Gender Protection

PSEAH stands for Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment — the set of organisational safeguards that humanitarian and development actors must have in place to protect beneficiaries from sexual misconduct by staff, partners and associated personnel. It sits under the broader safeguarding umbrella but deals specifically with the power imbalance between aid workers and the communities they serve. The UN IASC Six Core Principles and the ICVA PSEA Network set the minimum standards. Most major donors (UN, USAID, FCDO, ECHO) now require PSEAH compliance as a condition of grants.

Related PGA training: GBV, SEA & SH at the Workplace, Child Protection and Safeguarding

Gender mainstreaming is the process of systematically integrating a gender perspective into every stage of programming — design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation — so that gender concerns are not treated as a standalone "women's component" bolted on at the end. The approach was codified at the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and is now standard practice across UN agencies, the African Union and most bilateral donors. Done well, it improves both gender outcomes and overall programme effectiveness; done poorly, it collapses into a checkbox exercise with no evidence base.

Related PGA training: Gender Mainstreaming, Gender Analysis

AAP — Accountability to Affected Populations — is the commitment by humanitarian actors to involve the people affected by a crisis in decisions about the assistance they receive. The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) embeds nine commitments around information-sharing, participation and complaints response, and the IASC AAP Operational Framework sets out concrete minimum actions. AAP is not a separate workstream — it runs through assessment, design, delivery and monitoring. Donors and coordination bodies now routinely audit AAP performance as part of humanitarian grant reviews.

Related PGA training: Accountability to Affected Populations

Safeguarding refers to the actions an organisation takes to ensure that staff, operations and programmes do no harm to children, vulnerable adults or beneficiaries — and that any harm that does occur is reported and addressed. It encompasses child protection, PSEA, workplace harassment prevention and duty-of-care for staff. Every donor now expects a written safeguarding policy, a named safeguarding focal point, safer-recruitment practice, mandatory staff training, and a functioning reporting channel. Safeguarding failures are now among the fastest routes to grant suspension and reputational collapse in the sector.

Related PGA training: Child Protection and Safeguarding, Protection, Gender and Inclusion

These three terms are often used together but mean distinct things. GBV (Gender-Based Violence) is any harmful act perpetrated against a person because of their gender — physical, sexual, emotional, or economic — at community or programme level. SEA (Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) refers specifically to acts committed by humanitarian or development staff against beneficiaries and community members, where a power imbalance exists. SH (Sexual Harassment) covers unwanted sexual conduct between colleagues in a workplace. Each has its own legal framework, reporting pathway and investigation process — confusing them is a common policy mistake.

Related PGA training: Gender-Based Violence, GBV, SEA & SH at the Workplace

CPiE — Child Protection in Emergencies — is the specialised branch of child protection that addresses risks children face during armed conflict, displacement and natural disasters: separation from families, recruitment into armed forces and armed groups, violence and exploitation, loss of access to education. The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) set the sector's global benchmarks, and the CP sub-cluster coordinates response at country level. CPiE programming draws on case management, psychosocial support (PSS), family tracing and reunification (FTR) and alternative care options.

Related PGA training: Child Protection in Emergencies, Child Protection in Armed Conflict

Gender analysis is the structured examination of how gender roles, relations and power dynamics shape a given context — who does what, who has access to and control over what, who decides. It is the evidence base for any gender-responsive programme. Most major donors (USAID ADS 205, FCDO, GAC, UN agencies) now require a gender analysis at the proposal stage, with specific recognised frameworks — Harvard, Moser, Gender@Work and Social Relations among them. Skipping or fabricating the gender analysis is one of the most common reasons proposals are sent back for revision.

Related PGA training: Gender Analysis, GESI Training

Disability mainstreaming is the practice of ensuring that programmes, workplaces and services are designed to be inclusive of persons with disabilities from the outset — rather than adapted as an afterthought. The "twin-track" approach, which underpins the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), combines two parallel efforts: (1) disability-specific programming that addresses the particular barriers persons with disabilities face, and (2) mainstream programming that is made accessible and inclusive for everyone. Donors increasingly require a twin-track approach in proposals covering education, health, WASH and livelihoods.

Related PGA training: Disability Mainstreaming in Projects and Organizations