CIAT and the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network

Raising the awareness of CGIAR gender research

In late 2014, CIAT took on the role of providing Communications, Knowledge Sharing and Data Management support for the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network. The Network is comprised of gender experts from across the various CGIAR Research Programs, including researchers from other fields of expertise who have some responsibility for conducting gender research. Made up of more than 100 members, it is coordinated by a team from the CGIAR Consortium Office, and more recently with support from CIAT.

The main goal of this collaborative effort is to increase the visibility of gender research and foster interactive knowledge sharing among gender researchers from the CGIAR Research Programs and partners. In addition to these two priority areas, CIAT also provides support to the network’s internal communities of practice.

2015 was a critical year for both gender research and the global discourse on gender equity. For the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network, it was a time of working towards shaping the future landscape for gender system-wide, onwards to 2030 and beyond. While keeping gender on the agenda is not always an easy task, CIAT’s role in facilitating this dialogue among members of the network and support of its work as a group has been crucial in ensuring that there is a space to spur knowledge exchange, communicate concerns, and more importantly the network’s commitment to the research that is carried out.

Here’s a look at what CIAT’s role in supporting the network during this time has looked like and what we can expect in the year ahead.

Additional highlights

A year in review

In January, CIAT was critical in providing communications, knowledge, data and information management support at the Gender Network’s Annual meeting held at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines.

Created by CIAT in collaboration with ICESI University (Colombia), this short animated film talks about why agricultural research should be gender inclusive and how to do it. The first-ever animation produced for the CGIAR Gender Network, this helped also showcase the diverse range of skills within CIAT’s Communication team, leading onto initiatives such as further animations developed by CIAT for the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems.

Developed and maintained by CIAT, in close collaboration with the CGIAR Consortium Office, the Gender website reflects the focus on gender and equity across the CGIAR at a system-wide level.

It provides an overview of gender research from across the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network.

Gender.cgiar.org is a shared space that aggregates content from across the CGIAR and links the work being carried out to wider global issues.

The first in a series of progress reports on CGIAR gender research, this first issue focused on gender-equitable control over productive assets and resources. CIAT was responsible for content, design development and dissemination.

A high-level dialogue organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), CIAT and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) urged the recognition of a woman’s right to land as a key stepping stone in paving the way forward for gender equity and improved lives and livelihoods for all.

International Women’s Day 2016: Stepping it up for gender equality

In collaboration with the CGIAR Consortium Office, CGIAR Centers and Research Programs, an aggregated campaign was developed for International Women’s Day showing the diverse research priorities on gender research across the CGIAR Consortium. A twitter chat organized as an additional outreach initiative resulted in more than 500 tweets in an hour.

Photo credits: Sandro Bozzolo (Bioversity International), F. Fiondella (IRI/CCAFS)