Beyond gender mainstreaming: transforming humanitarian action, organizations and culture.

The United Nations and major humanitarian organizations have made policy commitments to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. This study assesses the extent to which humanitarian responses have met these commitments based on reviews of gender mainstreaming, textual analysis of policy and program cycle documents, and interviews with humanitarian actors. The analysis reveals that while gender mainstreaming may raise awareness and make fixes at the margins, its focus has been limited to altering internal processes rather than emphasizing results for women and men and girls and boys.

The utility of the environmental scan for public health practice: lessons from an urban program to increase cancer screening.

The environmental scan is a tool that can be utilized to collect data to design health programs uniquely tailored to the needs of communities. However, it remains relatively undefined, unevaluated and underutilized in the field of public health. While individual studies indicate the utility of the environmental scan for public health, it is difficult to find a theoretical framework or guidelines on how to design, implement or evaluate the process within public health practice.