Equity and inclusivity have been at WI-HER’s core since our founding. We are established leaders and preferred partners on gender equity, youth and social inclusion (GYSI) and advancing diversity equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI-A), having worked in these areas in multiple sectors, including health, education, economic reform, environmental conservation, infrastructure, energy, and more.
Our approach
We believe that development solutions must involve and enable all individuals to claim their agency and achieve their potential. This means ensuring vulnerable and marginalized groups — including women, girls, youth, orphans and vulnerable children, the LGBTQI+ community, hard-to-reach groups, and those in conflict areas (to name a few)— are not left behind but proactively included in all areas of society – including the design of their own solutions to improve outcomes for themselves and wider communities.
Through our years of experience, we have developed and refined a holistic approach that drives local led efforts to advancing GYSI and DEI-A. Our approach allows local stakeholders to deeply understand critical power domains, including gender and social norms, economic and legal frameworks, knowledge beliefs and perceptions, as well as access to assets and services that are impacting individuals in different ways. We support local governments and stakeholders to identify GYSI barriers to achieving intended outcomes, while also providing tools and approaches to address these barriers across systems or within policy frameworks, advancing GYSI and DEI-A in any and all programs, projects, and or sectors.
Our approach to GYSI draws from marketing science, behavioral economics, design thinking, and human-centered design; prioritizes evidence building, particularly through participatory research, field assessments, and community consultations; and drives innovations in awareness building, sensitization, and community mobilization.
Our Services
The WI-HER team:
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Conducts and or supports national and local stakeholders to conduct GYSI assessments and analyses.
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Adapts or develops GYSI integration tools to support governments, program implementers, service providers, and communities to strengthen capacity in GYSI concepts, skills, and approaches.
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Trains stakeholders on GYSI and GYSI-focused skills and approaches to ensure sustainability, local ownership, and local capacity.
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Uses our renowned iDARE methodology and corresponding tools to guide GYSI integration and social behavior change across all levels.
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Supports local stakeholders to develop GYSI action plans as part of national and sub-national policy documents and plans.
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Supports individuals, especially vulnerable and marginalized populations, to identify and strengthen existing power to design their own interventions to achieve their identified goals
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Utilizes connections and existing power to close gaps within societies and broaden access to knowledge and information, facilitate enabling legal and social environments, and open doors to job opportunities and entrepreneurship.
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Create peer-to-peer enabling mechanisms to build sustainable practices that continue to reinforce both competence and confidence towards autonomous, resilient communities.