From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector

Many international non-government organizations (INGOs) implement interventions designed to promote gender equality, investing significant resources into embedding gender considerations into programmes through the strategy of gender mainstreaming. However, despite their altruistic mission, INGOs pla...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michelle Lokot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Sociology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.664406/full
id doaj-30fad6a8c8a84b86b2144209816b0ff6
record_format Article
spelling doaj-30fad6a8c8a84b86b2144209816b0ff62021-05-28T08:31:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sociology2297-77752021-05-01610.3389/fsoc.2021.664406664406From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid SectorMichelle LokotMany international non-government organizations (INGOs) implement interventions designed to promote gender equality, investing significant resources into embedding gender considerations into programmes through the strategy of gender mainstreaming. However, despite their altruistic mission, INGOs place less focus on addressing culture and power hierarchies within their organizations. This article suggests that many INGOs fail to walk the talk on gender equality. Through an analysis of recent challenges facing the development and humanitarian aid sector, including gaps in safeguarding and #AidToo, this paper emphasizes the importance of addressing gender equality from the inside out. It draws on feminist perspectives, the notion of the “deep structure” of organizations and the author’s own experiences to argue for the need to address gendered, racial and colonial power hierarchies within the organizational culture of INGOs. The article argues that it is no longer sufficient to reduce gender mainstreaming and inclusion to programming interventions, and that INGOs need to reflexively and intentionally tackle power and inequalities within their own culture and structures.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.664406/fullgender mainstreaminginternational non-governmental organizationorganizational cultureaid–accountabilitysexual exploitation and abusemeToo
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Michelle Lokot
spellingShingle Michelle Lokot
From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector
Frontiers in Sociology
gender mainstreaming
international non-governmental organization
organizational culture
aid–accountability
sexual exploitation and abuse
meToo
author_facet Michelle Lokot
author_sort Michelle Lokot
title From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector
title_short From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector
title_full From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector
title_fullStr From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector
title_full_unstemmed From the Inside Out: Gender Mainstreaming and Organizational Culture Within the Aid Sector
title_sort from the inside out: gender mainstreaming and organizational culture within the aid sector
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Sociology
issn 2297-7775
publishDate 2021-05-01
description Many international non-government organizations (INGOs) implement interventions designed to promote gender equality, investing significant resources into embedding gender considerations into programmes through the strategy of gender mainstreaming. However, despite their altruistic mission, INGOs place less focus on addressing culture and power hierarchies within their organizations. This article suggests that many INGOs fail to walk the talk on gender equality. Through an analysis of recent challenges facing the development and humanitarian aid sector, including gaps in safeguarding and #AidToo, this paper emphasizes the importance of addressing gender equality from the inside out. It draws on feminist perspectives, the notion of the “deep structure” of organizations and the author’s own experiences to argue for the need to address gendered, racial and colonial power hierarchies within the organizational culture of INGOs. The article argues that it is no longer sufficient to reduce gender mainstreaming and inclusion to programming interventions, and that INGOs need to reflexively and intentionally tackle power and inequalities within their own culture and structures.
topic gender mainstreaming
international non-governmental organization
organizational culture
aid–accountability
sexual exploitation and abuse
meToo
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.664406/full
work_keys_str_mv AT michellelokot fromtheinsideoutgendermainstreamingandorganizationalculturewithintheaidsector
_version_ 1721424308493877248