FrAMEwOrK FOr INTEgrATINg gENDEr EquALITy AND SOcIAL INcLuSION IN ThE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK’S SOuTh ASIA OPErATIONS

This framework outlines how to integrate gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) into ADB’s operations in South Asia to help close the gender gap, combat exclusion, and bolster equitable economic growth. It highlights the experience of women and disadvantaged groups and assesses the impact of pervasive gender inequality and social exclusion. It includes practical guides and tools that can be integrated throughout project design and implementation. It underscores the need to improve data collection showing how women and vulnerable groups are excluded and increase financial and technical support to better target inclusive and sustainable development.

To contribute to achieving GESI in the region, ADB needs to identify, understand, and respond to these barriers.The responses should be in three areas: (i) improving the collection and analysis of data on the situation of women and excluded and vulnerable groups, including the overlapping disadvantage they experience because of their intersecting disadvantaged identities; (ii) developing the capacities of women and excluded and vulnerable groups by facilitating their economic, social, and voice empowerment; and (iii) transforming the physical and social environment toward promoting GESI.
I commend ADB's South Asia Department for developing this GESI framework as a guide for fulfilling ADB's GESI commitments outlined in Strategy 2030 within the context of the subregion.I am confident that the framework will be instrumental in achieving GESI in the six developing member countries.

PREFACE BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) South Asia Department is pleased to present this Framework for Integrating Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in the Asian Development Bank's South Asia Operations.This framework addresses the gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) situation in our six developing member countries (DMCs) while supporting our partner government agencies' GESI policies and priority programs.
Gender inequality persists and has even worsened in South Asia and globally because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with this inequality impacting, among others, the economic, political, and social sectors, including health and education.More specifically, gender inequality has resulted in the following impacts: (i) Discriminatory practices, entrenched in social norms, continue to restrict women; girls; and individuals with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), especially those from excluded and vulnerable groups, from accessing resources and opportunities provided by the government and external development partners.(ii) The intersecting factors of gender, age, disability, caste and ethnicity, diverse SOGIESC, income status, and geographic location, prevalent in many South Asian countries, contribute to multiple layers of exclusion and vulnerability for women and disadvantaged groups, hindering their ability to seize development opportunities.(iii) Men, especially those with disabilities and those belonging to excluded social identity groups, also experience intersecting inequality, exclusion, and vulnerability.In line with the "leave no one behind" principle, development interventions must address their conditions as well.Men also play a crucial role in promoting the empowerment of women and girls, and achieving GESI.
ADB's six DMCs in South Asia have favorable laws and policy frameworks for GESI.They have robust policy commitments to protect individuals' fundamental rights, promote nondiscrimination, and safeguard the rights of various excluded and vulnerable groups.Ministries and institutional arrangements have been established and are operational in each country to implement these laws and policies.However, effective policy implementation has posed challenges across all DMCs.Many of these laws and policies do not explicitly address the overlapping disadvantages faced by women, girls, individuals with diverse SOGIESC, and other excluded and vulnerable groups.Nonetheless, the governments and civil society organizations in the six countries, alongside ADB, possess extensive experience in gender and development, and have developed exemplary practices and competencies in GESI mainstreaming.By addressing the barriers to GESI, we can leverage our collective competencies.
We hope that this GESI framework will empower South Asia Department to effectively support our partners in the six DMCs to identify, understand, and address the barriers to GESI in a context-sensitive, evidence-based, participatory, effective, and decisive manner.

Kenichi Yokoyama
Director General, South Asia Department (iv) guiding principles to operationalize the key areas of action (Figure 1).

5.
Overall, the SARD GESI framework seeks to identify and address the manifestations of gender inequality, disadvantage (exclusion and vulnerability), and their intersection toward achieving GESI.In brief, its components are as follows (illustrated in Figure 1     The term intersectionality was coined by the scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw to explain the specific oppression experienced by African-American women.Thus its roots are in feminist and anti-racist theory and politics.While Black women were at the center of her analysis, the term was used to show the importance of overcoming dominant conceptions of discrimination as occurring along a single category.(iii) Key areas of action.The results of the analysis to understand the barriers and opportunities to GESI and design responses toward empowering the excluded and vulnerable and including for opportunity will inform the execution of the seven key areas of action.Each of these key areas of action has an accompanying guidance note or tool.
(iv) Three operating principles will guide the key areas of action for transformative impacts.These principles will ensure that women and excluded and vulnerable groups are cochange agents (not passive beneficiaries) and that actions are evidence based and commensurate with the competencies and resources of SARD and partners in the six DMCs.

B. Objectives of the South Asia Department Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Framework
6.The GESI framework aims to do the following: (i) Provide definitions relevant to GESI and an analytical lens to examine and address gender inequality, social exclusion, and vulnerability throughout SARD operations.
(ii) Provide guides, tools, and operating principles for integrating GESI, including women's empowerment, in different phases of SARD operations, spanning preparation of the country partnership strategy; project conceptualization, design, implementation, evaluation, and documentation; and completion.
(iii) Contribute to the acceleration of women's empowerment, gender equality, and social inclusion in South Asia.
7. The expected outcomes of the use of the GESI framework are as follows: (i) Increased number of ADB-financed programs and projects with GESI features that are evidence based and address gender inequality, exclusion, vulnerability, and intersectional issues through GESI action plans and other relevant initiatives.This outcome may imply an increase in SARD investment for removing the structural barriers to GESI in the DMCs and specific sectors in South Asia.
(ii) Improved involvement and collaboration (partnership) of SARD sector divisions, safeguards team, resident missions, and other relevant units in integrating GESI in operations and achieving GESI results.
(iii) Increased number of ADB-financed programs and projects that report successful GESI results at completion.

II. THE SOUTH ASIA DEPARTMENT GENDER EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION FRAMEWORK
A.

GENDER
A woman or girl may experience social exclusion merely because of her being a woman or girl.

DISABILITY
People may experience social exclusion because of physical, mental, intellectual, and sensory disability.They are considered incapable of adopting to and/or "normally" functioning in mainstream society.

SOCIAL IDENTITY
People may experience social exclusion based on their mere membership in a disadvantaged or "minority" ethnic, caste, or religious group.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION INCOME STATUS
MIGRANT STATUS People may experience social exclusion because of their gender expression (selfexpression behavior, dress, and interaction with other people) and sexual orientation (sexual attraction toward same sex or toward both sexes).

People may experience social exclusion because of being in a remote area or location
where terrain is di cult, social services and development opportunities are inaccesible or in a slum area, considered as filthy and unsafe.
Migrants may be vulnerable to hunger, illnesses, abuses, and lack of security due to lack of resources, services, and social support.Women migrants are more vulnerable to sexual abuses.(iii) Disability.Long-term physical, mental, intellectual, and sensory impairments may hinder effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. 17The world population experiencing some form of disability is 15%. 18Disability prevalence in Maldives 19 and Sri Lanka 20 is shown at 9%.People with disabilities in Bhutan are 52% female, 21 and in India, 44%. 22v) Sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions, and sex characteristics.Because of a lack of representative data at the national level as well as a lack of SOGIESC questions on preexisting country-level diagnostics, there are no definitive estimates on the size of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and others (LGBTQI+) 23 population in countries throughout Asia.Therefore, this document utilizes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population estimates from the United States as proxy data since it is one of the few countries that can use random sampling methods in nationally representative research efforts to deliver reliable population estimates.One such effort came from Gallup in 2020, which found that 5.6% of American adults (aged 18 and older) identify themselves as LGBT-5.2% as lesbian, gay, and bisexual, and 0.6% as transgender. 24It is important to note that Gallup finds more and more people identifying as LGBT with each iteration of the research, showing that as inclusion and rights for the community increase, individuals feel more at ease to identify as LGBT in data collection efforts.Globally, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides reliable estimates on the global size of the intersex population: 0.7%-1.7% of the entire population are born with intersex traits. 25In Asia, estimates on the number of people with nonnormative SOGIESC exist, but this should be read with caution because of the data collection limitations and the ease at which people might identify as such.For example, there may be as many (or as few) as 10,000-50,000 transgender individuals in Bangladesh, 26 and perhaps 0.04% of the entire population in India are also third gender. 27 Bhutan, 316 people were registered as LGBTQI+ in 2019. 28Although reliable population estimates don't exist, rigorous data collection from civil society, UNDP, the World Bank, and many other institutions has captured significant challenges that LGBTQI+ people experience throughout Asia, including social exclusion, violence, poverty, and more.

YOUNG AGE
(v) Geographic location.The rural population is an estimated 80% in India.In Nepal, 52% of the rural population is female. 29In Sri Lanka, the rural areas have a female working-age population of 51.6%. 30i) Social identity.In India, scheduled castes comprise 16.6% of the population (of which 48.6% are female) and scheduled tribes comprise 8.6% (of which 49.7% are female). 31epal has 125 ethnic and caste groups, with female members comprising 51.5% of these groups. 32ii) Income status.Globally, the poverty rate is at 9.2%. 33The poverty rate in India is 21.2%, followed by Nepal at 15.0%. 34 10.SARD's involvement in social inclusion or OP1 builds on its commitment to gender equality in OP2.In this context, it is important to remember that in the region, the following apply: (i) Gender inequality is pervasive across societies and intersects with other forms of exclusion and vulnerability (e.g., disability, social identities, SOGIESC, and old age), affecting women's lives from before birth. 35For example, women in general and women from excluded and vulnerable groups experience social, economic, and political barriers that men of similar groups may not experience.
(ii) Different forms of exclusion and vulnerability intersect, affecting all the genders of the different groups.For example, men and individuals with diverse SOGIESC of excluded and vulnerable groups experience social, economic, and political barriers that men of advantaged groups may not experience.

B. The Guide for Analyzing Barriers to Gender Equity and Social Inclusion and Designing
Actions: The Understand-Empower-Include Pillars 11.The responsiveness and adequacy of actions to the issues of gender inequality, exclusion, vulnerability, and their intersection depend on the quality of evidence collection and analysis methods.To inform the country partnership strategies and project designs with quality evidence and effective strategies and actions-to be reflected in the project's design and monitoring framework and GESI action plansthis framework uses the Leave-No-One-Behind (LNOB) analytical framework of the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom.
The LNOB framework has three pillars: understand for action, empower for change, and include for opportunity (Table ).
12.These three pillars are further discussed in this paragraph.
(i) Understand for action is identifying barriers to GESI and analyzing the capacities of women and excluded and vulnerable groups to claim their rights and promote GESI.This analysis is necessary to understand or assess the (i) manifestations of gender and other forms of exclusion and vulnerability; (ii) factors that create or maintain social inequities based on gender, age, disability, social identity (caste, religion, ethnicity), SOGIESC, geographic location, and income; (iii) inclusiveness of formal policy, institutional frameworks, and informal norms and values; and (iv) agency of excluded and vulnerable groups.Once the root causes and mechanisms behind gender inequalities, exclusion, and vulnerability are understood, the next step is to find ways to address the identified barriers to GESI.
(ii) Empower for change is promoting the livelihood, voice, and social empowerment of women and excluded and vulnerable groups.This pillar means that sector and multisector interventions are necessary to (i) improve the assets and capacities of women and disadvantaged people through livelihood empowerment, and (ii) enhance their social capital and voice through social mobilization.
For livelihood empowerment, measures (e.g., policies, systems, institutional arrangements, programs, projects, practices, and resources) will contribute to their enhanced health, education, employment, and income-earning capacities.Parallel to this is supporting them to recognize the structural causes of their situations and strengthen their sense of agency and self-determination to transform inequitable power relations.

Purpose
Identify barriers to GESI and analyze the capacities of women and excluded and vulnerable groups to claim their rights and promote GESI based on disaggregated data and evidence.
Promote the livelihood, voice, and social empowerment of women and excluded and vulnerable groups.
Ensure the GESI responsiveness of the social, political, and physical environment, including infrastructures, technologies, resources, and services.

Questions for Analysis
Who are excluded and vulnerable groups?(iii) Include for opportunity is promoting the GESI-suitability of the physical environment, such as infrastructures, technologies, and spaces, and the GESI-responsiveness of the social environment, such as shifts in social and gender norms and practices, health services, educational curricula, and the political environment (e.g., governance policies, structures, and systems).This pillar means that along with empowering women and disadvantaged groups, it is important to remove and transform formal and informal institutional barriers like discriminatory legislation and institutions, deeply embedded cultural biases, and learned prejudicial social behaviors through policies, programs, and projects.The transformation should include the design of infrastructures, technologies, and facilities to make them sensitive and inclusive of women and excluded and vulnerable groups.Include for opportunity also means mobilizing the support of different sectors of society, including men and boys and advantaged groups.Engaging men is critical to women's empowerment, prevention of violence against women and girls, and gender equality.The dialogue on how toxic masculinities are learned, reinforced, practiced, and justified is critical to transforming masculinities and achieving gender equality.When men become aware of social norms that reinforce a toxic culture, they can better contribute to changing these norms into positive and healthier social values. 36Working with people and communities with power and advantage is essential to develop their commitment to inclusive growth and belief in shared power. 37. Seven Key Areas of Action and Supporting Guidance Notes and Tools 13.The three pillars of the LNOB frameworkunderstand for action, empower for change, and include for opportunity-will guide the design and implementation of the seven key areas of action and their respective guidance notes and tools (Figure 4).
14.The following is a description of these key areas of action and their accompanying tools: (i) Key area of action 1: Informing country strategies and programs through GESI diagnostic of selected sectors in each developing member country aims to define the GESI elements of the country partnership strategy (CPS) and country operation business plan.The GESI diagnostic of selected sectors is the main instrument for collecting and analyzing GESI issues relevant to SARD operations in DMCs.The results of this diagnostic inform the GESI features of ADB's CPSs and GESI-relevant loans, grants, and technical assistance programs and projects.To guide the execution of this first area of action is a guidance note on conducting a GESI analysis to inform ADB's CPSs and project designs in South Asia.
(ii) Key area of action 2: Strengthening project design through enhancing the quality of social and gender analysis and the GESI action plan is in line with the enhanced poverty and social analysis of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department.This analysis will provide evidence on who is excluded and vulnerable and the causes of their exclusion and vulnerability in projectspecific sectors and areas.It will also assess the existing sector responses to identify the strengths and areas of improvement.The guidance note for the first key area of action will also be used for this second area of action.
(iii) Key area of action 3: Engaging DMCs at the policy level by supporting GESI-responsive policy and legal reforms in areas relevant to SARD operations.Through policy-based loans and related technical assistance, ADB supports the improvement of the legal and policy environment in the country and sector. 38This support ensures that proposed law and policy reforms respond to intersectional inequalities and address barriers to GESI in ADB priority sectors.GESI-related policy interventions could be related to livelihood empowerment, promotion of voice and decision-making of women and excluded and vulnerable groups, and reduction of discriminatory practices.
To guide the execution of this third key area of action is a guidance note for engaging in GESI policy dialogue and reform.
(iv) Key area of action 4: Developing the capacity to deliver GESI results by strengthening systems, tools, and competencies of ADB staff and executing and implementing agencies and collaborating with the Private Sector Operations Department.The staff of ADB and executing and implementing agencies require the capacity and skills to recognize and respond to issues experienced by women and disadvantaged groups.GESI needs to be mainstreamed in institutional systems, e.g., clear GESI responsibilities in job descriptions of staff (including senior management and technical staff), women's and disadvantaged groups' significant representation in leadership structures, GESI-responsive human resource policies, and GESI-related criteria in staff performance evaluations.The organizational culture also needs to be GESI-supportive and nondiscriminatory.Guides for the execution of this fourth area of action are the guidance note for developing the GESI strategies of sector agencies and the GESI mainstreaming self-assessment tool for infrastructure sector agencies.SARD will also encourage all staff of ADB-financed projects (with and without roles in implementing the projects' GESI action plans) in South Asia to take SARD's e-learning course on the basics of GESI mainstreaming in organizations and projects in South Asia.
(v) Key area of action 5: Partnering with other social development actors by promoting collaboration with key players and stakeholders within and outside ADB.SARD will strengthen its partnership with governments, especially executing and implementing agencies of ADB-financed projects, in its six DMCs for GESI.It will also engage the private sector and CSOs.ADB has followed a policy of cooperation with CSOs since 1998. 39Working with advocacy, identity-based, and community-based CSOs is important to ensure that the voices of women and the disadvantaged are provided a platform and that their needs and priorities are identified and addressed in ADB-financed programs and projects.CSOs operate in disadvantaged communities and can contribute to the elimination of discriminatory gender and social norms.Their focus on rightsbased approaches promotes transforming inequitable practices necessary for sector operations.SARD will also strengthen its strategies to empower women, girls, and people with diverse SOGIESC, and to engage men and boys for gender equality.Very important is the collaboration with other departments and units of ADB, such as the Climate Change and 39 ADB.2015.How Does ADB Engage Civil Society Organizations in Its Operations?Findings of An Exploratory Inquiry in South Asia.Manila.(vii) Key area of action 7: Investing in GESIrelevant knowledge by developing operationally relevant GESI knowledge products to inform the pipeline.Examples of SARD's planned initiatives related to this area of action are studies on (i) the accessibility and affordability of quality care services for younger children, older persons, and people with disabilities; (ii) the economic cost of discrimination and social exclusion; (iii) GESI good practices and lessons from successful ADB-financed programs and projects (six in-country GESI results case studies); and (iv) GESI-responsive budgeting.The knowledge products also aim to document good practices in addressing the barriers to GESI and issues of intersectional inequalities experienced by women and disadvantaged groups.Some dedicated knowledge products could cover specific dimensions of exclusion and vulnerability, the effects of toxic masculinity on men and women, and lessons from engaging men and boys in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. 40 (i) people benefiting from improved health services, education services, or social protection (number); (ii) jobs generated (number); and (iii) poor and vulnerable people with improved standards of living (number).
5. Common to all three RFIs of OP1 is the requirement for sex disaggregation of data.The second RFI (number of jobs generated) also requires age disaggregation.The OP1 requirement of sex disaggregation will allow an analysis of the benefits for women and girls (compared to the benefits for men and boys) from completed operations, which are important to understanding the operations' outcomes on women and girls of poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged or excluded groups.
6.In sum, OP1 benefits, which can also be found in OP2, are the following: (i) improved health services; (ii) improved education services; (iii) social protection, which includes social assistance, social insurance, and labor market policies and programs; ( GESI = gender equality and social inclusion.Note: The guide for analyzing the barriers and opportunities to GESI and designing actions is patterned from the three pillars of the Leave-No-One-Behind (LNOB) Framework of the former Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID), now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.Source: Asian Development Bank South Asia Department.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: South Asia Department Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Framework-An Overview

8
This definition of gender equality covers nonbinary individuals or individuals with diverse SOGIESC in line with ADB's growing attention on their experienced vulnerability as reflected in ADB.2021.Safeguard Policy Statement Review and Update: Stakeholder Engagement Plan-Draft for Consultation.Manila.p. 9 and in proposed ADB research covering 23 DMCs (including Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) on the legal barriers to sexual orientation and gender identity inclusion.9 In line with the Strategy 2030 OP1 social inclusion and human development agenda, ADB has developed a disability inclusion road map to create a more systematic approach to implementing disability-inclusive development in ADB.The GESI framework will support the operationalization of this road map in South Asia.ADB.2022.Strengthening Disability-Inclusive Development: 2021-2025 Road Map.Manila. 10This guide is an adaptation of the three pillars of the LNOB framework of the former Department for International Development of the Government of the United Kingdom (DFID) (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)S.Herbert.2019.Leaving No One Behind: Perspectives and Directions from DFID Multi-Cadre Conferences.K4D Emerging Issues Report.Brighton, United Kingdom: Institute of Development Studies. p. 15.

Figure 2 :
Figure 2: Dimensions of Inequality, Exclusion, and Vulnerability in South Asia

Figure 4 :
Figure 4: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Framework Key Areas of Action and Tools K. Crenshaw.1989.Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.University of Chicago Legal Forum.Vol.1989, Article 8.
(f) Social inclusion is the elimination of barriers that exclude or constrain some members of society from accessing and benefiting from social and economic services and resources and participating in their community, relationships, and decision-making. 9ii) Guide for analyzing the barriers and opportunities to GESI and designing actions: 10 (a) "Understand for action.Strengthen understanding and analysis of who, where, and why people are being left behind."(b) "Empower for change. Emower those people who are furthest behind to be agents of change."In other words, enable them to engage, influence, Based on World Bank estimates, the female share of the global poor in 2018 was 51.1%, and the ratio of poor women to women in the South Asian population was almost 102.9.Exclusion (based on gender, social identity, disability, SOGIESC, income, and geographic location) and vulnerability (based on age and migrant status) exist in each country to varying degrees.Ethnicity-or castebased exclusion and dynamics persist in most countries.Religion-based disadvantage exists in all DMCs.Patriarchal values and social norms have kept gender inequalities alive across the region.Discriminatory practices begin before birth and affect every aspect of a person's life, especially women and excluded and vulnerable groups.Figure3presents an overview of the bases of exclusion existing in the DMCs, where gender inequality intersects.Figure 3: Bases of Exclusion and Vulnerability Intersecting with Gender Inequality in South Asia Note: The color codes indicate the degree of challenges: orange for a high level of challenge because of the extent of sociocultural embeddedness, yellow for a lower level of challenge, green for no formal legal exclusion, and white for not applicable.Young age (disadvantaged youth) and migrant status are not reflected in this figure as they were assessed only in some developing member countries.Source: Consultations with representatives of governments and civil society organizations in the Asian Development Bank's six developing member countries in South Asia in 2020-2022 (Appendix 1).

Table :
Guide for Analyzing Issues and Designing Actions GESI = gender equality and social inclusion.Source: Asian Development Bank South Asia Department, adapted from S. Herbert.2019.Leaving No One Behind: Perspectives and Directions from DFID Multi-Cadre Conferences.K4D Emerging Issues Report.Brighton, United Kingdom: Institute of Development Studies.
are they excluded and/or vulnerable?
ADB. 2022.Working Together for Development Results: Lessons from ADB and Civil Society Organization Engagement in South Asia.Manila. 41ADB.2016.Guidelines for the Evaluation of Public Sector Operations.Manila. 42ADB.2022.Guidelines for the At-Exit Assessment of Gender Equality Results of ADB Projects.Manila.

Table A2 :
Aligned Operational Priorities 1 and 2 Tracking Indicators (Corporate Results Framework Indicators Level 2) Total number of skilled jobs created for women through direct employment under ADB projects 2.1.1Totalnumber of female students enrolled in TVET and other job training, both full-time and part-time, under ADB projects 5 1.3.2Totalnumber of new financial products and services made available to the poor and vulnerable under ADB projects 2.1.2Totalnumber of women who open new bank accounts (regardless of amount, type of account, or purpose of account opening) over the course of ADB projects 6 1.2.2Total number of models for business development and financing established or improved with ADB support 2.1.3Number of women-owned or -led SMEs end borrowers, or if not available, the number of women-owned or -led loan accounts opened (regardless of amount) over the course of the project Total number of women and girls who benefit from project offering new or improved infrastructure under ADB projects • new or improved water supply by women and girls • new or improved sanitation by women and girls • new or improved transport by women and girls • new or improved electricity connection (via energy distribution) by women and girls • other improved infrastructure by women and girls as set out in the DMF and/or GAP 2.4.1 Total number of time-saving or gender-responsive assets and/or services provided under ADB projects • safe and adequate number of toilets for women • separate sections or carriages for women in trains or buses • private breastfeeding corners or rooms in public areas • Safe sidewalks for pedestrians • better lighting on streets and in stations on streets • other relevant designs as set out in the DMF and/or GAP Total number of measures on gender equality supported in implementation.Measures refer to laws, regulatory or legislative frameworks, strategies, or policiesADB = Asian Development Bank; DMF = design and monitoring framework; GAP = gender action plan; SMEs = small and medium-sized enterprises; STEM = science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; TVET = technical and vocational education and training.