I ASC GENDER HANDBOOK REVIEW Summary Report from the Consultation Proces

The Gender Handbook Women, Girls, Boys and Men -­‐ Different Needs, Equal Opportunities was published by the IASC in 2006 ‘to provide actors in the field with guidance on gender analysis, planning and actions to ensure that the needs, contributions and capacities  of  women,  girls,  boys  and  men  are  considered  in  all  aspects  of  humanitarian  response ’.  The Handbook was developed in conjunction with the UN agencies and INGO members of the IASC to provide guidance on integrating gender equality in humanitarian action.  As such, it has proved an excellent knowledge resource for humanitarian practitioners who may not necessarily have specific expertise in gender -­‐ equality humanitarian programming. The Handbook states that ‘through feedback from practitioners in the field on how to make it more practical and user -­‐ friendly, the handbook will be improved over time.’ Now the time has come, and as part of the work plan by the IASC Gender Reference Group (GRG), UN Women and OXFAM are co -­‐ leading the project to  update  it  and  reflect  the  current  iteration  of  the  Cluster  System,  the  Gen der  Marker,  the  Humanitarian  Programme  Cycle  and  other  important  advances  in  humanitarian  coordination, leadership, accountability and partnership.  A n Experts Group Meeting in New York in December 2015 recommended a consultation process with a wide range of stakeholders in order to ensure the revised edition will further enhance the capacity of humanitarian practitioners to systematically integrate gender in their areas of operation.  An outreach plan was thus developed by the consultant and validated by the Steering Committee (SC). This summary report briefly describes the specific components of the consultation process and  summarizes the key findings and recommendations . The analysis of these recommendations will form the basis for a n outline for the revised Handbook that will be submitted by the consultant to the SC for approval and presentation to the IASC Working Group (WG) ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in May 2016 and/or ECOSOC in July 2016.