Since Haiti's devastating January 2010 earthquake, Gender Action has taken the lead in holding IFIs accountable for the gender and debt impacts of their investments in Haiti. Gender Action has conducted gender analyses of IFI operations, disseminated findings and undertaken advocacy on the U.S. Administration and Congress. Our initiatives over the past six months include:

• Publishing a report that examines key IFI grants to Haiti: World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): Haiti Post-Earthquake Track Record on Gender, Agriculture and Rural Development, by Elaine Zuckerman, Elise Young and Lisa Vitale. Our report reveals that the majority of some 50 World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) post-earthquake grants approved through mid-October 2010 neither focus on agriculture/rural development, nor on gender roles. The report recommends that the World Bank and IDB promote: greater women's participation in more gender-sensitive World Bank and IDB projects in Haiti; an end to World Bank and IDB rural sector privatization that benefits transnational corporations but undermines small-scale farmers' livelihoods and social welfare; and increased World Bank and IDB project transparency, especially in disseminating gender assessments.
• Presentation of the aforementioned report by Elise Young, Gender Action consultant, at Oxfam America's event on Haiti "From Crisis to Resilience" at the Ronald Reagan Building International Trade Center in Washington DC.
• Cultivating vital relationships with a myriad of civil society organizations in Haiti and evaluating conditions on the ground, by our consultant Elise Young.
• Publication by Oxfam Great Britain's Gender and Development Journal of Elaine's essay "To Help Haiti, Upend Aid Habits, and Focus on its Women."
• Co-organizing, together with other Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) members, a hearing by the US Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Featuring Haitian civil society voices and their efforts to improve reconstruction, the hearing attracted many CBC members and packed the room. Gender Action contributed a fact sheet, "Gender Impacts of International Financial Institution Grants & Loans," for the HAWG's CBC hearing briefing book.
• Sending Elaine's Letter to President Obama, which asked the Administration to: (a) take immediate steps to ensure that U.S.-supported IFI assistance addresses rampant rape and other gender-based violence; and (b) ensure that IFIs make grants, rather than debt-incurring loans, in order to reduce the burden on Haiti's already devastated economy. Soon after, IFIs cancelled most of Haiti's debt. This letter, along with strong advocacy by many groups such as the Jubilee debt coalition to which Gender Action belongs, helped to advance Haiti debt cancellation.
• Inviting Marie St. Fleur, a prominent Haitian diaspora activist and former Massachusetts State Representative, to present on Haiti's gender-based violence at the National Council of Women's Organization meeting, where Elaine chairs the Global Women's Task Force. St. Fleur made a passionate plea for U.S. support to help end Haiti's escalating gender-based violence.

Engendering IFI Watchers Project
Gender Action's three-year 'Engendering IFI Watchers Project,' now in its last month, has completed its final assessment of partner organizations. Aimed at increasing and improving the gender awareness and sensitivity of five partner organizations, this project has allowed Gender Action to provide several capacity building sessions and frequent technical assistance to each organization. Gender Action has completed its final assessment to determine how much progress has been made by partner organizations in engendering their outputs. Gender Action determined that, overall, partner organizations have become more gender aware and sensitive in both external and internal operations. Gender Action looks forward to continuing to answer requests and provide assistance for partners in 2011 and beyond.

World Bank Gender Action Plan (GAP) "Road Map" Critique
Gender Action disseminated its "Critique of the World Bank's Applying Gender Action Plan Lessons: A Three-Year Road Map for Gender Mainstreaming". Our critique highlights that while the Bank claims that gender "coverage" has increased since it launched, "Gender Equality as Smart Economics (GAP) Action Plan (2007-2010)", the Road Map still fails to respond to multiple civil society criticisms, including GAP's lack of a human rights framework, its non-comprehensive approach to reproductive health, and its lack of robust, transparent gender-related data. Our critique also highlighted the Road Map's almost exclusive focus on economic empowerment as the sole means to achieve gender equality, and failure to plan to improve weak gender mainstreaming capacity in Bank country offices.

Gender Action Links
We published two new editions of our "Gender Action Links!," fact sheet series. These include:

Gender, IFIs and Indigenous Rights, which highlights how IFI investments often have negative impacts upon indigenous communities, especially indigenous women. The Link illustrates how both indigenous men and women contribute to gender justice movements. It promotes the need for IFIs to address gender issues that are unique to indigenous communities.

Gender, IFIs, and Accountability Mechanisms provides resources for citizen groups that wish to take gender discrimination complaints to IFI accountability mechanisms. The Link illustrates some negative impacts of IFI investments on women, including increases in gender-based violence, human trafficking, sexually transmitted diseases, loss of livelihood, and lack of access to land compensation and resettlement. The Link provides resources and suggestions about how communities and civil society organizations can seek IFI compensation for gender discrimination.

Gender Action's Links series also include Links on gender, international finance and climate change; extractive industries; illegitimate debt; and commercial banks. This series links international finance-watcher and gender justice communities through key thematic briefings, concrete case examples, useful action resources and partnership opportunities.

Find further information in Gender Action's vital, frequently updated Gender Toolkit for International Finance Watchers, a publication that assists civil society groups to incorporate gender perspectives into their work. Gender Action Links link up gender justice groups and international finance-watchers so we can multiply our impact!