Strengthening COVID-Specific Gender Analysis and Integration through CLA

COVID-19 has countered development gains, including those related to gender equality, such as by increasing women’s vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition, widening gender poverty gaps, increasing the risk of gender-based violence (GBV), exacerbating unpaid work burdens, hindering women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, and intensifying forms of discrimination. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and USAID’s Gender Integration Technical Assistance Task Order (GITA) II developed a COVID-specific gender analysis job aid tool and used the tool to carry out COVID-specific gender analyses (CSGAs) for 11 USAID activities in Central Asia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, The Gambia, Honduras, India, Mali, Niger, Peru, the Sahel, and Vietnam. These analyses—focusing on multiple sectors including democracy and governance, economic growth, and education—addressed gender and inclusion inequities related to COVID-19 by providing practical recommendations using a scenario planning approach. GITA II adopted a collaborating, learning, and adaptive (CLA) approach for these analyses that prioritized internal collaboration, pause-and-reflect sessions, and adaptation. The pandemic necessitated a CLA approach as GITA II, USAID missions, and partners had to adapt pre-existing development activities to a COVID-19 crisis context. The CLA approach strengthened internal collaboration among stakeholders through an interactive co-creation process that facilitated a culture of continuous learning through pause-and-reflect sessions. This resulted in a stronger job aid tool and CSGAs that strengthened the capacity of missions and partner staff to identify gender equality gaps and use an adaptive management approach to effectively address gender-based constraints in their COVID-19 risk mitigation and response interventions.