The Importance of Intersectionality: Applying an Intersectional Lens to Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Analyses – Lessons Learned from Jamaica and Colombia

About this series

Intersectionality is the idea that multiple or overlapping identity factors shape a person’s power and privilege and the related – how this has an impact on their access to, participate in, and benefit from the development process. 

The concept, first defined by US law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, was used to help explain the oppression of African-American women and to describe how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” with one another and overlap. Since then, it has become widely used across legal and social justice contexts as well as in international development to explain and illustrate how social factors impact power, opportunity, and systems. 

For example, in the context of agriculture and market systems development, intersectionality helps us see the types of discrimination a woman from a marginalized ethnic group may face when seeking access to extension services, land, credit, and participation in or leadership of agricultural groups. Her access to services, resources, and opportunities can be very different from that of a man from the same group or a woman from a majority group.

This two-part series explores what it looks like to move from theory to practical application to systematically address the ways in which gender and other overlapping identify factors limit a pers access to, participation and benefit from development programming. Part one of discusses the experiences of applying an intersectionality lens to gender, youth, and social inclusion (GYSI) analyses in our projects in Colombia and Jamaica. Part two discusses lessons learned from applying an intersectional lens to our work with youth in Serbia, Colombia, and Honduras.

Applying an Intersectional Lens to Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Analyses – Lessons Learned from Jamaica and Colombia

A gender, youth, and social inclusion (GYSI) analysis helps us understand not only gender inequalities but also other social factors that lead to exclusion and inequality. It can also show us how people with overlapping marginalized identities experience compounded inequalities.

Challenges in Traditional GYSI Analysis

Traditional gender analyses examine the rights, roles, opportunities, and norms affecting women. GYSI analyses can also include youth or other social groups, such as people living with disabilities, displaced persons, Indigenous peoples, specific ethnic groups, and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. However, these studies often overlook the intersecting diversity within and across these groups.

Failing to investigate the unique experiences of women or youth with overlapping marginalized identities impacts program and intervention effectiveness. Without an intentional focus on intersectionality, the resulting activities will likely not address differential inequalities reducing some groups’ abilities to access, participate in, and benefit from our projects.

Lessons from our Intersectional GYSI Analyses

ACDI/VOCA is committed to pushing the boundaries in our GYSI practices and processes and has been studying the challenges and opportunities of conducting intersectional GYSI analysis. Here are five key takeaways we have learned through our efforts to be more intentionally intersectional in our GYSI analyses:

1. Identify which specific groups of women, men, male and female youth, and gender-diverse individuals might have traditionally or historically faced inequalities in the project context. Develop a preliminary set of social factors that should be assessed as part of an intersectional matrix across groups in the project context, such as age, ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, indigeneity, socioeconomic status, education level, partnership status, religion, language, migration status, geographic location, etc.
2. Review existing literature and data on the experiences of the identified groups, particularly that which explores intersections within and among the groups. Identify gaps and make a plan to gather more information on the experiences within and among these groups through primary data collection.
3. Incorporate questions about intersectional experiences in both GYSI and non-GYSI formative studies. Applying an intersectional lens to both GYSI and non-GYSI studies can generate evidence that may encourage buy-in from non-GYSI colleagues on the importance of a differentiated approach.
4. Include women, men, and gender-diverse individuals who can speak to intersectional experiences in your sampling approach or selection criteria, and engage with local organizations to ensure diverse sampling.
5. Analyze. Tag or disaggregate your data by prioritized identity factors, and “zoom in” on data from cross- or sub-sections to find intersectional themes and patterns. Use this data to craft actionable recommendations for your GYSI-integrated work plan or GYSI strategy.

Intersectional GYSI Analyses in Practice

The following details the experiences and lessons learned from three ACDI/VOCA projects that conducted intersectional GYSI analyses, helping to shed light on what this looks like in practice.

JaSpice: Looking Beyond Requirements

Shunelle Nevers, Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Specialist for the USDA Food for Progress Jamaica Spices (JaSPICE), applied an intersectional lens to the project’s GYSI analysis even though it was not a donor requirement. She recognized the importance of this approach because she had witnessed firsthand how marginalized communities in Jamaica often exist on the fringes of society. These groups require deliberate, intentional support to prosper. The JaSpice analysis included people living with disabilities and organizations that support them in their sampling. The study included young men and women, boys and girls, living with disabilities, and used universal design principles in the data collection process. An intersectional lens was also applied to the analysis process in the codebook development and through the analysis of intersectional factors in the data triangulation.  

Although JaSPICE is in the early days of implementation, the findings from the GYSI analysis led to the design of tailored, targeted interventions that address the specific needs of the most marginalized. Building on relationships developed during the analysis, JaSPICE partnered with the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf and the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities to develop relevant and accessible training programs to support youth with disabilities to pursue entrepreneurship opportunities in the production and distribution of clean planting material for spice production. JaSPICE also integrated indicators and learning questions to track progress in addressing intersecting inequalities, which will inform future strategy revisions.

IPACE: A nimble approach to intersectional data collection and analysis

For Dr. Andy Alegria Polania, former Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager for the USAID Colombia Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombians Empowerment (IPACE) activity, an intersectional approach was essential in supporting the project’s work with and through local organizations serving the needs of indigenous and Afro-Colombians. Applying an intersectional approach rather than a differentiated approach (i.e., recognizing that there are differences within and among each of these groups) meant examining the diverse social factors that lie within each of these groups and affect their ability to pursue employment, access community-managed natural resources, and participate in community decision-making.

IPACE’s GYSI analysis was designed to be rapid, so the team found ways to be nimble in their intersectional analysis by embedding GYSI analysis questions across multiple inception studies, including a regional mapping of barriers and opportunities for advancing cultural and rural entrepreneurship initiatives, a municipal level inventory of key cultural heritage actors, and a context analysis of existing policy instruments documenting the extent of dialogue and consultation between indigenous communities and the Government of Colombia.

This intersectional approach to the GYSI analysis and other inception studies revealed the need for targeted approaches to developing leadership pathways and training to allow Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and youth– especially young parents –to participate in organizational and community decision-making. IPACE also works with the private sector – individual employers and industry associations – to develop and apply policies and practices that advance intersectional recruitment and retention programs.

YRA: Building the resilience of youth experiencing overlapping and compounding vulnerabilities.

Similarly, the USAID Youth Resilience Activity (YRA) recognized that building the resilience of young people in Colombia requires consideration of the overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination and disadvantages that contribute to unique vulnerabilities and levels of resilience among youth.

Similar to the IPACE analysis, steps the analysis team took to apply an intersectional lens to the GYSI analysis process included mobilizing available secondary GYSI data at the municipal level to assess interventions based on local dynamics, conducting targeted focus group discussions to document the unique and diverse needs of specific segments of Colombia’s youth population (including LGBTQI+ youth, Afro-Colombian youth, youth from indigenous communities, and migrant youth), and analyzing data to identify how different domains of Colombian youth experience overlapping and compounding vulnerabilities. YRA’s intersectional analysis helped to identify sub-groups of young people requiring customized support (not in school, female, has child(ren), Afro-Colombian or Indigenous, and LGBTQI+, with attention to where they overlap. This information has supported the development of an intersectional approach that was incorporated into the program’s gender and social inclusion strategy and is being included in trainings with staff and stakeholders to understand why specific categories of youth need targeted outreach and tailored support.

There’s More to Learn

We hope this exploration of intersectional GYSI analyses in our projects in Jamaica and Colombia shows what it looks like in practice to apply an intersectional lens to GYSI analyses, and other non-GYSI formative studies – and the impact on programming decisions. As an organization that is committed to continuously pushing the boundaries in our inclusive practices, ACDI/VOCA is continuing to learn and adapt our approach based on the experiences and results shared by projects applying an intersectional lens in their GYSI analyses. We recognize that while we have made strides in understanding and addressing the complex nature of inequality, we don’t have all the answers.

Our goal in applying an intersectional lens into our GYSI analyses and formative studies is to identify the factors that influence exclusion and privilege, to ultimately inform project design and implementation which is more effective and inclusive. As a learning organization, we continuously reflect on our practices, processes, and tools and explore ways to contribute to more equitable development outcomes. We hope the work of JaSPICE, IPACE, and YRA will inspire further discussion and energize the GYSI community as we work together to promote intentional intersectional GYSI analyses.

Additional Resources

The intersectional GYSI analyses for the JaSPICE, and IPACE, activities are accessible at this link. ACDI/VOCA has also developed this resource for additional tips on applying an intersectional lens to GYSI analysis. For the donor community, a checklist for integrating an intersectional lens to solicitations is available here.

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