ultravirgo

Ensure global gender equality

The UN asked Ultravirgo to develop an all-new second edition of their Gender Handbook for Humanitarian Action. With a reported 128 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, this handbook helps field workers across a variety of sectors to mainstream gender equality. The project is the culmination of 3 years of collaborative work, including field testing a trial version of the handbook in Afghanistan and Ethiopia to gather crucial feedback on its' efficiency and use. We focused on the need for the book to be user-friendly, with clear divisions and content hierarchy to help users find the information needed in a given situation quickly and efficiently. To keep printing costs low, it was designed to primarily utilize two-color printing, with each of the three sections getting its’ own feature color. It also features industry-standard icons and personal, humanizing photography. Since launch, the handbook has been a huge success with over 9,000 printed copies in use worldwide, and tens of thousands accessing the online version. It has been translated into Spanish, French, Arabic, Turkish and Korean. The response has been overwhelmingly positive with documented improvements in many environments. For example, in Gambella, Ethiopia, participants have improved privacy and dignity for refugees and are asking more in-depth questions about gender norms and relationships.