Gender Responsive Public Services Advocacy

What the course offers

This course is crafted for government and NGO professionals and working toward advancing women's rights and gender equality related to access to public services. The course is premised on the fundamental human rights principle that public services should be accessible to all, and meet the needs and priorities of people based on their gender, age, disability, ethnicity, and social context. 

We will introduce you to contemporary arguments and findings such as when public services are not gender-responsive, the burden of women’s unpaid care is increased, inequality is exacerbated and poor and excluded women face a major barrier to enjoying their rights. You will examine policy options for improving public services vital to progress on fulfillment of girls’ and women’s rights, and the potential that gender-responsive public services have for countering social and economic inequalities and creating more equal societies. Through practical tools and exercises, you will gain the ability to explain the different dimensions essential for assessing and advocating for the provision of gender-responsive public services.

What you will learn—the key topics

• Fundamentals of Gender Responsive Public Services
• Public Financing as a Prerequisite for Gender Responsive Public Services
• The 4S of Gender Responsive Public Services (Size of Budget overall, the Share of budgets to key services, Sensitivity of allocations, and Scrutiny of spending)
• Public delivery as a prerequisite for effective gender-responsive public services
• Why Privatisation and commercialization of public services work against GRPS
• Inclusive planning, decision, and delivery processes for GRPS outcomes
• Quality and human rights indicators for gender-responsive public services
• Tools for monitoring and auditing gender-responsive public services