‘Gender Mainstreaming’ is a concept which emerged on the international development scene in the 1980s. It has been explained as by the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women as follows:

"Gender Mainstreaming is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. Mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a strategy, an approach, a means to achieve the goal of gender equality. Mainstreaming involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities - policy development, research, advocacy/ dialogue, legislation, resource allocation, and planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes and projects."

CSR works on this issue through the Gender Training Institute (GTI). GTI was established in 1996, with the support of the European Commission. GTI is active across various sectors: synergizing gender in education; helping the corporate sector to integrate gender in corporate decision-making; capacity building for improved governance in Panchayati Raj institutions; guiding NGOs towards fully mainstreaming gender in development work; and sensitising law enforcement agencies about gender issues.

GTI & PACS

GTI is a gender resource organization for the Poorest Areas of Civil Society (PACS) Programme. The PACS program is being implemented by Development Alternatives (DA) in consortium with PricewaterhouseCoopers (P) Ltd. and the UK Government’s Department For International Development (DFID).

GTI is engendering development projects being implemented by PACS partners in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. To date we have trained 230 leading Community Based Organizations in Gender Mainstreaming.

GTI in Delhi

GTI has trained Delhi Government line departments on gender sensitization and combating sexual harassment at the work place. These departments include: Delhi Development Authority; Department of Labour; Office of the Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime against Women Cell; Directorate of Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi; Directorate of Family Welfare, Govt. of NCT of Delhi; Delhi Transport Corporation, Govt. of NCT of Delhi; and New Delhi Municipal Corporation. Others organisations we have worked with in this region include the India Trade Promotion Organization and the National Academy for Customs and Excise.  

Sensitising the Police

On the basis of the training needs identified, GTI planned and conducted its first Training of Trainers (TOT) initiative eight years ago for Delhi Police personnel with support from UNIFEM. Since then GTI has conducted Gender Sensitization Training for police officials, policy makers and law enforcement agencies throughout the country. GTI has developed the first ever training module for sensitization of police on the issue of trafficking and domestic violence.

GTI participated in the deliberations to develop a curriculum on gender for the police at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad. To date, GTI has developed three state-specific gender needs assessment papers and conducted over 35 police trainings in the last five years to nearly 4,000 police personnel and specifically police trainers. GTI developed a training manual for the Police Trainers called Restructuring Change, with special focus on domestic violence and trafficking in women and children.

We are also in the process of developing a second Manual for UNODC for Police Officers.