The three year strategy 2010 to 2013 outlines the main goals and objectives of Gender Links, a Southern African NGO with bases in nine countries, and a head office in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Context

This strategy is the product of several processes:

• The GL annual board meeting in March 2009 and March 2010.
• The staff evaluations and planning that take place three times a year.
• The 2006 organisational evaluation and external evaluations conducted by Diakonia, UNIFEM and DFID (2008) that led to GL developing an internal organisational score card, and conducting an internal evaluation during the March 2009 board meeting.

Principles

The strategy covers a wide range of programmatic and institutional concerns. Key principles that cut across these are:

• Deepening democracy through building gender responsive governance, in which the media plays an integral role.
• Building on previous research and initiating research of a catalytic nature.
• Grounding our work more thoroughly, through media literacy; work with local government; and reaching out to community media.
• Producing useful tools and services that have the power to create synergies and multiplier effects.
• Creating linkages in all our work; maximising use of new technologies, and empowering those who may not have had access to these technologies.
• Documenting and replicating good practice; focusing on what works; sharing experiences and ideas.
• Striving to demonstrate what is meant by responsive governance in the way we work as an organisation.
• Striving to become a learning organisation; a centre of excellence in knowledge creation and dissemination that not only enriches our region but also ourselves.

Key focus areas

The six key strategic areas of focus identified by Gender Links Board and staff during these processes and the actions to take these forward, relate to:
1. Strategic positioning;
2. Programme of action;
3. Partnerships and networks;
4. Institutional growth and development;
5. Monitoring and evaluation;
6. Sustainability.

Strategy Plans	Action Plans
2010 - 2013	2010 - 2011
2007 - 2010	2009 - 2010
2005 - 2007	2008 - 2009