UNDP Independent Evaluation Office 61d ago

This Reflections paper launch, held on 29 April 2026, explored evaluative evidence on how institutions can navigate gender backlash and protect gender equality gains in increasingly polarized and restrictive contexts. Drawing on UNDP, UN Women, and UNFPA evaluations from 2015–2025, the webinar unpacked six key lessons: Institutionalizing safeguards: Gender equality gains proved more resilient when embedded in laws, budgetary processes, and formal state systems, reducing reliance on individual champions during political transitions. Monitoring backlash: Early‑warning tools, including social media and discourse monitoring, helped identify emerging resistance—but only when paired with clear institutional response mechanisms. Anticipating the cost of empowerment: Gender equality interventions that challenged power relations often triggered backlash, underscoring the importance of proactive risk analysis and mitigation built into project design. Strategic reframing: Reframing gender equality around nationally salient priorities unlocked political space in hostile environments, though evidence cautioned that reframing alone rarely delivered transformative change. Safety in numbers: Broad, multi‑stakeholder and intersectional alliances distributed political risk and strengthened legitimacy, making backlash harder to sustain. Navigating multiple conservative pushback: Gender backlash often intersected with other forms of exclusion, requiring context‑specific, participatory, and intersectional approaches rather than one‑size‑fits‑all solutions. The discussion enriched these lessons with practical insights from global, regional, and country‑level experience, focusing on how evidence can support adaptation, safeguard gains, and clarify institutional red lines in the face of sustained resistance.