Case Study 2: GENDER AUDIT OF THE PALESTINIAN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS35 Background The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) undertook a gender audit with the aim of improving its performance and effectiveness in gender equality and ensuring its gender sensitivity, both internally and throughout the organisation’s work. The ICHR determined that it did not have the internal capability to undertake the audit itself. It sought the support of the Women’s Studies Center, who based their methodology on that of the International Labor Office, which uses a participatory process. The ICHR gender audit aimed to promote organisational learning on how to implement gender mainstreaming effectively in policies, programs and structures and to assess the extent to which policies have been institutionalised at the level of the organisation, work unit and individual. Aims of the gender audit Specifically, the gender audit aimed to: • Generate understanding of the extent to which gender mainstreaming had been internalised and acted upon by staff • Assess the extent of gender mainstreaming in terms of the development and delivery of gendersensitive products and services • Identify and share information on mechanisms, practices and attitudes that had made a positive contribution to mainstreaming gender in the organisation • Assess the level of resources allocated and spent on gender mainstreaming and gender activities • Examine the extent to which human resources policies were gender-sensitive • Examine the staff gender balance at different levels of the organisation • Set up the initial baseline of performance on gender mainstreaming with a view to introducing an ongoing process of benchmarking to measure progress in promoting gender equality. Methodology The gender audit involved training a group of ICHR staff to work with the audit team; collecting data from literature; individual interviews and three targeted workshops (including the involvement of partner organisations); and data analysis and reporting. Analysis was divided into five key areas. 1. Gender issues in the context of the ICHR, and existing gender expertise, competence and capacity-building 2. Gender in the ICHR’s objectives, programming and implementation cycles, and choice of partner organisations 3. Information and knowledge management within the ICHR, and gender equality policy as reflected in its products and public image 4. Decision-making, staffing and human resources, and organisational culture 5. ICHR’s perception of achievement on gender equality. Section 4: Gender mainstreaming case studies | 53