Gender dimension in project activities: how to meet EU priorities and strengthen impact?

Projects ‘for everyone’ often become projects ‘for no one’. How can you turn the gender component from an incomprehensible donor requirement into your main tool of influence? In Kyiv, Ada Krasenko, a sociologist and expert at the NGO Agency for Social Change “N/A”, and I held an intensive workshop for civil society organisation representatives to figure out why a ‘gender-neutral’ project is actually a ‘gender-blind’ project that risks failure. As a Young European Ambassador, I see that today the EU evaluates not just the idea, but your ability to see invisible barriers. In this article, we have compiled a collection of insights on how to integrate GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion) principles at every stage of a project – from the first line in the budget to the final report. You will learn how to avoid typical mistakes that undermine social justice and how to make your initiative as inclusive as possible.

The European Union is the largest supporter of Ukraine’s civil society sector. Between 2014 and 2021 alone, the EU invested over €80 million in civil society development, and recently allocated an additional €17 million to support our resilience through the EU4CSOs initiative.

However, it is important to understand that these funds are allocated in the broader context of politics. Each European grant is a tool for implementing the EU’s Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029. If we, as representatives of the civil society sector, want to bring Ukraine closer to EU membership, our projects must resonate with the three main vectors of the EU:

1. A free and democratic Europe 
2. A strong and secure Europe 
3. A prosperous and competitive Europe 

Today, the main roadmap for our cooperation is the Ukraine Facility instrument. This is a large-scale support programme in which the European Commission has clearly defined three cross-cutting priorities:

• Green Transition
• Digital Transformation
• Social Inclusion

We will focus primarily on social inclusion. This is the foundation upon which a democratic society is built, where no one is left behind. However, inclusion is impossible without a deep understanding of the gender dimension and the specific needs of different population groups. How can you ensure that your project does not just ‘meet priorities’ but actually changes people’s lives? Let’s look at this through the prism of intersectionality.

Intersectionality: why there is no such thing as an ‘average’ beneficiary

When implementing projects in Ukraine, we usually consider obvious categories of vulnerability: internally displaced persons, veterans, people affected by military operations or living in frontline regions. However, for a project to be truly effective, we must look deeper – at characteristics that are immutable but significantly affect a person’s access to resources. These include gender, race, ethnicity, age, language, and place of residence.

This is where the concept of intersectionality comes in. Back in 1989, lawyer and philosopher Kimberlé Crenshaw defined it as a lens that helps us understand how different social and political identities intersect and interact.

This intertwining is always unique. Take, for example, two people with IDP status: a young mother looking for work in a new city and an elderly man with a disability. Although they belong to the same category, their barriers often differ significantly. For instance, a woman in this situation is more likely to encounter a lack of childcare facilities and may face gender stereotypes suggesting she will be ‘constantly on sick leave’. Meanwhile, an elderly man with a disability may be more susceptible to social isolation and the physical inaccessibility of infrastructure. Consequently, the same employment project might not be as effective if it offers only a one-size-fits-all set of tools.

From target audience portrait to empathy maps

In order not to just ‘guess’ needs, but to see real people, I recommend using the Empathy Maps tool. It helps to analyse not only the external environment of your target audience, but also their inner world: what they think about, what scares them, what obstacles are most painful. Only by understanding these experiences can you create a solution that really works.

Gender mainstreaming: more than just the social sphere

This approach is fully in line with the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, in which the European Commission pays particular attention to gender mainstreaming and the intersectional perspective.

It is important to understand that gender issues are not limited to social projects. Even areas that are priorities for the EU, such as combating climate change and digital transformation, have a gender context. For example:

• How do environmental policies affect women in rural areas, where they are more often engaged in household work?
• Do girls and boys have equal access to digital skills in small communities?

Gender continuum: from ignorance to transformation

One of the most important rules when working with European donors is that you cannot simply say that your project is ‘gender neutral’. For the EU, ‘neutrality’ is effectively equivalent to gender blindness. This is a situation where a project simply ignores the real differences in the lives of men and women, which often leads to zero results for the most vulnerable.

Imagine this situation: you launch free courses and say, ‘We are open to everyone.’ However, the classes are held in the evening. The result? Most women will not be able to attend because this time is traditionally spent caring for children or the home. As a result, only men attend the courses. This is classic ‘gender blindness’.

For a project to be high-quality, it must move up the scale:

1. Gender Responsive: You recognise the difference in needs and adapt to them. For example, you understand that it is more difficult for women to enter IT due to a lack of social support, so you add a mentoring programme or flexible schedule to the course.
2. Gender Transformative: Here, you are not just helping people adapt to existing conditions, but changing the rules of the game themselves. For example, you work with employers to eradicate discriminatory hiring practices or combat stereotypes at the systemic level.

Gender is not just about women

It is a common misconception that gender inclusion is exclusively about supporting women. In fact, it is about fairness for everyone.

Let’s take the field of mental health. The statistics are staggering: about 90% of Ukrainian men have never had any experience of seeing a psychologist. Understanding this fact allows us to move away from ‘general’ training and create specific support programmes.

Another example is the field of education. There is a huge gender imbalance in Ukraine: 85% of educators are women, and only 15% are men. These are not just numbers – they are an indicator of how deeply rooted stereotypes about ‘female’ and ‘male’ professions are. This lack of diversity limits role models for children and preserves outdated divisions of labour.

The GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion) approach is a methodology that combines gender equality, inclusion of people with disabilities, and social inclusion into a single strategy.

It is important for donors to see not just a statement of ‘good intentions’, but how your project integrates these principles into a real concept. To do this effectively, we must first identify potential barriers that may prevent people from participating in activities. These may include:

• Social stigma and trauma
• Responsibilities for caring for children or elderly relatives
• Limited mobility
• Information barriers

Quality planning begins with ensuring that GEDSI is woven throughout all sections of your grant application:

• Problem analysis: avoid using general phrases. Use sex-disaggregated data and clearly describe the differences in needs and access to services for different groups in your community.
• Goals and objectives: formulate gender-sensitive goals. In addition to, ‘attract 100 people,’ write, ‘ensure equal participation of men and women, with the mandatory involvement of at least 10% of people with disabilities.’
• Measures: specify specific actions to ensure inclusion. For example: ‘Conduct training in a building with a ramp, provide a children’s room with an animator for participants with children, provide sign language interpretation services.’
• Budget: This is the part that donors pay the most attention to. The budget should reflect your values. You can and should allocate funds for gender expertise and the involvement of specialised consultants, inclusive logistics (rental of specialised transport, convenient location), ensuring accessibility (printing materials in Braille, simultaneous translation).
• Monitoring and evaluation: your indicators should show the impact of the project on different groups separately. Has access to services improved specifically for women in rural areas? Did veterans with disabilities feel safe during the events?

Good planning is 80% of success. When you incorporate these principles not only into the text, but also into the budget and communication plan, your project ceases to be ‘on paper’ and becomes real change. It is this attention to detail that makes your organisation professional, reliable and ready for big challenges.

It is important to understand that a gender-oriented approach is not a ‘whim’ of donors or a set of general phrases for the sake of appearances. It is about the pragmatic effectiveness of your work. McKinsey & Company’s Diversity Wins study clearly demonstrates that teams with high levels of gender diversity are 25% more likely to achieve above-average results. In the public sector, this ‘profit’ is measured by the depth of social change and the sustainability of communities.

High-quality integration of a gender perspective allows us to create projects that address the real, intersecting needs of both women and men. This is the only way to align with European values, overcome the stereotypes that hinder our society’s development, and achieve a truly fair distribution of resources.When developing an idea for your next project, remember: gender is not a separate line ‘about women’ at the end of the application. It is a prism through which we evaluate every stage: from the first figures in the budget to the final press release. When you look at your activities through this prism, you see specific people with their unique opportunities and real obstacles, which you now know how to overcome.