The IASC Gender Marker
1
The IASC Gender Marker is a tool that codes, on a 0-2 scale, whether or not a humanitarian project is designed
to effectively respond to the different needs of men, women, girls and boys within the affected population. If
the project has the potential to respond to their different needs, the marker predicts whether the results are
likely to be limited or significant. The aim: accurate targeting that is essential to effective and efficient
humanitarian response.
The IASC Gender Marker (GM) will be applied in the Syrian Regional Response Plan as with other humanitarian
appeals and funding mechanisms. The Gender Marker is not just a measuring tool but, most important, a
capacity building tool. It is designed to help sector partners routinely use gender analysis as a basis for
designing projects that ensure that all segments of the affected population have equal access to protection
and assistance.
A gender code is awarded based on three parts of the project sheet. We code on whether a gender analysis
feeds meaningfully into the 1) Needs Assessment (context/background), 2) logically leads to gender-responsive
Activities that respond to the identified needs and 3) results in Outcomes that will measure if the genderresponsive
activities are implemented with success. Other elements on the project sheet do not affect the
code, including the beneficiary breakdown which is required to be by sex and age, the project title or
descriptors.
Gender Analysis is reflected in: Needs Assessment Activities Outcomes
Gender Code and Description
2a
The project’s needs assessment identifies the
different needs of men compared to women (girls
compared to boys). These are articulated in Needs
which lead logically to responsive Activities and
related Outcomes.
Gender Mainstreaming
Potential to contribute significantly
to gender equality
2b
As a result of the gender analysis in the needs
assessment, the project targets a particular group –
girls, boys, women, or men – who are disadvantaged
because of their sex or their gender roles. Needs,
Activities and Outcomes focus on this specific
disadvantage.
Targeted Action
Potential to contribute significantly
to gender equality
The main purpose of the project is to advance equality by
addressing gender-linked disadvantage
All 2a and 2b projects are based on a gender analysis: this leads either to meeting the different needs of both
males and females (2a) or meeting the needs of one sex or a sub-group of one sex (2b) who face discrimination
or have specific needs because they are men, women, girls or boys.
1 Gender differences are reflected in only 1 or 2 of the 3 critical elements: Needs, Activities and
Outcomes. Cohesiveness is lacking.
Contributes in a limited way to gender equality
* If gender dimensions appear for the first and only time in Outcomes, the project is still a 0
0 Gender is not reflected anywhere in the project sheet. The project is gender blind: it may do harm
or deepen pre-existing inequalities.
No visible potential to contribute to gender equality
N/A A project rarely warrants a non-applicable (N/A) gender code. Such a project does not have direct
contact with affected populations, and does not directly affect or determine the selection or use of
resources, goods or services accessed by affected populations.