HARNESS SOME OF THE PRINCIPLES OF GENDER BENCHMARKING AS A POLICY-INFLUENCING LEVER

Benchmarking can be a comprehensive policy assessment exercise. FLIARA has focused on defining benchmarks that advance gender equality and foster innovation within rural areas and farming. However, for stakeholders seeking to influence policy, benchmarking principles can also be used as a broader tool. For example: 

Find the leading lights and use a lever to raise awareness: In essence benchmarking seeks to compare policies, identify where the leading lights are and use this information to improve policy in other contexts. Pointing to these benchmarks can provide concrete, practical, engaging ideas for policy changes. 

A specific policy change that could make a big difference: Good practices and leaders in achieving greater gender equality from other countries and contexts can be held up as benchmarks and desired targets for others to achieve. For example, the family policies of countries such as Sweden are potential benchmarks for others. 

Identify key indicators to compare and track a policy issue through time: Statistics can also provide powerful hooks that act to raise awareness of gender equality issues in rural areas and farming. For example, what is the percentage of young female farmholders in your country and how is this changing through time? Is there a country that exceeds others, has greater gender equality and do we look to them as the benchmark in the short-term or longer term? 

Finding a range of leading lights, pushing for a specific policy change or tracking issues using key statistical indicators are some of the broad ideas underpinning benchmarking that can be useful policy influencing tools.