GreeneWorks reviewed programs and research linking economic opportunities and the sexual and reproductive lives of adolescent girls for the Ford Foundation.

GreeneWorks is collaborating with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on their strategies to involve men and boys in improving gender equality and the reproductive health of women and girls.

GreeneWorks also strengthens programs from concept to completion.

Case Study: Doing Well by Doing Good: Supporting Women Farmers Strengthens the Supply Chain and MARS’s Corporate Sustainability Efforts

Challenge: MARS Inc, one of the world’s largest purveyors of chocolate, aspires to upholding the principle of mutuality into all of its operations, allowing all to benefit from the corporation’s success. Vision for Change (V4C), their community development program in Cote d’Ivoire, was working locally to promote sustainable agricultural practices and share farming techniques and materials in support of as smallholder farmers. But a critical assessment by Oxfam demonstrated that women were being sidelined by MARS’s programs. 

MARS turned to GreeneWorks for help.

Solution: GreeneWorks conducted field visits to observe V4C program operations, interviewed community members and staff, and examined project documents to get a picture of what needed to be changed. The team's gender assessment revealed that women, who were providing 45% of the labor required for cocoa production, were not benefitting from the program. Program staff and male community members did not view women as “farmers,” as they are often kept by common law from owning land; as a consequence, they were not receiving the training or access to inputs that the men were, nor did they have equal access to membership in cocoa cooperatives. MARS made the assessment — A Sustainable, Thriving Cocoa Sector for Future Generations — public and issued a statement articulating their plans to address the challenges identified in the report.
 
GreeneWorks other relevant work includes: 

  • Gender Assessment for USAID/Mozambique Country Development Cooperation Strategy | Leading a team of experts, Greene conducted an assessment to examine equality and empowerment advances and challenges, and how USAID and others have addressed them. It focuses on Education, Health, Economic Growth, Democracy and Governance, and the Environment. (Gender Assessment)

  • Roadmap for Advancing Gender Equality | As countries battle the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence shows that women and girls are paying the highest price, through an increase in gender-based violence during lockdown, a reduction in access to needed sexual and reproductive health services, job losses and a lack of social protection, school closures and increases in unpaid care. GreeneWorks co-developed a roadmap to strengthen global efforts and support a systematized, country-led process that addresses gender inequality. (Roadmap) 

  • Girls’ Rights and Resilience: Gender Equality, Climate Response and the Potential of Integrated Programs | The effects of climate change are being felt worldwide and are likely to worsen rapidly as ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss accelerate due to climate disruption. This report examines the implications for girls and women—including for their health, livelihoods, food and nutrition security, personal safety and migration—make climate instability the most serious gender equality, rights and environmental challenge the global community faces. (Girls’ Rights and Resilience)

  • Gender Assessment for USAID India Although gender inequality and rigidly prescribed roles undermine equitable development and social justice, they are largely unchallenged in many settings, and imperceptible to policymakers and the general public. USAID/India decided to mainstream gender in its strategy to address gender inequalities throughout its programs. The GreeneWorks-led assessment was conducted to provide the Mission with guidance on how to set this process in motion. (Assessment)

    • Leading another team, Greene also conducted and produced the USAID/Ethiopia Health, AIDS, Population and Nutrition Gender Assessment.

  • Transport Sector Development Project: Lessons Learned and Agenda for Action, report here:  Contributed to Inspection Panel investigation. Full information on the case here, and press release here.