The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is hosting a regional workshop on ‘Gender Mainstreaming in the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) Programme' on October 28-29, 2013 at CDB headquarters, Barbados. This workshop is part of the Bank's commitment to integrating gender equality in its operations. The objective of the workshop is to enhance the gender analytical capacity for identification, analysis, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on gender as a cross-cutting theme within the portfolio of sectoral initiatives. The training will introduce concepts in gender analysis in both generic and sector-specific contexts. Gender analytical models ranging from ‘role analysis' to more complex social and economic concepts will be explored. Using actual BNTF cases, the workshop will analyse gender in the project cycle. There is evidence that BNTF sub-project initiatives are reaching the basic and strategic needs of beneficiaries, but the impact is constrained by the limited capacity among staff for undertaking analyses of gender contexts and gender impact assessments. CDB recognises that failure to integrate gender dimensions adequately in the project cycle may lead to a failure to target the most vulnerable. In the context of project management, gender imbalances are associated with a predisposition to design projects according to traditional roles associated with males and females which may erode the positive outcomes of development interventions. The workshop is targeted at staff within the BNTF Programme, (Project Managers and Operations Officers at CDB) and counterparts in country, specifically chairpersons for Project Steering Committees. The expected outcome of the workshop is enhanced capacity for gender analysis among key stakeholders in the BNTF Programme. The BNTF is one of the Bank's key instruments for addressing poverty reduction in ten participating Borrowing Member Countries (Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Turks and Caicos Islands). BNTF is designed to assist poor and vulnerable communities in improving access to basic pubic services. BNTF provides grant funding for social and economic infrastructure, and skills training to enhance employability and community management. Two basic and highly complementary tenets of the Programme are ‘empowerment' and ‘participation' which have a close nexus with gender equality. CAPTION: Participants in CDB's regional workshop on ‘Gender Mainstreaming in the Basic Needs Trust Fund Programme.' //