Applying the Gender Integration Continuum to Social Protection

Applying the Gender Integration Continuum to Social Protection is a practical guidance note that helps policymakers, programme designers, and practitioners assess how effectively gender considerations are integrated into social protection policies and programmes. Recognising that social protection has the potential to reduce poverty while advancing gender equality, the guide introduces the Gender Integration Continuum (GIC) as a diagnostic framework for evaluating whether interventions are gender-blind, gender-sensitive, gender-responsive, or gender-transformative. It explores how unequal gender norms, discriminatory practices, and intersecting forms of inequality can limit the benefits women and girls receive from social protection systems. The guidance provides practical approaches for incorporating gender objectives into programme design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, enabling organizations to move beyond simply acknowledging gender differences towards intentionally addressing the structural barriers that perpetuate inequality. As part of UNICEF Innocenti’s Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme, the resource supports governments and development partners in designing more equitable, inclusive, and effective social protection systems.