Independent Magazine - issue 12

MOVING BEYOND NUMBERS TO ACCELERATE PROGRESS IN GENDER EQUALITY

To evaluate the extent to which progress towards gender equality is being achieved, it is paramount to move beyond looking solely at numbers, with a view to understanding if and how we are moving from gender mainstreaming towards gradually introducing more gender-transformative approaches that improve the voice and representation of women. Dr Indran A. Naidoo, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), put this issue on the table during a dialogue session between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Independent Evaluation Department (IED) and Civil Society Organization, on 7 May 2025.

The ADB–civil society dialogue session took place in the context of the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ADB, in Milan, Italy, from 4 to 7 May 2025. IFAD attended the Annual Meeting at the highest level, with delegation representatives including IFAD President, Alvaro Lario, and Donal Brown, Associate Vice-President of IFAD’s Department for Country Operations, who joined Dr Naidoo. Under the theme ‘Sharing Experience, Building Tomorrow’, the Annual Meeting brought together heads of the Evaluation Cooperation Group, as well as Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from ADB member countries, officials from international organizations, representatives from the private sector, and civil society organizations.

To address the issues raised by Dr Naidoo during the ADB–civil society dialogue session, Eoghan Molloy and Nassreena S. Baddiri, Senior Evaluation Specialists at IED, delved into IED’s recent evaluation of ADB’s support for accelerating progress in gender equality. The evaluation found a varied degree of understanding of terms such as gender ‘empowerment’ and ‘mainstreaming’, as well as of what constitutes a ‘transformative’ approach or result. Undoubtedly, there needs to be a strict line drawn as to what is or is not empowering and transformative. IED is raising the bar in this regard. As a result, ADB has committed to tighten the definitions for these categories and to set new targets. This should strengthen the quality of gender mainstreaming going forward.

Moreover, to understand the reality that exists beyond the numbers, there is a need to move beyond looking at women’s mere participation, such as attending training, including by consistently integrating qualitative and quantitative measures. This approach will help IED to carry out its job which, as stated by Dr Emmanuel Jimenez, Director General, IED, is to answer one very simple question: “on the basis of the evidence that the staff presents, are we convinced that their judgement of whether or not that project met the objectives, was successful or not”.