this translates into donors and local policy makers identifying strategies and programmes that seek to level the playing field between men and women in fcas and that provide direct support for the empowerment of women in key areas of statebuilding however it is important that those pursuing gender equality goals recognise that gender is a fundamentally political issue requiring an indepth understanding of local political and institutional contexts and dynamics promoting gender equality calls for particular attention to the interests of women and girls within any social group because prevailing formal and informal institutions or rules of the game will otherwise tend to disadvantage them