Identifying Risks to Gender Equality
When reviewing documents, conducting interviews, or visiting sites during the planning phase, auditors may come across information or situations that suggest that the achievement of gender equality is at risk in a given program or organization. In such cases, auditors should document their observations and obtain additional information as required to help them to focus on the most relevant components of gender equality within the program or organization.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of potential indicators that gender equality is at risk.
| A gender-based analysis has not been conducted or insufficient attention is paid to completed analyses. For example, there is a higher dropout rate from school for girls from rural communities yet there is no analysis as to why or how current initiatives would address the issue. |
| Program design does not consider gender issues. For example, the procedures for police interventions in domestic violence cases may not identify the impact of such interventions on the officers involved. |
| Policy or program implementation does not include consideration of gender-based analysis. For example there could be difficulties or barriers in conducting or integrating gender considerations, and gender specific impacts identified in gender-based analysis are not considered in government’s polices, legislation and program initiatives. |
| Personnel have not been trained in gender equality issues. For example, the program of providing a credit facility had established that there are different needs for men and women. However staff have received no training in how the program could be adapted to the needs of the applicant. They also do not receive training on how gender affects the manner in which an applicant will react to credit conditions such as equity requirements. |
| There is no mechanism to allow staff to raise gender-based issues. For example there is no evidence that the entity considered the perspectives of middle management and staff about program issues affecting gender equality and there is no encouragement to raise issues at meeting or through a suggestion process; there were no awareness-raising staff meeting that could have been an opportunity for staff to discuss gender issues related to program structure and delivery. |
| The organizational culture does not stress the need for gender equality. For example, there is no indication that program performance information is disaggregated by sex and analyzed using a gender lens. |
| Senior management challenge of the status quo is not sufficiently rigorous. For example, management may not challenge how the procedures for conducting a socio-economic impact assessment of a proposed program will highlight the potential different impacts on women’s and men’s lives. |
| There is no gender equality strategy or plan built into the audited program. For example, even with programs where there are inherent gender issues such as in the education and employment domains, the audited organization did not develop strategies or options to address actual or potential negative impacts to gender equality. |
| An approved program has no financial or technical resources dedicated to the design and implementation of a gender equality strategy or plan. For example, a policing program promises to increase the number of female police officers, however there are insufficient qualified staff to design and implement the gender responsive initiatives required to successfully integrating new officers in the workforce. There is no action plan to address gender needs and to reduce the dropout rate for women, which is twice that of men. |
| For a gender equity program, standards of service are not met. For example, client complaints are numerous and/or not addressed, or there are not enough resources to address long waiting lists for services or backlogs of files. |
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Good Practice: When acquiring knowledge of business for an audit of gender equality, it is useful for auditors to pay attention to potential indicators that the achievement of gender equality in a given program or organization is at risk. Auditors who observe the presence of risk indicators should complement their observations with analytical procedures, walk-throughs, and reviews of internal controls in order to properly assess and document the significance of the risk to gender equality. |
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