Virtual Programs to Advance Gender Equality: A Checklist for Adaptation

The current global pandemic is causing a dramatic shift in the way practitioners design programs – motivated by the desire to deliver services even amidst restrictions on mobility and in-person gatherings due to the pandemic, as well as the longer-term and growing interest in exploring how effective in-person training can be adapted to virtual settings, to reach more individuals. We have the opportunity to innovate beyond traditional in-person, community-based interventions, but we must do so with care, caution, and thoughtfulness.  While we are eager to reconnect in-person, we are grateful for these new insights that will allow us to design and adapt hybrid programs and activities – to reach new individuals, reduce our carbon footprint, and maximize our impact.

To be responsive to this reality – we set out to explore how digital technology and virtual spaces can be used to facilitate programs that advance gender equality. Based on existing literature, specialist webinars, and interviews with experts in this field (including with InclusionVentures, Girl Effect, and YLabs) from April – July 2020, this brief contains a summary checklist of the best practices and recommendations for designing, implementing, and evaluating virtual interventions. This tool can serve as a starting point, to guide an organization to effectively plan for a new program or to adapt an existing intervention.