A Collaborating, Learning and Adapting Approach to a Gender Workshop

USAID/Indonesia conducted a Gender CLA Workshop to follow up on the recommendation of a Mission gender self-assessment conducted in 2015, which highlighted the need for more collaborating and learning opportunities for staff and implementing partners (IPs) around gender. The gender action plan that was developed through the self-assessment included the following related goals: 1. Equip staff and partners to integrate gender effectively into the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning; 2. Promote learning and sharing between USAID and partners; and, 3. Increase the visibility of USAID’s gender work through external and internal communications.

The CLA approach provided a framework through which to accomplish the Mission’s goals of supporting collaborating, learning, and adapting for both the mission and IPs related to goals towards building a strong learning environment around gender. Further, the collaborative nature of the approach helped to avoid the IPs feeling that they were being evaluated, but rather supported an open learning environment and an opportunity for all participants to “pause and reflect” on successes and challenges to date as well as to allow implementing partners to learn from each other.