The Issue

The Country Engagement (CE) Work Stream is the starting point for all of ARC’s work and encompasses all interactions held with a country wishing to benefit from ARC’s products. The process has a set of defined phases for new countries wishing to join the Risk Pool and an ongoing work plan for countries already in the risk pool, as shown in the ARC Life Cycle depicted below.
Until recently, ARC’s country engagement process did not reflect the organization’s commitment to gender mainstreaming.
However, since ARC’s Gender Strategy was launched in 2019, efforts have started to integrate gender into all phases of the country’s engagement process, as described below.

Key entry points and checklists

The country engagement has 5 phases :

1. Desktop Review Preparation,
2. Scoping Mission,
3. Discussion of Country Strategy,
4. Programme Set-up and MoU, and
5. Capacity Building [1].

These phases are preceded by activities focused on generating engagement. Each phase offers entry points for ARC to put its commitments to gender equality into practice.
Gender Checklists help stakeholders ensure the crucial steps and checks are in place for Gender mainstreaming.

1. Generating Engagement

ARC Secretariat identifies member states to be targeted for potential recruitment to ARC based on their risk to a given hazard and assesses their interest in ARC. Preliminary discussions take place about potential recruitment. As an entry point, there is a need to categorize and identify advanced countries and those at an early stage in gender mainstreaming. A gender equality approach during this pre-stage means ARC should :

1. Identify a suitable Interlocutor on gender, usually the Ministry in charge of gender equality.

2. Desktop Review Participation

In preparation for the scoping mission, the Country Engagement Manager (CEM), in collaboration with staff from the technical team and ARC Ltd, carries out desktop research on the proposed country’s economic and political situation, environmental factors, agriculture, and food security, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) structures and mechanisms, and all factors related to the feasibility of a parametric insurance contract (predefined standards to be drafted including for example rainfall stations network and data). They produce a Terms of Reference for the mission and draft preliminary documents to guide the mission and form the framework of a Country Strategy Paper. A gender equality approach during the Desktop Review Preparation means ARC should :

• Disaggregate all data by sex and gender where possible.
• Include a chapter/section on gender in the research output.
  * Include gender mainstreaming in the mission’s Terms of Reference (for discussions, meetings, and team composition) and highlight it as a prerequisite for country engagement.
• Check for existing laws, legal frameworks, and rules and regulations on gender.

3. Scoping Mission

During a 3-5-day Scoping Mission, the ARC Secretariat identifies and briefs key government stakeholders, civil society actors, and potential financial and technical partners on ARC, validates the findings of the desktop research and gathers additional information. It also identifies programs, platforms, and government initiatives the ARC could complement in food security and other relevant sectors. A gender equality approach during the Scoping Mission means ARC should :

• Brief government and other actors on ARC’s gender commitments and obtain the green light for gender analysis.
• Obtain additional sex/gender-disaggregated data on socioeconomics and vulnerability to the main hazards, if they exist.
• Conduct a gender analysis to identify women, girls, and boys’ specific challenges in disaster situations and explore appropriate responses. The analysis should involve all stakeholders, including government, private, and civil sector actors, and focus on how gender policies and gender- aspects of other policies (e.g., DRM strategy) are being applied and rolled out.
• Discuss and agree on the gender strengths and gaps with the government interlocutor and wider stakeholders in a validation session.

4. Discussion of the Country Strategy Paper

Based on the results of the scoping mission, ARC updates the draft CSP, proposes terms of engagement, and determines the feasibility of insurance coverage. A gender equality approach to the CSP discussion means ARC should :

• In the CSP, include the results of the gender analysis and a strategy to address them.
• Propose a meeting or session with the country to discuss the findings of the gender analysis and strategy.
  * Ensure that the Ministry of Gender or the Ministry/department responsible fully participates in all discussions around the CSP.
• Inclusion of Gender unit review and considerations on Gender mainstreaming with CSP as an integral part of the process.

5. Programme set-up and MoU Process

Follow-up missions take place after the Scoping Mission to further discussions, develop a Memorandum of Understanding, and select the Government Coordinator, Programme Supervisor, and relevant experts for the Technical Working Group (TWG). In addition, the team presents Africa RiskView and the Contingency Planning process in more detail. A gender equality approach to program set-up and MoU Process means ARC should :

• Ensure the appointments have a gender balance between the coordinator, supervisor, and technical experts.
• Ensure that the government creates a sub-group of the TWG on gender, communications, and advocacy.
  * The sub-working group would be an add-on for existing countries. Consideration will be based on an existing relationship with the government. It would be a tailored approach. (internal).
• In the MoU, confirm commitment to gender mainstreaming in all aspects of the program cycle and agree to provide gender expertise as required. This commitment should be reflected in the Programme of Work.
• CEM to ensure Gender unit is allocated sufficient time to complete their work. i.e draft mission concept notes jointly.

6. Capacity Buiding Trainings and Workshops

Training workshops constitute the bulk of the ARC in-country capacity-building program. The outcomes sought by the workshops are : Understanding of parametric insurance and how it works and its limitations ; Customized Africa RiskView for the Country ; Contingency/Operations Plan based on ARC standards and guidelines (including gender-related considerations) ; and selected risk transfer parameters (when the country decides to take out insurance). A gender equality approach to capacity building trainings and workshops means ARC should :

• Design capacity building on gender based on the gender analysis results and other assessments of needs.
• Include gender in training on RiskView and insurance (see specific Guidance Notes).
• Create avenues for exchanging knowledge and best practices through the Gender and DRM platform.
• Activate the Gender transformative fund mechanism for additional resource mobilization to implement gender-specific activities/ actions.

Key Messages : The Country Engagement workstream is the main entry point and foundation for gender mainstreaming in all ARC’s operations. Gender mainstreaming is relevant to all phases of Country Engagement. Staff should use the Gender checklists to ensure the crucial steps and checks are in place for Gender mainstreaming throughout the Country Engagement process.