Contribution to international development: report 2021 to 2023

4. Equalities

Gender equality remains one of the greatest human rights challenges globally as women and girls across the world continue to face systemic issues such as gender-based violence, economic insecurity, barriers to accessing education, and violations of sexual and reproductive health rights. In line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and our International Development Principles, the IDF-funded equalities programmes in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia will focus on supporting the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

4.1 ODA Spend Projects

During 2021-23, we continued to fund a number of projects focused on SDG5, including:

• the Police Scotland peer-peer partnership programme with the Malawi and Zambia Police Services. Although impacted by COVID-19 in terms of in-country deployments during 2021/22^[21]this programme continued to focus on systems strengthening and training on the protection of marginalised groups such as women, people with albinism and disabled people, including tackling issues such as gender-based violence and child protection (please see our 2017/2018 Report for a Case Study on this programme);
• the “Claiming Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Rwanda” project, led by Oxfam, RICH and Challenges Worldwide, the purpose of which was to directly benefit 3,120 people including 1,000 victims of sexual and gender based violence by facilitating attitudinal change, institutional capacity-building and empowerment of women. This was to ensure women in targeted districts of Rwanda can enjoy equal rights and live free from discrimination and violence (Please see our 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 Reports for a case study on this project) and
• our collaboration and pooled funding with Comic Relief for a further joint programme “Levelling the Field II Programme”, enabling women and girls to reach their full potential through sport, explored in more detail for the period of this Report through our Case Study below.

4.2 Case Studies

Case Study EQ1: Levelling the Field II: Enabling Women and Girls to reach their full potential through sport – Comic Relief

“We are proud of our partnership with the Scottish Government on the Levelling the Field programme. We admire their strategic commitment to feminist development and shifting power” - Catherine Muge, Director of Funding, Comic Relief.

Levelling the Field (LTF) II is the second programme to be funded jointly by the Scottish Government and Comic Relief. In total, 10 investments under this programme were awarded to organisations in Malawi (3), Rwanda (2), and Zambia (5) using Sport for Change (SFC) approaches whilst working towards at least one of the following outcomes:

1. Ensuring women and girls are safe equal and respected – funding projects that will enable women and girls to live free from harm, and with access to crucial support.

2. Promoting women and girls’ decision-making power and inclusion – funding to support women and girls to improve their access to information, knowledge and services, which will in turn increase their ability to make informed decisions about their futures and enable them to lead the lives they chose.

In total, this programme has supported 15,342 women and girls in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia to better claim their rights, and feel safer and more respected within their contexts. Two project examples are provided below.

Zambia

In Zambia, Grassroot Soccer and partners are working across three rural districts to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) who are survivors of gender-based violence. The SKILLZ programme integrates SFC with human rights-based approaches to equip girls with SRHR information, build their confidence as gender advocates and link them to essential services. A significant number of AGYW (4,456) are experiencing improved health and life skills because of participation in the project, and of these girls, 2,233 have been linked to SRH services, including HIV testing, PrEP, contraceptives and psychosocial support.

Rwanda

In Rwanda, Chance for Childhood (CfC) are working with their partners in Nyabihu District, Rwanda, to improve inclusion, participation, and protection of D/deaf girls at individual, community, and institutional levels. The project utilises an innovative and engaging dance based SFC methodology, which has resulted in D/deaf participants obtaining greater knowledge of their rights and are gaining the confidence and agency with which to claim them. Girls are now demonstrating improvements in language, self-expression, self-esteem, and teamwork, among other skillsets.

At community level, there have also been positive shifts in attitudes and behaviours towards D/deaf children and increased knowledge on how to support them. For example, 332 more parents and teachers now know what to do if they see or suspect a sexual gender-based violence case, community stigma and discrimination has reduced and parents and community members have affirmed that they will treat D/deaf children equally to their siblings. Additionally, 210 more teachers now recognise that D/deaf learners have the same rights and potential as other children, and 26 more health centre nurses have the basic skills required in Rwandan Sign Language to handle basic communication with D/deaf girls.^[22]

A Participatory Approach

Through the design and delivery of the fund, Comic Relief has sought to embed participation and power-shifting principles. This included: consultation with previous LTF partners during the programme design stage; convening a panel of local Experts by Experience as the key decision-making panels for the programme; and providing direct funding to local organisations, with additional funds awarded to support self-identified organisational strengthening priorities.

A collective learning programme was also established to facilitate knowledge sharing amongst the partners and to create space for networking and collaboration.

The lessons learned by Comic Relief and Scottish Government from our jointly funded Levelling the Field II Programme were also highly influential in our thinking towards developing a new Equalities Programme, following our COVID-19 review of our approach to international development which Minister committed to parliament to develop in March 2021.

4.3. Equalities Policy Initiatives Post-2021 Review

Our work to deliver on our commitments to prioritise gender equality within our future international development work was also developed during the period of this Report. In line with our International Development Principles, we consulted with our partner country governments, the Global South Advisory Panel, and wide-ranging international development stakeholders on our new strategic twin-track approach to advance gender equality.

Aligned with our commitments to also apply a feminist approach to international development, this new phase of equalities work focuses on mainstreaming gender equality throughout our international development portfolio, including within our new health and inclusive education programmes, and creating dedicated gender equality focused programmes within our new equalities programme. We recognise the ways in which gender intersects with other protected characteristics, and therefore seek to apply an intersectional lens to our approach. Further detail on our new equalities programme can be found at 11.2.

4.4. Cross-Scottish-Government Policy Initiatives

In line with our commitments on policy coherence for our equalities work, and commitments to ‘do no harm’, wider Scottish Government policy initiatives developed and adopted during this period that contribute to international development include Scotland’s Feminist Approach to International Relations.

A feminist approach for Scotland recognises the relationship between addressing inequality and tackling insecurity in pursuit of a fairer world for all. Our approach is anti-racist, seeks to challenge existing power structures, and seeks to leverage all aspects of Scotland’s international policy to advance gender equality and the rights of women, girls and marginalised groups.

To develop this approach, during the period of this report, we undertook extensive stakeholder engagement in Scotland and internationally, including: a workshop with international development stakeholders, a meeting with the Global South Advisory Panel, as well as engagement with the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls, Human Rights Defenders, and many others.

Scotland’s International Development Alliance and the Scottish Council for Global Affairs were also contracted to run a series of workshops, which were consolidated into an independent report with detailed recommendations for Scottish Government policy and action. These workshops involved 97 participants from Scotland and the Global South, including from the Scottish Government’s international development partner countries (Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan).

A policy position paper was then published by the Scottish Government in November 2023, which sets out how we will ensure our international work is feminist in nature and how we will take action to apply a feminist approach across the four key themes: international development and humanitarian; climate justice; trade; and peace and security. Further detail on our feminist approach to international development is provided at 11.1.