Training Manual: 
               Gender Leadership 
               in Humanitarian 
               Action
               Institutionalizing Gender in Emergencies: 
               Bridging Policy and Practice in the 
               Humanitarian System
                         Funded by
                         European Union
                         Humanitarian Aid 
         GENDER LEADERSHIP IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
         Acknowledgements 
         Oxfam would like to thank everybody who collaborated on the development of this training manual and 
         in particular its lead author, Fiona Gell. The development of the manual was conceived, managed and 
         supported by Eliza Hilton and Tess Dico-Young of Oxfam’s Global Humanitarian Team.
         This manual was created as part of the implementation of the project ‘Institutionalizing Gender in 
         Emergencies: Bridging Policy and Practice’. The project, supported by the European Commission’s 
         Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) and Oxfam, has been implemented by Oxfam 
         between September 2015 and March 2017.  As a part of the project, a first draft of this manual was 
         successfully piloted in Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan and South Sudan. Feedback from 
         trainers, participants and others informed this revised version.
         Individual contributions were many and cannot all be acknowledged here. People who supported 
         different aspects of the draft include Ines Smyth, Jane Shackman, Zobeyda Cepeda, Uzma Batool, 
         Justina Demetriades, Ankets Petros, Edla Muga, Fareeha Ummar, Sarah Ireland, Jemma Stringer and 
         Emily Brown.
         The manual pulls together a range of sources, adapting and updating them for an integrated five-day 
         training module designed to develop gender leadership in humanitarian action in a country context. It 
         draws heavily on work by the authors of Oxfam’s Training Manual on Gender Equality and Women’s 
         Rights in Emergencies, Oxfam, (2013, unpublished). It also draws on training materials compiled for 
         Oxfam’s Gender Leadership Programme, particularly those delivered in the Middle East & 
         Commonwealth of Independent States (MECIS) region, and on training materials developed by the 
         Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). The Simulation of a disaster exercise is adapted from the 
         exercise used in IASC’s online course, Gender in Humanitarian Action. Various case studies from the 
         online course have also been used.  It is hoped that people will use this source to adapt and create 
         their own training sessions too, in this rapidly evolving and vital area of work.
         2
                   GENDER LEADERSHIP IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION CONTENTS
                   Contents
                   Acronyms                                                                                           4
                   Introduction And Notes for the facilitator                                                         5
                   Overview of modules and sessions                                                                  14
                   DAY 1       Setting the scene: why gender equality matters in humanitarian action                 25
                   Module 1    Workshop opening                                                                      26
                   Module 2    What is gender equality? Facts, figures, stereotypes and influencing positive         31
                               attitudes
                   Module 3    The different impact of disasters and humanitarian response on women, girls,          49
                               men and boys 
                   Module 4    Simulation exercise: thematic programming – preparation                               72
                   DAY 2       Gender in humanitarian settings: the need for leadership                              78
                   Module 4    (continued) Simulation exercise: Hatuk scenario – thematic programming                79
                   Module 5    The need for gender leadership                                                        85
                   DAY 3       Good practice (part I): gender analysis and standards in                             116
                               humanitarian action
                   Module 6    International principles, standards and approaches                                   117
                   Module 7    Gender in programme analysis and design                                              131
                   Module 8    Leadership skill development – influencing                                           182
                   DAY 4       Good practice (part II): participation, dignity, empowerment,protection              188
                               from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and gender-based violence (GBV)
                   Module 9    Access, participation, dignity, empowerment and women’s leadership                   189
                   Module 10  Addressing gender-based violence                                                      217
                   Module 11 Safeguarding and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse                         232
                   DAY 5       Consolidating a gender leadership model                                              238
                   Module 12  Internal organizational practices                                                     239
                   Module 13  Inter-agency coordination on gender in humanitarian action                            248
                   Module 14  Consolidating a gender leadership model                                               254
                   Module 15  Action planning and wrap-up                                                           266
                   ANNEX A     MODERATOR INSTRUCTIONS, HANDOUTS AND TOOLS FOR SIMULATION OF A                       273
                               HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
                   3
                  GENDER LEADERSHIP IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION DAY 1
                  Acronyms
                  AAP         Accountability to Affected Populations
                  CEDAW       Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
                  CVA         Capacity and vulnerability analysis
                  DRR         Disaster risk reduction
                  EFSVL       Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable Livelihoods
                  GBV         Gender-based violence
                  GenCap      Gender Standby Capacity Project
                  GLP         Gender Leadership Programme
                  HIV/AIDS    Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
                  HR          Human resources
                  IASC        Inter-Agency Standing Committee
                  IDP         Internally displaced person
                  INGO        International NGO
                  LGBTI       Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex
                  M&E         Monitoring and evaluation
                  MEAL        Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning
                  NFI         Non-food item
                  NGO         Non-government organization
                  PSEA        Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse
                  SEA         Sexual exploitation and abuse 
                  STI         Sexually transmitted infection
                  UN          United Nations
                  VAW         Violence against women
                  WASH        Water, sanitation and hygiene 
                  TLWR        Transformative leadership for women’s rights
                  4