ACT Alliance- Global programme on Gender Justice 2019-2023

The intervention refers to a program support to ACT Alliance's Global Gender Justice Programme 2019-2023 prolonged until end of 2024. ACT Alliance is a Faith Based Organisation (FBO), and is the world´s largest network of Protestant and Orthodox churches and agencies engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work, with over 150 members and 30,000 staff working on a wide range of activities in more than 125 countries. The Church of Sweden and Diakonia are the Swedish members. The Gender Justice Programme, GJP, continues to be implemented in local, national, regional, and global settings, where gender inequalities shape lived realities. Human rights are threatened by the rise of different forms of fundamentalism (economic, political, and religious), and the shrinking space for civil society is a growing obstacle to the realisation of womens potential and rights. Achievements made for womens rights and gender justice continue to be threatened by deep, pervasive, and relentless pushbacks at every level. In every context religion and gender politics are intertwined. Example of results reported for 2023: Outcome 1: ACT members are committed to promoting changes in attitudes and structural arrangements towards a more gender-just distribution of power (98 % achievement) - 98 members have established gender justice policies - The internal gender balance at ACT Alliance: 52 (male)/46 (female) ratio in Leadership positions in 2023 - Members of the ACT Gender Communities of Practice (LAC, Africa, Asia-Pacific) rooted their collective advocacy work for gender justice in faith-based and theological narratives, which contributed to changing mindsets, transforming social norms and increasing dialogue on justice. - Co-convening in South Africa of the Inter-Religious Convention: Faith Changemakers: Affirming Human Dignity, Justice, and Freedom for All, with 200 faith-based participants from different religions. - In 2023, the ACT Alliance joined the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law focusing on a pursuit of legal equality in the family. - A round table meeting on Gender and Security in MENA was held. Outcome 2: The programme contributes to gender just societies. (70 % achievement) - 70% of members in the Annual Membership Survey reported to take action to shape gender norms and roles, and balance inequalities in programmes. - ACT Alliance Gender Justice Programme strengthened its role as a strategic stakeholder. - Key initiatives targeting transformative masculinities, GBV, and SRHR were taken in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. - In Ethiopia trainings for faith leaders engaged 44 representatives from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and 18 leaders from Evangelical Denominations, significantly enhancing the capacity of religious leaders to promote gender justice. Manuals on transformative masculinity were translated into Amharic and Oromiffa, extending the project's reach and accessibility. - Approximately 1500 Behavior Change Communication materials were developed and disseminated, raising awareness on positive masculinity and gender justice across a broad audience. - In Asia Pacific two new resources were published with guidance to members for developing a Gender Justice Policy, and best practices from across the region. - Sierra Leone: formation of 7 Husbands' and Boys' Clubs. - In LAC training sessions and creation and dissemination of a facilitation guide, reaching leaders, incl distribution of 500 educational dialogue materials on gender justice. Outcome 3: ACT Alliance is a global progressive force for gender justice, contributing to the SDGs and connecting the national to the regional andglobal level s. (100 % achievement) - Gender Justice Programme participation in CSW67, CPD55, and COP28 , and 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women. - Inter-sessional virtual workshops at the Human Rights Council on on decolonising family values. - Specific security training for members who participate in gender advocacy in UN policy spaces. - Increased sharing between ACT Forums church leaders in Tanzania to support gender justice initiatives, transformed through training, which affirmed their leadership as changemakers for gender. Outcome 4: The programme providers capacity and quality of gender justice interventions in the programme are enhanced. (100 % achievement) - ACT Humanitarian and Gender teams participated in an in-person training - Focus was given to the humanitarian programme, recognising that this is the largest area of the alliances work, with an integrated gender-responsive, and where possible, gender-transformative, approach to ensure inclusive practices are promoted, and the most marginalised are reached. - Act Church of Sweden was a strategic partner in the mainstreaming of gender in climate and safeguarding. - It was recognised the importance of gender mainstreaming within the safeguarding guidelines, policy and training.  - ACTAlliance had an external evaluation of its Gender Justice Programme during 2023. The evaluation rated the outcome of the programmes relevance and effectiveness as high as well as high in relation to the adaptive management.

By 2023, the expected impact is that ACT Alliance and its members have contributed to changed policy, practice, narratives and attitudes on gender justice in faith-communities, by positively affecting the commitment of churches and other FBOs within the Alliance, as well as their programming and their advocacy efforts to realise gender justice. To ensure that all members and partners are able to contribute towards this overall goal, the programme is aiming at securing  four outcomes, during a four year period: 1. ACT Alliance members are committed to promote changes in policy, practice, attitudes and structural arrangements, towards a more gender just distribution of power 2. The programmatic work contributes to gender just societies 3. ACT Alliance is a global progressive force for gender justice contributing to the SDGs and connecting the dynamics of local-global-local initiatives 4. The programme providers’ capacity and quality of interventions are enhanced