Challenge
At the end of the 2000s, Local Equality Plans were drawn up at municipal level, as a backbone of local actions in favor of gender equality and as a strategy to establish short- and long-term goals in the fight against inequalities. 15 years later, Local Equality Plans have already been extended as a common tool to many Catalan municipalities and, in some cases, two or three editions have even been developed. In this context, the Diputació de Barcelona questions the operation of the Plans, the satisfaction of the municipality with its development and the relevance of this tool in the fight against gender inequalities.
Answer
The best way to respond to the concerns raised and to know in detail what are the fruits that are giving the Equality Plans is through their evaluation. Thus, in 2016, the Diputació de Barcelona favored and encouraged local bodies to evaluate their Equality Plans. In order to reach the maximum number of municipalities and county councils and to transfer knowledge to local bodies, it was decided to create an annual course to advise and accompany the reference staff in the evaluation of Equality Plans of its territory. This course combines sessions of theoretical-practical training, a series of workshops in the territory with the municipal staff and the citizens, and a set of exercises that throughout the course will form the final evaluation report. One of the most interesting features of the course is that it is precisely the equality staff that are responsible for carrying out the evaluation, so that they are the ones who question the relevance of the actions they carry out, the viability of the schedule and estimated budget, and the results achieved after 4 years of implementation. Carrying out the evaluation internally empowers the technical teams while making them responsible for the actions they carry out.
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
