UNTWIST briefing 01: Recommendations For Gender-Based Policy-Making. A Typology Of Gender-Based Needs

This document presents the first policy briefing of the UNTWIST project.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

People are different. Citizens have different needs, demands and concerns related to their sex and gender. In spring 2023, the UNTWIST project set out to assess how these different gender-based needs are located in regard to different existing policies and practices in six European countries. During the first year, we focused on identifying the gender-based demands voiced by experts and citizens as well as provide a map of existing political ‘supply’, assessing which of those needs are taken up by which political actors and in what areas.

In order to produce evidence-based recommendations, in the first phase under the lead of the University of Bern, the UNTWIST project analyzed 406 articles on gender-based needs and policies from across six country contexts (Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Denmark and the UK). Through this process, we produced an evidence-based typology of gender-based needs which can help policymakers and civil society to locate and position needs. The typology presents a tool to assess if gender-based needs are sufficiently represented in policies and advocacy.

The main findings of the typology are:
● Gender-based needs appear particularly in six policy areas: Health, Family, Education, Economy, Human/Civil Rights and Transnational/ Security Policies.
● Gender-based needs in the same policy area can be addressed through four different perspectives (gender norms, material gender inequality, intersectionality, feminism).
● When intersecting the policy areas with the four different gender perspectives, we arrive at 24 types of gender-based needs, 15 of which are present across all six countries.
● Identifying the needs is crucial to a gender-responsive evaluation and the development a full set of gender-sensitive policy responses.

Through its ‘grid’ framework (see page 2), the typology can act as a toolbox and blueprint to evaluate existing policy agendas and programs by identifying areas of expertise as well as remaining gaps, which help policymakers and advocates to design and respond to a fuller set of gender-based responses.