TOWARDS EMPOWER MENTAND EQUALITY

I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F U N D P G E N D E R E Q UA L I T Y S T R AT E G Y 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 9 A N N UA L R E P O R T
Presented orally to the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA, First Regular Session, 21 January 2010 United Nations Development Programme

EMPOWER
LET US MAKE 2010 THE YEAR IN WHICH
TOWARDS EMPOWER MENTAND EQUALITY
Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2011-2013 2009 Annual Report 2010 United Nations Development Programme The analysis and recommendations of this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Development Programme, its Executive Board or the United Nations Member States. The report is an independent publication by UNDP and reflects the views of its authors. Editing and design: Suazion, Inc.

WE EMPOWER WOMEN AS NEVER BEFORE.

BAN KI-MOON, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS AGENDA 2010, REMARKS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 11 JANUARY 2010

CONTENTS
I. MOBILIZING CHANGE: THE UNIQUE ROLE OF UNDP II. PROGRAMME RESULTS: PROGRESS TOWARDS EQUALITY
REDUCING POVERTY AND REACHING THE MDGs FOSTERING DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

6 6 8

SUPPORTING CRISIS PREVENTION AND RECOVERY 10 MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 12

III. INSTITUTIONAL RESULTS: STRENGTHENING CAPACITIES FOR CHANGE 14

ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY 14 ENHANCING HUMAN CAPACITIES 15 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE 15 UN COORDINATION 16 FINANCING FOR GENDER EQUALITY 16 AIMING FOR GENDER PARITY 17

IV. THE WAY FORWARD: RECOMMENDED ACTIONS 18

COMMITM
Much progress has been made since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing now approaching its 15th anniversary. The world continues to progress towards gender parity in education worldwide; despite regional disparities, there are more young women than men enrolled in tertiary education.1 More women than ever before are participating in the workforce and holding political oce. As of January 2009, women had reached the highest parliamentary position presiding ocerin 31 parliamentary chambers. By March 2009, 15 women were serving as heads of state or government (up from nine in 2000).2 Impressive gains were made in Latin America and the Caribbean, where women hold 22 percent of all legislative seats, the highest regional average.3 Nevertheless, significant progress remains to be made. The global average of women holding parliamentary seats has reached 18.6 percent5far from the target of 30 percent set in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. At the present rate, it will take another 40 years to reach gender parity. Close to two-thirds of all employed women have vulnerable jobs.6 In nearly every region, in countries at peace or torn by conflict, the prevalence of violence against women undercuts fundamental human security and social progress. Collectively, gender inequalities undermine national poverty reduction eorts and slow the pace of development. Around the world, women now account for 40 percent of people employed in non-agricultural sectors.4 UNDP experiences in achieving gender equality as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the recognition that none of the MDGs can be accomplished without achieving gender equality have armed its critical importance to all aspects of development.

I. MOBILIZING CHANGE: THE UNIQUE ROLE OF UNDP

Landmark resolutions, such as General Assembly Resolution 63/311 on the creation of a new gender entity, and Security Council Resolutions 1888 and 1889 on gender, peace and security, arm the United Nations central role in advancing gender equality and womens empowerment around the world. The UN family is increasing eorts to speed progress towards these ends. With only five years left until the end point for achieving the MDGs,

1 2 3 4 5 6

United Nations. 2009. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. July. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. See www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm. United Nations. 2009. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. July.

TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

MENT
however, many developing countries risk missing the goals. The MDGs must be metand can be metthrough strong partnerships, dedicated resources, unwavering political leadership and the implementation of a long-term strategy for sustainable growth and development. UNDP is committed to ensuring that gender equality is fully integrated across its entire programme and to holding senior management and sta accountable for actions and results.
n

UNDP IS COMMITTED TO ENSURING THAT GENDER EQUALITY IS FULLY INTEGRATED ACROSS ITS ENTIRE PROGRAMME AND TO HOLDING SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND STAFF ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACTIONS AND RESULTS.

countries around the world, UNDP is translating the GES into concrete steps to empower poor women by increasing their capabilities, opportunities and security, and by reducing the gender inequalities that hold back development. This report presents UNDP results from the 2009 calendar year across each thematic area. Highlights include: Bringing women into global climate change negotiation processes, building the capacities of more than 500 government delegates and practitioners, and introducing gender language into negotiation texts; Integrating gender perspectives into development policies, budgets and plans in response to the global financial and economic crises; Leading the UN response to the legal and judicial aspects of Security Council Resolutions 1888 and 1889; and Rolling out of the UNDP Gender Marker to better track gender-related investments.

As the global development network for the United Nations, UNDP is in a unique position to mobilize a broad cross-section of people and resources to achieve gender equality and womens empowerment. In 2008, UNDP adopted the Gender Equality Strategy 20082013 (GES), on the premise that the development objectives of gender equality and womens empowerment are inseparable from UNDP human development goals. The GES is aligned with the UNDP Strategic Plan 20082013, and provides a roadmap for programming, measuring and reporting gender equality results across each thematic area of UNDP work (reducing poverty and reaching the MDGs, fostering democratic governance, supporting crisis prevention and recovery, and managing the environment and energy for sustainable development). In developing

UNDP will undertake a comprehensive mid-term review of the GES and present recommendations to the Executive Board in January 2011.

TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y

Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

II. PROGRAMME RESULTS: PROGRESS TOWARDS EQUALITY

In 2009, UNDP measurably advanced the gender equality and womens empowerment objectives, outlined by the GES, in each of its thematic areas.

ECONOM
unpaid care work, and limited access to property and assets; factors that leave them dependent on tenuous coping strategies.7 At the beginning of the 2008 global economic and financial crisis, UNDP moved swiftly to integrate gender equality into global and national policy responses to it. UNDP has been developing policy tools and guidance and has been supporting programme countries to analyse the crisis gender aspects and prepare gender-sensitive policy responses. A UNDP global action plan, Turning the Global Economic and Financial Crisis into Opportunity for Poor Men and Women, assisted at least 22 countries8 to determine entry points for gender dimensions in crisis-related policies. Nepal, for example, identified migration and remittances as areas for intervention, and Egypt is assessing the crisis diering impacts on women and men in rural and urban areas. In five Central American countries,9 UNDP engaged high-level national authorities to produce a set of recommendations that will be presented to the next Summit of

REDUCING POVERTY AND REACHING THE MDGs

In 2009, UNDP continued to support national partners to integrate gender equality into national development policies and budget frameworks, promote womens economic empowerment and address the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS. UNDP support in this area has become especially important in light of the global economic crisis, which threatens to stall and possibly reverse progress on MDG3 and all the other MDGs. In most regions, women bear a disproportionate burden of the worlds poverty due to limited employment opportunities, a heavy burden of

7 8 9

Ibid. Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, Sri Lanka and Venezuela. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

MIC POLICY
Central American Presidents. To raise awareness among high-level policy makersa process that will be continued in 2010UNDP held policy dialogues on gender equality and the financial and economic crisis. This included sessions at the 2009 Commission on the Status of Women and the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development. The latter engaged over 100 high level government representatives from around the globe and resulted in numerous requests for additional support. To further equip policy makers with the capacity to integrate gender perspectives into economic policy, planning and budgeting processes, UNDP developed a number of regional and global initiatives. In Africa, UNDP partnered with the UN Economic Commission for Africa to develop the Gender and Economic Policy Management InitiativeAfrica, an innovative capacity-building programme for African policy makers, which aims to produce a critical mass of economic policy makers and practitioners with the skills required to identify and address gender biases in the economic sectors. UNDP will launch this initiative in 2010

UNDP MOVED SWIFTLY TO INTEGRATE GENDER EQUALITY INTO GLOBAL AND NATIONAL POLICY RESPONSES TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRISIS.

and replicate it in other regions. Through another important UNDP-led initiative, 22 countries in Africa ocially adopted the UNDP Gender Needs Assessment Tool as part of their national planning and budgeting processes. In Kenya, for example, this led to the adoption of energy subsidies for women. The tool has also been eective in other regionsthe Dominican Republic used it to guide increases in its health and education budgets. A global initiative on taxation examined the gender impacts of direct and indirect taxation in eight countries.10 This research analysed gender biases within national taxation policies and recommended how such biases could be eectively removed.

Given evidence that recognizing, reducing and redistributing unpaid care work boosts economic growth and increases womens economic, social and political opportunities, UNDP, in partnership with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, has developed policy advice and programme support to achieve these goals. In addition, UNDP is assisting countries to enact policies to ease the unpaid care burdens of women and girls. In Mauritius, UNDP is supporting

10 Argentina, Ghana, India, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda and the United Kingdom.

TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y

Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

time-use surveys to reduce gender wage gaps and counter discriminatory patterns in unpaid care work. A UNDP partnership with women home-based caregivers in six African countries11 has produced an action-research programme, Compensation for Contributions.12 Through this initiative, hundreds of women caregivers have enumerated the monetary value of their labour, time and resource contributions to mitigating the eects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in their communities. These calculations are being used to engage policy makers in bringing about redistributional policy reforms. Other UNDP programmes stress innovative pilot strategies that governments can scale up. In Egypt, for example, a programme to encourage small businesses also bolsters womens legal empowerment and labour rights, and is generating broader recognition of womens economic contributions. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a new micro-credit policy that combines entrepreneurial development with a strong role for women in community recovery and environmental protection activities. In partnership with the Gates Foundation, UNDP programmes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal have worked with women to create 600 agro-enterprises that mechanize tasks to increase productivity and add value to products. With support from UNDP and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Costa Rica successfully implemented the Equality Seal, a voluntary certification process that verifies that private-sector companies promote gender equality in the workplace. Other countries13 have followed with similar seals. Factors such as poverty, humanitarian crises, economic insecurities and gender inequality combine to impose significant impacts on women and girls infected and aected by HIV/AIDS.

UNDP and several partners have collaborated to launch a series of initiatives and programmes with a range of focuses, including: ensuring equal property and inheritance rights between women and men; securing safe movement and migration for mobile women workers (especially domestic workers); and providing technical support for including the needs and rights of women and girls in national strategies, policies and plans. UNDP worked closely with the UN family in achieving consensus on the 2009 UNAIDS Action Framework: Addressing Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV. In the eight countries that are home to over 50 percent of the women living with HIV/AIDS, UNDP is developing action plans to address gender-related gaps in national responses and is bringing together key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in order to implement priority interventions.

FOSTERING DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

Inclusive governance is essential to building more eective and accountable governance institutions. A leading provider of democratic governance advisory services, UNDP works closely with many global and regional partners to enhance womens political participation in decision-making at all levels, strengthen gender-responsive public service delivery, promote womens legal empowerment and respond to gender-based violence. UNDP has worked with national partners (including legislative assemblies, electoral commissions and national parliaments, and more recently, political parties) to steadily increase its work on strengthening womens political

11 Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. 12 This programme is being supported by the Japan-UNDP Partnership Fund. 13 Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay.

TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

GOVERNANCE
participation. It has undertaken major initiatives to advance womens participation in nearly every region. These have included partnering with the governments of Liberia and Finland to organize the International Colloquium on Womens Leadership Development, International Peace and Security in Africa, and partnering with the Government of the Gambia and the Economic Commission for Africa to convene the Africa regions Beijing+15 Review. In the Latin America and the Caribbean region, UNDP has collaborated with UNIFEM and the Government of Spain to support a cross-party network of women parliamentarians from over 20 countries. In Europe and the CIS, UNDP has developed policy tools and guidance for parliamentarians, political party members and civil servants at decision-making levels on strengthening womens political participation in the region, building on consultations and analysis undertaken in six countries14 and a regional conference. these posts has already increased, from 32 percent in 2008 to 34 percent as of mid-2009. In addition to increasing the numbers of women in politics, UNDP also focused on building women candidates and elected representatives capacities to bring about policy changes that contribute to gender equality and respond to the diering and common needs of women and men. In Kyrgyzstan, UNDP supported womens wings of parties unite in advancing national womens priorities, including through parliamentary hearings on gender equality. The first parliamentary discussions on maternal mortality led to the creation of a special task force on the issue in the Ministry of Health. UNDP also backed the Alliance for Womens Legislative Initiatives, a network of women politicians and gender experts. Its gender expertise shaped laws on youth, state welfare, political parties and trade, in addition to the 20102012 medium-term budget forecast. In Georgia, UNDP is working with local women councillors to assess local budgets in order to ensure that they meet the needs of women and men. Strengthening womens legal rights is an important area of UNDP work. UNDP has collaborated closely with a coalition of African and international civil society networks to accelerate the ratification and eective implementation of the African Womens Rights Protocol by building state and civil society capacities to deliver on these commitments. In addition, UNDP has focused on promoting land, property and inheritance rights, including working through informal or customary systems of

INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE IS ESSENTIAL TO BUILDING MORE EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS.

In close collaboration with partners, UNDP supported host countries to put in place quotas and other mechanisms that support women running for elections, such as training on leadership and campaign management. In Malawi, UNDP partnered with the Ministry of Women and Child Development on a parity campaign that increased the percentage of women in oce in the most recent electionfrom 14 to 22 percent. In Cambodia, UNDP supported the government to implement guidelines that state that 20 percent to 50 percent of new recruits for civil service positions should be women. The percentage of women in

14 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine.

TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y

Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

10

justice. In Cambodia, for example, UNDP partnered with Legal Aid of Cambodia (a nongovernmental organization that has a land law and a womens justice programme that oers services to poor women and men) to support womens access to justice by promoting traditional justice mechanisms reform, facilitating dialogue via community conversations, and providing free legal aid to women. In South Africa, UNDP is examining customary and formal laws related to property and inheritance rights in order to protect womens rights. The high prevalence of violence against women and girls presents a major human rights concern in every region of the world. Throughout 2009, UNDP supported raising the global visibility of gender-based violence and building knowledge and evidence on eective responses to it. As part of its contribution to the Secretary-Generals UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, UNDP is focusing on promoting action at the country level. Currently, nearly a third of all UNDP programme countries report ongoing initiatives dealing with gender-based violence in joint collaboration with partners. In many cases, UNDP is working with national counterparts to build legal and judicial institutions that increase the security of women and adjudicate cases in a gender-sensitive manner. In Bangladesh, for example, UNDP is supporting the Police Womens Network and the Victim Support Centre, which provide protection and legal aid services to women and children fleeing from violence. With UNDP support, Venezuela has fielded a remarkably successful campaign on gender-based violence to support the innovative reforms, such as: developing the Organic Law on Womens Rights to Life Free from Violence; upgrading the Ministry of Womens Aairs from its former position as a unit within the Oce of the President; and establishing a network of special courts on gender11 TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

based violence. Worldwide, UNDP has supported and led many campaigns on gender-based violence by engaging dierent actors, such as presidents, politicians, mass-media representatives, traditional leaders and artists.

SUPPORTING CRISIS PREVENTION AND RECOVERY

Sustainable crisis prevention and recovery eorts require involving women, addressing womens concerns and paying attention to gender inequalities. Experience indicates that womens disadvantaged roles in society, distinctive social obligations and responsibilities, and exposure to gender-based violence lead to their disproportionately suering the harms of crisis and missing out on the benefits of recovery. Women have specific needs that should be taken into account during crisis prevention and recovery eorts. Furthermore, women have the knowledge, moral force, networks and capacity to make significant contributions to recovery eorts. Throughout 2009, UNDP continued to support crisis and post-crisis countries to empower women and girls during conflict and peace-building, and ensure womens participation and the inclusion of gender equality issues into many aspects of conflict and disaster risk prevention, reduction, mitigation and recovery. In 2009, the global community paid an unprecedented amount of attention to issues pertaining to women, peace and security, through the passage of UN Security Council Resolutions 1888 and 1889. Resolution 1888 called for more action and provided mechanisms for greater accountability for conflict-related sexual violence. Resolution 1889 emphasized the full and equal participation of women in all stages of peace processes. These resolutions established a mandate

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

for UNDP to significantly strengthen its contributions to gender equality and the rule of law, security sector reform, and access to justice. UNDP has been asked to globally co-lead the legal and judicial aspects of implementing Resolution 1888, with a strong focus on countering impunity for sexual violence and strengthening developing nations capacities to establish and uphold the rule of law. An early measure involves the results of research UNDP led in 2009, which examined the extent to which post-conflict reconstruction initiatives allocated resources to promote gender equality and involved women in decision-making related to resource allocation. As mandated by Resolution 1889, this measure will feed into the Secretary-Generals report Womens Participation in Peacebuilding and Planning in the Aftermath of Conflict to the Security Council in 2010. The 2009 Report of the Secretary-General on Peace-building in the Immediate Aftermath of Conflict armed what UNDP has seen in practice: that post-crisis situations provide opportunities to break down discriminatory practices and make rapid advances in promoting gender equality. Drawing on its breadth of experience and expertise in crisis prevention and recovery, UNDP has taken opportunities to promote gender equality and womens empowerment. In Nepal, for example, UNDP

worked with women assembly members to cultivate their communication and negotiation skills. The first Womens Caucus was formed and engaged in intensive discussions on gender issues for Nepals new Constitution. Public outreach took place through democratic dialogue meetings organized by civil society organizationsmore than 41,000 women participated and voiced their perspectives on what should be in the new Constitution. To reduce womens economic vulnerabilities and risks during post-crisis periods, UNDP continued to support integrating gender perspectives and womens issues into economic recovery policies and programmes by developing a series of skills training, employment and livelihood restitution programmes. For example, in Somalia, UNDP ensured that women-headed households comprised 40 percent of the participants in an agricultural diversification programme and provided technical and financial support to form small-scale businesses to improve the living conditions of 4,200 vulnerable households. Economic empowerment has also been integral to UNDP eorts to rehabilitate women associated with armed groups. In the Sudan, new economic opportunities for 674 women ex-combatants were coupled with counselling, including counselling for gender-based violence. UNDP plays a key role in increasing access to justice for women, girls and survivors of gender-

CRISIS
SUSTAINABLE CRISIS PREVENTION AND RECOVERY EFFORTS REQUIRE INVOLVING WOMEN, ADDRESSING WOMENS CONCERNS AND PAYING ATTENTION TO GENDER INEQUALITIES.
TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y
Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

12

based violence in crisis and post-crisis countries. Eorts have focused on enhancing the capacities of police ocers, judges, paralegals, court administrators and religious leaders so that women are given the means and the space to speak out and receive justice through formal and informal systems. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNDP worked with local authorities and traditional leaders to set up systems to prevent domestic and sexual violence. Legal aid training for over 200 para-juristes and a legal aid clinic expanded womens access to legal recourses. In Croatia, pilot witness and victim support mechanisms led to amendments in the criminal code to strengthen protection mechanisms. Womens strength, resilience and innovation in times of crisis make them invaluable to disaster risk reduction plans and programmes. Foregoing such contributions not only reduces plans and programmes eectiveness, but also threatens womens health, safety, and economic, political and social potential. In 2009, UNDP assisted at least 20 countries15 to conduct gender-sensitive risk assessments and integrate gender into national disaster risk reduction policies and early warning systems. In addition, UNDP supported the launching of public awareness campaigns that enhanced the capacities and representation of women in local disaster management committees and strengthened support for female-headed households and widowers in post-disaster recovery eorts. With more countries embarking on crisis recovery planning and risk reduction exercises, UNDP is collecting, learning and sharing knowledge across the organization to support integration of gender equality into all disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.

MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The impact of climate change will hit the poorest regions and the poorest peoples hardest, impacting those who have the fewest resources to meet these challenges. Women and girls make up the majority of the worlds one billion poorest people. Furthermore, as primary caretakers of family, community and natural resources, women have accumulated knowledge and skills that can enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation eorts. Working together with a broad range of global and local partners, UNDP is taking the lead in integrating gender equality into global and national climate change policies, climate funds and finance mechanisms, and is building capacities at all levels on the gender dimensions of sustainable development. The 2009 Copenhagen climate change negotiations were a major landmark in the international communitys eorts to grapple with climate change. Through an innovative partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Gender Climate Change Alliance (a collaboration of three-dozen civil society groups), UNDP trained more than 500 government delegates and civil society representatives on the gender dimensions of climate change. Although a new legally binding climate deal was not achieved in Copenhagen, concerted advocacy produced the first references to gender equality in the main negotiating texts under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

15 Armenia, Belize, China, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, India, Indonesia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Myanmar, Peru and Syria.

13

TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

Moving forward from Copenhagen, UNDP is taking the lead in supporting countries to integrate gender equality into their climate change policies and international finance mechanisms, such as the Adaptation Fund, the Clean Development Mechanism and the Climate Investment Funds. UNDP is implementing the Japan-funded African Adaptation Programme in 21 African countries, 11 of which are receiving gender mainstreaming support. The Programme emphasizes taking early actions to adapt to climate change and investing to increase resilience. It is generating data and knowledge to inform policies, and is scaling-up successful community adaptation pilot programmes. Within its programmes, UNDP continued to support innovative initiatives to improve womens livelihoods, including through environmentally sustainable businesses. Many initiatives have been carried out under the Global Environment Facilitys Small Grants Programme, which supports more than 11,000 community-led initiatives in 120 countries. UNDP recently launched the Womens Green Business Initiative to turn the climate change challenge into economic opportunities for women. This two-track initiative will support governments to create policy environments which enable poor women to reap benefits from the new green economy. The initiative will also work directly with

women to start, incubate and scale up new green businesses. A carbon oset grant in Rwanda has already helped a local womens group plant 60 hectares of bamboo trees that can eventually be used to make and sell furniture and handicrafts. The project is one of the first to extend carbon osets funds to a local womans group for environmental protection and income generation. UNDP has also partnered with governments and local organizations to develop climate changerelated community risk assessments and resilience-building activities. Through a partnership initiative with Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood in five countries,16 grassroots women partnered with local authorities in order to develop plans to protect themselves, their productive assets, local infrastructure and the natural environment. In five Indian states, the National Disaster Management Authority is collaborating with UNDP to scale up the experimental Community Disaster Resilience Fund. The fund places resources directly in the hands of grass-roots organizations, allowing them to invest in disaster resilience strategies prioritized by communities. The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat has highlighted the pilots as good examples of women leading successful local management of disaster risk reduction.

CLIMATE CHANGE
CONCERTED ADVOCACY PRODUCED THE FIRST REFERENCES TO GENDER EQUALITY IN THE MAIN NEGOTIATING TEXTS UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE.

16 Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua and Peru.

TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y

Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

14

III. INSTITUTIONAL RESULTS: STRENGTHENING CAPACITIES FOR CHANGE

The right institutional mechanisms are integral to achieving gender equality results. Accordingly, UNDP has introduced a number of measures, as elaborated on in the Gender Equality Strategy. Measures include holding senior managers accountable for gender equality results; investing in gender mainstreaming, human capacities and knowledge management; and improving coordination with other people and organizations working on gender equality. A recent assessment by the Canadian International Development Agency, in collaboration with the UKs Department for International Development, concluded that since 2005, UNDP has made major improvements in scaling up its commitment to gender equality.17 Investments in institutional capacities at UNDP have a multiplier eect because the organization plays a strategic role in supporting UN coordination. As the largest UN development agency with the broadest mandate, UNDP is wellpositioned to develop new mechanisms, knowledge and capacities that can be absorbed by a range of other agencies and that will feed into and fully support the formation of a new UN gender entity.

ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY
In 2009, UNDP ocially adopted the Gender Marker, an accountability tool modelled after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development-Development Assistance Committee methodology. The Gender Marker will enable the organization to better track gender investments. The Gender Marker was piloted for two years in 17 UNDP country oces and customized to meet unique UNDP needs. The Secretary-General, at the 63rd General Assembly, called for UN-managed funds, and in particular the United Nations Development Group Multi-Donor Trust Funds, [to] pilot the system pioneered by UNDP to allow decision-makers track gender related-allocations. Another step in 2009 was to make promoting gender equality within development results and within the UNDP workplace a mandatory core result in the managers Results and Competency Assessment. This key result accounts for 20 percent of an overall performance assessment. Guidelines

17 CIDA. 2009. Gender Equality Institutional Assessment. June.

15

TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

have been shared with all UNDP country oces. This policy will have far-reaching implications because for the first time, all managers will have to account for achieving gender equality results in their work.

EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE
UNDP has significantly enhanced its knowledge resources on gender equality, both to strengthen sta and programme capacities and to contribute to the growing global knowledge base on eective strategies for achieving gender equality and womens empowerment. The ability to integrate new research and understanding across dierent aspects of the broad UNDP development mandate has been critical in responding to complex emerging issues such as climate change and the global economic and financial crises. UNDP moved into a new era of knowledge management by introducing Teamworks, a new social networking platform that will enable much greater sharing of information and experiences around the globe, especially solutions from the global South. In 2009, following country-level demand, UNDP developed over 15 new knowledge products. For example, the UNDP Guidance Note on the Rule of Law for Conflict/PostConflict Countries incorporated elements from an e-discussion on gender justice that supported new programmes in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Resource Guide on Gender and Climate Change serves as a practical tool to increase the capacity of policy makers and practitioners to understand the linkages between gender equality and climate change, and to develop gender-responsive climate change policies and strategies. This tool, developed by UNDP Mexico, has been adapted for a global audience and is now widely used. 2009 saw the growth of several gender-relevant electronic resources. Membership in GenderNet, a global UNDP electronic forum, increased by 13.5 percent. In Latin America, monthly visits to the America Latina Genera portal grew by 25 percent over the previous year; over 10,000 people now
TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y 16

ENHANCING HUMAN CAPACITIES

UNDP made a number of investments in gender advisory capacities in 2009: Eight senior gender advisers were fielded in crisis countries; specialized senior expert posts were established in the fields of elections, trade and the MDGs; and senior gender adviser positions have been created in each UNDP regional centre. Additionally, UNDP shifted its approach to gender equality training from more general gender courses to those related to its thematic areas. In the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS, for example, sta members were trained on the gender dimensions of climate change; the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery introduced training sessions for all sta on gender and crisis prevention and recovery; and in countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, gender-training modules were developed for each programme area. A new Baseline Report on Learning and Capacity Development outlines current UNDP capacities as a guide for further progress. Despite new investments and highly committed gender teams at all levels of the organization, more can be done to provide the fullest possible support to gender equality and womens empowerment. Of greatest need is the reinforcement of country oces capacity to respond to national requests. This can be further enhanced with policy support at the regional and global levels, depending on the nature of request.

Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

check the site each month. Governments, civil society groups and universities use the site to access a wealth of resources on gender mainstreaming and to participate in discussion forums. The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) currently has an online library of over 1,500 resources in English, French, Spanish and Arabic, more than 6,000 registered members, and has recently added an Arabic portal.

UN COORDINATION
UNDP is home to the UN Resident Coordinator system, which is a strong platform to both lead and be part of gender issues at the country level. Throughout 2009, UNDP was an active member of the working group18 leading to the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 63/311 on the creation of a new UN gender entity. UNDP is engaged in UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, the first coordinated UN eort on this issue, and serves on the steering committee for the Secretary-Generals UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign. UNDP continued to work closely with other agencies at the global and country level. Interagency collaboration on gender equality is intensifying at the country level. In Liberia, for example, two of five ongoing joint UN programmes are specifically focused on womens rights and gender equality. UNDP, UNIFEM and the United Nations Population Fund have jointly developed a methodology for gender-sensitive regional planning in Kyrgyzstan that national policy makers will use in the new national gender equality action plan. UNDP is working with the donor community in Colombia to advance gender mainstreaming in the aid eectiveness agenda.

The MDG Achievement Fund, with contribution by the Government of Spain, engaged 18 UN agencies to work with national and local partners in developing and implementing 13 UN joint programmes that focus on promoting gender equality and womens empowerment.19 The programmes have strengthened coordination and made many achievements at the country level. For example, in Namibia, the programme enabled the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, members of the Parliament, traditional authorities and members of civil society to come together to launch a mass media Zero Tolerance Campaign on gender-based violence.

FINANCING FOR GENDER EQUALITY

Financing for gender equality and womens empowerment remains a challenge throughout the world. Currently, the Gender Team is supported with an annual core resource base of approximately $3.8 million. UNDP regional bureaus direct a portion of their resources towards gender-responsive programming, and some have made notable increases. The demand for UNDP advisory services continues to expand, but required investments are significantly underfunded. With the introduction of the Gender Marker in December 2009, UNDP will be better able to track the significant investments that it makes from core resources. The global economic crisis, coupled with uncertainty related to the creation of the new gender entity, has resulted in reduced investments in non-core UNDP funding mechanisms, such as the Gender Thematic Trust Fund. Unfortunately, these reductions have come at a time when support for gender equality is more critical than ever. There

18 Other participants included UNIFEM, the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women, UNFPA and UNICEF. 19 Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, Palestinian territories, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

17

TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y

2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

is need for more secure and predictable funding so that UNDP can plan ahead and be fully eective in helping programme countries achieve the MDGs. Core resources are part of ensuring that the daily work of anchoring gender equality across the organization moves forward, that momentum is maintained and that UNDP can make strategic decisions. Non-core resources, such as those channelled through the Gender Thematic Trust Fund and the UNDP-Japan Women in Development Fund oer flexibility and eciency, especially in responding to emerging and strategic needs. To fully implement the Gender Equality Strategy, additional donor support for UNDP investments in women and girls, especially those targeted towards accelerated progress on the MDGs, will be required.

Table 1: International Professionals by Grade

From most senior to lowest level, January 2010 Grade Administrator Assistant Secretary General D2 P7 D1 P6 P5 P4 P3 P2 P1 Total 1 9 72 6 211 56 626 567 435 271 4 2,258 Male 0 5 51 5 135 33 385 337 208 105 1 1,265 Female 1 4 21 1 76 23 241 230 227 166 3 993 Male % 0% 56% 71% 83% 64% 59% 62% 59% 48% 39% 25% 56% Female % 100% 44% 29% 17% 36% 41% 38% 41% 52% 61% 75% 44%

AIMING FOR GENDER PARITY

UNDP is actively pursuing the UN target of reaching gender parity at all levels of stang. UNDP proudly welcomed its first woman Administrator in 2009. Another woman will be taking up her post as Associate Administrator in early 2010. This represents a milestone for UNDP at the senior-most level of the organization. A further 2 percent improvement for the International Professional category was realized over the past year. While women comprise the majority of the workforce in junior posts, their presence begins to taper o at the mid- and seniorlevel posts. Representation of women at the Resident Coordinator/Resident Representative levels is at 35 percent, at the Country Directors level it is at 29 percent (see Table 2).

Total

Table 2: Gender Distribution in Country Office Posts

January 2010 Male % Female %

Grade Resident Coordinator/ Resident Representative Country Director Deputy Resident Representative/ Deputy Country Director Total

Total

Male

Female

111

72

39

65%

35%

48

34

14

71%

29%

157

91

66

58%

42%

316

197

119

62%

38%

Source: ATLAS, 6 January 2010; Resident Coordinator/Resident Representative Unit Status Report, January 2010.

TOWA RDSEMPOW ER MENTA NDEQUALI T Y

Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013 | 2009 Annual Report

18

IV.THE WAY FORWARD: RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

Five years from the MDG end point, and on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, gains that have been made must be sustained and accelerated. UNDP has committed itself to maintaining its leadership on gender equality, particularly in light of its UN coordination role and its broad development mandate. UNDP will continue its global focus on emerging issues, and will work with policy makers to integrate gender equality into development policies, programmes and budgets. UNDP will build on the Copenhagen climate change negotiations to advocate for climate change policies and financing mechanisms that address gender equality and empower women. In line with Security Council Resolutions 1888 and 1889, it will lead eorts to expand womens access to justice and to peace and recovery processes. Moreover, UNDP is committed to intensifying eorts at the country level in order to make the Secretary Generals UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign a reality in womens lives. Moving forward, UNDP will bolster its human resource capabilities and deepen accountability for gender equality results. This includes recruiting senior gender experts with specialised expertise to cover the broad UNDP development agenda and utilizing the Gender Marker to monitor investments and address deficits in financing for gender equality. All performance tools will be
19 TOWARDSEMPOWER MEN TA NDEQUA L I T Y
2009 Annual Report | Implementation of UNDP Gender Equality Strategy 2008-2013

employed to hold sta accountable for gender equality results. Additionally, UNDP will take measures to close the gender gap at all stang levels. In 2010, UNDP will undertake a comprehensive review of mid-term progress towards implementing the Gender Equality Strategy and will share the results with the Executive Board. UNDP wishes to thank the Executive Board for its continued support and oversight of its eorts to become a more gender-responsive institution. Over the years, the Executive Board has closely monitored UNDP progress, requiring accountability for gender equality results. In particular, the Boards oversight of country, regional and global programmes provides an opportunity for ensuring the integration of gender equality into our support to member states. The Executive Boards continued support, in the form of guidance and resources is critical to ensure that UNDP systematically integrates gender equality throughout its work. Increases in core and non-core contributions are needed to help countries protect the gains that they have made and to accelerate progress towards MDG3 and all other MDGs. In line with the strategic priority highlighted by the Secretary General for 2010, let us make 2010 the year in which we empower women as never before, with the Executive Board support, UNDP is able to and will fulfil the commitments in the Gender Equality Strategy.

United Nations Development Programme 304 45th Street, FF-6th floor New York, NY 10017 Tel: (+1) 212 906 6022 Fax: (+1) 212 906 5896 www.undp.org/women

T E M E

For questions regardig this report, please contact Blerta Cela at blerta.cela@undp.org.