CAN GENDER (IN)EQUITABLE ORGANIZATIONS DELIVER FEMINIST PROGRAMMING? AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CANADA’S FEMINIST INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE POLICY IN UGANDA

Abstract

Through a focus on Ugandan civil society organisations (CSOs) receiving funding from the Government of Canada (GOC) for gender equality programming under the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), this research aims to uncover: how “feminist” this programming is; and the gendered reality facing women and gender-diverse persons working in the CSOs. This is used to gain an understanding of whether the state of gender equality within an organization impacts the organization’s ability to deliver gender equality programming that meets the GOC’s feminist goals for its international assistance. Findings are shared from interviews and focus groups with 14 staff members at 4 Ugandan CSOs and 7 Canadian officials, at headquarters in Ottawa and the High Commission in Nairobi, where the Ugandan programming is overseen. With interviewees consisting of different genders and positions along organizational hierarchies, a variety of perspectives are compared and contrasted to uncover a diversity of lived experiences.