This report summarises the discussions at a meeting held in September 2019 of a group of global development research and policy experts and practitioners, convened by ODI and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, to share experiences and knowledge, reflect on what we already know about working politically on gender in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS), and identify what further evidence would be useful.

Key messages:

• It is important to identify, document and learn from politically informed and adaptive ways of working in practice on gender in FCAS.
• Different analytical and monitoring, evaluation and learning tools are required for politically informed programming on gender. These should be embedded within programme teams and processes, and be both gender-responsive and responsive to the political economy context.
• There is a need for more politically smart use of quantitative and qualitative data in order to identify plausible entry points and ways of working on gender in FCAS. This should include increasing the capacity of programme staff to use data to inform, adapt and correct programmes.
• Staff promoting politically informed work on gender equality are often isolated, with little opportunity to share experiences or learn from others. Platforms should therefore be created to share experience and knowledge, and to bring together donors and implementers involved in this work.

Report by the Overseas Development Institute