Knowledge Transfer in Global Gender Programmes (GlobalKnoT)

Globally, hundreds of millions of women and girls are subject to practices that harm their physical and emotional integrity and violate their human rights. The United Nations with co-funding from the European Union has launched global gender programmes as multi-stakeholder partnerships with the primary goal to increase knowledge and political commitment to end harmful practices worldwide. Little is known about how knowledge is generated and transferred through global programmes and across socio-cultural diverse countries to address harmful practices like child marriage, female genital mutilation, and gender-biased sex selection.

The project aims to better understand knowledge transfer and policy production in the Global Programmes to End Female Genital Mutilation, Gender-biased Sex Selection, and Child Marriage.

Main project objectives are:
-to expand our conceptual understanding of global governance and the actors and networks engaged in transnational knowledge transfer;
-to enrich our empirical understanding of the function and efficacy of global gender programmes using female genital mutilation/cutting, gender-biased sex selection, child marriage as case studies;
-to offer practical guidance for decision makers and international organizations to protect the rights of women and girls and to accelerate the eradication of harmful practices worldwide.

This study proposes to address these issues through mixed-methods research design combining qualitative key informant interviews and participant observation with the quantitative analysis of secondary demographic data. The outcomes of the study will inform academics, practitioners and the public about the functioning and efficacy of the Global Programmes in providing solutions to global public challenges and help accelerate policy change.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 894029.