Participatory Assessment - Refworld

in OperationsII. Guiding PrinciplesSeveral principles guide the use of this Tool: age, gender,and diversity 10 mainstreaming, a rights-based and acommunity-based approach.• Age, gender, and diversity mainstreaming in UNHCR is astrategy to promote gender equality and respect for humanrights, particularly women’s and children’s rights, and toenhance the protection of all refugees, regardless of theirethnic, social or religious background. This strategy entailsassessing the implications of protection risks and strategiesand programme sector activities for women and men ofdifferent ages and backgrounds. Generally, women andminority groups have less social, economic and politicalpower and are less well represented in formal leadershipstructures. Consequently, they may be overlooked inassessment and planning processes. It is important tounderstand existing power relations, e.g. how people,especially marginalized groups, can be excluded fromaccess to and control over resources and decision-makingwithin a community, which can lead to discrimination.Because of their age, children, adolescents, and olderpeople may also be marginalized. Corrective action istherefore required to ensure that the specific risks they faceare taken into consideration. Proper participatoryassessment involves women, children and older people, aswell as people of diverse backgrounds, in order to focus onways in which age and gender combine with other social,economic, physical, and political factors to marginalize anddisadvantage certain sections of the population.• Community-based approach: a community-based approachmotivates women, girls, boys and men in the community toparticipate in a process which allows them to express theirneeds and to decide their own future with a view to their