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Welcome to the latest edition of Knowledge Matters, focused on Concern's work on gender equality and strategies to reduce gender-based violence. This issue coincides with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign from 25th November to 10th December.

Gender inequality is one of the oldest and most pervasive forms of inequality in the world. It denies women their voices, devalues their work and make women’s position unequal to men’s from the household to the national and global levels. Despite some important progress to change this in recent years, in no country have women achieved equality with men, and women are still more likely than men to live in extreme poverty and experience gender-based violence.[1]

During this 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) campaign we remind ourselves that GBV is rooted in gender inequality at a societal level as well as harmful social norms that discriminate against women and girls.

Concern currently implements gender transformative programmes that work to shift social norms and support men and boys as allies for gender equality so as to advance respect for women and reject violence in families and broader communities. To date we have been primarily working with couples to strengthen healthy communication, reject violence against women and promote gender equality in households.

This issue of Knowledge Matters focusing on Gender Equality shares lessons and promising practices in various sectors across seven countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Lebanon, DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia).

Each article presents a unique approach to addressing gender inequality in a specific sector and context. In keeping with organisational learning, the authors highlight the challenge of the various contexts and the challenges and opportunities that their approaches have brought to the situation of gender equality in their context.

[1] In this issue when we talk about 'gender' we are using it in terms of 'women and men, girls and boys' but we recognise the term 'gender' covers more than just this binary. Transgender, intersex and non-binary people are also some of the most vulnerable people in places where we work, but we are still at this stage focusing on the former due to capacities, strategy and resources.