Inter-Agency Standing Committee Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap): 2021 Annual Report

BACKGROUND

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap) is managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Established in 2007, the project seeks to strengthen capacity and leadership to deliver on commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian action.

As an independent, inter-agency tool, GenCap serves the core function of providing Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) and Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs) with dedicated strategic and technical expertise. GenCap contributes to gender equality in humanitarian action across the pillars of leadership, programming, coordination, localization and accountability to affected people (AAP). It also provides capacity development, largely targeting field practitioners. In addition, the project is engaged in policy-level discussions and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned, bringing the practitioner’s perspective to global forums, inter-agency panels and thematic learning events.

The common vision of GenCap and its sister project, the Protection Standby Capacity Project (ProCap), is “a world in which all persons affected by humanitarian crises are protected and humanitarian action prioritizes gender equality and women’s empowerment.” This vision, along with the joint GenCap and ProCap Strategic Framework 2018−2021, is the basis on which the GenCap project focuses its work.

GenCap is governed by an Advisory Group, established in 2019, which provides guidance related to priorities and project implementation.

WHY

Strengthen inter-agency capacity and leadership to deliver on commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment in humanitarian action, through guidance, tools and expertise

HOW

Leadership
(HCs, HCTs)

Programming
(Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups (ICCGs), clusters)

Coordination

Localization
(national and local actors)

Accountability to Affected People

WHAT

Deployment

Capacity development

Policy influence and practice