GEDSI analysis for nonprofits: how to see who your program reaches and who it misses

5 min read

A gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) analysis examines who benefits from a program, who does not, and why. It looks at how gender, age, disability, ethnicity, economic status, and location shape people’s access, roles, and power. Its purpose is practical: to change how a program is designed, delivered, and reported, so it reaches the people most often left out.

Programs can reach many people and still miss those most often left out. A clinic may serve thousands of patients while women with disabilities in remote villages never arrive. Headline numbers hide that gap. A GEDSI analysis makes it visible, and gives the team specific choices to close it.

Why funders ask for GEDSI analysis

International funders increasingly expect a GEDSI or gender analysis at design stage. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), for example, states that GEDSI analysis “is the foundation for ensuring all DFAT investments are effective in reaching socially disadvantaged groups.” Its good practice note also states: “It is a DFAT requirement that Official Development Assistance (ODA) investments valued at $3 million and over include a gender equality objective” (DFAT; wording checked against an archived copy).

Evaluation standards point the same way. When the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revised its evaluation criteria in 2019, it defined effectiveness to include “differential results across groups” (OECD). In plain terms, a program is judged on who gained and who did not, as well as on its average result.

For US nonprofits working internationally, this matters at both ends of the grant. A strong analysis earns points at design stage, and it gives you honest evidence to report later.

What a GEDSI analysis examines

At Edit Right Advisors, we carry out GEDSI analysis with Inclusion Insight Lens, the GEDSI analysis model in our Evidence Engine framework. Power and decision making sits at the top and shapes every domain below it.

Power and decision making

Who decides, at home, in the community, and in institutions? Power runs through every other domain. A woman may have access to a service in principle but lack the say to use it.

The five domains

The lens examines five domains:

1. Access to assets: who has access to and control over resources, services, and opportunities
2. Practices and participation: who takes part in activities and decisions, and how
3. Roles, responsibilities, and time use: who does what work, and how time is divided
4. Beliefs and perceptions: the norms and beliefs that shape what people can do
5. Institutions, laws, and policies: the formal and informal rules that include or exclude people

Inclusion Insight Lens is adapted from the USAID ADS 205 gender analysis domains, via Jhpiego. All five domains above come from that framework, and we apply them to inclusion more broadly, with power running across all five (Jhpiego).

Six identity factors

Six context and identity factors apply across every domain: gender, age, disability, ethnicity and culture, economic status, and location. The analysis looks at how these factors combine. An older woman with a disability in a remote area faces barriers that none of those factors explains alone.

How to collect GEDSI data well

Good GEDSI analysis depends on two kinds of evidence: data you can break down, and voices you hear directly.

Disaggregate your data

Collect and report data by the identity factors that matter in your context. For disability, the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning offers six questions on difficulty in basic actions, designed to produce comparable data across countries (Washington Group on Disability Statistics). It asks about functioning rather than diagnosis, which makes it practical for program surveys.

Hear directly and safely from excluded groups

Numbers show who is missing. Conversations show why. Talk with the people the program misses, through organizations they trust where possible, such as organizations of persons with disabilities and women’s rights groups. Use consent processes suited to the people involved, and plan for safety before you ask sensitive questions.

From findings to choices

A GEDSI analysis is only useful if it changes something. Turn each finding into a practical recommendation for design, delivery, or reporting. For example, if women’s time use limits attendance, change session times or locations. If a policy excludes a group, decide whether the program can work around it or should raise it with decision makers.

Then carry the findings into the rest of the program. In The Edit Right Architecture, Inclusion Insight Lens informs the equity and inclusion check in Change Canvas, our theory of change model. It also informs the cross-cutting standards in MEL Map, our monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plan model. That way, inclusion is designed in, measured, and reported, rather than added at the end.

Common pitfalls

A few mistakes weaken GEDSI analysis:

• Treating GEDSI as a gender-only exercise
• Reporting totals with no breakdown by identity factors
• Consulting community leaders but not the people most often excluded
• Writing recommendations too general to act on
• Running the analysis after the design is already fixed

Frequently asked questions

What is a GEDSI analysis, and is it only about gender?

GEDSI stands for gender equality, disability, and social inclusion. The analysis covers gender, age, disability, ethnicity and culture, economic status, and location, and how these factors combine to shape who benefits from a program.

When should a GEDSI analysis happen?

At design stage, so the findings can shape the program. It can also be repeated or updated during implementation and at evaluation.

Do we need specialist tools?

Not always. Many questions can be answered with disaggregated program data and well-run conversations. Tools such as the Washington Group Short Set help where disability data is needed.

Talk it through

Inclusion Insight Lens is part of SS-04 Research and Reporting, delivered through Evidence Engine. If a funder requires a GEDSI or gender analysis, or you suspect your program misses the people most often left out, Book a free call. You can also reach us at hello@editright.io or +1 314 998 0221.

Sources

• DFAT, Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion analysis: Good practice note (archived copy). Accessed October 27, 2026.
• OECD, Evaluation criteria. Accessed October 27, 2026.
• Jhpiego, Gender Analysis Framework. Accessed October 27, 2026.
• Washington Group on Disability Statistics, Short Set on Functioning. Accessed October 27, 2026.