Introduction What is gender transformative communication? Gender inequity is widespread, often unquestioned, and can permeate all aspects of our lives. Its manifestations can be hard to notice because they sometimes seem individually small, or because we have become used to them. This means that gender inequity often persists despite our best efforts to learn about it and be aware. Gender inequity prevents equal opportunities for people of all genders in recruitment, programme design, funding allocation or even marketing and communication. For mission-driven organizations, gender transformative communication can provide two benefits: It can help them work towards their cause with an additional focus on gender; and at the same time it can challenge gender norms to reduce prejudice, and spark wider positive change in society. Gender transformative communication aims to change behaviour, attitudes and beliefs about gender, and to challenge power imbalances. It counters discriminatory gender norms through images, language or evidence. It does more than just make people gender-aware: It fosters real transformation. Gender transformative communication is important in several sectors but especially where women’s contributions have been hidden or minimized. 1 A constructive approach is to identify a suitable domain and objective for gender transformative communication, and then develop a suitable plan keeping in mind the historical factors affecting that domain. Gender transformative communication could therefore be using sex­disaggregated data, encouraging a female narrative voice in traditionally male dominated fields, using images that actively counter stereotypes or norms, or representing the multiple identities of people with a special focus on those who are disempowered. Gender transformative communication goes beyond superficial modifications and aims to transform the space where knowledge is produced, thereby creating new narratives around who gets to tell the story and how. 1 We use the term women in this toolkit while recognizing that gender is a spectrum and includes gender diverse and non-conforming individuals. It could also refer to other people historically disempowered as a result of their gender identity. Gender Transformative Communication 3