If policies to improve and enhance places are to address gender inequality, they must also take into account the issues and needs of both women and men. The policy implications are clear. Gender-sensitive urban planning starts with the needs of people in communities. The design of places and spaces needs to reflect the socio-cultural needs of women as well as men, girls as well as boys. Existing policies and programmes need to be scrutinized to see how they can be adapted to become more gender aware and bring about genuine gender equality.

Whilst we recognize that much work has been done in the mainstreaming of gender equality in human settlement, UN-Habitat acknowledges that much more is required. This compendium of case studies is designed to bring into one document some of the gender mainstreaming initiatives UN-Habitat implemented from 2008 to 2012. The case studies provide the most comprehensive examples of the field implementation of the UN-Habitat Gender Equality Action Plan of 2008 to 2013.

The projects and programmes compendium brings recognition to UN-Habitat's efforts to advance the internationally agreed agenda for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. The compendium serves as a good start towards capturing the successful efforts under way to advance the agenda on equality and empowerment of women. In addition, the compendium serves as a learning and resource tool to UN-Habitat and its partners

The 22nd Session of the UN-Habitat Governing Council in April 2009 approved the Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) 2008-2013, through Resolution 22/7, Work programme and budget of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme for the biennium 2010–2011. The GEAP expounds on the gender strategy of the Medium-Term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) 2008-2013 with the aim to unite all programmes and partners to improve gender equality, women’s rights, and empowerment of women in human settlement subjects.

The GEAP was developed in recognition that a strategic framework is required for clear and measurable results for improving GEWE. The GEAP recognizes, outlines, and draws on the supportive and specific roles of diverse stakeholders and partners for its implementation. The review mechanism of the GEAP is the Gender Equality Action Assembly which is held during the World Urban Forum (WUF) and provides a platform for partners to meet and explore ways of strengthening gender equality in international, regional, and national policies and programmes in human settlement issues.

This report is a documented progress on the implementation of the GEAP covering the period from April 2010 to August 2012

There are two main standpoints that propagate the benefits of urbanisation. One is that cities are associated with opportunities for wealth generation. Concomitant to this is the idea that urban women supposedly enjoy greater social, economic, political opportunities and freedoms than their rural counterparts. However, the notable gender gaps in labour and employment, decent work, pay, tenure rights, access to and accumulation of assets, personal security and safety and representation in formal structures of urban governance show that women are often the last to benefit from the prosperity of cities. The State of Women in Cities 2012/2013 Report focuses on Gender and the Prosperity of Cities.

The Report examines the gender dimensions of the defining characteristics of a prosperous city- productivity, infrastructure development, quality of life, equity and social inclusion and environmental sustainability. It provides a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between gender and prosperity and also reviews policies and institutional frameworks relevant for mainstreaming gender concerns in cities.

Este libro tiene por objeto sistematizar las enseňanzas y aprendizajes de la transversalizacion de genéro en el sector hídrico, en Bolivia, Ecuador y México. El propósito de presentar esta experiencia, no es sólo para justificar el porqué de la transversalización de genéro en el sector agua y saneamiento, ni para demostrar que la eficiencia de los sistems hídricos aumenta cuando hay una mayor participación de la mujer.

Es ante todo para mostrar cómo cualquier iniciativa de eficiencia y eficacia debe buscar, además de la satisfacción de ncesidades concretas, como lo son el acceso al agua y al saneamiento, promover procesos de transformación social. Desde esta perspectiva, la incorporación del enfoque de género en iniciativas del sector, implica una mayor sensibilización del significado, la importancia y el impacto que tiene la participación de las mujeres con toma de decisiones en pryectos de agua para uso doméstico y productivo, ello nos enfrenta a un gran desafío al que esperamos contribuir con la sistematizción de experiencias que se presentan en este estudio.

This impact assessment identifies how the water and sanitation initiatives implemented under the Water Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch of UN-HABITAT, have strategically mainstreamed gender aspects in its various initiatives and to identify achievements and impact, challenges, lessons learned and provide recommendations.This gender thematic study is one out three impact studies supported by the WSTF. The other two are Kenya and Nepal Country Impact Assessments. Together these three constitute the first in a series, intended to assist the WSIB in its future plans for regular assessments of its WATSAN initiatives during the coming five years. The study has looked at global, regional and country activities. The country programmes reviewed are implemented in Ethiopia, Ghana,Kenya and Nigeria in Africa; India,LaoPDR, Nepal and Vietnam in Asia and Nicaragua in the Latin America and Caribbean region

Local governments are increasingly realizing the importance and benefits of addressing gender equality and equity in their decision making, policies, programmes and services. Many are rising to the challenge.

This source book is intended to help improve understanding of the problems involved. It is designed as a companion to other UN-HABITAT training tools, providing local government trainers with the background and tested training methods they need to strengthen the gender dimension in their day-to-day training activities. The source book may also be used as a stand-alone tool, introducing local government policy-making and project implementation.

Good local governance cannot exist without giving due attention to gender equality and women’s empowerment. UN-HABITAT has therefore made great efforts to mainstream gender both internally and in its work with partners. The Training and Capacity Building Branch has recently published a number of training tools which aim to increase the capacity of local governments in such areas as local governance, management, local economic development and financial management.

A strong gender dimension has been incorporated into these tools and ongoing training activities to further support UN-Habitat’s gender policy. Despite these efforts, many training institutes are inadequately equipped to provide training on gender issues in local government and in fully integrating the gender dimension in their day-to-day courses. This tool, ‘Gender Equality and Equity: A Sourcebook for Local Government Training’, is designed to assist training institutions in mainstreaming gender concerns in local government capacity building activities and in human settlements training activities conducted by Habitat Agenda partners.

Since the 1980s, there has been growing recognition of the need to ensure women's equal access to urban public spaces. Many initiatives to mainstream gender by local governments have been documented. Some are comprehensive and are based on supportive policies.

Others are ad hoc and address specific issues, sometimes due to crises. Whatever the context, the initiatives provide lessons that other can learn from. this book documents such initiatives.

This report was commissioned by UN-Habitat to review the laws and land tenure of a selected number of southern African countries. It involved the appointment of country specialists who researched and produced country chapters for their respective countries namely, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia.

A regional expert was appointed to produce a regional overview to serve as a source document for the country reports, as well as provide overall coordination of the project. The project was carried out over a period of roughly one year, which began in March 2004.