Community of Practice

Training for Gender Equality

Virtual Dialogue: Compendium of Good Practices in Training for Gender Equality

(29th August – 16th September 2016, Community of Practice Online Platform)

Webinar (English): Tuesday, 6th September 2016, 9:00 am EDT/AST, 15:00 CET
Webinar (Spanish): Thursday, 8th September 2016, 9:00 am EDT/AST, 15:00 CET

Concept Note
INTRODUCTION

The UN Women Training Centre’s newly launched Compendium of Good Practices in Training for
Gender Equality (2016) is a landmark compilation of exemplary practices in the field. Drawing
together 10 cases from around the globe, it breaks new ground in analysing training
interventions, outlining examples of dealing with challenges, and offering a collection of tools
and activities for training for gender equality.

To disseminate this formative knowledge product and further discuss some of the key issues
raised by the exercise, the Training Centre will host a Virtual Dialogue from the 29th of August
to 16th September 2016. This online discussion is an exciting opportunity to reach out to an
exceptionally broad audience, including the 1,600 members of the Centre’s Community of
Practice (CoP), to generate discussion on the Compendium. Convening experts, practitioners,
researchers, academics and organisations, this Virtual Dialogue will offer a unique space to reflect
on key elements of good practices in training for gender equality, the challenges training may
face, and ways of collectively overcoming these hurdles. In this way, the Dialogue will support
UN Women and its stakeholders to move towards ever more effective “good practice” in
transformative training for gender equality worldwide.

The Virtual Dialogue will be held over a three-week period (from the 29th of August to 16th
September 2016) through an online discussion forum on the UN Women Training Centre’s
Community of Practice platform. Two hour-long webinars with invited experts will be held on the
September 6th (in English) and the September 8th (in Spanish). These will be live-streamed on the
CoP platform and audience members will be able to participate via a live chat facility.

OBJECTIVES AND KEY QUESTIONS

The objective of this Virtual Dialogue is to discuss the good practices featured in the Compendium
of Good Practices in Training for Gender Equality, as well as to reflect on important elements of
good practices in this sphere, and the lessons learned to inform the field of training for gender
equality.

The substantive questions which will be discussed during the Virtual Dialogue include:

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 Week 1: 29th August – 2nd September, 2016 (online discussion)

1. What is a “good practice”?

2. What are the criteria for a “good practice” in training for gender equality?

Week 2: 5th – 9th September, 2016 (Webinars and online discussion)

1. What lessons learned have been drawn from training for gender equality practices?
What challenges and opportunities?
2. What strategies can be used to strengthen training for gender equality?
3. How can we link practices, research, and theories around training for gender equality?
4. How can we promote knowledge and lessons learned generated from the Global South
and grassroots women’s organisations?

Week 3: 12th – 16th September, 2016 (online discussion)

1. How can we disseminate knowledge and lessons learned from global good practices as
widely as possible?
2. What strategies can encourage the cross-border sharing of knowledge, particularly
amongst gender trainers and practitioners?

FORMAT
The Dialogue will begin with a week-long discussion (29th August – 2nd September) of the
Compendium of Good Practices in Training for Gender Equality on the UN Women Training
Centre Community of Practice (CoP) platform.

In the second week of the Dialogue, two live Webinar panel discussions will take place, one in
English (6th September) and one in Spanish (8th September), both at 09:00 EDT/AST (15:00 CST).
Invited representatives of different cases featured in the Compendium will give a short (5 minute)
presentation explaining their good practice and responding to the Virtual Dialogue’s key
questions. Following their presentations, the Moderator will pose additional questions with the
aim of generating debate between the panel members. CoP members are invited to submit
questions to the presenters via the CoP platform’s online Webinar chat facility. These will be
posted on their behalf by the Moderator, who will closely monitor this Webinar chat function.

A recording of the panel discussion will be posted to the CoP. The rest of the second and third
weeks of the Dialogue (5th – 16th September) will continue the dedicated discussion group on the
CoP platform. Here, participants will be able to share experiences of good practices in training
for gender equality, either as trainers or participants; debate the issues raised in the panel
discussion; and raise further questions for reflection. Both the panel discussion and discussion
forum will be closely moderated by Consultants Emma Wretblad and Ruya Leghari. These

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discussions will later be synthesised into a report disseminated throughout the Community of
Practice and UN Women’s communication channels.

TARGET AUDIENCE
This virtual dialogue is open to all members of the UN Women Training Centre’s Gender Equality
Community of Practice, as well as UN Women and UN System Staff; governments; experts and
practitioners in Training for Gender Equality; academia and research institutions; civil society
partners, especially women’s organisations and those interested in training for gender equality.

Due to the nature of this Dialogue, we particularly welcome participation from trainers and
practitioners in other fields who are able to share their knowledge and experiences on good
practice in different kinds of training. In order to participate in the Virtual Dialogue, it is necessary
to be a member of the Community of Practice. Please register here if you are not already a
member. The discussion will be available here from the 6th of September (in English) and the 8th
of September, 2016 (in Spanish).

WEBINAR SPEAKERS AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Invited Speakers/ Panel Members (English-language Webinar), Tuesday, 6th September,

2016

 Mehrinaz El Awady, Deputy Director/Chief of Section, Centre for Women, United

Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
 Jane Kato-Wallace, Senior Program Officer, Promundo-US
 Amit Kumar Singh, Country Representative, ASI
 Dr Jenn Williamson, Director of Gender Mainstreaming & Women’s Empowerment,
ACDI/VOCA
Invited Speakers/Panel Members (Spanish-language Webinar), Thursday, 8th September,
2016

 Jaqueline Durán Cossio, Transformer of women's lives through empowerment via radio
communications, Bolivia
 Áurea Da Silva Garcia, Environmental Educator, MUPAN
 Vanessa Fonseca, Program Coordinator, Promundo
 Danielle Lopes Bittencourt, Project Coordinator, Promundo

Participation in this Virtual Dialogue can take two forms – by participating in the live panel
discussion during the Webinar and/or contributing to the open discussion forum on the CoP
platform. This discussion group will remain open from 29th August – 16th September, 2016. For
more information on the Virtual Dialogue please contact [email protected].

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We hope you will be able to join us by participating in the UN Women Training Centre’s 7th
Virtual Dialogue on the Compendium of Good Practices in Training for Gender Equality.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Virtual Dialogues are online discussions aimed at promoting debate, dialogue, exchange of good
practices, ideas, and information on different topics related to Training for Gender Equality that
respond to the interests, needs and motivations of UN Women Community of Practice in Training
for Gender Equality. The Community of Practice provides gender experts and practitioners with
an open forum for articulation and debate, as well as a clearing house of materials and
information on Training for Gender Equality. The overall aim of these Virtual Dialogues is to
develop an effective and inclusive processes of collective knowledge production with the end
goal of improving the quality and impact of training for gender equality and highlighting its
transformative potential. This will be the seventh Virtual Dialogue run by the UN Women Training
Centre Community of Practice.1

In April 2016, the UN Women Training Centre launched its Compendium of Good Practices in
Training for Gender Equality. Offering in-depth information on 10 exemplary global cases, this
significant research publication aims to make both an empirical and an analytical contribution to
the field of training for gender equality, especially in terms of identifying the characteristics of a
“good practice” in this sphere.

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Previous dialogues have been held on Resistances in Training for Gender Equality (May 2015), Online and Mobile
Training for Gender Equality (February 2015), Training for Gender Equality and Beijing +20 (October 2014),
Transformation through Training for Gender Equality (July 2014), Knowledge on Training for Gender Equality
(February 2014) and Evaluation of Training for Gender Equality (July 2013).