women’s political leadership in Egypt, empirical data reveal that

Egypt is amongst a few countries that lag the furthest behind in terms of gender equality. In 2014, the

World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index evaluated women’s economic participation and

opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being across 142

countries, and Egypt ranked 124. Specifically, 134 when it came to women’s political empowerment in

Egypt. The indicators assessed by the WEF provide a succinct picture for the lack of women’s agency

when it comes to navigating the social, cultural, economic, and political spaces of the country.

In Egypt, there is a gendered intersection of religion, culture, and development – one that is highly

complex. Women’s agency in Egypt is constrained by low literacy levels, patriarchal and religious

interpretations, gender inequality and uneven patterns of development, as well as cultural practices that

inhibit women’s growth and social welfare. There is a socio-cultural legacy that is prevalent in most Arab

societies, including Egypt, where many women suffer from a lack of confidence in their ability to

participate in the public sphere, and more specifically the political stage. However, in contrast to

perceptions of women’s participation in the political arena, women do have a unique opportunity to

exercise their influence in civil society, such as in labor unions, professional associations, and voluntary

associations.

Violence against women was cited as a major issue in Egyptian society. Despite the institutional

framework that supports gender equality and upholds that women are guaranteed to live life free of

harassment or violence, the reality is somewhat different. According to the Egyptian Center for

Women’s Rights (ECWR), women’s rights to lead a life free of violence is not widely internalized within

Egyptian society. In turn, it results in a lack of reporting by victims of violence, a lack of perpetrators’

awareness of the criminality of violence, lack of response from police and the legal system supposedly

tasked with enforcing laws prohibiting violence, and perpetration of violence by authorities themselves

against women in order to pressure their male relatives.

1 World Population Review, Egypt, 2015, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/egypt-population/

Egypt – Gender Gap Index 2014 Country Score Card out of 142 Countries

Overall Rank: 129 Health and Survival – 57

Educational Attainment – 109

Economic Participation and Opportunity: 131

Political Empowerment – 134

Women’s Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap

Report, 2014

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Although emboldened by the revolution to claim a new voice in public life, many women still struggle in

feeling that they are still dependent on the protection of men, and that their greatest power is not as

direct actors but as symbols of the military government’s repression. It is not a place where Egyptian

feminists had hoped women would be, back in the heydays of the revolution, when they played an active

role, side by side with men.

As supported in USAID’s Gender Analysis and Assessment2, the Government of Egypt has begun to take

more of a progressive stance on issues that were considered taboo in earlier years. Socio-cultural

constraints that were shared during interviews, such as the practice of female genital mutilation that

continues in different regions of Egypt, sexual harassment and violence against women, and child

marriage are all issues that have been addressed not only by the GOE, but also by the thousands of

women’s organizations that have worked so tirelessly to advocate on the importance of these issues.

The establishment of the National Council for Women (NCW), the National Council for Childhood and

Motherhood (NCCM), and different alliances with civil society coalitions has helped push forward these

issues and lobby for change.

Illiteracy. Many Egyptians acknowledge the challenge presented given that a large percentage of the

population is illiterate. It significantly impedes on their ability to participate in the transition process,

especially with the upcoming discussions over elections, both parliamentary and local councils, and

constitutional reform. What the Revolution did was give birth to a strong sense of civic duty and

participation in Egypt, but growing levels of frustration are presented when people feel they are not

completely aware of the process. There is also a strong sense that the challenges associated with

illiteracy coupled with people in rural areas of Egypt feeling left out of the political process can also

make these areas extremely vulnerable to religious extremists.

Rural Populations and the Impact of Poverty. Rural areas across Egypt share just as strong of a sense

of pride and nationalism as their urban counterparts during the political transition. Following the days of

protest, certain villages formed impromptu local community councils to fill the security vacuum that

threatened to take over the country. There is an incredibly strong desire for Egyptians who live outside

of the urban centers to become aware of the constitution – both historically as well as the new reforms

that are being introduced. However, it remains undisputed that Egyptian men and women living in rural

areas are extremely vulnerable. Poverty remains a major challenge for Egypt and is an attributing factor

in significant regional and social disparities. While the highest poverty rates remain in rural Upper Egypt

(51.5 percent of the population against a national average of 25.2 percent), significant pockets of poverty

are emerging in urban areas. In certain urban areas, poverty has increased by nearly 40 percent between

2009 and 2011. In population terms, Greater Cairo (Cairo, Qualoubia and Giza) has an even larger

number of poor people (approximately 3.8 million) than the poorest governorates in Upper Egypt.3

People with Disabilities. Clear statistics on the number of people with disabilities in Egypt is unclear,

but there are reports that confirm that this is a growing population in Egypt. After women, people with

disabilities represent one of the largest groups of disadvantaged populations. There are few provisions

for this group across Egypt, who faces certain limitations with respect to adequate or sufficient schools

2 USAID/Egypt Gender Analysis and Assessment, 2010

3 “The Status of Poverty and Food Insecurity in Egypt: Analysis and Policy Recommendations”, WFP and

CAPMAS, 2013, http://home.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ena/wfp257467.pdf

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and training facilities. There are no precise data on the size of this segment of the population and the

types of their disabilities; and thus a great number of them go unidentified. Some of the major obstacles

facing their education lie in the absence of policies and planning and inappropriate programs for special

education at national levels, the wrong perception surrounding such an education, and the professional

dichotomy between regular and special education.

With respect to accessibility of services for this vulnerable group, we did learn during the assessment of

initiatives within the public administration sector at the local and national levels that allocate for a

certain number of positions with the government for people with disabilities. Additionally, interviews

with representatives from citizen services centers in Aswan shared that people with disabilities do not

have constraints when it comes to accessing services available at the centers, and that the centers are

designed to be on the first floor of buildings to be handicap-accessible – a great model for other CSCs.

Barriers to Women’s Participation and Leadership

In Egypt, women’s greater visibility in public spaces, both economic and political, can be attributed to the

success of Egypt’s longstanding history of feminist activism. Yet while Egyptian women continue to

challenge traditional norms and practices through the media, political campaigns, and grassroots-based

advocacy, Egyptian society remains mired in tensions arising from cultural heterogeneity and social

polarization.

Most research of women’s political participation in the MENA region, particularly in Egypt, tends to

focus on the problem of low levels of female representation in government, specifically to elected

positions like the Parliament. The existing body of research speaks extensively to the structural and

cultural conditions that make it difficult for women to be nominated as candidates and to win political

office. During focus group discussions in Aswan, we

asked the female participants to speak to the

constraints they feel are presented when considering

running for the upcoming local council elections, or

even for female candidates for parliament. Out of the 22

women who attended the focus group discussion, two

female focus group discussion (FGD) participants shared

that they were preparing to run for local council

elections. Both women, as well as others in the group,

shared their concerns about running a local campaign

and cited the following reasons for difficulty in running.

Primary constraints that were shared included 1)

financial constraints for running a campaign; 2) the fact

that local councilors are not paid; and 3) poor attitudes

towards women with respect to their leadership

capabilities. During the focus group discussion, we

learned that the National Council for Women

Examples of Leadership in Action

“The best thing we can do for the future is to be good

examples of leaders for our daughters.”

Female Leader from Nubian Village in Aswan Governorate

(NCW) and other local, community development

organizations do run programs that are oriented

towards preparing women in the lead up to the local

council elections. NCW runs these programs in

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Aswan, and other governorates across Egypt; and

other local associations are working to raising

awareness to women in communities about the

political process, constitutional reform and the

importance of voting.

Another considerable constraint cited during the

Gender Assessment is voter bias against female

candidates. This bias is most pronounced when voters

have to express a single candidate preference and it

explains the low representation of women in single

member plurality systems. The type of electoral

system a country chooses also has significant impacts

on party structure, the nature of representation, the

costs of campaigning and the issue of security for

“Politics in Qena is in the hands of the tribes

and the families. Big families have their male

candidates whom they support and as a result

they win, but these same families don’t

support their women candidates.”

Woman in Qena, Egypt, December 2012

“Women in Qena never vote for other

women. Many believe that men are more

capable of serving all needs in the

community.”

Woman in Qena, Egypt, January 2013

Source: “It’s Dangerous to be the First: Security Barriers to Women’s

Public Participation in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen”, October 2013

candidates. These themes have implications on how well Article 180 of the Constitution, which upholds

that 25% of local council seats will be reserved for women, can be implemented.

Given the political transition Egypt is currently in, certain challenges arise when it comes to women

participating in the political process, both as candidates and as voters. Traditional gender roles tend to

be strengthened in the immediate aftermath of conflict as well as during times of fragility or transition

and women’s political participation may be seen as a secondary priority, particularly if it is mistakenly

perceived as “in tension” with security and stability concerns.

Although women have had the right to vote for decades, there are still certain cultural and tribal

principles that reject the idea of women voting. Culturally, the idea of women voting for other female

candidates, or men voting for women, are not practices that are always widely accepted. When it comes

to voting during election cycles, candidates court the business community, Coptic Christians and the

poor. Unfortunately, women are still are not viewed as a vital constituency, despite official figures that

show about 20 million women are eligible to vote.

Elections in Local Councils. An important step in more

inclusive representation in Egypt is the inclusion of Article

180 in the 2014 Constitution, which stipulates the conditions

for candidacy and procedures of election, but also requires

that one quarter of the seats in Local Councils are allocated

to youth under 35 years old, one quarter is allocated for

women, that workers and farmers are represented by no

less than 50 percent of the total number of seats, and that

these percentages include a proper representation of

Christians and people with disabilities.

Most participants interviewed favored the idea of the

instatement of an electoral quota in local elections councils.

While they stressed that a quota needs to be coupled with real competition for places on party lists and

Two Most Common Types of Electoral

Quotas

List Quotas: Binding requirements for political

parties to include a certain percentage of

women on their lists. This does not guarantee

that women will be elected.

Reserved Seats: A certain number of seats

are reserved only for women candidates. This

ensures a certain number of women will

elected

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between parties – unlike under previous administrations – they felt that guaranteeing women’s

participation through a quota was one way to ensure women had a say on crucial issues. However, many

participants interviewed stressed that there are more preconditions for women’s influence than simply

their presence in national-level legislative bodies. They stressed the importance of women gaining

experience in local and mid-level government and underscored the need for technical support to

women candidates. The founder of the nonprofit Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, participated in

the committee responsible for revisions made to the latest Constitution of Egypt. She shared, “It was

more important to me to see quotas in place for women in the local councils, which represent at least

15,000 women across the country to be elected in decision-making positions – which means more for

women’s leadership on larger scale as opposed to parliamentary quotas.” During the assessment,

findings showed that many people are still confused as to how Article 180 will be implemented – if it will

be applied with respect to list quotas or reserved seats.

Political Parties. Throughout the course of the assessment, AECOM’s Gender Adviser was unable to

meet with any representatives of political parties. However, through interviews, it was shared by many

women that they felt that political parties do not take account of the reality of women’s roles, interests,

and priorities. Political parties are dominated by men who tend to resist greater participation by women.

Correspondingly, political parties are not proactive in changing their own nature and supporting more

women to engage in local politics. There is a significant opportunity for political parties to try to make

the role of women in the party more effective, since they are amongst the most important institutions

responsible for furthering the interests and priorities for women.

Security. During the interviews conducted, some women cited as a major constraint for women’s

participation was security and the ability to move freely within regions of Egypt. In some rural locations

in Egypt, religious and tribal authorities are stepping in to provide a minimum level of security. While

these informal systems provide much needed services, their existence and functioning is fraught with its

own range of problems, not least of which is the host of challenges they present for women attempting

to be involved in local decision-making and tackling the insecurities they face.

Representation of Men and Women in Public Administration and Impacts on the

Decision-Making Process

Efficiency and good governance in public administration are critical gender concerns. As efforts are made

to move closer to gender equality, it is important that transformation in the public administration

system take place as well. Although women are not a minority in the civil service, they are a minority

when it comes to decision-making positions. Women as a group are excluded from public sector

decision-making. The implications are that women and their specific interests are excluded from

administrative decision-making. Any men and women trying to bring about gender equality must put the

issues of efficiency and good governance at the top of their agendas. Good governance involves equity in

both appointments and promotions.

During interviews conducted for the Gender Assessment, individuals shared that oftentimes there is a

disconnect that exists not only between female and male community leaders but also between women’s

groups along socio-economic and generational divides, between women living in rural and urban areas,

between those working at the local and national levels, and between more secular and more Islamist

women activists. These divides, while natural reflections of the diversity of women’s experiences, can

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entrench women’s vulnerabilities and complicate access to power and decision-making for the women

most heavily affected by the security concerns outlined. For this reason, there is a need for a more

multi-dimensional view of the way different women perceive participation and advocate for priority

concerns for women and other disadvantaged populations, in order to ensure that responses are not

targeting a minority of women.

Some of the most effective approaches to increasing the visibility and impact of women in public

administration, collected through interviews and through the existing body of research, include:

The creation of new women’s groups, coalitions, and networks thereof, along with civil society

organizations, in order to focus on political power and women’s priorities at the local level.

Support strategies/initiatives that include the strengthening of existing women’s and civil society

groups and networks that focus on local governance and citizen participation.

Training women in local governance – including politics, political parties, lobbying, advocacy, the

importance of women’s participation as candidates for elections, in political decision-making, as

well as participation in local government committees, consultations and other initiatives.

Alliances and collaboration with supportive political parties to influence platforms and policies

with regard to women’s equality and gender equity, as well as to lobby them to nominate and

support female candidates and representatives from marginalized communities to run for

political office.

The sponsoring of competitions and prizes for local governments on initiatives in favor of

women’s rights and gender equality, such as new and innovative gender-sensitive laws and

policies, the establishment of women’s and equalities offices and commissions, campaigns on

violence against women and for security and safety, the appointment of women in senior

administration, or gender-responsive budget initiatives.

Women’s Participation in Local Planning and Governance

When it comes to evaluating women’s participation

in local planning and their presence in local

administration positions, a number of constraints

were shared. Despite the shared appreciation of the

value of ensuring women’s perspectives are

included in local planning initiatives, this is only

possible if women are able to access political

decision-making. Within local planning institutions

both at the national and local levels, women do not

hold equal numbers of decision-making positions. In

Aswan, we asked women who worked in various

directorate offices to share their experiences, and

many women shared that those who have the

power to influence decisions in local planning that

turns into funding for programming in Aswan are

mostly male. Interestingly in Aswan, many male

leaders with whom we met shared recognition and

“Women are the majority of citizens accessing services,

and I feel good about being in a leadership position and

being able to help them.”

Deputy Manager of Aswan

Citizen Service Center (left)

acknowledgement of how important advancing priorities for women are.

Examples of Leadership in Action

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It is difficult to confirm the actual numbers of women employed in the public administration sector, let

alone the number of women who hold senior-level positions in the government. Anecdotally, many

individuals interviewed shared that women do not have issues accessing employment with the

government. Given the fact that women often have elevated burdens of care, employment within public

administration at local and national levels is a particularly attractive option as it provides not only

income but also job security. Increasing the number of women in the public administration is important

for both equity and efficiency reasons. During focus group discussions with eight employees from the

Aswan Citizen Service Centers, participants shared that when it comes to the direct provision of basic

services, women employed in these centers had a demonstrable impact on the effective targeting of

other women clients. Indirectly, it has added to the perception that these services offered through the

CSCs are accessible to other women from the community. It was also shared that female employees in

the CSCs are able to solve problems for citizens with considerable patience and understanding.

A comprehensive gender approach to local planning implies bringing gender concerns to the attention of

the public sector, raising awareness about existing gender inequalities and adequately communicating

policy objectives to public sector staff, political leaders, citizens and the media. In order to build support

for gender policies and programs both within and outside of the administration, EPSP has an opportunity

to develop strategies and tools for raising awareness on persistent gender inequalities in the public

sector and for communicating the expected benefits of the action programs. One of the crucial pillars of

successfully including gender objectives in public policies also requires the administration to develop

specific training programs and or guidelines for staff across levels of hierarchy in order to promote the

integration and respects of gender objectives in public management and initiatives. Specific training

programs that address the importance of gender-sensitive and more inclusive practices could be

incorporated into those courses offered at Egypt’s Institute for Planning, linked to MoPMAR.

Decentralization’s impact on women’s rights can vary widely

depending on the context and the extent to which decision-

making and accountability are devolved to the local level. In order

to achieve gender-responsive local governance it is necessary for

women to have the same opportunities to express their needs

and priorities at this level, and that these are ultimately reflected

in local plans and budgets. While the obstacles facing women’s

political representation have been raised in the section above on

barriers to women’s participation and leadership, it is important

to recognize that at the local level women as citizens also have

limited voice in making demands and ensuring that their priorities

are integrated in local plans and budgets. Inclusion of women

into the decentralization process and in local governance

structures is crucial for sub-national authorities to be able to

respond to the recovery and peacebuilding priorities of the

population in an equal and inclusive manner.

The need for a structured dialogue mechanism between local

authorities and women’s groups and to ensure that decisions

and interactions at the local level are gender-responsive is

Examples of Leadership in Action

“Citizens who come into the citizen centers are

much happier with the quality of services.

Women are also coming into the centers

asking for information about services.”

Manager, Diwan Citizen Service Center

16

critical in terms of advancing decentralization. EPSP has a unique opportunity to help in capacity building

or the formulation of citizen oversight committees that include women’s groups and functions as a

monitoring mechanism of the quality of service delivery or other responsibilities under the purview of

local authorities. Fortunately, in many governorates throughout Egypt, there is a strong presence of

community-based women’s organizations - a critical factor in promoting gender responsive local

governance. If there is an opportunity to assist in financing the capacity-building of women’s CSOs, this

should be included as a priority in decentralization timelines and planning documents.

Gender Perspectives in Effective Service Delivery

The delivery of services is especially important for women

because their primary gender roles as mothers,

housekeepers and caregivers are more dependent on basic

services such as health care, water supply, sanitation and

education for children than are men’s roles. Basic

governance services such as political and electoral services,

justice and police services, and civil registration are also

strategically important for women in the pursuit of gender

equality. For example, one of the issues raised throughout

interviews was the challenge to get women access to

national ID cards. With sustained efforts from the GoE and

other international donors, such as UN Women, massive

efforts have been launched to ensure that women have an ID

card. The implications of women not having an ID card are

substantial, as they need their ID card to register to vote,

access basic services and social welfare programs, and even

receive medical attention. Remarkably, the initiatives to grant greater access for women to ID cards has

even gone as far to deploy mobile units to travel to rural areas to target women who have travel

constraints.

During interviews held, of basic services that are important to women, access to justice was cited as

being one of the most challenging. Sustained efforts to address gender discrimination in access to justice

have been met with immense political and social opposition. Cultural attitudes dissuade women from

filing complaints in court, which is seen as a public exposure of personal problems. Instead, they are

encouraged to deal with problems in a private, non-confrontational manner, for instance through

mediation within the family. Social values regarding women’s voice and representation in public, and the

patriarchal attitudes of some lawyers and judges, also cast doubt on women’s ability to give credible,

coherent, and accurate testimony. However, one of the greatest impediments to justice for both women

and men is lack of economic resources. The cost of filing a lawsuit and the ongoing expenses of

prolonged cases deter many from defending their rights. These factors together make access to justice

especially difficult for poor women.

Citizen service centers serve as a one-stop shop for men and women to access basic municipal services.

They also serve as a physical locale for men and women to ask questions about other services that might

be available and get more information about where to go for those services. A summary of the types of

services offered through these centers is listed in the text box above. During focus group discussions

Types of Services Offered at Citizen

Service Centers

Construction Permits

Licensing

Complaints filed for Public Utilities

(Water Supply, Sewage/Sanitation,

Electricity, etc.)

Housing Applications

Property Registration/Land Titles

Financial Aid and Assistance

Loan Applications for Social Fund

Registration Services for Associations

Information about Access to Health

Care Services

Information about Retirement Services

17

held in Aswan, it was stated that women do not face significant challenges in accessing services made

available at the CSCs. The experience in Aswan cannot necessarily be assumed for all other

governorates in Egypt, and warrants further exploration if EPSP expands into other areas. In other

regions that EPSP plans to work in, a thorough analysis will need to be conducted to look into ways to

address challenges that women may face in accessing services. In other regions, it may be the case that

cultural attitudes dissuade women from travelling to government buildings alone. Or elsewhere, it may

prove extremely difficult for women to travel long distances from their homes. Through similar gender

assessments that can be employed before rolling out technical assistance in other regions, the project

should work to look into constraints that are prevalent for women and other disadvantaged groups.

GENDER TRAINING FOR EPSP STAFF

As part of the gender assessment, the Gender Adviser prepared and conducted a two-hour basic

gender integration training for the entire staff of EPSP. The purpose of the training was to cover

how planning and governance are affected by gender

relations, basic gender analysis concepts, and how to

integrate gender into daily work. The workshop was

action-oriented and addressed gender integration in

implementation and design. The training was based on

AECOM’s Gender Integration Framework, a tool used

for understanding the underlying principles of gender

and the benefits to gender mainstreaming. The

training also provided the team with analytical and

practical tools to help integrate gender into all aspects

of development activities.

The objectives of the training were as follows:

Understanding the difference between gender and women’s issues. Knowledge about gender roles, identities, stereotyped behavior, different backgrounds and

pattern of life of men and women.

Ability to understand the behaviors that are associated with implicit beliefs about women

and men.

Ability to recognize social processes which generate the category gender and hierarchical

gender relations.

Ability to reflect on one’s own gender identity. Recommendations to integrate gender into EPSP program components.

The training was designed in such a way that the staff would gain a basic understanding of gender

integration within strategy and program planning. The workshop included interactive activities that

helped the team analyze a variety of gender issues in their community, specifically exploring

attitudes, perceptions, and expectations for varied gender roles. According to informal feedback

obtained, the training was relevant, worthwhile, and deeply appreciated given how interactive it

was.

EPSP Gender Training, June 2015

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Mainstreaming gender is not only about adding a female component into an existing process or activity,

and it goes beyond increasing women’s participation. Rather, mainstreaming gender means bringing the

experience, knowledge, and interests of women and men to bear on programmatic objectives and

anticipated results. Effectively, gender must be a lens through which programming is considered – from

design to implementation to evaluation. Given the objectives of EPSP, and the issues outlined in this

assessment, there is overwhelming evidence that supports that governance and decision-making

processes must be truly representative of both men and women. In order to support EPSP’s influence

on making governance and decision-making processes more gender-sensitive, concrete

recommendations have been made to promote women and youth inclusion as part and parcel of all

activities.

Interviews with EPSP staff as well as interviews conducted with different stakeholders were extremely

helpful to AECOM’s Gender Adviser in order to generate concrete recommendations that can be

integrated into existing activities in a holistic manner. Some of the recommendations are outlined below.

All recommendations are listed in further detail in the next section, the Gender Action Plan, and

correspond to the approved work plan for EPSP.

Support for the National Planning Process

Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt 2030: As part of EPSP, technical support is provided to the

Ministry of Planning in its final articulation of the Vision 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS).

Given the focus of the 11 pillars that are concentrated on human and social development (i.e. education,

health, social justice, etc.), there is a tremendous opportunity to ensure that not only are gender

considerations included in the strategic vision of each of these pillars, but that there are key

performance indicators that commit the respective actors to make progress on gender-based

constraints. EPSP is available to the Ministry of Planning to provide any kind of support they need in

further articulating the gender-related goals as a part of this Strategy; and is well positioned to offer

support to the Ministry when it comes to any related communications and outreach strategies.

Additional Support for the National Planning Process. With respect to activities that fall under additional

support for the national planning process, EPSP is well-positioned to ensure that gender is fully

integrated into reporting and analysis completed under this component. Specifically, with respect to the

report on five sectors that will analyze key planning indicators, there is an opportunity to ensure gender

is fully integrated with planning officials and ensure training can be developed on the importance of

tracking gender impact on indicators.

Another unique opportunity is to promote initiatives such as those driven through the Regional Planning

Offices or the Comprehensive Investment Plan are implemented with a critical review of ways to engage

women and youth; or at a minimum address their unique priorities. EPSP has an opportunity to organize

workshops with female civil society leaders and representatives from community development

associations to bridge the gap in information regarding these groups’ priorities.

19

Support Effective Services through Administrative Reform

Support for Implementation of the Civil Service Law: With respect to supporting the preparation of the

executive regulations for the civil service law, particular attention should be made to promote gender

balance in public awareness events to raise the visibility of this reform. EPSP can encourage through the

technical assistance to support the transition from the existing personnel system to a HRD model, that

personnel management manuals are developed with keen attention to anti-harassment and anti-

discrimination policies.

Enhanced and Expanded Coverage of Citizen Service Centers: When it comes to conducting a review of

existing system of citizen service systems, including the nature of services provided, EPSP should pay

particular attention to include gender-based indicators to serve as part of this assessment. There are

also unique opportunities to promote gender sensitivity in personnel hiring practices in establishing CSC

staffing selection committees.

Communication, Outreach and Local Participation

Communications and Outreach: Through targeted strategies on how to engage women and youth in

communications and other outreach activities, it is important to identify opportunities where

communication and public awareness programs can be dedicated to showing the impact of reforms on

women and youth; or promote awareness campaigns that reach out to them.

Local Participation: Through activities targeted to support the development and dissemination of citizen-

friendly investment plans at the local level, EPSP should work closely with stakeholder partners to

identify opportunities to address gender considerations. The project can promote engagement with local

leaders, both women and youth, with understanding what is included in governorate-level investment

plans. Through this engagement, perhaps the project can help establish more structured dialogue to

voice interests and concerns into these plans to ensure disadvantaged groups have their voices heard.

Gender-Focused Activities and Research

In order to maximize opportunities to address gender considerations in a meaningful way in EPSP, the

AECOM Gender Adviser recommends that part-time support be engaged from one of our sub-

contractors to help drive activities recommended in this assessment that require significant technical

leadership as well as contacts with Egyptian organizations. A separate scope of work has been drafted

for consideration (See Annex E). The position would ideally be filled by specialist in gender,

development and civil society engagement. It is recommend to get an experienced Egyptian gender

advisor with fluency in Arabic in order to support gender integration in line with recommendations in

this assessment.

Opportunities for Collaboration with Women Leaders: Pilot initiatives can be developed that help support

structured dialogue and capacity building for civil society organizations that advocate for women’s issues

and priorities. Through structured workshops, awareness can be raised amongst these organizations

about accessing services, the reforms that the project is helping support through its partners, and

communicate through a joint platform their priority concerns as it relates to planning. Through these

alliances, EPSP could offer support to trainings by collaborating with organizations already offering

20

women’s leadership training to prepare female candidates for local councils, such as the Egyptian Center

for Women’s Rights.

Ensure Training at Institute for Planning is Gender-Responsive: EPSP can work closely with this institute to

ensure that not only is there gender balance across training providers and participants, but also that

gender considerations are integrated into the content of training modules related to national planning

topics.

Offer Training on Gender-Responsive Budgeting: Training can be offered to MoPMAR on how MTEF

investment plans can be gender-responsive, by incorporating best practices of gender-sensitive

budgeting. Training developed on best practices on gender-sensitive budgeting can be tied in closely with

the development of MTEF investment plans.

White Papers and Other Research on Proposed Bylaws: By collaborating with other organizations, such as

the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, EPSP can support the development of a White Paper on

analysis of Article 180, to provide the incoming Parliament with a series of recommendations for

legislative drafting of bylaws for Article 180.

CONCLUSIONS

Taking gender mainstreaming to the next level in EPSP is not a goal in itself and it is more than a

theoretical task; it is an operational exercise involving very targeted and specific actions aimed at

producing results at the national and local levels. Gender integration is more than simply “checking-the-

box” or making sure women are included in trainings, it is an organizational process that will help the

project to focus their interventions strategically.

This report has outlined in detail the challenges that women as well as other disadvantaged groups, such

as youth, people with disabilities, the elderly, and other minority groups, face when it comes to

participation in the political process, access to services, and leveraging their influence. The participation

of these groups in public life, from community activism to running for elected office, is closely linked to

their safety and security. If these barriers are left unaddressed, they create a vicious circle in which

insecurity reduces public participation, and low participation in turn perpetuates insecurity because it

means that safety concerns are not taken into consideration or addressed by the political process.

It is of critical importance that strengthening existing networks for exchanging ideas, approaches, and

expressing support and solidarity be priority agenda items in order to build on existing initiatives and

support a strong, effective, and independent women’s movement. Establishing a platform for

consultation, locally or regionally, between women and other disadvantaged groups can act as channels

for sharing expertise and best practice and facilitate stronger advocacy efforts.

Women who are politically active, challenge conservative mores, or become visible in public risk their

reputations and sometimes their lives. Much of this insecurity derives from the way powerful political

and social actors use social and religious norms to claim women are engaging in inappropriate activities,

building on the provisions of personal status laws. It is important that women’s groups continue to

challenge unequal laws, dispute discriminatory religious interpretations, and promote long-term changes

to them.

21

The recommendations outlined in this assessment call for gender-transformative approaches that can

hopefully address some of the social norms, attitudes and behaviors, power relations and social systems

that underline and entrench gender inequalities. These approaches engage with the political dimensions

of women’s empowerment; with an overarching acknowledgement that efforts and resources will be

required to achieve change.

23

GENDER ACTION PLAN

Objectives Corresponding Task in Which

to be Integrated

Actions and Descriptions

Expected Outcome Integrate gender considerations into final report and recommendations to

Ministry of Planning

Consultancy contract with LMC to

complete phase 3 of SDS Egypt 2030

Provide general recommendations of best practices where gender can be integrated

into national level strategies, to be

incorporated by Logic into final report

Recommendations are provided that can make the strategy even more gender- responsive

Assist the Ministry as requested with drafting of materials, preparation and

support for events, and selected

outreach activities

Support for Communications and Outreach on the SDS Egypt 2030

document

Recommend/offer support to the Ministry to engage outreach activities targeting women

and youth

Participatory strategies implemented to include target communities, such as

women, youth, and other marginalized

populations specifically

Facilitate steps to integrate gender

indicators into the Comprehensive

Request Form

Developing a Comprehensive Request

Form for Investment Projects

Work with Ministry of Planning to include gender indicators in the Investment Project.

Include instructions in the training manual

for how to complete the Gender Field in the

Comprehensive Request Form

Accountability feature in place that will be able to track how local investment

projects are targeting women, youth,

and people with disabilities.

Promote gender integration into

reporting on key planning indicators,

workshops with planning officials, and

capacity building

Prepare the report on five sector on key planning indicators in use (1.2.2)

Include gender analysis into this report on five sectors

Gender analysis is conducted on five sectors of planning and indicators are

developed with gender considerations in

mind. Workshops with planning officials to

discuss status and data concerns (1.2.2) Ensure gender is integrated into workshops with planning officials, when necessary

Present training on importance of tracking gender impact on indicators

(1.2.2) Promote gender integration into analysis of investment plans by

directorates at governorate level

Prepare study and analysis of implementation of investment plans

(1.2.3)

Demonstrate whether investment plans implemented by directorates at governorate

level are addressing gender-specific

constraints

Recommendations prepared for use as to how to integrate gender into

investment plans.

Support gender integration in capacity building for planning departments in

directorates

Capacity Building for Planning departments in directorates at the

governorate level (1.2.3)

Ensure gender issues are included in trainings on needs identification and

managing investment projects

Ensure gender is mainstreamed at the local level in the management of

investment projects Integrate genderinto M&E for Investment Plans

Prepare a methodology for assessment

of investment plans, including by sector

and region (1.2.4)

Determine how to include gender considerations and data collection for

medium and long-term impact in the

methodology of the M&E Plan

Accountability mechanism in place to measure gender-related impact

Address gender-specific needs for Regional Planning Offices

Develop Implementation Plan to Improve the Regional Planning Offices

(1.2.5)

Look for opportunities to address gender considerations in deliverables related to the

needs assessment, analysis and development

Opportunities are capitalized to address gender in the Regional Planning Offices

Support a gender balance amongst Deliver Capacity Building Modules on Work with Capacity Building Director that Tracked participant and training

24

Objectives Corresponding Task in Which

to be Integrated

Actions and Descriptions

Expected Outcome training providers and training participants to have equitable access to

training curriculum on national

planning topics

National Planning Topics (1.2.6) all efforts are being made to promote a gender balance across training providers and

participants. Ensure M&E is capturing this

data

provider numbers to ensure gender balance

Identify opportunities to address gender in the context of citizen-

friendly governorate-level investment

plans

Support for Citizen-Friendly Governorate-Level Investment Plans

(1.2.7)

Conduct critical review of available plans to determine whether gender is a factor in

plans.

Recommendations are provided for the incorporation of gender-related

indicators/criteria in the new design.

Integrate gender into tasks associated with national planning

indicators

Develop Standardized Unit Costing for

Investment Projects (1.3.1)

Ensure gender balance in focus group meetings that validate the databases

Tracked focus group meeting participation to ensure gender balance

Provide recommendations on how to estimate cost of projects related to

addressing women’s unique needs/services

Commitment by experts to integrate gender considerations upheld

Draft MTEF investment plans for three

years (1.3.2)

Provide recommendations on how the MTEF investment plans can be gender-

responsive, by incorporating best practices

of gender-sensitive budgeting

Training developed on best practices on gender-sensitive budgeting, complete

with recommendations for the MTEF

investment plans

promote gender balance in public awareness events to raise the visibility

of this reform

Support preparation of the executive regulations for the civil service law

(2.1.1)

Carry out strategies to address both men and women in public awareness events

Participation of men and women in public awareness events measured

Support public sector personnel

management with manuals provided by

the Ministry address zero-tolerance

for harassment or discrimination

Technical assistance to support

transition from the existing personnel

system to a human resource

development (HRD) model (2.1.2)

Review existing public sector personnel

management manuals for anti-harassment or

anti-discrimination policies

Personnel management manuals are developed with keen attention to anti-

harassment/anti-discrimination

policies

Facilitate opportunities to raise awareness about civil service law

reform for women

Support the activities of the

Administrative Reform Forum (2.1.2)

Organize sessions of the Forum on the civil service law, with particular outreach to

women

Increased access to information for women, traditionally marginalized when

it comes to understanding the impacts

of legislative reform Include gender-based indicators to serve as part of the system review

Review of existing system of citizen service systems including the nature of

services provided (2.2.1)

Carry out a review of existing system of citizen service systems, including the nature

of services provided, that are particularly

relevant to women

Provide recommendations as to how to

improve services to enhance accessibility

Complete review/list of citizen service centers available; and recommendations

provided to enhance accessibility

Promote gender-sensitivity in personnel hiring practices

Establish CSC staffing selection committee from MSAD (2.2.2)

Ensure members of this staffing committee understand the importance of having gender

Understanding and awareness spread about the importance of equal

25

Objectives Corresponding Task in Which

to be Integrated

Actions and Descriptions

Expected Outcome

balance in CSC staffing opportunities in hiring practices, and the benefits of having gender balance in

CSCs Targeted strategies on how to engage women and youth in communications

and outreach activities

Technical assistance and support to the GOE and MPMAR to engage citizens in

the administrative reform process

(3.1.1)

Provide recommendations for reaching out to women while conducting advocacy events

on reform issues

Targeted strategies recommended to MPMAR on how to engage women and

youth on the administrative reform

process

Communication/public awareness

programs demonstrating how reforms

improve governance and impact citizens

(3.1.2)

Promote one of the subject matter events, such as a conference or workshop, to be

dedicated on the impact of these reforms on

women

Targeted conference/workshop on the impact of these reforms on women

Identify opportunities to address

gender considerations into the

investment plan

Develop designs for citizen friendly

investment plan per governorate (3.2.1)

Supported initiatives to make citizen friendly investment plans and

disseminate findings to women

Promote engagement with female leaders with understanding what is

included in governorate-level citizen

friendly plans

Support the ministry in disseminate the governorate-level citizen friendly plans

(3.2.1)

Organize a forum with women’s organizations and community development

associations on disseminating governorate-

level citizen friendly plans

Integrate gender training into the

training modules for MPMAR

Initial modules of capacity building

developed (4.1.1)

Include modules for gender considerations on trainings for National Planning Process,

Parliamentary Strengthening, CSC

Enhancement and Expansion, Participatory

Planning and Budgeting

Training provided on gender awareness in the context of practical training to

MPMAR officials

Address unique learning constraints for newly elected female local council

members

Prepare basic curriculum for newly

elected local council members (4.2.1)

Develop additional curriculum for newly elected local council members, in skills such

as public speaking, advocacy skills, and

negotiation skills

Unique constraints experienced by female elected local councils addressed

to make them more effective

Support female Members of Parliament (MPs) once elected, to understand

opportunities to serve on diverse

range of committees

Support Committee chair and members

to discharge their legislative role (5.1.1)

Conduct an orientation session for all female Members of Parliament the

opportunities they have to serve on non-

traditional committees

Strategies employed to ensure that female members of parliament

understand that they have the right to

serve on committees traditionally

reserved for men Support women’s leadership by providing recognized leaders from

community development associations

N/A

Collaborate with existing organizations, such as the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights,

on women’s leadership training preparing

female candidates for local council elections

Women’s leadership initiatives supported that target potential

candidates for the local council elections

26

Objectives Corresponding Task in Which

to be Integrated

Actions and Descriptions

Expected Outcome Provide incoming Parliament with a series of recommendations for

legislative drafting of bylaws for Article

180

N/A

Complete an analysis of Article 180 to make the bylaws for implementation of the quota

for women and youth, working with

Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights

Carry out a gender-based analysis of Article 180, complete with the

implications for the reality of

implementation

27

ANNEX A: SCOPE OF WORK AECOM Gender Adviser Effective Planning

and Services Project (EPSP)

Statement of Work (SOW) for Short-Term Technical Assignment

Position: Gender Adviser Working Hours: Short-Term, Full Time

Duration of Assignment: 15 days level of effort (LOE)

Supervisor: Chief of Party

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

USAID’s Effective Planning and Services Project (EPSP) aims to strengthen legislative, lawmaking and legal

reform processes and to enhance legislative management, accountability, and transparency by providing

training on policy analysis, bill drafting, and constituent relation. EPSP also promotes and supports

decentralization, assists with anti-corruption reforms, and strengthens public sector executive functions

through training on financial planning, strategic planning, policy reform, accountability and oversight.

Recognizing gender dimensions and applying a gender-responsive approach are fundamental to

accountability, leadership, and good governance and go hand-in-hand with efforts to reduce gender

disparities and discrimination. Therefore, EPSP places gender equity, female leadership, and inclusion at the

heart of program management and implementation. Mainstreaming gender is not only about adding a female

component into an existing process or activity, and it goes beyond increasing women’s participation.

Rather, mainstreaming gender means bringing the experience, knowledge, and interests of women and men

to bear on programmatic objectives and anticipated results. Effectively, gender must be a lens through

which programming is considered – from design to implementation to evaluation. Given the objectives of

EPSP, it is critical that governance and decision-making processes be truly representative of both men and

women and that activities designed in collaboration with stakeholders be responsive to men and women’s

unique needs.

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

As AECOM’s Gender Adviser, she serves as the primary expert/resource person on all gender related

matters for AECOM International Development; as well as carry out gender assessments and design and

implement program Gender Action Plans. She provides technical backstopping to all projects where

AECOM is an implementing partner, specifically in the collection and use of statistical data, carrying out

gender analysis and research, and specifically for providing recommendations as to how to implement

against the guiding principles of the USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy. In her role,

she is relied upon to provide a high standard of substantive leadership and back-stopping to field-based staff

in giving direct programmatic support.

The AECOM Gender Adviser will provide short-term technical assistance for the purposes of carrying out

a Gender Assessment for EPSP – one of the technical deliverables expected to be produced for this

contract. The purpose of the assessment is to seek an understanding of key issues, gender based

constraints, and opportunities related to women in the public sector, female leadership and representation,

28

and how to engage men in supporting and promoting equitable practices. The assessment will point to

opportunities for integrating gender into relevant project activities, and also try to offer innovative

strategies to but will also spotlight strengths in the ongoing activities through identification and analysis of

both lessons learned and promising practices. Furthermore, the assessment will examine gender roles,

power dynamics and key gender issues related to the challenges in addressing female concerns and

priorities in local governance and planning in Egypt. Findings from the gender analysis will be used by EPSP

staff in strategic planning and work plan development to enhance and modify program activities to increase

overall equitability and efficacy. Findings will also be used to develop and adapt gender indicators to

effectively monitor and evaluate gender impacts. The gender analysis is critical for EPSP to achieve the

following:

Operationalize the project’s commitment to gender equity, so that they can effectively address

gender inequalities and advance women’s empowerment;

Identify needed interventions to address gender gaps in sector and local government policies, plans,

and budgets through coordination with the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Finance;

Propose initiatives that seek to create enabling policy frameworks, build capacity and strengthen

monitoring mechanisms to reflect gender issues

Recommend steps on how to promote gender integration through trainings, support to women led

NGOs, and how to increase female representation in various leadership training programs;

Provide recommendations for developing appropriate interventions to offset existing gender-based

differences and/or disparities, for example, through the use of social media and other outreach

strategies to maximize local participation.

TASKS

1. Conduct a Gender Analysis Research Study using desk review of literature and secondary

quantitative data; focus groups and participatory appraisal activities with men and women from the

targeted beneficiary groups; key informant interviews with experts on gender and governance issues in

Egypt; and male and female leaders from stakeholder institutions in Egypt. Estimated Level of Effort (LOE):

8 working days in Egypt

2. Document and present findings and recommendations in a clear, concise and usable written

report and oral debrief with EPSP Chief of Party and programming staff, senior management and other

relevant staff, as available. The Gender Adviser will employ creative methods to present findings and

recommendations that facilitate greater readership and usability of information by EPSP staff. Estimated

Level of Effort (LOE): 4 working days in Egypt

3. Conduct a participatory gender awareness workshop/training for EPSP staff that will cover,

at a minimum, how planning and governance are affected by gender relations, basic gender analysis

concepts; and how to integrate gender into daily work. The workshop will be action-oriented and

address gender integration in implementation and design; and will be based on AECOM’s Gender

Integration Framework Estimated Level of Effort (LOE): 1 working days in Egypt

Total Working LOE Days: 13 days

Total Travel Days: 2 days

DELIVERABLES

1. Work Plan: A work plan that includes the anticipated methodology, the gender analytical

frameworks that will be used, a sampling plan, a training plan, a timeline of fieldwork and drafts of

29

all questionnaires and tools. The work plan will be submitted electronically to the EPSP Chief of

Party and the Contracting Officer’s Representative at USAID/Egypt. The work plan should not

exceed five pages.

2. Gender Analysis Study Report: A gender analysis study report, written in English using

Microsoft Word. The report should be no longer than 20 pages, not including annexes. The report

should include:

Description of the methodology and gender analytical frameworks used List and demographic breakdown of interviewees and focus group participants (sex, age

group, geographic location, other as relevant)

Findings

Recommendations

A final work plan in an annex A bibliography referencing all documents and data reviewed and cited copies of training

materials

Copies of all actual tools and guidelines used including surveys, interviews and focus group

guidelines

3. Gender Awareness Training for EPSP staff: The training dates, location, estimated numbers

of participants and materials to be distributed to the attendees will be discussed in consultation

with the EPSP CoP and DCOP. A training plan will also be submitted as part of the work plan. The

training plan should also include the training methodology and anticipated agendas.

4. Debrief with the EPSP Chief of Party (CoP) and relevant L4G staff, including the Deputy

Chief of Party. Senior management from the L4G project will determine whether a debrief with

USAID/Egypt should be scheduled, with the Contracting Officer’s Representative and USAID

Mission Gender Adviser.

5. Develop a Gender Action Plan Based on the gender analysis, work with EPSP staff to develop a

Gender Action Plan to be used to accompany implementation of the work plan to ensure gender is

integrated into activity implementation.

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ANNEX B: REFERENCES Association of International Civil Servants (AFICS-Egypt), (2011) Daring to Care: Reflections on Egypt before

the Revolution and the Way Forward”, 2011

CARE International, (2013) “Arab Spring or Arab Autumn: Women’s Political Participation in the Uprisings

and Beyond”, CARE, 2013

Egypt Decentralization Initiative (EDI-II), Decentralization Perspectives Study, 2012

Government of Egypt, Ministry of Planning, Monitoring, and Administrative Reform, Sustainable Development

Strategy: Egypt’s Vision 2030, Publication prepared for the Egypt Economic Conference

http://www.mop.gov.eg/Vision1.pdf

Government of Egypt, Egypt’s Constitution of 2014, English version generated via www.constituteproject.org

Handoussa, Heba, (2010), Situation Analysis: Key Development Challenges Facing Egypt, UNDP/Egypt

Kirkpatrick, David D. (2012) “Egypt’s Women Find Power Still Hinges on Men”, The New York Times, January

9, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/world/middleeast/egyptian-women-confront-restrictions-of-

patriarchy.html?_r=0

Mustafa, Hala; Shukor Abd al-Ghaffar; and Rabi, Amre Hashem; Buliding Democracy in Egypt: Women’s Political

Party Life and Democratic Elections”, International IDEA and Arab NGO Network for Development, 2003

Pande, Rohini and Ford, Deanna, (2011) “Gender Quotas and Female Leadership: A Review”, April 7, 2011

http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/rpande/files/gender_quotas_-_april_2011.pdf

Rogers, Joshua; Wright, Hannah; and Haddad, Saleem (Saferworld), (2013) “It’s Dangerous to be the First:

Security Barriers to Women’s Public Participation in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen”, October 2013

Ruta, Claudia, (2012) “Gender Politics in Transition: Women’s Political Rights in Egypt after the January 25

Revolution”, American University of Cairo, February 2012

Tadros, Mariz, (2010), Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amidst Resistance,

Freedom House, 2010

World Bank, (2013), Opening Doors: Gender Equality in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington DC,

World Bank

United States Agency for International Development, USAID/Egypt Gender Assessment, 2010

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), A User’s Guide to Measuring Gender-Sensitive Basic Service

Delivery, http://www.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/democratic-governance/dg-

publications-for-website/a-users-guide-to-measuring-gender-sensitive-basic-service-delivery-

/users_guide_measuring_gender.pdf

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ANNEX C: INTERVIEWS AND CONSULTATIONS

USAID/Egypt

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for Egypt EPSP Deputy

Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance Gender Adviser

Cairo University

Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Public Administration

Forum for Women in Development

Chairman of Board of Directors/ Editor in Chief of Al Ahaly (Tagamo Party)/ Mamber of Tagamo Political

Party

Executive Director/ Member of Board of Directors

Independent Gender Consultants Leading Development/Gender Practitioner on Upper Egypt Violence against

Women Specialist, Formerly with UN Women

Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC)

Executive Director

ACT Youth Initiatives Officer

Research & Studies Unit Officer

Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance

Director

New Women Foundation

Woman and Labor Program Manager

Financial and Business Consultants, International (FinBi)

Focus Group Discussion, Aswan Citizen Service Center

1. Manager

2. Deputy Manager of Citizen Service Center

2. Focal Point for People with Disabilities

3. Technical Support/ Application Specialist

4. Information Desk Officer

5. Completed Applications Delivery Officer

7. Electronic Services Window Specialist

8. Technical Support / Application Specialist

Focus Group Discussion, Community Development Associations of Aswan

24 women, 15 men

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ANNEX D: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDED QUESTIONS

LIST OF QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS

GROUP DISCUSSIONS

DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL OVERVIEW: GENDER ROLES AND RELATIONS

IN EGYPT

1. What are the different constraints and opportunities faced by women and men, boys and girls?

2. How do gender relations affect outcomes for men and women in Egypt, with respect to

participation in public life or service delivery?

3. How are groups, such as women’s organizations, who are not necessarily focused on policy issues,

a part of decision-making? How are they engaged/represented to bring forward the needs of

women?

4. What could be done to remove the obstacles that prevent women from reaching senior positions

and to encourage women to become involved in decision-making processes?

WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION AND PERSPECTIVES IN NATIONAL PLANNING

PROCESS 1. What types of citizen services, available through citizen service centers, are considered most

important to women?

2. What are the types of challenges women have in Egypt when it comes to accessing government

services?

3. What are some of the challenges when it comes to dedicating attention to gender concerns in the

public sector?

4. How do women feel that their needs and priorities are best reflected in the efforts embodied in

the Ministry of Planning’s Sustainable Development Strategy?

5. How do women feel that commitment inside the government can be increased to better advocate

for gender issues?

6. What does the strategy or movement in Egypt represent where gender equality issues are defined,

and hence raised to garner attention within the Government?

7. How can information on how gender issues are integrated into public policy be shared with the

media? Does the media report on these themes regularly?

8. Are there any opportunities for partnerships at the national level to promote integrating a gender

approach in the public sector? What about at the local level?

SUPPORTING BALANCED REPRESENTATION OF MEN AND WOMEN IN

DECISION-MAKING: CONSTRAINTS FOR WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP 1. Please mention three factors which in your opinion contribute to the under-representation of

women in key areas of public life.

2. How can capacity be improved so that gender concerns are fully integrated into public

management?

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3. How can special training and capacity building be developed for female officials? What are the

constraints to providing special training and capacity building for female officials?

4. What are the key barriers to the appointment of women to positions of influence?

5. What is that keeps women from committing themselves to politics or public life?

For women in leadership positions:

1. What motivated you to become a (insert position here)?

2. What were the key elements that helped you reach that position?

3. Were there any things that put you off initially when considering getting involved into a leadership

position? What obstacles have you had to overcome in terms of structures, practice, attitudes?

4. Do women experience challenges in accessing opportunities beyond middle management? Is there

an opportunity, and moreover, the political will, for gender to be introduced in personnel and

human resource development policies for government employees, when it comes to the promotion

structure?

GENDER PERSPECTIVES IN EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY: PRIORITIES,

PERCEPTIONS, AND PARTICIPATION 1. What are men’s and women’s priorities in terms of services delivered at the local level?

2. Are women’s groups active in service delivery within governorates and districts?

3. How can the administrative and political apparatus of the public sector be committed to consider

gender objectives and apply gender policies?

4. Are commitments made by the Government at the national level being translated into concrete

action programs, policies, and regulations upheld at the local level?

5. Is there a need for Egypt to support efforts to promote gender equality in public policy?

6. How can gender mainstreaming as a process be implemented on a structural basis?

7. What are the types of impacts or changes women are looking for in Egypt when it comes to public

policy after the last presidential election?

8. What are women hoping for parliamentarians to advocate for post-parliamentary elections?

9. How does it feel to be a woman in your particular field? Do you face particular problems that are

related to being a woman?

10. What are the key elements that support you and sustain you in your public role?

11. How are women empowered and how do they participate in the decision-making?

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ANNEX E: SCOPE OF WORK FOR PROPOSED STTA GENDER SPECIALIST

Scope of Work

Effective Planning and Services Project (EPSP) Short-Term Technical Assignment

TITLE: Gender Specialist (Part-Time) – Egyptian national

ESTIMATED LOE: 150 days

LOCATION: Egypt

SUPERVISOR: Project Compliance, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Gender Manager

PERIOD OF PERFORAMCE: o/a July 15, 2015 to August 31, 2016

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

USAID’s Effective Planning and Services Project (EPSP) aims to strengthen legislative, lawmaking and

legal reform processes and to enhance legislative management, accountability, and transparency by

providing training on policy analysis, bill drafting, and constituent relation. EPSP also promotes and

supports decentralization, assists with anti- corruption reforms, and strengthens public sector

executive functions through training on financial planning, strategic planning, policy reform,

accountability and oversight.

Recognizing gender dimensions and applying a gender-responsive approach are fundamental to

accountability, leadership, and good governance and go hand-in-hand with efforts to reduce gender

disparities and discrimination. Therefore, EPSP places gender equity, female leadership, and inclusion at

the heart of program management and implementation. Mainstreaming gender is not only about adding

a female component into an existing process or activity, and it goes beyond increasing women’s

participation. Rather, mainstreaming gender means bringing the experience, knowledge, and interests

of women and men to bear on programmatic objectives and anticipated results. Effectively, gender

must be a lens through which programming is considered – from design to implementation to

evaluation. Given the objectives of EPSP, it is critical that governance and decision-making processes be

truly representative of both men and women and that activities designed in collaboration with

stakeholders be responsive to men and women’s unique needs.

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

The proposed Gender Specialist will provide part-time technical assistance to implement against the

proposed recommendations outlined in the EPSP Gender Assessment and related Gender Action Plan.

The part-time Gender Specialist will meet with the Project Compliance Manager once a month to

discuss priorities and targets for the forthcoming month, discuss progress made on recommendations

against the Gender Action Plan, and mutually agree to strategies to provide the necessary technical

guidance to ensure gender milestones are being reached.

In addition, the part-time Gender Specialist will employ his experience to lead gender-specific

initiatives, including, but not limited to the following recommendations:

Opportunities for Collaboration with Women Leaders: Pilot initiatives can be developed that help

support structured dialogue and capacity building for civil society organizations that advocate

for women’s issues and priorities. Through structured workshops, awareness can be

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raised among these organizations about accessing services, the reforms that the project is

helping support through its partners, and communicate through a joint platform their priority

concerns as it relates to planning. Through these alliances, EPSP could offer support to

trainings by collaborating with organizations already offering women’s leadership training to

prepare female candidates for local councils, such as the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights.

Ensure Training at Institute for Planning is Gender-Responsive: EPSP can work closely with this

institute to ensure that not only is there gender balance across training providers and

participants, but also that gender considerations are integrated into the content of training

modules related to national planning topics.

White Papers and Other Research on Proposed Bylaws: By collaborating with other organizations,

such as the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, EPSP can support the development of a

White Paper on analysis of Article 180, to provide the incoming Parliament with a series of

recommendations for legislative drafting of bylaws for Article 180.

Both the Project Compliance Manager and Chief of Party will discuss if other initiatives are relevant and

necessary, in close coordination with USAID and project stakeholder partners.

Specific Tasks

As directed by the Project Compliance Manager and Chief of Party, will provide input on

progress made against the work plan, and specifically the Gender Action Plan.

Provide gender analysis and inputs to project documents, including reports and other research

products.

Provide support to the Training and Capacity Building Manager on how, when relevant,

trainings can integrate gender perspectives.

Carry out shortened Gender Assessment of governorates that the Project expands to.

Work in collaboration with the team to design relevant activities that are linked to project

objectives related to parliamentary strengthening.

Provide technical guidance to the Communications and Outreach Specialist to ensure all

outreach efforts are targeting women and youth appropriately.

Track progress of the Gender Action Plan by working closely with EPSP technical staff and the

home office Gender Advisor;

Report on a monthly basis to the AECOM Gender Adviser on progress, and solicit input and

guidance from AECOM Gender Adviser as needed.

Design and develop gender mainstreaming approaches and integrate a gender focus into all

project technical and reporting activities; and

In collaboration with the home office Gender Adviser, and in coordination with EPSP

leadership, engage with USAID gender specialists and other international and national gender

specialists on gender mainstreaming best practices and activities.

Qualifications

Must be an Egyptian citizen; 5-7 years of relevant work experience providing similar support, preferably in an

international office environment;

Degree in gender studies, international development, international affairs, or some related field,

with a focus on gender;

Computer literate in Microsoft Office Suite;

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Prior USAID experience preferred;

Experience with, and a good understanding of, issues in Egypt and those related to EPSP

objectives;

Fluent in spoken and written English and Arabic;

Ability to work independently with minimum supervision; and

Well organized, strong analytical skills, a creative thinker, and demonstrated personal initiative.