This report seeks to document the ways and extent to which issues of gender equality are incorporated into policy dialogues, programme design and implementation of immunisation services and related health services, including an independent assessment of the current state of attention to gender within the GAVI Alliance. It was undertaken as part of a broader process initiated by the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) to develop an evidence-informed Gender Equality Policy. This document draws on and presents the knowledge base from which the policy (recently approved by the GAVI Alliance Board in June 2008) and the plan for its implementation were developed.

The abridged version of the report comprises: (1) a review of the academic literature, (2) an assessment of the policies of the GAVI Secretariat and key Alliance stakeholders; (3) interviews with Secretariat staff as well as with members of a gender advisory group, the Independent Review Committee (IRC), other Task Teams and stakeholders.