Banyan Global is implementing the Gender Integration Technical Assistance (GITA) II Task Order, which provides on-demand, rapid-response, short-term technical assistance (STTA) to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Missions and Bureaus across multiple sectors and in crisis and non-crisis settings.

Under GITA II, Banyan Global is delivering technical assistance to USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub (GenDev) on several initiatives to support implementation of the USAID’s 2023 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy.

• Increasing the Quality and Uptake of Gender Analyses: Banyan Global created the “USAID Pre-Award Activity Level Gender Analysis Toolkit” which offers a streamlined approach for USAID staff to conduct a pre-award gender analysis customized to activities under design and in compliance with requirements. Informed by insights gathered from USAID staff during a consultation process which identified key barriers and enablers of effective gender analyses within the Agency, the toolkit. Launched internally for USAID staff in May 2024, the toolkit outlines five steps for completing a gender analysis and includes a recommended gender analysis template. Banyan Global is currently developing a toolkit for Implementing Partners to develop post-award gender analyses and gender equality action plans.
• Design and Pilot a Tool for Gender Integration: Banyan Global is developing and piloting a self-assessment tool to support USAID staff in identifying the extent to which activities integrate and advance gender equality. Announced as a recommended tool in USAID’s 2023 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, this tool is a best practice designed to support Agreement Officer’s Representatives/Contracting Officer’s Representatives, Missions, and Gender Advisors to deepen gender integration. This work draws on experiences and insights from how other donors and organizations have tracked gender integration levels across programming, as well as feedback from USAID staff, gathered through activity-level pilots across diverse sectors in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central Asia, and Asia. Banyan Global is piloting the tool with several USAID Missions to assess gender integration within their portfolio, identify gaps in fulfilling USAID gender integration requirements, and inform adjustments within current activities, new solicitations, and Mission strategies.
• Review of Gender Integration in Solicitations: Banyan Global is conducting a desk review examining gender integration within Fiscal Year 2023 public solicitations. The findings will gauge advancements in gender integration since the enactment of the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 and be used as a baseline for tracking the adoption of USAID’s 2023 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy.