International Development Grant

Blueprints for Gender Equality

Project Number: CA-3-P010478001

Status: Operational

Country/Region:

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 25.00%
Grenada 25.00%
Dominica 25.00%
Saint Lucia 25.00%

Maximum Contribution: $2,500,000.00

Start Date: March 11, 2022

End Date: March 31, 2026

Duration: 4.1 years

Project Description

This project aims to foster more open inclusive and gender-responsive governance in Dominica Grenada Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The initiative deploys a team of gender equality and social inclusion experts to strengthen the capacity of public institutions to address pressing gender equality issues faced by women girls and marginalized groups in these four Eastern Caribbean countries. It assists them to design deliver and budget for public programs and services that better serve their needs. Blueprints for Gender Equality also works with governments to build a culture of citizen engagement with governments and the people they serve with a focus on connecting with the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls. Project activities include: (1) delivering technical assistance to public institutions to design and deliver more gender-responsive public policies programs and services; (2) designing mechanisms to ensure public institutions are more open and transparent to women girls and women’s rights organizations including accountability exercises institutional fairs and communication campaigns; and (3) organizing regional meetings with representatives from public institutions the Caribbean Community and women’s rights organizations to share good practices and lessons learned on how to address the most pressing gender equality issues faced by women and girls.

Expected Results

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced gender-responsive public policies strategies and practices to address the most pressing gender equality issues faced by the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls in all their diversity in targeted Caribbean countries; (2) increased effective delivery of gender-responsive public programs and services that address the most pressing gender equality issues faced by the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls in all their diversity in targeted Caribbean countries; and (3) improved collaboration and dialogue across public institutions in targeted Caribbean countries on the most pressing gender equality issues faced by the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls in all their diversity.

Progress & Results Achieved

Results achieved as of March 2023 include: (1) Cuso International completed hiring of project staff in all four participating Eastern Caribbean countries (Dominica Grenada Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines); (2) 40 ministries across all four participating countries completed an open inclusive gender-responsive participatory needs assessment using gender-responsive tools to inform the final design of project activities; (3) held the first regional project steering committee virtually in December 2022 attended by high-level government officials from all four participating countries; and (4) officially launched the project in Grenada in March 2023 and attended by high-level Grenadian officials including the Minister for Social and Community Development Housing and Gender Affairs.

Key Information

Executing Agency:
Cuso International

Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada

Program:
NGM Americas

Last Modified:
September 19, 2025

Development Classifications

DAC Sector:

Democratic participation and civil society 20%
Women's rights organisations and movements and government institutions 80%

Aid Type: Project-type interventions

Collaboration: Bilateral

Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation

Selection Mechanism:
Department-Initiated

Policy Markers
Level 2 Gender equality
Level 2 Participatory development and good governance
Major Funding (>$1M)
Budget Breakdown
2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31 $2,500,000 CAD
Geographic Information
000";Budget Type:Original;Start Date:2022-04-01;End Date:2023-03-31;Value Date:2022-03-11;Value:"$500
Project Number: CA-3-P010478001