Policy-making and evaluation of gender equality programmes: Context, power, and resistance in the transformation process

Abstract

Through exploring the links between policy, evaluation, and gender, using a gender-transformative lens, this article sheds light on policy and evaluation processes of gender equality programmes, such as the political nature of evaluation and power configurations, involving resistance in the change process. Two case studies of gender equality programmes are visited to explore the links between gender policy implementation in specific contexts, and power configurations and resistance as key factors in both implementation and evaluation. We benefitted from the theoretical insights of both the feminist and the theory of change approaches, which helped us to bridge the boundaries between policy, gender scholarship, and evaluation and allowed us to reflect upon systemic factors and underlying mechanisms that are either facilitating or hindering transformation. This article highlights the benefits of applying such an evaluation framework and demonstrates why factoring in power and resistance to evaluations of gender equality programmes is necessary to explain successes or failures.