Evaluating a gender mainstreaming strategy STEP 6: MEASURE AND REPORT ON HOW WELL THE OUTCOMES HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED 2.5.1. Undertaking the evaluation At this stage, the NHRI has committed personnel and resources to implement a gender mainstreaming plan. While the plan has been monitored through its implementation, the NHRI now needs to assess whether the plan has successfully achieved the outcomes it specified at the start. There are three broad types of evaluation: self-evaluation, peer evaluation and external evaluation. Any or all of these types of evaluation may be used on their own or in combination with the others. In deciding which process will be used to evaluate the success of the gender mainstreaming strategy, it is important to consider: • The purpose of the evaluation • The scope, length and complexity of the gender mainstreaming strategy (the more complex the strategy, the more resources and time should be committed to the evaluation) • Whether there are external stakeholders or funders who require accountability • Whether the strategy would benefit from an independent or external perspective • Whether there is a need to ‘triangulate’ information (that is, to validate the evaluation findings by using more than one source or using more than one methodology). There are many evaluation methods available and deciding which one to use can be daunting. It should, however, be appropriate to the gender mainstreaming strategy, its internal capacity and resource availability. Given that a comprehensive gender audit was undertaken between 12 and 18 months previously, it would be good practice to repeat the baseline gender audit as the evaluation tool. Additional feedback could be sought from NHRI members and staff about whether they had experienced noticeable changes, what they were and what affect they were having on the overall culture and operations of the NHRI. Again, the NHRI may decide to invite the participation of key external stakeholders, particularly if they were involved in the baseline audit. Using the gender audit tool will provide valuable comparative information with which the NHRI can gauge those changes that may have occurred as a result of the gender mainstreaming work. Information gathered and documented during the monitoring of the plan’s implementation will also contribute to the evaluation. 2.5.2. Reporting the evaluation outcomes The final step of an evaluation process is to communicate the results. The NHRI will need to decide the audiences for the evaluation results. As the gender mainstreaming strategy was internally focused, NHRI members and staff will be the primary audience for the report. If external participants have been involved, they should also be informed of the evaluation results. There may also be other stakeholders to whom the NHRI is accountable, such as funders and partners. The NHRI may also wish to make the results of its work accessible to others, enabling different people to learn from its experiences, both negative and positive. Communicating evaluation results is an opportunity to highlight the results achieved by the gender mainstreaming strategy and to tell the story of how the NHRI is contributing to gender equality. Section 2: Developing an NHRI gender mainstreaming strategy | 29