Improving Gender Equality in Territorial Issues (IGETI)

IGETI provides guidelines on how to use dialogue and negotiations processes to reach a consensus on how land and natural resources are used to the greater benefit of people from different contexts and backgrounds (women, men, boys and girls). IGETI is based on FAO’s Participatory Negotiated Territorial Development (PNTD) and Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) programmes that promote the use of gender sensitive participatory methodologies and tools.

The IGETI approach to improve gender equality in territorial issues depends critically on the mediation skills of specially trained Territorial Facilitators and consists of four phases: (Phase 1) carrying out a gender-sensitive territorial diagnosis; (Phase 2) promoting dialogue and eliciting gender-sensitive proposals; (Phase 3) guide a negotiation process leading to consensus building; (Phase 4) conduct external monitoring and evaluation.

Phase 1 involves an analysis of who are the actors involved and their priorities,  how they access or use land and other natural resources with particular attention to gender equality, and an understanding of the historical context. A useful toolset in this stage is the Livelihood Assessment Toolkit. In Phase 2 concrete proposals have to be formulated that include alternative scenarios that will eventually ease the consensus building process once common ground has been established. Phase 3 aims to articulate a process of negotiation and consensus-seeking that is continuous, multi-level, multi-actor and gender-sensitive through analysis of  the interests of all parties, formulation of a range of options and evaluation of their feasibility, and continuing dialogue with all parties. Useful approaches at this stage are Development Context Analysis, Stakeholder Priority Analysis and Livelihoods Analysis. Phase 4 consists of two types of evaluations, useful but rarely implemented: (1) evaluating the work of the Territorial Facilitator, and (2) evaluating the secondary effects of the negotiation process in terms of facilitating process dynamics (e.g. strengthening social bonds, democracy, equality etc.).