Establish a clear roadmap for implementation, monitoring and evaluation

After proposing the measures that will be included in the gender equality action plan, design a roadmap outlining the exact steps that will be taken to implement, monitor and evaluate each action. This will ensure that the measures in the plan are embedded into the regular work of your institution (e.g. into the daily activities of the parliamentary bureau, MPs and parliamentary employees).

Your roadmap will consist of the following.

  • Benchmarks for the measures proposed in the gender equality action plan (i.e. baseline values which can be used to compare current performance with desired performance). Base these benchmarks on the data retrieved during the gender equality assessment (conducted under Step 1).
  • Targets outlining the desired outcomes of each measure within specified timeframes. Setting detailed targets is essential. To ensure that your plan results in substantial change, it is important to clearly specify the actions to be adopted by actors within your parliament[1].
  • Indicators to measure progress. You can use different types of measurements to determine whether progress towards an indicator has been achieved. Some indicators help determine whether an action took place (i.e. yes/no). Other indicators help determine the extent to which a measure has been achieved (e.g. by tracking changes to the share of women and men training participants, or the number of women and men in the institution).
  • Data needed to monitor performance and sources(s) of the data for every action included in your gender equality action plan. Assessing the data requirements at an early stage facilitates the monitoring of the implementation of your plan. The data required to monitor performance indicators needs to be disaggregated by sex as well as by other variables (age, disability, ethnicity, family type, etc.), to the extent possible.
  • Responsibility for implementing each measure listed in the plan. The group(s) in parliament that will implement a gender equality action plan will vary, depending on the structure of the institution, the main issues the plan seeks to address and the specific measures proposed in the plan. Suggestions on group(s) in parliament that can implement measures in a gender equality action plan are presented in this downloadable resource.
  • Financial resources needed to carry out each measure (i.e. the budget).

Example of actors to consider when assessing the required financial resources

  • Format: activities may take place primarily online or in-person (e.g. the costs of online training may be much lower than the costs associated with in-person training). There may also be a need for infrastructural interventions (e.g. to build/repurpose rooms to create family-friendly spaces on parliament grounds).
  • Duration and frequency: the duration of an activity and the regularity with which it will occur throughout the plan’s life cycle will shape the resources needed to carry it out.
  • Working hours/days: personnel costs will vary depending on the number of people required to work on each activity, their roles within parliament, and the number of working hours/days that will be needed for each person. Make sure to consider the potential costs of external experts that will provide specialised services as well.
  • Target groups: the number and types of people that will benefit from the activity and engage in it (e.g. by participating in a workshop or engaging in an awareness-raising campaign). Set aside resources to reach the target groups/beneficiaries that have been described for each measure. Ensure that specific resources are set aside to support people who may experience intersecting inequalities (women and men from minority ethnic backgrounds, women and men with disabilities, etc.).
  • Systems and tools: new software or tools that will be needed to carry out each measure (e.g. systems to collect and analyse data disaggregated by sex and other variables where possible such as age, family status, disability, race, ethnicity, etc.).

Example of a parliament establishing a clear roadmap for implementation, monitoring and evaluation

The 2020 ‘Action plan for enhancing gender-sensitivity in the Parliament’ of North Macedonia[2] lists five strategic goals for improving gender-sensitivity in the Parliament following EIGE’s self-assessment framework. The plan outlines specific activities to achieve each strategic goal, as well as details on the following.

  • Baseline values which can be used to compare the parliament’s previous performance with its desired performance. This data is based on the findings from the gender equality assessment conducted in 2019.
  • Desired results and performance indicators that can be used to monitor progress.
  • The timeframe that the activity will be completed within.
  • The responsible authorities in the parliament that will implement the measure.

Establish a roadmap

  • For each measure proposed in the plan, assess how the parliament currently performs (i.e. the benchmark).

  • Determine the desired performance for each measure in the plan (i.e. the target).

  • Decide when each activity in the plan will begin, and when it will be completed by (i.e. the timeframe).

  • For each measure in the plan, decide the metric(s) that will be used to determine whether progress has been achieved towards achieving gender equality goals (i.e. develop performance indicators).

  • Assess the data that will be needed to measure progress for each performance indicator. This should include an assessment of the sex-disaggregated data that will be required, as well as data disaggregated by sex and other variables (race, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, etc.)

  • Determine the stage(s) at which monitoring will take place for each performance indicator.

  • Select the different group(s) of women and men in parliament that will be responsible for implementing the specific measures listed in the plan.

  • Assess whether any measures require specific expertise to be implemented (gender equality expertise, data collection expertise, etc.).

  • Assess whether the groups selected for implementation have previous experience implementing similar activities. If not, determine how they will be supported to carry out the task and how their gender equality competence will be improved.

  • Decide how the continuity of the work will be ensured if the people initially responsible for implementing and monitoring the measures in the plan leave their roles or the parliament.

  • Identify the human and financial resources needed to carry out activities in the plan.

  • Based on the overall costs of the plan, decide whether you need to reduce or increase the scope of the measures.

  • Agree on how the high-level working group or committee will request amendments to the budget in the process of implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

  • Consider whether there is flexibility within the budget to address emerging needs, unforeseen challenges or opportunities that may arise during the process of implementing the plan.