Toolkit 5: What is Gender-based Analysis Plus?
The objective of toolkit 5 is to introduce the Gender-based Analysis (GBA Plus) process and explain the five steps in the application of GBA Plus.
What is GBA Plus?
GBA Plus is an assessment of how different aspects of people’s identities, also known as social identity factors, interact with each other and the social and institutional environment to produce people’s unique circumstances, advantages or disadvantages, and access to (or lack of access to) positive or desired outcomes. This process is also known as intersectional analysis.
To learn more about the application of GBA Plus, watch the microlearning video on GBA Plus.
Steps to doing GBA Plus
There are five steps to complete in the GBA Plus process, and it is important to consider the following across each step: documentation, data and information, communication, and bias awareness (which involves challenging assumptions).
Step 1: Identify the issue
The first step in doing GBA Plus is to identify the topic or issue that the initiative is designed to address.
Step 2: Identify people and their needs
The second step in GBA Plus is to identify who is impacted by the issue and how.
Step 3: Identify differences and inequalities
In step 3, this analysis progresses to understanding how experiences and outcomes differ between and within groups of people, and why.
Step 4: Develop options
In developing options, it is important to examine all of the expressed needs of affected populations and the inequities that have been identified.
Step 5: Implement, monitor and evaluate
Implementation focuses on the development and delivery of the options identified, while monitoring and evaluation involve the regular collection of data and information in order to assess progress towards the intended results of the initiative where GBA Plus was applied.
To learn more about the steps within the GBA Plus process, refer to the steps to doing GBA Plus diagram.
DND/CAF GBA Plus Quick Guide
The Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) have developed a Quick Guide that plots 12 key questions, divided into four quadrants, to ask when conducting GBA Plus. The Guide includes intersectionality considerations and references the five steps of doing GBA Plus.
For direction in conducting GBA Plus, consult the DND/CAF GBA Plus Quick Guide.
GBA Plus: Learning application
Read the scenario and case study and complete the corresponding exercises.
Scenario: Left-handed tools
In the CAF environment, the tools needed are as diverse as the members of the Defence Team.
Tools are wide ranging. They can be:
- Musical instruments for the Canadian Armed Forces Bands
- Power tools for various technicians across elements
- Computer keyboards and mice that are accessed by many CAF members regardless of location
- Kitchen knives and potato peelers for the food services team
- Various weapons such as rifles, pistols, and machine guns accessed during training or on operations by all CAF members
As the majority of the world’s population is right-handed, most tools are mass-produced for right-handed people. For individuals who are left-handed, the default tools may be challenging or awkward to use, uncomfortable, or even dangerous.
Not having the right tools to do the job can be a safety issue as using your non-dominant hand could mean less strength or less finely controlled motor skills.
- Review the social identity factors wheel and the social identity factors lexicon, then identify the tools that you commonly use at work.
- Do these tools align with your needs and context?
- How do your needs and the context for the tools you commonly use correlate with your social identify factors?
- Practice using the DND/CAF GBA Plus Quick Guide by applying it to the left-handed tool scenario and answering the quadrant questions. Quadrant IV can be answered after options and a course of action in quadrant III have been determined in the actual application of GBA Plus.
Case study: Next generation hard ballistic plates
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command invests in equality for next generation of hard ballistic plates
Well-designed and functional personal protective equipment is critical for supporting our people, which is why the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) is taking concrete steps to better equip its members.
Through its Science and Technology Program, CANSOFCOM is developing and acquiring its next generation of hard ballistic plates, which will be lighter and designed for various body types that was not well accommodated in the past. According to Lieutenant-Colonel Luc Angiolini, the Research and Development Program Lead for CANSOFCOM Force Development, hard ballistic plates were historically designed based on a standardized male body type in three sizes (small, medium, and large). However, he notes that as “diversity in the Canadian Armed Forces is increasing, and technologies are evolving, we can optimize our operational equipment to meet the needs of our modern members and also keep up with advances in technology.”
The new plates will feature an innovative multi-curve design and will leverage recent advances in ballistic materials to provide enhanced protection and functionality. This will enable a better fit, resulting in more effective protection for vital points and organs. The new plates will also be lighter than the current models, allowing for increased comfort, mobility, and functionality when worn. The new plates will come in a range of different sizes to ensure adequate protection and load capacity for varying roles, missions, and threat levels.
CANSOFCOM is working in partnership with Defence and Research Development Canada (DRDC) to measure, analyze, and apply anthropometric data from a diverse range of body types for the design and development of these next generation hard ballistic plates. Ongoing testing of this redesigned capability, both prior to and after its acquisition, will ensure these plates meet specific ballistic limit requirements for our members. This testing will also enable them to capture and apply critical feedback from members and defence scientists, while also benefitting from DRDC’s extensive expertise in personal protection and laboratory testing infrastructure. The results of this process will also be made available to other CAF elements in support of their potential large-scale procurements in the future. The principles of GBA Plus will also continue to be applied to this project throughout the duration of the developmental and testing phases, ensuring that the plates are designed to accommodate body diversity and maximize effectiveness.
A contract valued at $595,000 (excluding taxes) was competitively awarded to NFM Norway in September 2023 for the design and development of these new ballistic hard plates over two years. An option has been built into the contract to enable a seamless transition to pre-approved procurement immediately after the development phase is completed. Development work has begun, and we currently expect first deliveries to begin sometime in 2025. This innovative procurement approach means that members will receive the new plates as soon as possible, while avoiding a gap in delivery timelines that would occur with the requirement for a new acquisition contract.
These newly designed hard ballistic plates represent an important investment into the operational effectiveness of CANSOFCOM’s number one resource: it’s people. Ensuring that every member has functional and effective protective equipment is an operational imperative; it can’t be based on a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Review the social identity factors wheel and the social identity factors lexicon, then identify relevant social identity factors referenced in the case study.
- Which other social identity factors would be important to consider when designing, developing and implementing the next generation of hard ballistic plates in the defence environment?
- Review the DND/CAF GBA Plus Quick Guide, then identify information in the case study that could be used to conduct GBA Plus. Categorize this information into the relevant quadrant (that is, quadrant I, II, III or IV).
- Based on your own knowledge and lived experiences, identify supplementary information not included in the case study that may be relevant and helpful in applying GBA Plus. Think of information for each quadrant.
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