Products

Two guidebooks were produced by the Pro(e)equality Transnational Partnership (TP) whose priority was to support different key players to implement gender mainstreaming and diversity management as part of regular policies and practices. The booklets are targeting public and private companies and organisations, training providers, public authorities, equality bodies and NGOs. Both are very practice-oriented and combine key principles and quality standards with case studies.

Principles for the Successful Implementation of Equality Measures (Gender Mainstreaming and Diversity Management) into Enterprises/Organisations

This first manual addresses the specific needs of the business world and those of NGOs operating in different domains. After a contextual and methodological introduction, decision-makers and practitioners are being presented with a set of key principles to be adopted when seriously trying to make equality a reality for women and men as well as for people from different cultural backgrounds. The ten principles are embedded into a so-called Circle of Gender Diversity Management that includes different layers of reflections and activities such as basic assumptions concerning the organisational culture, the application of leading principles, the consideration of the actual situation and conditions and finally the methods and interventions. The ten principles developed by the TP include:

1. Awareness raising and analysis of the situation of departure;
2. Perceiving the approach as a transversal issue, integrated in the policy of the organisation and involving all stakeholders;
3. Using methods and tools of organisational development;
4. Focusing on systems and structures;
5. Avoiding negative side effects;
6. Transparency at all stages and levels of the approach;
7. Specifying and negotiating gender equality objectives;
8. Gender specific measures: not always a way to equality;
9. Competence building for key players on how categories such as gender, diversity, justice can be linked to organisational development;
10. Top-down and bottom-up approach as requirement to gender mainstreaming and diversity management.

Acting Pro(e)quality - Quality Standards for Gender Equality and Diversity Training in the EU

The second product aims at helping trainers, experts and consultants to plan, implement, assess and further develop gender equality and diversity training. Given the fact that this specific kind of training has become a growing market segment, it is paramount to enable both suppliers and users of those programmes to measure and evaluate their quality. The core of this booklet is therefore a catalogue of quality standards combined with indicators and examples of good practice that provide readers with useful information and food for thought on quality requirements in this area of education and training. The publication is structured in four chapters that address questions about conditions, content, methodology and skills profiles of trainers and facilitators. Each chapter draws up an itinerary for potential users that incorporates success stories and lessons learned in great detail and in a clear language. This makes it very is easy to understand, also for people who are just undertaking the first steps to explore the value and possible impact of gender equality and diversity training.

The chapters have been prepared by small groups of experts from the EQUAL projects involved in the Pro(e)quality TP. There are leads and links to their respective websites where even more information and practical examples can be found.

The General Regulation for the Structural Funds (2007-2013) states that the Member States and the Commission shall ensure that equality between men and women, non discrimination and the integration of the gender perspective are applied at the various stages of implementation of the Funds. This is further specified in the provisions of the ESF Regulation, which  besides mentioning the need for specific actions, requests Member States to promote, in their Operational Programmes, gender equality and equal opportunities and to report on how gender mainstreaming and of any gender specific action are organised throughout the policy cycle. 

The two publications of the Pro(e)quality DP which were jointly developed by multinational teams from Austria, Germany, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia are a useful read for all those involved in ESF-programmes and their implementation. They provide good advice on how to select the most suitable training offers in terms of gender and diversity that can increase the relevant expertise of their own staff, and also to help project promoters ensure the integration of both a gender and diversity perspective in ESF co-funded measures.

Irina Meyer
Renate Wielpütz
FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin (FCZB)
Cuvrystraße 1
10997 Berlin
Germany
Tel: + 49 30 617970-0
Fax: +49 30 617970-10
E-mail: wielpuetz@fczb.de meyer@fczb.de 
Website: http://www.berlin-divercity.de 

Produced by TCA Pro(e)quality (3983) - See also the article on Pro(e)quality TP on this webiste