An analysis of the Basque Country's regional policy, The Gizonduz initiative, using the MenEngage Policy Analysis toolkit

An analysis of The Gizonduz Initiative, a regional gender equality policy from the Basque Country in Spain. 

This report presents an analysis of Gizonduz, an initiative of Emakunde, the Basque Institute for Women, which is an autonomous body of the Basque Government that designs, promotes, advises on, coordinates and evaluates gender equality policies. 

Conducted by Emakunde, this self-analysis of the Gizonduz initiative is based on the MenEngage Alliance Policy Analysis Toolkit. The Policy Analysis Toolkit sets out a methodology developed by FemJust and MenEngage Alliance for rigorous, independent assessment of gender equality policies that include engaging men and boys.

About the Gizonduz Initiative 

Gizonduz is a public initiative promoted by Emakunde-Basque Women’s Institute, which encourages the active involvement of men in promoting equality between women and men and fostering diverse and egalitarian masculinities. 

Launched in 2007 as a pilot project, it is now the Basque Service for working with men and masculinities for equality. Within the framework of Gizonduz, actions are carried out in the areas of training, awareness-raising, prevention of gender-based violence, institutional advice and social research, with the aim of contributing to a more just, equal, co-responsible and violence-free society.

Who will find this resource useful? 

This resource is useful reading for anyone interested in learning from public policies on engaging men and boys for gender equality. It is particularly relevant for researchers, advocates, and practitioners looking to learn from different male-engagement policies around the world.

It will be of particular interest for activists, academics, practitioners, and policy-makers in Spain, and in the Basque region specifically, but it also contains insights that can be applied globally. 

This analysis is part of a wider collection of policy reviews. We encourage you to explore the Policy Analysis Toolkit webpage to compare this initiative with other assessed policies and download the practical toolkit to conduct your own evaluations.