KIX call for proposals: Knowledge and Innovation for Achieving Gender Equality and Social Inclusion at School

Table of Contents  

1. Introduction 

2. Challenges of gender Equality and social inclusion at school 

3. Grant types, funding scope and duration  

4. Eligibility criteria: General and specific to grant types  

5. Expectations of projects  

6. Proposal submission details  

7. Proposal evaluation criteria  

8. Submission and review process  

9. Inquiries 

10. Call timeline 

11. Additional considerations 

Annex A: List of Eligible Countries: GPE partner countries 

Annex B: Integrating GEI in research proposals and projects 

11. Introduction 

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) invite proposals for applied research projects to generate and mobilize evidence in support of contextualizing and scaling the impact of innovative approaches to strengthen gender-responsive and socially inclusive education and safe schooling experiences for all children, especially those facing multiple forms of gender inequalities and marginalization, in GPE partner countries. 

The Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) is a joint endeavor of GPE and IDRC. KIX supports countries to have and use the evidence and innovation they need to accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality through equitable, inclusive, and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century. KIX achieves this by facilitating direct knowledge sharing across GPE partner countries through four regional Hubs and by funding applied research on their priorities. KIX is part of GPE’s strategy to support transformative change for education in lower-income countries.  

The objectives of this call are to:  

• Generate evidence about how to scale the impact of innovative approaches to address challenges of gender equality and social inclusion at school.  
• Strengthen the capacities of relevant stakeholders to use that knowledge and innovation.  
• Mobilize the evidence developed to improve policy and practice in education systems.  

The deadline for the submission of proposals is August 28, 2023 (23:59 EDT). 

22. Challenges of gender equality and social inclusion at school 

The past few decades have seen a notable improvement in opportunities for all children to realize the right to education. Countries have affirmed their commitment to ensuring that the most marginalized – including girls, children with disabilities, and those living in poverty – can access, participate in, and complete their education. Yet, gender equality and issues of equity and inclusion remain critical topics in primary and secondary education and an identified priority among policymakers and stakeholders in GPE partner countries. This has become even more important in recent years as the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced existing inequalities, resulting in decreasing global rates of basic literacy.

Addressing the intersecting disadvantages many groups face is critical to ensuring quality and safe education for all. Therefore, countries are seeking evidence to help them adopt more gender-responsive and inclusive policies and practices to support learner-centred approaches to education, as outlined in a recent scoping study. While there are many important issues within the broader lens of gender equality, equity, and inclusion, this call for proposals focuses on two core issues that can make a difference in children’s learning: inclusive and gender-responsive curriculum, pedagogies and leadership; and safe, inclusive, and supportive schools for all.   

The challenge  

Generate and mobilize evidence to contextualize and scale the impact of innovative approaches that strengthen gender-responsive and socially inclusive education and safe schooling experiences for all children, especially those facing multiple forms of gender inequalities and marginalization.   

Subtheme 1: Inclusive and gender-responsive curriculum, pedagogies and leadership    

While education and schools serve as fundamental tools for promoting gender equality, equity and inclusion, they can also perpetuate social biases, stereotypes, and exclusion. These factors significantly impact education access for girls and boys, especially those from marginalized groups, as well as their educational experiences and learning outcomes. In many GPE partner countries, girls’ disadvantages are multiple, and the work of gender equality will particularly focus on girls. However, gender-responsive curriculum and positive gender norms must consider children of all genders, including challenges facing boys, which are often not adequately addressed in work addressing gender equality. 

In many GPE partner countries, a significant portion of the student population faces challenges of poverty and geographic conditions. Moreover, certain groups face compounded inequalities and exclusions due to their unique characteristics, such as children with disabilities, refugees, internally displaced persons, and children belonging to ethnic or linguistic minorities. It is thus imperative to adopt an intersectional approach to combat these forms of exclusion. 

It is crucial to address these inequalities by adopting effective and context-specific teaching and learning approaches encompassing pedagogical practices, curriculum development, instructional materials, teaching methods, school management practices, community engagement and assessment strategies responsive to these disparities.   

Subtheme 1 focuses on educational innovations and their potential to have a broader impact by implementing inclusive and gender responsive curricula and school management and leadership. Areas of research interest include understanding how to adapt, contextualize and scale innovation that addresses:   

1. Designing and implementing curricula that authentically reflect the experiences, contributions, and perspectives of individuals of all genders, and addresses harmful gender norms.   
2. Promoting equitable participation and learning among all students through inclusive and gender-responsive teaching methods and pedagogical strategies that cater to diverse learning styles and preferences.   
3. Facilitating leadership and professional development opportunities for educators, school principals and management, enabling them to deepen their understanding, application, and advocacy of gender-responsive and inclusive pedagogies and strategies.   
4. Understanding how gender norms and expectations influence girls’ and boys' experiences, academic outcomes, and educational trajectories and identifying strategies to promote positive and inclusive masculinities.

Subtheme 2: Safe, inclusive, and supportive schools for all 

In addition to its primary role in education and learning, the school provides a crucial experience for children and adolescents, facilitating social skills and personal development. Yet, evidence reveals that schools can also become spaces of exclusion, insecurity, and even violence. These risks are disproportionately higher for certain marginalized groups, including girls, children from ethnic, racial, linguistic, or religious minorities, children with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, and migrant or displaced children. 

For schools situated in fragile and conflict-affected situations, social, economic, and institutional structures are often weakened or disrupted, and education systems are particularly affected by a lack of resources, limited security, and a shortage of qualified teachers, leading to disrupted learning environments and increased risks for children. The need for safe and inclusive schools is even greater in such challenging contexts.

Understanding the experiences of students, especially those from marginalized groups, through the lenses of inclusion and gender equality is fundamental to comprehending how innovative and scalable interventions can enhance students' safety, inclusion, and overall well-being, including physical, psychological, and socio-emotional dimensions. 

Topics of research interest include understanding how to adapt, contextualize and scale innovation that addresses:   

1. gendered patterns of marginalization and victimization - including school-related gender-based violence - with a particular focus on teenage mothers returning to school, children with disabilities and LGBTQI+ students.   
2. students' socio-emotional well-being and their mental and physical health, including access to water and sanitation hygiene and sexual and reproductive health services and education for girls in particular.    
3. crisis management and emergency preparedness in schools situated in fragile and conflict-affected situations to minimize learning disruptions.   
4. how gender norms and expectations influence learning and school safety for girls and boys, and how strategies can be implemented to promote positive and inclusive masculinities.   
5. support for teachers, school leadership, and management structures for building positive school culture – both in-person and virtually, where applicable – to promote safety and inclusion.    

Research questions   

Proposals should generate knowledge in response to the challenge by addressing the following overall research question and two sub-questions:  

How can we scale the impact of innovative approaches addressing gender-responsive and socially inclusive education and safe school experiences for all children, especially those facing overlapping issues of gender inequalities and social marginalization?   

1. What promising or proven innovations address gender-responsive and socially inclusive education and safe school experiences for all children?   
2. How can these innovations be adapted, scaled, and implemented in effective, equitable, and sustainable ways?   
3. What factors enable, incentivize, or impede the scaling of these innovations?  

33. Grant types, funding scope and duration 

KIX will allocate up to CA$14.5 million through this call.  

Proposals may be of any of the following three types:  

Multi-country and regional/global grants are preferred. Single-country grants will be considered where multi-country work is difficult and/or when the proposal provides a compelling and unique opportunity for learning from a single-country case. 

Proposals must target, and be grounded in, GPE partner countries (see Annex A for the list of countries).  

IDRC reserves the right to fund additional proposals from this call if/when more funding becomes available.  

IDRC is under no obligation to issue any funds prior to the applicant returning a fully executed Grant Agreement to IDRC. 

All grants are subject to sufficient funds being made available to IDRC by the Parliament of Canada or under a donor partnership agreement with a particular external funder. 

IDRC reserves the right to cancel this call for proposals at any time without prior notice and/or to not issue any grants under this process. 

44. Eligibility criteria: General and specific to grant types 

Only proposals that meet the eligibility criteria will be considered.  

General eligibility criteria for all grant types 

Proposals must be submitted by nationally/internationally registered or incorporated organizations. These could include, inter alia, research institutions, universities, think tanks, network secretariats, associations, civil society organizations, non-profits, or the private sector.  

Applicants must have independent legal status (or “legal personality”), be capable of contracting in their own right and name, receiving and administering funds, and have the authority to direct proposed project activities. Applicants must be able to demonstrate their legal status through written documentation. Legal status will only be reviewed if and when applicants are selected following technical selection. 

Proposals may be submitted by individual organizations, or by consortia of up to three organizations. Proposals from consortia must name one lead organization, which can subgrant to the others. Proposals from, or that include, private sector partners should demonstrate how private sector resources – financial or technical knowhow - will contribute to the project. Organizations/consortia must have a strong presence and track record of work in the education sector of GPE partner countries. 

Who is NOT eligible? 

• Individuals. 
• Government ministries and agencies are not eligible for funding but can be involved in projects. 
• For-profit providers of core education services. 

Specific eligibility criteria for the three types of grants 

KIX will prioritize funding to organizations based in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in regions covered by this call.  

Single-country grant proposals must be submitted by national organizations based in the country of focus. They may apply as individual organizations or lead a consortium that includes other organizations whether from within or outside the country. 

Multi-country grant proposals must be submitted by an organization based in a low- or middle-income country. Other consortium members may include organizations from within or outside the region; national, regional, or international offices of multilateral organizations; or international NGOs. 

Regional/global grant proposals may be submitted by any organization that meets the general eligibility criteria, as an individual organization or leading a consortium. 

55. Expectations of projects  

Linkages to education policy priorities and key stakeholder endorsement 

Proposals must demonstrate clear links with education policy priorities and define plans for effective engagement of key stakeholders such as the ministry of education. This could be through a letter indicating approval or interest from an appropriate authority in the ministry, or evidence of clear alignment with current official documents such as the partnership compact, the education sector plan, or other similar strategic plan documents. Proposals should demonstrate that the organization applying for the grant is working in and has relationships with relevant education stakeholders in the target countries.  

High-quality research for development  

Funded projects will be expected to undertake research for development, which is designed to build knowledge, innovation, and evidence, strengthen capacity, and mobilize knowledge for policy and practice. They should be problem-focused and action-oriented. They should creatively identify and engage with relevant users of the knowledge and innovation. They should involve education system stakeholders throughout to ensure that research is relevant and positioned for use in policy and practice. They will also be expected to meet the quality standards expressed in IDRC’s Research Quality Plus (RQ+) framework. They must be methodologically rigorous, original, and relevant. They must be ethically sound, address gender equality, equity, and inclusion (GEI) dimensions, and be well-positioned for use by different stakeholders. 

Research for scaling innovation, using a critical approach 

Proposals are expected to focus on promising or proven innovative approaches that have potential to be scaled and facilitate transformative change in GPE partner countries. Innovations may include, but are not limited to, tools, practices, policies, programs, technologies, frameworks, methodologies, or any other interventions that can be used to address the challenge, sometimes in combination.  The innovative approaches may come from within or outside GPE partner countries.  

KIX will not support the large-scale implementation of identified innovations; it will, however, fund research for development to generate evidence for their scaling. This may include:  

• adapting and refining the innovations to the contextual needs of the selected countries;  
• developing and testing means and models to scale them;  
• supporting capacity strengthening of stakeholders who will adapt, adopt and scale the innovations;  
• conducting a cost analysis of the innovations; and  
• assessing results.   

Proposals will be encouraged to take a critical approach to scaling. Scaling is not only about making something bigger or increasing the coverage of an intervention. Scaling is the process of improving the reach, breadth, quality, equity, and sustainability of the changes, benefits, and solutions that innovations bring to education systems. Projects should use the research process to determine an optimal scale for their innovation (see more in Gargani and McLean, 2017).   

Gender equality, equity, and inclusion (GEI) 

This call focuses on policy challenges related to gender equality, equity and inclusion. The design and implementation of the proposed research should be geared to those challenges, including project objectives, research questions, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Proposals should also demonstrate how GEI will be promoted, using an intersectional approach, with respect to team composition and organizations comprising the research team, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and knowledge mobilization processes. Gender-blind proposals will not be considered. Annex B provides a series of questions to help guide the integration of GEI in research proposals and the implementation of projects.  

Being part of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) 

The projects funded out of this call will become part of KIX. They will be invited to participate in joint learning and synthesis activities with other projects, and to extend their knowledge mobilization strategies with regional Hubs. They will be invited to participate in the KIX-wide project called Research on Scaling the Impact of Innovations in Education (ROSIE). They will be required to link their results to the KIX-wide results framework and track some common results in their monitoring, evaluation and learning strategies. Proponents should anticipate allocating necessary personnel and at least 20 days to these KIX-level activities in their plans and budgets.  

66. Proposal submission details 

All applications should be submitted in English, French or Spanish, using the online application form link. 

The online application will ask applicants to provide: 

• The project title. 
• Countries of focus. 
• Project duration. 
• Project summary in plain language. 
• Contact information of the project leader and co-applicants (if applicable). 
• The rationale for the consortium (if applicable). 

Problem Identification and Background (max. 1,500 words) 

• Clearly state the problem or opportunity to be addressed in your project; how it addresses an important knowledge gap relevant to the identified GEI policy challenge; how the project responds to education priorities of the chosen GPE partner country(ies), including their education sector plans or partnership compact priorities.  
• Present a review of relevant literature in relation to the proposed project. 
• Provide a justification for the selected innovation(s) to be adapted and further tested, including available evidence of its effectiveness. 

Research Purpose and Anticipated Results (max. 1,000 words) 

• Clearly state the project objectives[1] in response to the call objectives, addressing and promoting GEI.  
• Present the project’s research questions in reference to the guiding research questions and addressing the challenge and one or more of the subthemes.  
• Describe the project outputs and outcomes, and the intended impact to which it will contribute; explain how it will add to existing knowledge for education systems.  

Project Design and Methodology (max. 1,500 words)  

• Describe the study design, conceptual framework, methods, and type of analysis. Outline the scaling approaches and delivery mechanisms to be tested. 
• Outline how GEI considerations will be incorporated in all elements of project design and methodology.  
• Outline how relevant stakeholders will be involved in fair and equitable partnerships during the project.  
• Describe the project’s adaptive management approach, and how it will manage and address potential risks. 

Knowledge Mobilization Strategy (max. 700 words) 

• Provide an overview of how the activities and outputs of the project will engage potential knowledge users (including ministries of education) on an ongoing basis, the strategies to ensure that research results are used by relevant stakeholders, and what the outcomes of the project might be for policy making and capacity building. Proposals should consider plans for leveraging the platforms provided by relevant KIX Regional Hubs in their knowledge mobilization strategy. 

Research Ethics (max. 500 words) 

• Provide details of the potential ethical issues in relation to the proposed research and what steps will be taken to ensure the highest ethical standards and the greatest protection of research participants. Refer to the Canadian Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans.  
• Identify which institutional or national research ethics body will provide ethics review and oversight. Note that prior to commencing research, applicants will need to obtain approval from an official institutional or national research ethics body and will need to comply with the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement.  

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (max. 700 words) 

• Outline the project theory of change, along with intended results that focus on knowledge generation, capacity strengthening of project relevant stakeholders and knowledge mobilization of project results.  
• Describe the processes that the project will use to monitor progress, adapt, achieve results, and report.  

Project Team Capacities (max. 1,000 words) 

• List the project team members, their roles, and expertise relevant to the project (research, gender equality, equity, and inclusion in education and/or more broadly, scaling, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and knowledge mobilization).   
• Provide a brief overview of the organization’s (or the consortium’s) track record relative to its proposed role in the project.  
• Explain how GEI principles will be upheld with respect to the project team members.  
• Describe project governance and coordination arrangements to produce high-quality work and support fair and equitable partnerships.  

Additional Documents 

In addition to the proposal, applicants are expected to submit:   

1. Contact information of the lead applicant and members of the consortium if applicable.  
2. Institutional Profile Questionnaire (IPQ) to be completed by the lead applicant and submitted along with a copy of the organization’s legal registration. 
3. Estimated budget, with a cost breakdown by categories using the  IDRC budget template. Complete all the tabs except the Summary tab, which will be generated automatically. Save the completed and duly signed budget as a PDF document and attach this to your application. For a list of eligible expenses, please refer to the IDRC  Guidelines for Acceptable Project Expenditures. For general information, refer to the General IDRC Funding Guidelines.  Please add information on any matched funding, or additional leveraged resources, that are relevant to this proposal under the “Donor contributions” and “Local contributions” tabs. 
4. Two-page CVs of the lead applicant with relevant experience and key contact individuals from other organizations in the case of consortia.   

By submitting this proposal, the Applicant confirms that their acknowledgment of the applicable Terms and Conditions for the Grant Agreement, acknowledged and accepted, form an integral part of the funding application. The Applicant also agrees to abide by GPE's Policy on protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, by IDRC Corporate Principles on Research Ethics, IDRC Open Access Policy and IDRC Open Data Statement of Principles to proceed.  

77. Proposal evaluation criteria 

An independent expert panel will assess proposals using the evaluation criteria and criteria weighting (in percentages) outlined below.   

88. Submission and review process 

Eligible proposals must be submitted no later than August 28, 2023 (23:59 EDT). Proposals received after the deadline or incomplete proposals will not be considered. All applications must be submitted using the online application form. An acknowledgement of receipt of proposal will be sent following the timely submission.  

Responding to this call is the first step in the application process for potentially securing funding for your proposal. The review process will consist of the following steps, conducted by IDRC program staff and external reviewers with relevant expertise.  

1. Verification of eligibility requirements and proposal completeness: IDRC will review all submitted proposals to ensure they meet eligibility requirements and include all necessary application materials. Ineligible, incomplete and irrelevant proposals will not be considered further.  
2. Initial shortlisting of eligible proposals: If a large number of proposals are submitted, IDRC will review them based on the evaluation criteria presented in section 7 and send a shortlist of the top proposals to the KIX Independent Assessment Panel (IAP). 
3. Review and ranking of shortlisted proposals: IAP members will review eligible proposals using the evaluation criteria under section 7. Each proposal will be reviewed by at least two panelists. Proposals will be ranked on the basis of scoring and subsequent IAP discussion. The IAP will recommend which proposals are of sufficient quality to receive KIX funding.  
4. Recommending a cohort of projects: IDRC will identify a cohort of IAP-recommended proposals up to the maximum budget for the funding envelope available for the call. As much as possible, the cohort will balance thematic, geographic and applicant diversity. IDRC will also analyze budgets and proposals’ value for money. The cohort will be submitted for approval from the KIX Executive Committee. 
5. Final approval: The Executive Committee will provide final approval of the projects funded through this call.  
6. Notification of results: Following the selection by the Executive Committee, successful and non-successful applicants will be notified of the results by November 6, 2023.  
7. Request for changes: IDRC reserves the right to request successful applicants to make changes based on feedback from the IAP and IDRC, if necessary. IDRC may also facilitate additional interaction with KIX representatives in GPE member countries to further hone the selected proposal to country realities. 
8. Inception Phase: Upon selection and the signing of the Grant Agreement, grantees will be oriented to KIX objectives and processes over a period of three months called the Inception Phase. During this period, KIX program officers will work with grantees to align projects with the overall KIX theory of change and results framework and provide support and guidance on important requirements such as scaling research, GEI, knowledge mobilization, and MEL reporting.  

99. Inquiries 

Questions must be submitted to kixcalls@idrc.ca. 

Any inquiries that affect all applicants will be posted anonymously online on the KIX Call FAQ page. Applicants are strongly encouraged to monitor this website for any information updates regarding this call. 

1010. Call timeline  

1111. Additional considerations 

• As a Canadian Crown Corporation, IDRC is subject to Canada’s Access to Information Act. Consequently, any submissions in response to this Call for Research Proposals will be held by IDRC in a manner consistent with the Access to Information Act, including IDRC's obligations to disclose documents requested by members of the public. 
• By way of submitting an application under this Call, applicants consent to the disclosure of the documents they submit to IDRC and external reviewers who are involved in the assessment and selection processes of proposals. If selected for funding, applicants further consent to the disclosure of their name and the title of the proposed project in any announcement of selected projects. Unsuccessful proposals will be destroyed within 180 days after the close of the application period. Proposals deemed as high quality by the IAP, but which do not receive funding from this round, will be retained for an additional 12 months, based on applicant permissions. 
• Applicants must publish research findings in the public domain in accordance with IDRC’s Open Access Policy.  
• The technical selection of a proposal does not constitute a formal commitment by IDRC to fund the project. Applicants whose proposals are selected for a recommendation for funding will undergo an institutional assessment. This step assesses the potential risk of material loss of IDRC funds due to weaknesses in the capacity of an applicant’s institution to manage or report on the financial aspects of project activities, or because of economic and political conditions relating to the institution's operating environment. IDRC needs to review three broad areas in its assessment of what measures should be applied to minimize such risk: the materiality of the investment; the management capacity of the applicant’s institution; and the wider environment within which the organization operates. IDRC will have no obligation to issue any funds prior to the applicant returning an executed Grant Agreement issued to them by IDRC. The process for finalizing the project proposal, budget and administrative documentation is expected to take place between November 2023 and January 2024. 
• IDRC reserves the right in its sole discretion at any time to withdraw support for a project or recipient where the i) implementation, ii) monitoring of, or iii) access to a project is not possible or would jeopardize the safety of staff, contractors or anyone affiliated to IDRC. Additionally, where it is determined that a project or participation of an institution or individual would or could reasonably violate laws, sanctions or other obligations with which IDRC and or the applicant must comply, support for the project may be withheld or withdrawn. 
• Country clearance requirements: IDRC has conducted general agreements for scientific and technical cooperation with a number of governments. These agreements establish the framework for IDRC cooperation with that country by defining the rights and obligations of both IDRC and the government. As such, the applicant institution may be required to obtain country approval in accordance with these agreements prior to receiving funding from IDRC. This requirement applies only to selected applications. IDRC reserves the right to not pursue the funding of a selected project if the country approval is not secured within six months after IDRC officially announces approval of the project, as this would jeopardize the timely completion of the initiative. 
• Applicants whose proposals are selected to recommend for funding will be required to provide additional documentation (see additional documents under Proposal Submission Details) prior to confirmation of funding of their projects. IDRC reserves the right to rescind its selection of a project if it is deemed that the information provided in the application is false or misleading.  

AAnnex A: List of Eligible Countries: GPE partner countries 

BAnnex B: Integrating GEI in research proposals and projects  

IDRC’s Equality statement says “We support the generation of knowledge—including by individuals from diverse genders, communities, histories, and experiences—that tackles the systems that perpetuate inequalities on the basis of identity.” Integrating GEI in all stages of research projects is essential for producing research that is fair, equitable, and inclusive, and ultimately promotes equal opportunities and treatment for all people regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or any other identity.  

When a project integrates GEI considerations across its design as well as methodologies, outputs, outcomes and organizational practices, the project is gender-responsive or gender-transformative (see IDRC’s Guide to integrating gender in your proposal). Even for a call that specifically targets GEI issues, proposals should consider how to orient projects to be either gender-responsive or gender-transformative in all aspects:  

Problem identification and background 

Including GEI in the problem identification and background contextualizes the research problem within the broader sociocultural and historical context. It helps to explain how gender and inclusion-related challenges in education have emerged and how they are perpetuated.  

• To what extent does the problem identification and background section discuss the contextual factors that contribute to GEI challenges?  
• What does the existing research say about the issues in focus with respect to GEI?  
• To what extent does the problem identification and background section clearly articulate the specific GEI needs or challenges to be addressed in the project?  
• Does the proposal include an intersectional approach to understand how gender intersects with other aspects of identity, such as age, ability, race, ethnicity, geographic location, sexuality, and wealth status? 

Research purpose and anticipated results 

Including GEI in research objectives, research questions, and project results helps to focus the project on GEI and ensure that it works towards addressing identified GEI challenges. 

• To what extent do the research objectives and questions incorporate GEI issues?  
• To what extent do the results - outputs, outcomes, and intended impact - address GEI issues and their underlying causes?  

Project design and methodology 

Including GEI in the research design and methodology helps to incorporate a diversity of perspectives, including those of marginalized groups who may be underrepresented in the research.  

• To what extent are GEI considerations reflected in the project design and methodology? 
• Are different groups involved in the research process in a meaningful, participatory way? To what extent do they represent the diversity of target groups, including the most marginalized? 
• How does the design accommodate for the effective participation of all stakeholders? 

Knowledge mobilization strategy 

Including GEI in knowledge mobilization activities helps to ensure that GEI issues are raised and addressed beyond the project.  

• Are GEI considerations included in the knowledge mobilization strategy? 
• How will GEI-specific findings be documented and shared? 
• Are you considering involving relevant key stakeholders or change makers (government, NGO and others) that work on and influence gender-based discrimination and inequalities in the knowledge sharing process?  

Monitoring, evaluation, and learning 

Including GEI in your monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan ensures that there are GEI targets set, their progress is monitored, and learnings are documented and reported.  

• To what extent is GEI integrated into the project's monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan? 
• Does the proposal outline mechanisms to monitor and report on GEI-related results? 

Project team capacities 

Including GEI expertise and ensuring GEI representation in the composition of the team is important for ensuring diverse perspectives and experiences, addressing gender and inclusion-related challenges, conducting ethical research, engaging stakeholders, and disseminating findings to diverse audiences.  

• Do you have a person responsible for leading GEI integration?  
• Does the project team include a balanced mix of people of different genders? What roles do they have?  
• How might you strengthen the capacities of the research team regarding GEI?  

Have you highlighted the expertise within the team needed to conduct rigorous gender analysis and to analyze data by sex and other relevant indicators?  
 

[1] [1] This includes general and specific objectives of the project. The general objective should state the development goal being pursued related to the policy challenge. The specific objectives should indicate the specific types of knowledge to be produced; the policy, practice or innovation that could be improved with that knowledge, specifying which stakeholders will be reached; and capacities to be strengthened. The success of the project will be judged against its specific objectives.