The GIMPA Gender Development and Resource Centre (GDRC) is meant to deepen mainstreaming of gender issues at the institutional and programmes levels at GIMPA and to consolidate the gains achieved through earlier gender initiatives. This is seen as a direct response to the Government of Ghana’s strategy to mainstream gender in government policies and programmes.
The Centre is mandated to spearhead mainstreaming gender into GIMPA’s programmes, particularly training for the public sector officials. This is addition to training of a cadre of gender experts for the private and public sector act as ‘catalysts for change.
The Centre was officially opened on June 2nd 2008 with a focus on mainstreaming gender through Training, Research, Publications, Networking and Advocacy.
Objectives of the Centre
The general objective is to help raise the status of women in Ghana, by undertaking the following:
• To establish a gender sensitive and gender responsive organizational environment at GIMPA
• To develop GIMPA’s capacity to design and deliver gender-sensitive services to its clientele.
• Develop an effective system to monitor gender equality and women’s empowerment in GIMPA and the Public Sector.
• To equip participants who undertake courses at GIMPA with skills in gender issues to be able to integrate gender into projects and programmes, particularly in the area of decision making within Ghana and in the sub-region.
• To conduct gender research for facts and figures to influence the policy-making process.
• To set up a strong advocacy unit on gender with a strong information base to make a case for improving the status of women in Ghana and the sub-region.
Areas of focus
The Centre operates in three main areas, namely, Training, Policy Research and Advocacy.
