Gender equality action plans

Gender equality action plans are gender mainstreaming tools that outline the specific actions an institution will take to advance gender equality in their organisation. Institutions are not gender-neutral entities, as gender inequalities may be perpetuated through policies, activities and organisational culture. Gender equality action plans enable institutions to address the identified inequalities within their organisations by integrating a gender perspective into their internal activities and external outputs. The purpose of gender equality action plans is to facilitate gender-responsive institutional transformation, defined as a 'process that aims to integrate gender equality into the regular rules, procedures and practices of an institution'. Gender equality action plans tackle inequalities identified in three main dimensions for gender mainstreaming in institutions: (1) structural dimension, which focuses on integrating a gender perspective in policies and procedures; (2) personnel dimension, which focuses on improving gender equality competencies and gender balanced representation; and (3) output dimension, which aims to contribute to positive external change towards gender equality, through the institution's results, services and products.