Gender “refers to the roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society at a given time considers appropriate for men and women. In addition to the social attributes and oppor-tunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men and girls and boys, gender also refers to the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/ time-specific and changeable. Gender de-termines what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman or a man in a given context. In most societies there are differences and inequalities between women and men in responsibilities as-signed, activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, as well as decision-making opportunities. Gender is part of the broader socio-cultural context, as are other important cri-teria for socio-cultural analysis including class, race, poverty level, ethnic group, sexual orienta-tion, age, etc.” (See UN Women, Gender Equality Glossary)

Gender Analysis is a critical examination of how differences in gender roles, activities, needs, opportunities and rights/entitlements affect men, women, girls and boys in certain situation or contexts. Gender analysis examines the relationships between females and males and their ac-cess to and control of resources and the constraints they face relative to each other. A gender analysis should be integrated into all sector assessments or situational analyses to ensure that gender-based injustices and inequalities are not exacerbated by interventions, and that where possible, greater equality and justice in gender relations are promoted. 

Gender Equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of dif-ferent groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is both a human rights issue and a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development.  

Gender Equality Results are the results achieved for women compared with men, including participation in project or programme activities, access to project/programme and other re-sources, practical benefits, and strategic changes in gender relations. Gender equality results may be immediate or process results, intermediate results or outputs, or long-term results or outcomes.

Gender Mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all politi-cal, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.” (See UN Economic and Social Council Resolution 1997/2: Agreed Conclusions)

Gender-sensitive Indicators are indicators that track gender-related changes over time. They point to changes in the status and roles of women and men/girls and boys over time and how a project or intervention affects them. A key element of a results framework is the indicators that are selected to measure progress on delivering outputs and achieving outcomes and impact to include both age and gender-sensitive as well as sex-specific/sex-disaggregated qualitative and quantitative indicators or data collection methods. Without this information it is difficult to monitor progress on advancing gender equality or women’s empowerment. 

Financial resource tracking involves the ability to track financial disbursements and expendi-tures. Such tracking is generally done through the introduction of tagging (e.g., a gender equali-ty marker) in financial resource tracking systems. Financial resource tracking supports quantify-ing or providing an indicative measure of the UN’s financial support for gender equality; to as-sess the extent to which gender commitments are translated into investments; and encourage increased discussion of how to improve the gender responsiveness of projects and programs supported by the UN system.

Financial target is the planned share of budget dedicated to gender equality and the empow-erment of women. The target can be set on project, programme, fund and on entity level. 

Coding / marking / tagging are actions often used interchangeably to describe the assigning of a value to an activity, output, outcome, and/or project / programme.