Human rights and gender equality

Human rights and gender equality refer to the extent to which an evaluation adequately addresses human rights and gender in its design, conduct, and reporting.

According to the UNEG guide “Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation ‐‐Towards UNEG Guidance”:

"Human rights are the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of one’s nationality, place of residence, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, colour, disability, religion, language etc. All human beings are entitled to these rights without discrimination. They are universal, inalienable, interdependent, indivisible, equal and non-discriminatory. …

Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same, but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. It implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration,recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a “women’s issue”, but concerns and should fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men,girls and boys is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development. It is also an essential component for the realization of all human rights."

The human rights-based approach and gender mainstreaming strategy is one of the standards developed by the United Nations Evaluation Group and intended to cover all UN evaluations:

"Human standard 4.7 Human rights-based approach and gender mainstreaming strategy

The evaluation design should include considerations of the extent to which the United Nations system’s commitment to the human-rights based approach and gender mainstreaming strategy was incorporated in the design of the evaluation subject."