The Gender Roles and Relationships Matrix is a participatory tool designed to help communities actively explore and understand gender-related issues that affect them. By involving local people directly in the analysis, this approach supports grassroots engagement and builds capacity for ongoing gender-focused evaluation and planning. Rather than imposing external views, the matrix encourages communities to articulate their own experiences with gender dynamics in relation to development efforts.

Primary Objectives of the Matrix

Assess Gendered Impacts: It helps to reveal how development projects or programs differently affect men and women.

Encourage Local Participation: The matrix serves as a community-driven method for identifying and examining gender issues.

Challenge Norms Constructively: It prompts reflection and dialogue that can question and transform existing gender roles in a respectful and collaborative way.

Structure of the Gender Relationship Matrix

The matrix works through two key dimensions:

Levels of Analysis

This refers to the different groups within a community whose experiences and roles are examined:

• Women – Includes females of all age groups within the community.
• Men – Includes males of all age groups within the community.
• Household – Covers the full household unit, whether nuclear or extended, and includes all men, women, and children living together.
• Community – Represents the collective population of the area involved in the project or intervention.

Categories of Analysis

These categories represent the types of changes or impacts being assessed:

• Labor: Examines shifts in the type of work being done, the level of skill required (e.g., skilled vs. unskilled labor), access to training, and labor availability. It also considers whether additional help is needed or if tasks can be handled within the household.
• Time: Focuses on how much time is required to complete tasks introduced or influenced by a project. This might include daily or weekly commitments and how these demands vary for different community members.
• Resources: Looks at changes in access to and control over assets like income, land, and tools. It explores whether resources have increased or decreased for men, women, households, or the broader community.
• Cultural Factors: Analyzes how gender roles, identities, or social status may shift as a result of the project. It considers the influence of social norms, traditions, or expectations on participants’ lives.

Matrix Format Overview

Below is a simplified view of how the matrix can be structured:

This format allows stakeholders to assess how a given development intervention affects each category of each group. This matrix helps ensure that no perspective is overlooked and that both visible and subtle changes in gender dynamics can be recorded and understood.