Promoting Gender-Sensitive Approaches

Corporate operations may cause gender-specific impacts related to the company’s activities, its security arrangements or the surrounding socio-economic realities. In order to identify and address these diverse security needs appropriately, companies must develop and integrate gender- inclusive policies and procedures. Women at Work and War: Integrating Gender and Conflict into Impact Assessment (Ashley Nancy Reynolds, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 2021)

Key steps to achieve this are:

• Undertake gender impact assessments, either as a separate exercise or integrated in wider human rights due diligence.
• Include gender concerns in policy commitments, either via dedicated gender policies or within existing policies (in particular, those related to human rights, human resources, procurement and training).
• Increase gender diversity in all staff departments and levels of leadership.
• Promote women-owned businesses in the supply chain.
• Ensure women are included in community engagement, with special consideration to addressing any barriers to their participation.
• Address gender-based violence, both in the workforce and externally.
• Ensure gender accessibility in grievance mechanisms, noting that women may have different or additional barriers to access than men.