Zero Draft of the Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017
A. Introduction
This section will describe the global development context for the Gender Equality Strategy including the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20), post 2015 and Beijing + 20. It will
speak to the three stands of Sustainable Development—the economic, social and environmental strands
and discuss how closing persistent gender gaps will accelerate progress on all three strands and on
sustainable development overall. It will describe the purpose of the Gender Equality Strategy 20142017 and its structure as well as its link to the UNDP 2014-2017 Strategic Plan.
B. Mandate
This section will consist of two sections: one on the key commitments, primarily global in nature, that
address gender equality and the second on UN system-wide commitments on gender equality, including
the establishment of UN Women.
1. Global commitments address Gender Equality: All major global commitments today address
gender equality considerations in the context of their various thematic concerns, as have a
range of regional and national normative statements.
I.
Convention to Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
II.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including reference to the Beijing +20
review.
III.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including reference to the post-2015
process.
IV.
UN Declaration on Elimination of Violence Against Women.
V.
International Conference on Population and Development.
VI.
Women, Peace and Security Framework and Commitments.
VII.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
VIII.
Aid Effectiveness Commitments
IX.
Key regional commitments.
2. UN System-wide Commitments on Gender Equality
I.
Establishment of UN Women.
An historic step in accelerating the UN’s goals on gender equality and the
empowerment of women, but one that does not relieve other UN agencies, including
UNDP, of their obligations in recognition of the need to advance gender equality and the
empowerment of women.
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II.
III.
Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR: GA resolution 67/226)
The resolution calls for all operational entities of the UN system to increase investments
in and focus on outcomes and outputs relating to gender equality and the
empowerment of women and for the acquisition of sufficient technical expertise in
gender mainstreaming.
Development of first System Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s
empowerment (SWAP).Approved by the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination in
April 2011, the SWAP establishes a UN system wide framework for measuring progress
in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. UNDP is now in the process
of ensuring that it complies with SWAP requirements, details of which will be provided
in Section D (Institutional Effectiveness of Gender Mainstreaming) of the Gender
Equality Strategy.
C. Integration of Gender Equality and Strategic Plan 2014-2017 Outcomes
This section explains UNDP’s approach to gender equality as both a human right and the key to
achieving progress on all development goals and places it in the context of the sustainable and human
development approach. It also discusses UNDP’s comparative advantages in achieving gender equality
results. Further, the section then presents the UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and provides a brief
overview of its three main areas of development work and describes how and why gender equality is
integral to them. It then presents each of the seven Strategic Plan outcomes, presenting the strategic
entry points for mainstreaming gender equality in each outcome.
1. UNDP’s approach and comparative advantages for achieving gender equality results
I.
II.
For UNDP, gender equality is both a human right and the key to achieving progress on
all development goals. Gender equality is inherent in the people-centered human
development framework that guides the work of UNDP. It is now well recognized, and
supported by ample evidence, that gender equality and women’s empowerment are
central to the achievement of all development outcomes as they have multiplier
benefits for women, their families and communities.
UNDP’s comparative advantages in achieving gender equality results include: an ability
to leverage our partnerships with governments to work at the formal, institutional level
to promote legal and policy reforms that eliminate structural barriers to gender equality
and put in place policies to empower women; an ability to leverage the UN’s convening
power and diverse partnerships to bring together a range of stakeholders, civil society
advocates, academics and government to address gender equality and women’s
empowerment through policy and legal reform; recognition as a thought leader at least
in the following areas: women and political participation, women economic
empowerment, gender and climate change, women conflict settings, and gender and
human development including gender equality measurements; and our ability to draw
upon our extensive presence around the world to bring best practices from one region
to another and implement South-South cooperation initiatives.
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2. UNDP Pillars in the Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and Gender Equality
I.
II.
III.
Sustainable development pathways: Reducing gender inequalities is not only intrinsic to
this approach, but is also a triple win approach to accelerate development achievement.
Evidence has shown that initiatives that engage women and harness their contributions
are vital to the success of sustainable development and poverty eradication and are
proven to enhance sustainable livelihoods. The sustainable development pathways area
of work provides an excellent opportunity to reshape policies and priorities to empower
women so that they can become catalytic agents of change and equal partners with
men in the quest to promote growth that is inclusive, just, equitable and sustainable.
Inclusive and effective governance systems: Ensuring women’s and men’s equal
participation in governance processes, including leadership and decision-making, and
their equal benefits from governance services, are preconditions for the achievement of
inclusive and effective democratic governance.
Resilience building: Gender equality and women’s empowerment is integral to building
human, institutional and societal resilience. Systemic inequalities between women and
men and girls and boys in the economic, social and political spheres exacerbate the
impact of economic, disaster and climate-related and political shocks and impede both
sustainable development and durable peace. UNDP’s work on early economic
revitalization, peaceful resolution of disputes to stabilize volatile conditions, statebuilding to improve capacities, will be aimed to deliver for both women and men, girls
and boys and to therefore build the foundations for sustainable development that is
resilient.
3. Outcomes (1-7) of the UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017
I.
The gender perspective is integrated into six of the Strategic Plan outcomes and gender
equality is the sole focus of Outcome 4, which reflects the pressing need to address
gender equality and women’s empowerment to ensure that gender inequalities do not
hold back development progress, but accelerate it. There is mutual reinforcement
between strategic entry points in the various outcomes and the entry points in Outcome
4 as gender equality is profoundly interconnected to every development challenge; this
is intentional and will ensure that regardless of which outcome Country Offices choose
to focus on, the gender equality lens will be used.
II.
Outcome 1: Growth is inclusive and sustainable, incorporating productive capacities
that create employments and livelihoods for the poor and excluded. Outcome 1
recognizes that future growth and development must be inclusive and sustainable. To
achieve this, UNDP will work on such issues as climate change, access to energy and
basic services, social protection schemes and ensuring stable and productive
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employment and livelihoods, particularly for young people and women. Addressing the
gender dimension of poverty and inequality will enhance prospects for inclusive growth
and sustainability. Targeted efforts are required to expand opportunities for women and
empower them. Ensuring women’s equal access to resources, finance, information and
decent jobs can be instrumental in harnessing their full potential. It is imperative that
women and girls contribute on an equal basis with men and boys to their societies.
Strategic entry points for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in
Outcome 1:
a. UNDP will work with national partners who are responsible for economic policy
making, including ministries of finance, planning, rural and urban development
and parliaments, to contribute to policy reforms that recognize the barriers,
often invisible and undifferentiated, to women’s empowerment.
b. UNDP will support the design and implementation of innovative social
protection measures that provide adequate coping mechanisms (through cash
transfers, food stamps, subsidized agricultural inputs, productive resources and
employment guarantee schemes) for women to manage their households,
participate in the economy, advance gender equality and alleviate poverty.
c. UNDP will work with governments, non-governmental organizations,
communities and the private sector to integrate gender considerations and
expand women’s participation in the development and implementation of
environmental plans and policies, including in climate change adaptation and
mitigation policies and actions and in the management of natural resources
including forests and water resources.
d. UNDP will support the implementation of gender responsive national climate
finance initiatives. This will include working with national partners to create
equal opportunities for women in green business and to build the capacities of
female entrepreneurs, workers and worker’s organizations to start businesses
and scale up small and medium green businesses.
e. UNDP will support and strengthen women’s capacity to access affordable and
clean energy by ensuring their participation in the development of policy and
institutional frameworks.
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III.
Outcome 2: Citizen expectations for voice, development, the rule of law and
accountability are met by stronger systems of democratic governance. Outcome 2 is
about strengthening the framework for democratic governance and building resilient
institutions, including by supporting peaceful transitions and effective governance that
is equitable, representative and protects the rights of all. UNDP’s activities to strengthen
democratic governance and build resilient institutions will support the establishment of
genuinely equal participatory processes and gender-responsive public services. The
equal participation of men and women, including in decision-making, and their equal
enjoyment of benefits from state interventions are essential to inclusive, democratic
governance and resilient societies. Also essential are a legal and regulatory framework
that provides for equal access and opportunities including for benefit sharing of natural
resources, biodiversity and ecosystems and legal reforms to fight all forms of
discrimination and ensure equal access to justice for women and men. .
Strategic entry points for Outcome 2:
a. UNDP will support partners to put in place measures to increase women’s
participation in decision-making across all governance institutions at national
and subnational levels.
b. UNDP will support women’s networks and civil society movements to bring
gender perspectives into policy making processes.
c. UNDP will work to support gender-responsive governance and to ensure that
public policies and public services respond to the different needs of women
and men, including in the context of natural resource management and in
reducing all forms of corruption.
d. UNDP will support legal and policy reforms to eliminate discrimination and
violence against women. This will include strengthening national capacities to
implement CEDAW at the national level.
IV.
Outcome 3: Countries have strengthened institutions to progressively deliver universal
access to basic services. Outcome 3 focuses on the capacity of institutions to lead the
development process and deliver justice, security and other basic services. The equal
participation of women in leading development processes and in delivering and
benefiting from basic services is essential to building democratic and resilient societies.
These basic services include HIV services, security sector services and access to justice.
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Strategic entry points for Outcome 3:
a. To ensure that women are both participants in and beneficiaries of postconflict restoration, recovery and development processes, UNDP will ensure
that the restoration of core functions will be delivered by both women and
men and that services will be responsive to the particular needs of both women
and men.
b. UNDP will increase women’s access to basic services by building capacity of
national and sub-national actors to ensure that women’s groups are actively
involved in the prioritization of local legal service provision and that women’s
groups participate in governmental processes such as local budgeting and
planning, to advocate for the needs of women and men.
c. UNDP will work with partners in UNAIDS and the Global Fund to support
national policy frameworks for HIV prevention and response to ensure that
gender dimensions are fully integrated in national action. UNDP will also
partner with HIV positive women’s groups to engage in policy dialogue and
service delivery.
d. Sexual and gender based violence work is centered on supporting national
actors to strengthen women’s legal rights and access to justice. This will include
enhancing the capacities of police, judges, and prosecutors to combat impunity
and ensure women’s access to justice both through formal and informal
processes. UNDP will assist partners in building capacities to collect, analyze,
disseminate and apply national and sub-national data and evidence on the
factors influencing men’s perpetration of SGBV and on the prevalence, causes
and consequences of violence against women and girls including in contexts of
stability, transition and crisis and post crisis.
e. As gender equality is a driving factor in achievement of all the MDGs and
gender inequality has been identified as a binding constraint in the MDG
Acceleration Frameworks (MAF) of several countries, it is essential that MAF
action plans are well informed by gender analysis and that targeted
interventions to address persistent gender inequalities are included in MAFs.
V.
Outcome 4: Faster progress is achieved in reducing gender inequality and promoting
women’s empowerment: Outcome 4 demonstrates UNDP’s commitment to
‘substantially increase the investment in and focus on outcomes and outputs relating to
gender equality and the empowerment of women in United Nations development
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framework programmes’1 It reinforces and complements the integration of gender
equality and women’s empowerment throughout the rest of the outcomes. Outcome 4
will reinforce the rest of the Strategic Plan outcomes, and each gender-specific output
will act as a driver of change and complement the integration of gender equality and
women’s empowerment throughout the rest of the outcomes.
Strategic Entry Points for Outcome 4:
a. UNDP will work with national partners who are responsible for economic policy
making, including ministries of finance, planning, rural and urban development
and parliaments, to contribute to policy reforms that recognize the barriers,
often invisible and undifferentiated, to women’s empowerment. This work will
include supporting the development and implementation of gender-responsive
economic reforms, policies, budgets.
b. UNDP’s gender based violence work is centered on supporting women’s legal
rights, strengthening women’s access to justice and utilizing a range of
integrated strategies focusing on property, inheritance, family and gender
equality in laws and constitutions to combat gender-based violence. UNDP will
leverage these advantages to better respond to SGBV by supporting national
and local partners to develop, strengthen and implement the required
legislative framework to combat SGBV and build more gender-sensitive legal
and judicial institutions.
c. Leveraging its position as the UN’s lead development agency, UNDP will
provide evidence and advocacy for the linkages between gender equality and
development outcomes through its flagship Human Development Reports,
MDG Reports and its contributions to global debate on inclusive and equitable
growth.
d. UNDP will support partners to put in place measures to increase women’s
participation in decision-making across all governance institutions at national
and subnational levels. UNDP will promote women’s participation as voters and
candidates in its electoral cycle support; advocate for affirmative measures
through technical assistance to transitional governance institutions and
constitutional committees; and through support for women parliamentarians,
gender caucuses and women leadership in political parties.
e. UNDP will support efforts to increase women’s access, ownership and
management of environmental goods and services, including environmental
1
A/RES/67/226, 2013 at para 81.
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finance and will work in close collaboration with governments, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to integrate gender
considerations into global policy debates and national work on environment
and energy policies, strategies and programmes.
f.
VI.
Building on the COP-18 in Doha and to further increase women’s access to
climate finance, UNDP will support the implementation of gender-responsive
national climate finance initiatives. UNDP will work with national partners to
create equal economic opportunities for women in green business and will
build the capacity of female entrepreneurs, workers and workers’ organizations
to start businesses and scale-up micro businesses into small and medium green
enterprises.
Outcome 5: Countries are able to reduce the likelihood of conflict and lower the risk of
natural disasters, including from climate change. This outcome focuses on UNDP’s
activities to help countries to address and manage risks of conflict and natural disasters,
including from climate change. Women play pivotal roles in managing household assets,
ensuring family welfare and maintaining and rebuilding communities. Therefore, they
are central to crisis risk management and conflict reduction efforts, including both
natural and man-made risks.
Strategic entry points for Outcome 5:
a. As women are often the main agents to manage and utilize natural resources
such as land, water and forests, it is critical to leverage their knowledge and
engage them on sustainable management of these resources as central to any
risk reduction strategy.
b. UNDP will strengthen the participation of women in decision-making processes
on climate change, adaptation and mitigation strategies/action plan at local
and national level.
c. UNDP will work to ensure that gender responsive disaster and climate risk
management is integrated in the development planning and budgetary
frameworks of key sectors (e.g. water, agriculture, health and education).
VII.
Outcome 6: Early recovery and rapid return to sustainable development pathways are
achieved in post-conflict and post-disaster settings. This outcome refers to UNDP’s
early recovery approach, which is premised on experiences establishing that early
recovery interventions which create livelihoods, revitalize local economies and build
social cohesion can provide the foundation for full recovery and chart a path for
sustainable development. Failure to address the structural inequalities between men
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and women in resource access, rights and control at the outset of peace building and
recovery processes is a missed opportunity that ultimately risks undermining recovery,
particularly in the context of resource-related conflicts. Women play pivotal roles in
managing household assets, ensuring family welfare and maintaining and rebuilding
communities. Therefore, they are central to crisis risk management and conflict
reduction efforts.
Strategic entry points for promoting Outcome 6:
a. UNDP will work to increase women’s access to safe productive livelihoods and
temporary employment opportunities including in partnership with women’s
groups and the private sector.
b. UNDP will support capacity development programmes for women’s
participation in economic recovery, including in literacy, numeracy support and
skills training to help women access and implement small business projects in
non-traditional sectors.
c. UNDP will support the building of mediation and negotiation capacities of
women and the gender sensitization of men at regional, national, subnational
and community levels to contribute to gender responsive conflict prevention
and peacebuilding interventions.
d. As part of early recovery efforts, national actors will be supported to lead,
manage and coordinate participatory processes for the design of contextspecific transitional justice approaches to facilitate reconciliation and to
establish a culture of accountability and respect, especially for women’s rights
and claims.
e. UNDP will engage with rule of law actors to ensure the justice system
effectively addresses SGBV, combats discriminatory social norms,
promotes female participation in justice and security institutions, and
ensures that women can exercise social and economic rights to combat
pervasive vulnerability.
VIII.
Outcome 7: Development debates and actions at all levels prioritize poverty,
inequality and exclusion, consistent with our engagement principles. This outcome
focuses on ensuring the centrality of sustainable human development principles in key
development debates and actions, through the prioritization of poverty, inequality and
exclusion. Chief among these key debates are those focused on the MDGs, Beijing plus
20, the post-2015 agenda and sustainable development goals. Sustainable human
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development will not be fully achieved unless women and girls are able to contribute to
their societies on an equal basis with men and boys.
Strategic entry points for Outcome 7:
a. UNDP will support civil society and national gender machineries in
documenting best practices, assessing progress and advocating for gender
equality in the context of the MDG review, Beijing+ 20 and the post 2015
development process.
b. UNDP will contribute to the development and use of the evidence base and
data analysis of the linkages between closing gender gaps and improved
development outcomes in global debates. This will include through ensuring
the integration of gender equality impacts and evidence in flagship publications
such as UNDP’s Human Development Reports and in support of the post 2015
process.
c. UNDP will support learning and cooperation on the linkages of gender equality
and positive development outcomes. This will include the codification and
sharing of best practices between civil society networks and communities,
national actors and regional bodies, with an emphasis on South-South and
triangular cooperation.
D. Institutional Effectiveness for Gender Mainstreaming
This section addresses UNDP’s institutional framework for ensuring gender equality results and the
organization’s investments in building capacities to bring gender analysis into all areas of its work. UNDP
is adapting its institutional framework to align its policies and procedures with the System Wide Action
Plan (SWAP) on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. This section details this process in terms
of the organization’s policy and planning; accountability and oversight; gender architecture; capacities
for gender mainstreaming; knowledge and communication; and financial resources.
1. Policy and Planning
This section explains how UNDP will incorporate the gender perspective into corporate planning
tools. For example:
i. UNDP has committed to mainstream gender in corporate annual business plans, unit-specific
work plans and country programme documents. UNDP also has a Gender Parity Strategy,
which is discussed later in this document.
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ii. UNDP will ensure that at all stages of the programme/project cycle, gender concerns are
fully integrated. Clear guidelines for gender mainstreaming in the programme/project cycle
will be included in the UNDP quality standards for RBM.2 Every appraisal (CPDs,
Programmes/projects) will include a gender assessment.
2. Accountability and Oversight
This section details the key components of UNDP accountability framework, including how
UNDP will engage into report on gender equality results, assess efficiency of corporate financing
investments in gender equality, and hold senior management accountable for gender equality
results in both programming work and within their own business units. It also addresses how
UNDP will use the Gender Equality Seal to incentivize all business units and Country Offices to
achieve gender equality results. For example:
i. UNDP will report annually at the January session on progress in implementing the GES, with
particular attention to overcoming the challenges set out in the upcoming report of the
Gender Mainstreaming Evaluation Team in 2013.
ii. The Gender Steering and Implementation Committee (GSIC), chaired by the Administrator or
Associate Administrator, will continue to be the organization’s principal internal oversight
mechanism. The GSIC monitors the implementation of the GES by calling upon each Bureau
Director to report on progress made in mainstreaming gender and women’s empowerment
in their work and also serves as a peer review group, ensuring that Bureau Directors
systematically integrate gender equality in each area of work.
iii. UNDP will roll out the Gender Equality Seal across the organization to incentivize all business
units and Country Offices to achieve gender equality results. The Gender Equality Seal, which
UNDP piloted in 2012-2013, awards Country Offices a gold, silver or bronze seal, certifying
that they meet specific performance benchmarks reflecting gender equality results.
iv. In line with the SWAP, UNDP corporate monitoring system (RBM) tools will integrate gender
equality and the empowerment of women to enable the organization to assess progress
toward gender mainstreaming against the seven development outcomes of the Strategic
Plan.
2. UNDP BDP (Capacity Development Group). January 2011. Considerations for quality programming. Gender equality and the
empowerment of women. Section B (Cross cutting areas).
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v. All UNDP evaluations will be designed and conducted in accordance with the gender related
norms and standards of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG)3. To meet the
requirement in this area each evaluation methodology should explicitly address issues of
gender equality and the empowerment of women and the composition of evaluation teams
should be gender balanced. The evaluation report should indicate the extent to which
gender issues were incorporated and include gender related recommendations.
vi. UNDP will develop an action plan for better use of the Gender Marker, launched in 2009 and
requiring managers to rate projects against a four-point scale indicating its contribution
toward the achievement of gender equality.
vii. UNDP’s Environmental and Social Screening Tool, now a mandatory project-level screening
procedure, is a vital component of UNDP’s quality assurance process. The tool aims to
minimize or offset potentially adverse environmental and social impacts of UNDP’s
development work. The screening checklist includes specific questions related to the
project’s gender equality impact and engagement with women.
3. Gender Architecture
This section focuses on the organizational structure required to implement the Gender Equality
Strategy. It recognizes the findings of the 2011 Midterm Review of the first Gender Equality
Strategy (2008-2013), which stated that UNDP had developed a robust, viable and effective
gender architecture that should be maintained and strengthened. As such:
i. UNDP will reinforce its existing gender architecture to provide substantive technical
leadership and guidance at all levels. The Gender Team will continue to be the anchor
of UNDP’s gender architecture and will be housed within the Bureau for Development
Policy.
ii. The 2011 Review found a direct correlation between strong gender equality
programming results and the presence of a full time Senior Gender Advisor within a
given work unit. Country offices above US$25 are expected to have a fulltime gender
advisor. When financial constraints prohibit having a full-time senior advisor, which is
the optimum recommendation, expertise should be outsourced as needed, especially
for critical and strategic tasks such as the development of an UNDAF or country
programme. To ensure availability of flexible expertise, a number of long-term
retention consultants with gender equality expertise in the work areas of UNDP’s
Strategic Plan will be retained through a central roster.
3SWAP
Technical Notes, page 18 and 19.
http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/How%20We%20Work/UNSystemCoordination/UN-SWAPTechnical-Notes-Dec-2012.pdf/
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iii. In line with the SWAP, each management unit: Regional Bureaus, Central Bureaus,
Global Centres, major departments and professional clusters, are expected to have a
gender focal appointed from P4 and above. Country offices are expected to have a
Gender Focal Team headed by a senior manager.
iv. As detailed in the Strategic Plan, the organization of UNDP’s policy services is shifting
from one based on a relatively rigid practice-based architecture to one focused on more
flexible multidisciplinary issues-based development solutions teams. The effectiveness
of gender mainstreaming will depend on UNDP’s ability to create multidisciplinary task
teams that include expertise in and an ability to respond effectively to the challenges of
gender equality within their respective areas.
4. Capacities for gender mainstreaming
This section addresses how UNDP will ensure the capacity to deliver on commitments to gender
equality, reflecting the SWAP requirement that all agencies of the UN system undertake a
capacity assessment and establish a capacity development plan to achieve this goal. For
example:
i. UNDP will undertake a capacity assessment and establish a capacity development plan
within the corporate ‘peoples capability strategy’.
ii. To ensure that all staff have a basic common understanding and adequate technical
capacity for gender mainstreaming at all levels, UNDP has developed and updated the
“Gender Journey Course: Thinking out of the Box,” which is required for all staff by the
SWAP.
iii. UNDP will continue to provide staff training and learning commensurate with the needs
of the organization, and to allocate sufficient funding so that concrete results are
achieved. It is recommended that at least 10 percent of the learning budgets of global,
regional and country offices will be ear-marked for gender-related learning activities.
iv. Recruitment procedures must ensure that staff and consultants have gender core and
functional competencies. All new personnel and consultants should possess the basic
understanding, skills, experience and commitment required to work in a gender-sensitive
manner.
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v. To ensure gender-responsive staff performance management, the SWAP calls for the
inclusion of results related to gender equality in staff work plans and appraisal.4UNDP will
implement this requirement by ensuring that performance reviews of senior managers
include an assessment of their contributions to achieving gender equality results.
5. Knowledge and communication
This section addresses UNDP’s approach to knowledge and communication, which is based on
getting the knowledge and expertise that each individual holds to be shared as widely as
possible so that local development solutions tap UNDP’s vast global networks and experience. It
discusses UNDP’s established global community of practice on gender equality, its regional
networks and the development and dissemination of knowledge products and best-practices.
i. UNDP will further align Knowledge Management to Results-Based Management for
gender equality and women’s empowerment.
ii. UNDP will continue its commitment to maintain and invest in what is one of the UN’s
most dynamic and highly professional global communities of practice on gender equality.
UNDP will leverage internal Communities of Practice to capture, aggregate and share
lessons from programmes and projects which will be systematically embedded in the
programme and project management cycle.
iii. UNDP will invest in open knowledge networks on the global and regional levels to codevelop solutions with partners. UNDP will continue to invest in selected collaborative
knowledge networks such as iKNOW Politics, the Knowledge Gateway and the Latina
Genera Gender Knowledge Platform to advance the organizations goals in line with the
Strategic Plan.
iv. UNDP will invest in building capacities to monitor the success of knowledge products and
in producing timely contributions to policy debates on the global, regional and national
levels that refer to the organization’s mandate on gender equality and women’s
empowerment.
v. UNDP will leverage social and traditional media to advocate for gender equality and
women’s empowerment; to promote the organization’s work and the results achieved.
4
SWAP Technical Notes, page 3 and 8. http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/UN-SWAP-Technical-
Notes020613.pdf
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6. Financial resources
i.
UNDP will continue to invest core resources in strengthening the institutional
arrangements for gender equality that have been described above, including in the
development of accountability, capacities and expertise, and knowledge
management. All global programmes, regional programmes and country
programmes will set aside resources for ensuring gender equality results are met.
ii.
Gender capacities will also be supported through a range of innovative measures
including charging part of gender experts’ time to a range of non-core supported
programmes, the launching of specific initiatives to augment capacities in special
country context such as post conflict or post disaster environments,
iii.
A Flexible Trust Fund for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women will be
launched to support UNDP’s programmatic work on gender equality in line with the
Strategic Plan. Thematic trust funds have been a vital and effective financial
instrument for sustaining UNDP’s gender equality work.
E. Coordination and Partnerships
This section addresses how UNDP will coordinate its gender equality work with partners within the UN
system, including with UN Women, and how it will partner with other arms of the UN, civil society,
academic institutions and the private sector to drive development progress through the promotion of
gender equality and the empowerment of women.
1. UNDP coordination role within the UN System
This section focuses on UNDP’s role as chair of UNDG and Manager of the Resident Coordinator
system, in which role UNDP ensures that gender equality considerations are integrated in all the
development activities of the UN system. This includes supporting a vibrant Gender Thematic Group
(often led by UNW) to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context of
national priorities. In addition, the UN RC promotes the use of system wide tools such as the UN
country team gender scorecard.
i.
Where there is a CCA/UNDAF process the UNRC will encourage all agencies to substantially
increase the investment in and focus on outcomes and outputs relating to gender equality and
the empowerment of women as per the QCPR 2012 resolution.
ii. At the global level, UNDP will continue pro-actively contributing to the Inter-Agency Network on
Women and Gender Equality (IANGWE), coordinated by UN-Women, the Gender Equality Task
Force of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), as well as the Secretary General’s
Campaign on Violence against Women and other international and system-wide fora.
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2. Coordination between UNDP and UN Women
This section will discuss how UNDP will continue partnering with the United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and provides an overview of the many areas
on which UNDP and UNW collaborate at country, regional and global levels. It will also discuss how
UNDP see joint efforts to scaling up of gender equality programming . Finally, UNDP will work closely
with UNW to support national actors within the context of the MDG review, Beijing + 20 and the post
2015 development agenda.
3. Broader partnerships for Gender Equality
This section focuses on UNDP’s partnerships within the UN system and within broader civil society and
regional bodies. It reflects UNDP’s recognition that achieving progress on gender equality and women’s
empowerment will not be achieved on its own and will require working collaboratively other agencies
and arms of the UN, especially with gender units and gender advisers, on advocacy, policy work and
programme implementation. These include central agencies like UNWomen, UNFPA, UNICEF and ILO, as
well also regional economic commissions, DPKO, DPA and others.
UNDP will exercise its convening power and expertise to engage with the many other key regional and
international actors, such as parliamentary forums, human rights organizations and economic
cooperation bodies, which are playing a critical role in the implementation of global and regional
commitments on gender equality. The matrix below provides a snapshot of some areas of collaboration
foreseen over the Strategic Plan period 2014-2017:
Partner
UNW
Indicative area of collaboration
-
-
DPA
-
ILO
-
Collaboration on promoting women in decision-making (in
particular through constitutional reform, parliamentary
support and elections assistance)
Support for gender-responsive economic budgets and legal
reforms work
Support for implementation of CEDAW through legislative
reform activities with parliaments
Support of the prevention of and response to sexual and
gender based violence, in coordination with UNFPA;
including the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence
against Women campaign and work on the UN Trust Fund to
End Violence against Women.
Electoral assistance and support for constitutional reforms
Collaboration in supporting countries in the adoption of
policies, legal reforms or programs to advance women’s
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economic empowerment and social protection.
Support for the implementation of women’s rights and
access to justice, also in collaboration with UN Women.
OHCHR
-
UNICEF, UNFPA
-
Support for implementation of relevant women and girls
rights and their full participation in the political, social and
economic development of their communities.
Inter-Parliamentary
Union
and the National Democratic
Institute; IKNOW Politics,
International IDEA.
-
Collaboration in promoting women’s political participation,
particularly in national political institutions, through
electoral assistance, parliamentary support and support for
constitutional reforms
GGCA (Global Gender and
Climate Alliance)
-
Jointly integrate gender considerations into global policy
debates, national work in environment and energy
policies, strategies and programmes, and climate finance
mechanisms
GEF
-
Collaboration in supporting countries in the integration of
gender into climate change adaptation national plans.
World Bank, FAO and IFAD
-
Collaborate with the World Bank on strengthening evidenceinformed strategies to advance gender equality and
women’s empowerment.
-
Support gender-responsive initiatives that empower women
economically.
-
Support their advocacy efforts and learn from their best
practices on advancing gender equality and the
empowerment of women.
Women’s
movements,
academia, NGOs/CSOs
Greater strategic engagement with and support to women’s organizations and institutions is central to
advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment. UNDP must facilitate women’s organizations’
access to policy-making at national and international levels through its global policy services, national
programmes and projects. This section of the strategy will elaborate on these important strategic
partnerships.
UNDP recognizes the tremendous knowledge that thought leadership, as well as think-tanks, academia,
NGOs and specialized governmental research departments provides to our overall mission and priorities.
Deeper cooperation to better address gender equality challenges will be promoted and will position
UNDP as a credible and trusted development partner.
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Annex I. Gender Equality in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017
1.
The Strategic Plan 2014-2017 reaffirms UNDP long-standing commitment to the pursuit of gender equality
and the empowerment of women. It introduces a new emphasis on human sustainable development
and the equal participation of men and women in their societies; the realization of human rights for
women and girls; and reducing gender inequalities in access to and control over resources and benefits of
development.
2.
The Strategic Plan (SP) is aligned to the main system wide commitments related to gender equality and
the empowerment of women. Consistently with the Quadrennial Comprehensive Periodic Review5
(QCPR), the SP establishes gender equality as one of the five key development challenges to be addressed
by our organization. The SP calls also to reflect in UNDP’s actions “the pivotal significance of gender
equality and women’s empowerment, understanding that sustainable human development will not be
fully achieved unless women and girls are able to contribute on an equal basis with men and boys to their
societies” 6.
3.
UNDP takes into account the System Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment
(SWAP), approved by the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) in 2011. The SWAP establishes
the obligation of including at least one gender specific outcome and specific indicators on gender equality
and the empowerment of women in central planning documents of UN agencies7. Accordingly, the UNDP
Strategic Plan establishes one gender specific outcome: “Faster progress is achieved in reducing gender
inequality and promoting women’s empowerment” (Outcome 4 IRRF); and subsequent gender specific
outputs and indicators. By doing so, UNDP accomplishes also its commitment to “substantially increasing
the investment in and focus on outcomes and outputs relating to gender equality and the empowerment
of women” established in the QCPR.
4.
The Strategic Plan follows a dual-track strategy consistent with Beijing. The UNDP Strategic Plan (SP)
envisions gender mainstreaming and gender targeted interventions as dual-track approach and a
complementary strategy to achieve gender equality. There is consensus among the international
community and development organizations that while "mainstreaming" gender equality is a valuable
approach, it should be reinforced and complemented by gender specific focused interventions; therefore
the SP integrates the gender perspective into six of the SP outcomes, and gender equality is the sole
focus of outcome 4.
5.
The focus of the Strategic Plan 2014-2017 in eradicating extreme poverty and reducing inequalities and
exclusion puts at the forefront of UNDP’s agenda the issue of reducing gender inequalities and engaging
women as key drivers of the success of sustainable development. Gender equality and women’s
empowerment is integral to the three main areas of UNDP’s work: sustainable development; inclusive and
efficient democratic governance; and resilience building.

The SP makes a strong link between its sustainable development framework and the
opportunities to reshape policy and programming to empower women economically
(employment, livelihood and access to resources)
5
QCPR; GA resolution 67/226
SP pg. 5
7 SWAP benchmark 3.cii.
6
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

It also shows that ensuring women’s and men’s equal participation in governance processes,
including leadership and decision-making, and their equal benefits from governance services, are
preconditions for the achievement of inclusive and effective democratic governance;
Finally, the SP gives more prominence than ever to the importance of eradicating systemic
inequalities -such as between women and men- that exacerbates the impact of economic,
disaster and climate-related and political shocks impede both sustainable development and
durable peace.
6.
UNDP believes in and is committed to ensure that gender equality and empowerment is an effective way
to eradicate poverty and accelerate development progress. Consistently, the SP explicitly indicates that
the inclusion of women and female- headed, as they are experiencing the greatest inequalities and
exclusion, will be prioritized by UNDP during the upcoming strategic planning cycle.
7.
Priority areas and the Institutional Results Framework (IRRF). UNDP SP sets out clear and focused
outcomes and provides blue print for action. These specific areas of work have being developed based on
UNDP’s comparative advantage and evaluative evidences of years of experience on gender equality and
empowerment of women (e.g. 2010 Midterm review of the Gender Equality Strategy 2008-20138). The
IRRF of the Strategic Plan places particular emphasize on:
a) Outcome 1.Women’s economic empowerment (employment and livelihoods);
b) Outcome 2.The equal participation of women and men (electoral processes, political
participation and constitutional reforms, etc.)
c) Outcome 3. Access to basic services, justice and security based on reform of legal systems (e.g.
rights to land, heritage, identity);
d) Outcome 4. Is dedicated to faster progress achieved in reducing gender inequality and promoting
women’s empowerment”; including the prevention and response to discrimination and violence
against women.
e) Outcome 5. The inclusion of gender responsive disaster risk reductions strategies/plans, early
recovery in post-conflict settings and peacebuilding
f) Outcome 6. Women’s engagement in early recovery, conflict resolution and social cohesion
8.
There is mutual reinforcement between strategic entry points in the various outcomes as gender equality
is profoundly interconnected to every development challenge; this is intentional and will ensure that
regardless of which outcome Country Offices choose to focus on, the gender equality entry points will be
addressed.
9.
Finally, it can be said unequivocally that the Results Framework of the SP shows consistency between the
analysis of situation, the proposed Outcomes in terms of gender equality and the Outputs, and shows an
increased emphasis on the collection and use of sex disaggregated data and gender statistics. A
significant representation of Outcome indicators and Outputs indicators (where needed) of the IRRF of
Strategic Plan are sex disaggregated.
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